Kancolle Alt
by MasterBaiter4.0
Summary: A new destroyer joins the Yokosuka Naval Base, befriending old and new allies alike to fight their sworn enemies, the mysterious Abyssals. Little do they know, the first act of the war is drawing to a close...
1. Chapter 1 - The New Girl

**Author's Note**

 _This here's my second try, and I have a beta-reader to help me this time around._

 _I'll try my best to do better this time, and try to write in a way that would flow better this time, and I will try my best to believe in my own writing abilities._

 _I'd like to thank every reader who gave me constructive feedback and wrote reviews pointing out everything that I did right, and I'll try to do better this time._

* * *

"Shigure, of the Shiratsuyu-Class Destroyer class, and previously from the Kure Naval Base, reporting!"

"At ease, sailor.

The Admiral is away on business, but I'll show you around.

My name is Hiei, let's do our best from now on."

Hiei replied whilst looking through the transfer papers as Shigure cut down her saluting hand in a crisp, smooth, and practiced motion, as her previous base had taught her.

According to the papers, the Kure Naval Base in the South had expended a little too much resources in the development of ship girls, a major venture after months of expeditions and stockpiling by an Admiral hell-bent on defying the mostly luck-based construction mechanics through a mass construction spree.

Although he had gotten the submarines and rare ship girls he needed, a lack of fuel and ammo meant that he had to trade some ship girls with other admirals for extra resources so that his resources wouldn't hit dangerously low levels.

Although it sounded like a violation of ship girl rights, the other bases around Japan, and by extension, the world, was always in need of more ship girls.

That, and the constructed ship girls were not against the idea, as it was simply a relocation of manpower, and so long as the ship girls were not needlessly scrapped or abused, they were fine with it.

And one destroyer was sent over to the esteemed Yokosuka Naval Base to boost their already humongous roster of ship girls, even if it was by one more ship girl.

Shigure.

A barely teenage young girl with black hair tied in a braid down her back and two long strands down the sides of her face, along with a black, white and red sailor uniform and fair Japanese skin.

On her back was a metallic backpack of sorts that had two protruding barrels, jutting upwards and reached slightly above her head that could be re-positioned at will, swiveling down to rest on Shigure's shoulders and form shoulder cannons.

An ahoge hung down the crown of her head, 'not unlike the lure of an angler fish', as her previous admiral commented in a harmless, teasing tone as she departed for Yokosuka Naval Base.

Facing her was Hiei, an auburn haired, older teenage girl wearing a miko uniform, with an emerald-green skirt and thigh highs.

She sported a winged hairband unique to the Kongou-class Fast Battleships, golden-shaped paddles that were sticking out the ends of the hair-hand that was holding down her hair, and her sapphire-blue eyes shifted through the transfer papers quickly.

Her hair was swept down and backwards and loosely resembled a pixie cut. Her back straight and shoulders pulled back, she exuded an air of authority and pride that Shigure would later learn to associate with the battleship and heavy cruiser class of ship girls, who carried the pride of Japan, and the main bulk of the burden of war on their shoulders.

Hiei turned away as she held the transfer folder in one hand and gestured towards the base,

"So, shall we?

We can get some dinner at the canteen after this.".

Shigure followed her senior into the base of operations. Along the way, a map that was handed to her by her impromptu guide showed her the layout of the ship girl base.

They were headed towards the Administration Office that was located near inland, beyond the ship girl barracks located in the heart of the triangular-shaped base.

This was so that the ship girls could easily access the armory, located to the West, the harbour and the training range located to the south-west and south-eastern end of the base respectively.

A medium sized reinforced building a distance away, behind the armory and adjacent to the barracks had a red cross symbol on it, signifying the medical bay and the docks that was designed to resemble a Japanese bath house.

To the right of the barracks was a canteen, and a slight distance behind, close to the training range, was the research and development facility and the port where a couple of cranes stood, hanging around and currently at rest due to the lack of construction or orders by the main office or cargo ships coming in with cargo to be unloaded.

They stood, silent, waiting and ready to activate at a moment's notice to fulfil their purpose.

The dormitories for the sailors and personnel managing the base was located some ways off to the North-Western end of the base, the sailors accessing the base through the shuttle buses that were parked nearby and awaiting the end of their day shifts to ferry its passengers back.

Due to the possibility of an Abyssal attack on the base, Hiei pointed out several pods lined up along the sea, the outskirts of the base had been reinforced with 'sentient' turrets to hold the fort to shoot down anything that possessed an enemy signature.

In a sense, Hiei commentated, the base was the size of a small town, capable of a turtling defence and defending itself from almost every known threat out there.

Shigure noticed her choice of words and wondered how they were going to defend against something not classified under 'known threat'.

She left that question well alone.

As she observed the view around her, she could make out several ship girls coming back from the training range and headed in the direction of the canteen. By the Development Hangar were sailors carting weapon parts and crates into the open hangar door. Several ship girl weapon packs could be seen by her android eyes, identifying them by their classes.

"The sailors on this base are friendly," Hiei commented as she noticed Shigure looking at them.

"Most of them are volunteers, a large number of them from the mainland.

We hire them as we can't keep a base this large running through ship girls alone.

They understand the nature of our duty, and often put up with our more… well, eccentric quirks and habits as we go out there to fight the Abyssals."

Moving past the barracks, she saw the ship girls of several ship classes gathering and talking to one another. Colourful hairstyles and outfits all contrasted with the worker on the base, who were issued uniforms that matched their respective jobs.

Shigure looked around the ship girls, some of them wearing their various unique uniforms and were close to others who wore similar uniforms. She wondered how to recover from the false assumption her senior had made.

"Errm, that wasn't what I was trying to say. I just…"

"I get it," Hiei dismissed with a wave of her hand.

"New base, new vibe. Don't worry about it.

Just trying to let you know of how we look out for each other here, in case things were different in Kure. From what I heard, it shouldn't be.

We're also close within ship classes as well, 'cause when we're out there, we only have each other to depend on."

The duo made their way across the light cruiser barracks, the base barracks being one of the largest buildings in the base. Out of the corner of her eye, she could spy what seemed to be a small establishment, neatly constructed and located behind the barracks, named the _Shinsengumi_ , from what characters she could make out on the signboard.

 _'We only have each other to depend on.'_

The weight of that last line had resonated with Shigure, who reflected on the two sorties that she was sent on in her previous base.

She had to learn how to work with ship girls of different personalities, from the quiet Wakaba to the friendly and casual Suzuya, among others. They worked well with each other, and no one made things difficult for anyone else to get the job done quickly and efficiently.

That's what you learnt from the longest ongoing war in recent history.

Hiei elaborated on the base turrets upon Shigure's inquiry, which could be deployed to lay down cover fire to deter the enemy while the ship girls prepared to sortie at the harbor. Anti-Air turrets could shoot down Abyssal planes, while the Cannon and Torpedo turrets could engage the Abyssals.

Created with the aesthetic style of the old turrets of World War 2, but with modern ship girl technology.

They were programmed by the previous engineer, Yuubari, to sense Abyssal signatures, and had come in useful several times in the past when the Abyssals had punched through their lines through sheer force and numbers and tried to scout out the location of the base.

When asked about what happened to said previous engineer, Hiei slowed down to a stop away from the barracks, which Shigure followed suit.

And after a few seconds, when Shigure was debating whether to apologize for asking such an insensitive question, Hiei slowly turned around and gently put an arm on her shoulder, her voice was understanding, yet her eyes was tinged with a trace of sadness, looking through her and the tired voice echoed by one who has experienced loss.

The slight slouch of the shoulders, deflation of her posture, and the shadow that clouded her features a clear indicator that Shigure had stepped on a conversational landmine, and really wished she hadn't blurted out that question.

"She's not here anymore."

A lingering silence that stretched on for far too long left a sour taste in Shigure's mouth, who was inwardly cursing herself.

Who comes out and asks 'Hey, what happened to the last guy?' in the middle of a war, where people could die, or sink in this case, in less than a day of arriving at their new post?

She would have face palmed herself right then if it didn't make her look silly.

Before she could kick herself further mentally, Hiei seemed to recover her bright persona, the light suddenly coming back to her eyes, and straightening her back as she looked down patted Shigure's shoulder.

"It's alright!

It's natural for you to ask, since you're new here and all.

The current developer is Akashi-san with my sister, Kirishima, as the assistant, and Akashi also doubles as the Chief Medical Officer of the Fleet!

If you're injured, or want an upgrade, she's your go to girl!"

Hiei boasted as she turned away to continue their journey with her usual gait, seemingly recovered from that faux pas. Shigure hung her head, looking down at her feet in shame and wondering who she was going to piss off next, before trailing behind Hiei.

They reached the Administration Office, more resembling a cross between a hospital and a school building than a military office. A two-floored building that certainly saw damage during its lifespan, where a clock sat atop its centre, with an assembly ground in in front.

The building clearly led to a small garden in a spacing seen through the glass doors, and if she squinted, she could make out the tranquil land housed within these buildings, as if built around it to protect what little sacred land that was untouched by the horrors that lay beyond the ocean's horizon.

Several rooms in the building were lit with activity, she noted, with certain rooms being used either as labs, if test tubes and chemical flasks stacked by the windows were anything to go by, or as classrooms filled with destroyers, likely to educate them on naval tactics, a detailed history of the Abyssal war or even about the technology of the modern age and how they were to fit into society.

She considered asking to be enrolled into some these classes. Knowledge of tactics and the modern world was understood by all ship girls to be critical to success, while the learning of history could at least help learn of the enemy maneuvers.

Anything to give them an edge, no matter how small, against the enemy.

The sheltered walkways to its side led around the building. The edge of the one side of the building was surrounding by scaffolding, likely a restoration of the affected area.

Due to the explanation of Abyssal attacks by Hiei just now, it was easy to assume the damage done to the building was likely to have been the work of at least an Abyssal heavy cruiser class, who could outrange most other ship classes.

The debris by the floor below the scaffolding hadn't been cleared completely, as a small truck carrying the larger pieces were brought on board by the neatly arranged buckets carried by the diligent sailors maintaining the premises, the human caretakers of this base almost omnipresent everywhere she looked.

Hiei reminded,

"Come on. Let's meet up with the Coordinators and drop this file off."

As they approached the door, two adult ship girls exited, wearing metallic headdresses with antennas pointing backwards atop jet black hair, and another pointing forward atop light auburn hair.

Metallic collars held up their sleeveless shirts struggling to contain their well-endowed 'assets', revealing their firm abdomens and a little more skin than Shigure was comfortable with while looking in their direction.

The duo noticed them, and the cheerful auburn haired girl waved her white gloved hand, the other folding her arms while wearing black, finger-less elbow gloves and stood upright, a picturesque form of seniority.

If matching uniforms were anything to go by, and according to the limited data pre-programmed into her, they seemed to be sister ships.

Hiei waved back, noticed Shigure's discomfort, and whispered to her,

"Let's move. You don't want to know how much Mutsu's miniskirt reveals when she starts sashaying."

Which caused Shigure to fight back a slight blush.

Shigure couldn't help but agree as she followed in Hiei's footsteps. How could any ship girl, no matter how brazen they were, wear miniskirts that covered less than a few centimeters of skin?

Coupled with their thigh-highs, garter belts, high heels and their beauty…

She was going to need to get used to this.

"Hey Hiei, is this the new girl? Shigure, was it?

Welcome, I'm Mutsu!"

Short auburn hair coiled down and tickled her exposed cleavage as she bent down to offer her gloved hand to Shigure. Her vibrant green eyes looked into Shigure's ocean blue pupils as Shigure reflexively snapped out of her trance and noticed Mutsu's outstretched hand.

She tried her best to maintain eye contact as she returned the gesture.

Shigure noticed as Mutsu straightened up, that while she was 1.22 meters tall, Hiei was 1.85 meters tall, which made her a fair bit taller due to her status as a fast battleship. Mutsu and company were 2.03 meters tall, which made Shigure feel quite intimidated by the towering, silent guardian that was the black haired woman beside Mutsu, intimidating her through sheer height alone.

Mutsu swung over and slid her arm around the side of her sister ship, oblivious to her commanding aura, inadvertently causing her chest to press against her sister's arm.

"This is Nagato, the Second-in-Command in this base!"

Nagato stood silently, studying Shigure with focused red eyes, not condescending in nature, but seemingly with genuine interest in her abilities.

Finally, when Shigure started to feel like she was wilting under her intense stare, she unfolded her arms and bowed (she _really_ tried to maintain that eye contact) and introduced herself simply.

"My name is Nagato.

Welcome to the base. We have the theater prepared to brief you on the current situation."

As Mutsu unhanded her, Nagato turned her back to them and walked into the base, a silent cue to follow.

Nagato walked ahead, regal yet matching the pace of the group. Hiei and Shigure walked side by side, the destroyer secretly struggling to keep up with the larger pace of the battleships as Mutsu trailed behind.

The floorboards, made of wood, were tailored to support the weight of the ship girls, creaking underneath the massive weight of the Nagato and Kongou-class battleships, while it barely made a peep under Shigure's weight.

The evening sun radiated a light hue of orange through the windows, something that escaped Shigure's observant eyes as she was starting to feel a rumbling in her stomach, a recommendation made by the ship girls of Kure to travel on a light stomach.

 _'You don't want to empty your stomach on the off chance of the rough waves making you sick.'_

Although the journey had been fairly smooth sailing off the coast of Japan, she was grateful for the advice of the various ship classes when she set off. By the calculations of the Kure Base's secretary Ooyodo, she would be in Yokosuka in time for dinner, so it was unnecessary to stockpile on fuel.

She'd miss them, but she knew this was where she belonged now, so no point in getting too sentimental.

Coming up on a door that the nameship of the Nagato-Class opened while Shigure noted the extra effort to try not to simply crush the handle of the door with the titanic strength that she possessed as a reincarnated battleship, Shigure saw nothing but pitch-black darkness within that made her freeze up slightly at being herded somewhere without light, but Hiei placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she whispered comfortingly in her ear while looking her in the eye,

"Don't worry, it's just a movie theater, and we'll be with you the entire time."

As she exhaled a breath that she ahd no idea she was holding out of a slight trepidation of the unknown, nodding thankfully at the Nagato-Class battleship's courteous move of holding the door for her to enter the movie theater.

The small theater was actually rather well-lit from the inside, and it was the entrance that was left unlit as Shigure entered, noting everything from the tough looking long steel benches that were lined up five-in-a-row for them to sit while facing the projector screen.

There were a few lamps to illuminate the place and to plunge it into darkness later, and the projector screen that was the closest thing they could use as a clear platform to project images on hung on the wall at the far end of the room, as well as the small electronic box that was hanging on the ceiling, looking to be the primary source of illumination as it shone a plain blue screen on the projector screen.

This setup was likely often used by the base to try and educate ship girls and newly recruited human sailors alike about the war, seeing that the seats were well-worn and that Shigure figured it was easier for them to simply sit them all down together and watch some sort of prerecorded video about the situation behind the war instead of trying to spend time teaching the ship girls about the various functions of the ship girl HUD and get them to stand around idly, watching a video in their own ship girl minds while the newly recruited human sailors stood around confused and oblivious to the entire situation.

Shigure sat down on the bench, feeling two enormous presences making themselves comfortable beside and behind her, Shigure looking up to see that Hiei was sitting down beside her while Nagato had plopped down on the bench behind them, folding her arms and nodding mysteriously to her as the steel bench creaked underneath her weight.

Hiei winked at her as she leaned in to whisper to Shigure in an encouraging tone,

"There's no need to be afraid.

We're here."

Shigure gulped, exhaling again as her body relaxed somewhat, again feeling somewhat reassured that she wouldn't be left alone in the dark, despite the lamps currently staying on as the projector made a barely audible buzzing noise upon starting up.

The sources of illumination dimmed, and Shigure inhaled sharply as she prepared herself for a history lesson about the war that the ship girls had to be resurrected in order to fight a war to protect all of mankind.

A ship girl logo, the complicated character ' **艦これ** ' in a golden font surrounded by a pair of green leaves assembled to resemble a crown while being held together by a shining gold anchor at the bottom of the symbol, representing their advanced race and lingering for a solid five seconds before fading to black.

he next scene had Nagato herself appearing on screen next whilst standing before a green screen as she narrated.

"Greetings, everyone.

I believe that you may have a few questions about the war and how it all started, but perhaps a quick introduction of the events that occurred ever since the start of this war might answer a few of your questions.

In 1994, a Japanese cruise ship off the coast of Okinawa spotted a school of Abyssal destroyers, each about the size of a goblin shark as the fishermen captured one, which made waves through the government upon noting its unique biology."

Shigure nodded at the image of various Abyssal flitting through the screen behind a stoic Nagato on-screen, noting that the one or two Abyssals that she had fought and observed at a safe distance were rather alien-esque in appearance, and their designs were sinister, carrying weapons around and touting them as though ready to wipe out their mortal enemies on the battlefield, the ship girls.

The recording of Nagato continued as she continued to look into the camera and therefore at her, Shigure gulping at the intensity reflected in the battleship's eyes as someone who had to lead the Yokosuka Naval Base whenever the Admiral wasn't around.

"For several months, Abyssal Cruisers and Destroyers appeared throughout the Japanese Archipelago and a fair distance off the coast of the United States of America, Germany, and India, which was important in helping us keep the knowledge of this invasion contained, away from the eyes of the world aside from a few internet rumors, which were heavily censored.

As the world governments confirmed that such enemies were not the work of any terrorist organization or country, we tried to bring them down with everything short of a tactical nuclear strike, for obvious reasons.

It took around 7 ICBMs, or a full shelling by battleships, destroyers and carriers to destroy a fleet of Abyssal destroyers and cruisers due to their ability to submerge in the time it takes to get a lock-on on them, which meant such meant such methods were impractical for a battle of attrition, especially the speed of response which was difficult for even a conventional destroyer to achieve in order to hit a human-sized Abyssal, which first popped up around August 1995.

We were starting to get desperate around the development of Abyssal battleships in 1997, when we made a breakthrough."

"The Research and Development Branch of the Ministry of Defense made contact with the Fairies, little deformed humanoids who claimed to have the answer to the Abyssal threat, and introduced the then-foreign and seemingly arcane concept of ship girls, to combat an unconventional enemy through unconventional means.

The first destroyer summoned was the name-ship Mutsuki of the Mutsuki-Class."

The screen now changed to show the blueprints of a prepubescent ship girl like Shigure, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer noting Mutsuki's weapons and the rigging shaped a little like a backpack, the destroyer having her arms raised horizontally and slightly at an angle like the Vitruvian Man, her weapons also on display beside her and available for viewing from the front, top and side angles.

"With their guidance, we spent our resources on small-scale construction efforts to create a fleet consisting of a few light cruisers and destroyers.

The rest of the world followed suit, due to us 'leaking' our secrets to get the other countries to cooperate, and to simply close the gap in terms of the number of ship girls compared to the innumerable enemies that spawned from the depths.

During the first few months of sorties, we had to stick to guerrilla tactics due to the disparity in numbers and managed to hold the line for several years.

In 2003, the decision was made to go public due to the Abyssals stepping up their game, and secrecy was getting harder to maintain."

Cue a cut to a live footage recorded from some sort news channel, the date clearly stating the date on that day to be February 23 2003 as Nagato herself was talking on the screen behind Nagato.

It was slightly surreal, not the entire 'sunk ships reincarnating into girls to fight against aliens' feeling, since that the wonder that previously consumed her had already petered out after exactly 3 hours, 22 minutes and 12 seconds of her being in a state of awe upon coming back to life, but rather the fact that Shigure was sitting in a room with Nagato while watching a recording of the same battleship on screen before her, while a smaller screen behind the on-screen Nagato was showing another Nagato talking to the press.

It was quite the headache, simply trying to make sense of it all as Shigure shook her head and focused.

"When we went global, the backlash was initially great.

Not exactly from the governments who were unaware of the ship girl program, but mostly from the public, enraged that we were sending girls, some looking to be teenagers and children, out to fight what seemed like aliens.

The Abyssal Princesses came soon after that, a being more powerful than even that of a battleship that we weren't prepared enough for and made quick work of us despite our best efforts.

When the media got wind of that massacre, there was an uproar to give us ship girls some form of rights and at least some form of protection that made sure we weren't being sent to our deaths if it wasn't necessary.

Around the latter half of the year, after a number of protests, and us ship girls threatening to rebel, the government relented and granted us ship girl rights, and a means to report our Admirals to the proper authorities if we were being abused or neglected, in which there'd be a formal investigation and a court martial if necessary."

The screen now changed into a horizontal straight line, grabbing Shigure's attention as she saw what was a timeline of events after World War 2, showing slightly more familiar images of war and death that all ship girls felt was a natural part of their life, the highlights now displaying the events on the white timeline as the names of the major events were typed in capital letters above the accompanying image.

Nagato was shifting her stance as the extreme left of the line went skipped back in time to showcase a mushroom cloud, Shigure noting the impressive effort on the battleship's part not to look uncomfortable.

"This is but a simple timeline of major events that took place after World War 2 to get you ship girls up to speed on world events.

Starting after the dropping of two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to signal the end of World War 2, the world has moved on and made significant progress in terms of improving the livelihood of humans all around the world.

But even then, they still committed a few blunders even after the war's end, starting with the Cold War that would've wiped out most of humanity with the stockpiling of nuclear warheads and a dangerous game played between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

Smaller wars have occurred between the Soviets and Americans and the ugly side of mankind occasionally raises its head, what with the Korean and Vietnam War, along with the Khmer Rouge, the Great Chinese Famine and the 9/11 Twin Towers incident.

The Iraq War and the War on Terrorism to combat extremists in the Middle East was... unfortunate, but it was a chance for ship girls to experience land combat as well as aid human soldiers in battles, which helped spare the human lives that would have been sacrificed accomplishing but a fraction of what we were capable of."

The timeline's point of interest shifted to the right as various images were projected behind the Nagato-Class battleship, Shigure hungrily lapping up all this new knowledge of the world and its events as Nagato continued.

"Some of the accomplishments that humans have achieved after World War 2 was sending men into space by the now-defunct Soviet Union, and eventually to the moon by the Americans.

Technological advancements also meant that citizens of the world are now more closely connected to each other than ever before as mankind became more modernized, any one of us now able to get in touch with a citizen of another country via a simple call.

Others, like breaking the sound barrier, the invention of computers and the internet after that, the ending of slavery and mainstream discrimination as well as different countries like Africa, India and Singapore gaining independence, the establishment of equal rights for women and the growing acceptance of minorities are all a part of what humans are truly really capable of."

The screen behind the on-screen Nagato blacked out, and Shigure was slightly surprised at that as Nagato looked right into Shigure's eyes, the destroyer now really seeing the genuine concern and camaraderie that the stoic battleship allowed to seep through her demeanor, something that would resonate in those who had fought in _that_ war more than half a century ago, but might pass over over the heads of the young human sailors as Nagato wrapped up the video.

"And that all would have continued, until the Abyssals showed up to disrupt the peace on a global scale.

Their motives, sadly, are unknown besides the complete annihilation of mankind and likely the assimilation, or what we call 'Abyssalization' of all ship girls, an Abyssalized ship girl suffering a loss of her own identity and free will, and forced to turn on our own sisters and former comrades.

We've kept them at bay, the war having gone on for quite a while now.

I ask of you all to rise to the call once again, and fight for humanity once more.

We all should strive to expand all possible efforts in aiding the war effort, be it expeditions or sorties, all to bring an end to this war at all costs.

But in order to do that, do take some time to relax, for there is no immediate need for you to jump back into battle so soon."

Nagato's face softened a touch as she regarded only the ship girls this time, asking of them to learn to appreciate this second chance in life, and all the opportunities it had in store for them.

"Get back in touch with your sister ships and comrades whom you fought alongside with in the war, and take advantage of your ability to communicate with them to get to know them better in this life.

This is still a war after all, and despite our best assurances, there's no telling when any one of us might perish in battle.

And there's another matter."

Nagato's expression now hardened slightly again, Shigure seeing that the ship girl on-screen was now looking more like a parent who had to give a serious talk with her children that were the rookie ship girls, and almost knowing that there might be some resistance upon this next point being brought up.

"I won't be so audacious as to simply ask of you to let go of whatever grudges you may have against our main enemies, the Americans, at the drop of a hat.

But know that the Japan of the present has close ties with America, both politically and economically, and our hatred of them that may have existed in the past does nothing except to blind us to the concepts of international teamwork and acceptance, something that is essential in this war to even hope to win against the Abyssals, who are an international menace and their numbers too great for any one particular country to handle.

Put aside everything you previously knew about this world and how we are to fight wars, and accept this new life as a chance to start anew, make new friends and find new comrades to sail into battle with.

And as one ship girl to another, welcome back."

Shigure could barely see a ghost of a smile flicker over the usually-stoic battleship's face, something that caused an unrecognizable feeling to well up in her chest as one of her comrade-in-arms that doubled as a commanding officer officially welcomed her back, sitting in the darkness as the screen slowly faded to black, trying to take in everything that she had learnt.

The world had moved on after the war, away from the atrocities of the Nazis and Japanese to move forward and attempt to build a more peaceful world.

They had certainly fumbled in that quest, but their accomplishments and progress had been nothing short of miraculous, Shigure barely able to comprehend how a human, frail beings that they were, was able to reach the seemingly untouchable moon.

And the Abyssals that they were called upon to fight and defend mankind against.

A complete mystery other than their mission to invade and wipe out all of mankind, and the endless hordes of Abyssals that spawned from the depths to accomplish their one goal with no definite end to this war in sight as their enemies lurked deep beneath the ocean where mankind feared to tread.

Shigure sighed, feeling thankful for each breath which was a sign that this wasn't all some sort of twisted dream that might fall apart at any moment, where she'd be back at the bottom of the sea, chillingly alone and yet somehow strangely at peace with her final resting location.

Being escorted by Hiei and Nagato out of the theater as the lights started to come on slowly, basking the room in a warm light of increasing intensity as she kept her thoughts to herself and tried to go through everything in her mind while trying not to stumble over the bench legs, exiting the theater and re-entering the somewhat more relaxing afternoon corridor as the sun shone in through the windows, Mutsu rejoining them as Shigure connected the dots and guessed that the second Nagato-Class battleship likely controlled the projector to play the video.

Heading into the Admiral's office after walking up a flight of steps and entering the third door on the left, Shigure thought that the office looked rather tame, yet revealing a few things about the Admiral without ever having to see her commander in person.

The window on the left side of the room shone down on the Admiral's desk and empty chair, perpendicular to the window. A map of the world's oceans with marker arrows and magnetized ship cut-outs adorning the wall to the right of the room, and a crayon-drawn laminated banner written 'Sixth Destroyer Division' hanging above the seat.

The childish drawing was drawn in bright crayons, and was attempting to portray a grinning girl with an eye patch and with what seemed like cat ears on the bottom right of the banner with purple-colored crayons.

The well-worn sofa beneath the global map seemed to unfold into a bed and was littered with scribbled notes, construction orders stamped 'APPROVED' or 'DENIED', with Red Bull cans and instant-coffee packs as seen through two transparent garbage bags, one wrapped around the other to prevent whatever liquid contents that remained from seeping into the floor.

Nagato turned to send a pleading look to Mutsu, who giggled, stepped forward, picking up the trash bag and headed out.

Nagato rounded the desk, also having stationery scattered through every available square inch, and apparently onto some shorter drawers adjacent to it, except for the laptop on the desk.

From set squares to compasses, to the two stamps she observed earlier. Nagato moved the laptop and placed it in an available drawer, then eased herself into the Admiral's seat, lowering her elbows onto the table and adopting the Gendo Pose.

Shigure stood at attention in the middle of the room, while Hiei placed the folder she held all this time in between Nagato's elbows on the table and made herself comfortable leaning against a wall, hands in her pockets.

Nagato shifted, trying to make things easier for the destroyer, which held an air of consternation and coiled muscles around clenched fists.

"As you watched the video just now, we're fighting the Abyssals and holding the line, but we're gathering our forces that have been sent all around the world to consolidate our forces to prepare for a retaliatory strike.

We've got the back-up and full support from the public and government. They donate whatever whatever surplus resources they have to help out in the war effort, which makes things much easier for us."

Pointing to the map in the room as all eyes were drawn to the heavily annotated diagram, Nagato continued.

"Right now, we've established a Safety Zone around Japan, which means that our economy is holding up right now due to ship girls guarding the supply lines from America off the Russo-Japanese and Alaskan coast, and in between China and Japan in the Sea of Japan."

The lines that indicated the supply lines were marked in green, hugging the coast of Korea and sliding down the Gulf of Alaska into American seas, and connecting China to Japan via a few transport lines.

Several lines led from Singapore in South East Asia, stopping by a few Indian ports and into the Suez Canal that led into Europe, coupled with the lines connecting Eastern Canada to the United Kingdom to supply the German and Italian front.

Whereas the blue contour lines surrounding them likely indicated the ship girls' area of influence, indicating a strong presence in the Indian Ocean, the Alaskan, American and European coasts and circling around major coastal countries like South America and Africa, near the Andes mountain range and radiating from coastal Europe, in contrast to the red lines, circling most of the isolated areas further into the Pacific Ocean and surrounding Greenland, the epicenter of the Abyssal menace right in the heart of the Pacific.

A few lines streamed down the center-line of the Atlantic Ocean and snaked around the South African and Northern Russian continents to occupy the Antarctic and Arctic Oceans respectively.

Nagato provided commentary to the sight in front of Shigure.

"Right now, we've defended our supply lines in the Indian ocean well enough to give our supply lines leading to Germany some breathing room, as the Abyssals have been hitting up some English coasts and need the help.

The Americans have protected their coasts, but until the Germans can push back the Abyssals, they'll continue to sail up the Atlantic and down the Arctic to push forward the two-pronged attack they've been running with to assault the American and European coast.

We were also planning to push back out into the Pacific, and head down South to scout out the Abyssal bases in the Antarctic.

The Americans have expressed an interest to coordinate a two-pronged attack with our advance into the Pacific, but it's still in the works.

The human race depends on us to hold the line, seeing that we are the most effective way to combat the threat out there.

I don't want to sound bleak, but during the course of this war, we've mostly had to play catch-up and be on the defense.

An enemy which doesn't express any clear motives, remorse, any hints of an origin and their true end goal despite our best investigative efforts, except …"

With a chest-heaving sigh and gently gripping the arm-rests, the chair skidded back across the wooden floor as Nagato sluggishly rose up to move over to Shigure, as she deduced by the creaking of the floorboards.

As Nagato approached and looked down to address her, Shigure looked up and noticed the stress lines on the edge of her eyes that contrasted with the natural beauty of all ship girls, and the slight sign of exhaustion that lied behind the prideful and piercing eyes of the battleship.

"It's alright though.

These things, right now, are beyond your capability to handle. Leave them to us.

Right now, you should go and get some dinner.

Take the time off to get to know the ship girls and Fairies here, and Hiei will show you your room before lights out. We start training tomorrow and starting Fleet drills tomorrow."

Shigure looked down and acquiesced after a while, wanting to know more, but the pang of pain that shot through her stomach and Nagato's insistence finally persuaded her and replied with a meek,

"Yes Ma'am".

Hiei took that as her cue to get off the wall, taking her hands out of her pockets and put a hand on Shigure's shoulder to guide her out of the office. Silently walking away from the Nagato-Class battleship, Shigure passively listened to the Kongou-Class battleship as she prattled on about something or another.

"Well, now that we're done with dinner, let's show you to your room in the barracks.

You must be tired, after sailing straight from Kure.

I know that my sister and the Admiral well enough, so my best guess is that the Admiral would want to meet you, and my infatuated sister ship would be clinging onto her..."

Leaving Nagato alone with her thoughts, standing alone in the room as she looked back at the map wordlessly and taking in the situation, the last thing that Shigure could see before the door closed itself behind the duo, cutting off Shigure's view as she lowered her head and nodded listlessly to Hiei's one-sided conversation.

* * *

Dinner was a relatively simple affair, everyone in the base at least mildly curious as to what kind of ship girl Shigure was, seeing that her World War 2 counterpart was relatively well-known for being a lucky ship, Shigure looking down and trying not to draw too much attention to herself

There were girls like Maya who were clearly stronger than the rank-and-file ship girls, the heavy cruiser possessing toned muscles on a lithe body, with a turquoise green beret and a sleeveless girl scout uniform that complemented her biceps and supple, rounded shoulders.

She radiated strength through her cheerful demeanor a pride that was likely earned through hard work as she flexed her impressive, bulging muscles like some sort of bizarre bodybuilder's mating dance to awe Shigure, Hiei giving her look that simply told her to just go along the more colorful personalities quietly.

They were loud and eager to know about their new comrade, but could also sense her quiet nature and eased off the inquisition whenever she seemed overwhelmed.

The other kind was like Hibiki, a quiet, Russian-Japanese girl with a vacant attitude and a sharp eye for character, quietly observing her. Sporting a schoolgirl uniform with bleached hair held down by her black sailor's hat, the canteen was silent as she came up and asked Shigure a question, and watched her response.

"You can't protect everyone all the time, Shigure-san.

The war we that sunk us all proved that.

Now that you're here, are you going to fight to avenge those who have sunk?"

Shigure was quiet as the crowd waited with bated breath for her response.

Finally, she replied.

"I don't believe I currently have any right to say this, but I'd rather fight for those who're still alive.

I'll get stronger, of course, and I do remember and honor my sunken comrades.

But the dead don't seek vengeance, and I don't think my friends are so weak as to need me to protect them." Smiling down from her seat, her head tilted as she retorted.

"But don't let that stop you from asking for my protection.

I will become stronger than you, after all."

A chorus of _"OOOOHHHHHHHHH"_ s reverberated throughout the room, as Hibiki brought her black cap down to acknowledge Shigure with a nod, as well as to hide her smirk as she slipped away, a faint

"We'll see about that." was made out through the cheering of the dispersing ship girl crowd.

Hiei explained as they ate their food, that girls like Maya had been upgraded twice, the first level of upgrades being Kai, and the second being Kai Ni.

To achieve such a level required not just the existence of a second remodel that was available, but also hard work and a good battle record achieved through hard work and the blood, sweat and tears of the ship girl.

If the Admiral was confident enough to 'invest' in the ship girl's second remodel, they could access a power that elevated them above rank-and-file ship girls.

Not that Kai was an insignificant upgrade, Hiei noted. It was a major step up from being the 'default' model, in which ship girls could reach a skill cap, and be frustrated seeing their growth plateau.

Kai was a cheap enough upgrade and meant that a higher skill cap could be achieved and unlocked new possibilities, in which Kai Ni was more expensive than a Kai upgrade, but could reach limits that she claimed Shigure couldn't even begin to fathom right now.

Nodding at that, she noted two other females approaching, one of them having her hands wrapped affectionately around the arm of the other, the ship girl in question being a young female adult with two buns atop her brown hair with an ahoge, two loose braids hanging down her forehead while wearing a black skirt and thigh-highs.

She wore a miko uniform with her metal-winged headband like her sister ship Hiei and was certainly rather expressive of her love for the other female adult, Shigure noting out the corner of her eye that Hiei wasn't hiding her jealousy of the white-clothed female, Shigure coming to the conclusion that Hiei likely loved her sister ship in more ways than one, seeing that their uniforms matched almost to a tee.

It was the white-clothed female adult that she was observing, the destroyer having been unable to sense anything from her despite already figuring out that she was the Admiral, since there was a certain 'feeling' that all ship girls exuded to distinguish themselves from a human, some weaker signatures fainter than others who were stronger.

The woman standing before her had the signature white trousers and coat of an Admiral, the coat hung over her shoulders like a cape draped over her exercise top that was covering her decently-sized bust.

Her toned and sleek body was partially obscured by her coat and top, but Shigure could see her firm abdomen muscles exposed beneath her top, which indicated the Admiral's physical prowess which Shigure personally didn't want to be on the receiving end of.

Her short hair was tied up in a bun behind her head, atop which sat a black and white officer's cap with the insignia of the Japanese Navy proudly emblazoned upon it. Her epaulets displayed four stars on each shoulder, which meant that she was of a _very_ high-rank.

Admiral Mako raised her hand to hand-wave away Shigure's attempt to get up from her canteen chair to bow down to her, chuckling as she commented on her being here.

"Oh, don't worry about greeting me with a bow all the time; I'm not so good with such stifling customs, and I personally make it a mission to meet any ship girl newcomers.

Admiral Mako here, your commanding officer and the leader of the Yokosuka Naval Base."

The Kongou-Class battleship jumped up and glomped the Admiral, cheerily announcing with a fair bit of English sprinkled into her Japanese.

"And I'm Kongou, Hiei's sister and Admiral's one true lover, DESU!"

Admiral Mako cooed as she patted Kongou's head, reminding her about her relationship with all the ship girls.

"Don't be like that, Kongou-chan.

You know that you're not my only girlfriend, right?

I have Yamato, Nagato, Ashigara and Musashi, amongst others, as my other girlfriends, and it wouldn't be fair to them and lill' ol' me if I only have one girlfriend and reject the others, right?

And besides, I love all ship girls, especially those that are in my base, so you know that I strive to express that love for them in every way I can, hmm?"

Kongou closed her eyes as her eyebrows furrowed, releasing one hand to clench determinedly as she conceded.

"Aye, when you put it that way, I see your point, Admiral Mako!

But I won't give up on our relationship so easily here, and I'll make you accept me as your first wife with my Burning Love, desu!"

And Hiei couldn't take the scene anymore, hurling herself on her sister and inadvertently shoving her weight onto her Admiral as she exclaimed,

"Onee-sama, don't always look at Admiral Mako!

I, too, want to be in a relationship with Kongou Onee-sama as well!"

"Ahh, Hiei, be careful, desu!

The Admiral can't take the weight of two battleships..."

The trio eventually fell onto the floor, an entanglement of limbs as Hiei hugged her sister ship tightly while Kongou hugged her own Admiral in turn, while her Admiral was struggling whilst trying her best to push herself up despite two fast battleships weighing her down as a few ship girls rushed over to help them up.

And Shigure was sitting there, unblinking with her dull eyes staring off into space as she tried to wrap her head around this next tidbit of information that she learnt about her Admiral and the ship girls of the Yokosuka Naval Base.

A lesbian Admiral who commanded one of the most powerful bases in Japan, if not the world, and casually spoke of a polygamous relationship with some of the most powerful ship girls of Japan, especially the revered battleships of the Yamato-Class and the Nagato-Class.

Sure, she could feel that the Admiral was genuine in her words and her love for them was undeniable if the tone of her words were anything to go by, as well as the way she softly and fondly patted Kongou on the head, but Shigure was still unable to process this fully as she had only one word to respond to the commotion before her.

 _'What.'_

* * *

As Shigure stood up and they both deposited their plates near the sink near the canteen door, Hiei commented about the base and what time should they be back in the barracks.

"We usually set curfew at around 10 pm, so the bedrooms will be mostly empty at this hour.

Don't worry. You'll meet your team tomorrow. They'll be there for you, as will I and my sisters."

The entirety of the walk to the barracks was spent in silence, Shigure content to let the fuel and various human foods digest in her stomach, starting to feel the exhaustion that came with spending a large part of the day sailing, and the impact of having to deal with a new base and new friends, while Hiei decided that Shigure must've been exhausted and perhaps a little overwhelmed by today's events and revelations, and was perfectly fine to let the comfortable silence linger.

The fluorescent lights that gently lit up the corridors that they walked along were surrounded by mayflies, circling around the light source in a chaotic dance, oddly fast and energetic for little beings with a lifespan of less than a day. The comfortable and quiet chirping of crickets, camouflaged and hidden within the recesses of the base, served to fill the air between the two ship girls, both quietly retiring into the night.

Hiei stopped in front of a door, a nameplate etched ' **白露** ', indicating the Shiratsuyu-class destroyer bedroom that lay beyond the 2-paneled, simple mahogany door in front of them.

"Well Shigure, this is it."

Shigure quietly opened the door as Hiei stood back.

The destroyer bedroom was rather spacious, clearly accounting for the number of the sisters Shigure had. Double-decker beds stood in silent vigil, lined up in rank and file to ensure simple navigation in the dark.

The ambient light from the corridor shone into the room, illuminating the space before her as she spotted the window at the end of the room that was open to allow fresh air in.

If she looked close enough (and she really didn't wish to, she was quite tired from today's events), she could see the individual removable name tags pasted onto the bed frames, likely indicating the names of her sisters.

Shigure didn't wish to turn on the lights to interrupt anyone's beauty sleep or startle anyone in the room, so she dragged herself onto the nearest bed, plopping down on its comfortable sheets and looking up to Hiei for affirmation.

The battleship, now in the room, lightly chuckled, and nodded to the destroyer, noting.

"You're tired, I get it.

Good night, Shigure."

"Good night, Hiei-san."

Turning her back and closing the door with nary a peep, Shigure was left supine on the bed, finally getting some time to collect her thoughts in the darkness shortly before deciding to leave the thinking and worrying to tomorrow.

Right now, she needed some sleep to rest up and prepare herself since meeting her team tomorrow was going to be quite an experience, if the colorful personalities of today were any indication.

Not that she had anything against her fellow ship girls, having worked with quite a lot of them during her 'lucky' streak during the war. It's just that she hadn't had the time to properly get acquainted with being a ship girl.

The previous base simply told them of their basic functions, and shoved a weapon, identified as a 12.7cm Twin Gun Mount, into her hand before teaching her how the wars of today was to be fought.

They must've sent a message to the bases that took in the transferring ship girls to fill them in on world history, the Kure Naval base more focused on securing their supply lines down South East Asia that went through Singapore into the Bay of Bengal. Then the transfer order came to simply sail to Yokosuka, not 3 hours after she came back from her first two sorties.

She sighed.

All in all, it wasn't so bad being resurrected as a ship girl.

At least they had some rights as sentient beings, and Admirals now had some semblance of accountability, preventing them from going overboard with their commands.

She and the newly created ship girls back in Kure had all survived their sorties, mostly because they were in protected waters and were engaged in simple skirmishes by guided by more experienced ship girls to teach them the ropes.

She couldn't help but think back to Nagato and Hiei, the burden of war surrounding them and weighing them down, and was visible through the chinks of the armor that was their personas, likely due to carrying the burdens of the war and heavy responsibility that was the safety and well-being of the ship girls under their charge.

She wondered if she would eventually look like that, with stress lines, a ton of regrets and guilt weighing her down, and a thousand-yard stare acquired through the loss of those closest to you.

After all, that was how she pretty much felt the last time she fought in a war.

It was the last thought that ran through the little destroyer's mind as she allowed the darkness to envelop her, her mind drifting away and Shigure eventually falling asleep to conclude today's events.


	2. Chapter 2 - The 2nd Fast Response Fleet

Sunlight trickled into the Shiratsuyu-class bedroom through the window panes, the salty sea breeze that filled the room a result of the open window at the end of the room, complemented by the soft buzz of the HUD alarm as Shigure yawned and slowly pried open her heavy eyelids.

Sleeping through the night had helped her process the food from last night's dinner, and was uninterrupted by her sisters who likely didn't want to wake her up.

A mental command that was sent through her mind seemed to stop the alarm clock in her mind that read,

'29 March 2015

8.30 a.m.'

And was the final cue for Shigure's brain to kick in and slowly take stock of her situation.

She slowly clenched her hand and savored the soft and plump texture of the pillow she laid on instead of cold, hard bed-rock that she last remembered before slipping into an eternal slumber, the texture of the fabric alien to a ship girl who had previously only known the cold, heavy edge of steel in her hands.

An android.

That was what they called her as they welcomed her into existence. To her knowledge, they were human-like robots, who could think and feel like any regular Poi off the streets.

That had also meant that they could feel pain, and were also prone to emotional outbursts. In the quick tour around Kure, it was said that among the upsides to being an android was that if they were ever injured, they could take a steel patch, the human equivalent of Band-Aids, and plaster the affected area with the appropriate number of layers.

The injury would then heal in a time that was generously estimated to be proportional to the severity of the injury.

The docks, heated baths pumped with nano-machines specializing in restorative medical surgery, were an alternative along with the damage control Fairies that can be carried into battles, with the fastest option in the base being the quick-repair bucket, granting a fast recovery for a recovering ship girl.

Or a dying one.

Shigure squeezed the pillow in her slightly quivering left hand, tears threatening to escape her watering eyes, wondering how unlucky she was to have been summoned to fight again.

The last time she fought, she was the lone survivor who always managed to be the last man standing when the battle ended.

She wasn't kidding when she told Hibiki yesterday that she'd train to be stronger this time around. She wanted to become stronger to slowly find her way around this world and make peace with herself.

And when she was strong enough, seek out her friends and be reunited with them, and beg them for forgiveness.

But this was a new life, and with it came new opportunities to get stronger alongside new comrades and protect her friends and family, a goal that she was going to make sure she accomplished no matter what this time round.

* * *

Meeting up with Hiei after a filling breakfast was the first order in the morning. The thrill of having a new ship girl arriving had mostly worn off, especially since she was a new destroyer, but a few curious ship girls approached her in the morning to welcome her.

Since she woke up relatively early in the morning, she didn't look around the Shiratsuyu-class bedroom to see which of her sisters was in this base to rendezvous with the Kongou-Class battleship first thing in the morning. Hiei chaperoned her around the base as she listed a few Fleet compositions during and after breakfast.

"Our Base has eight fleets, one of the largest in the world.

Due to the leadership of the Admiral, who's been commanding the Yokosuka Naval Base for the entirety of its ten years as a ship girl base, we're often the vanguard when it comes to any sort of major naval battle.

I won't go into too much detail of any of the fleets, but we have a few fleets and line-ups to address different situations and needs.

The current Fast Response Fleet that can be sent out at a moment's notice is made up of Flag Ship Sendai, with Yuudachi, Furutaka, Hatsushimo, Shimakaze and Ryuujou.

And please sit down, Shigure. Yes, your sister is in this base, also a product of a recent construction effort.

Hey, are you choking on your food there? You don't look so good…"

"Whew, thank God for the Heimlich Maneuver, just because we're ship girls doesn't mean we can't be affected by everyday stuff, so watch out!

Hm, the 3rd Fleet is the Backup to our fleets in the base. Ashigara leads the team that consists of Haguro, Nagato, Yukikaze, Abukuma and Amagi. We had to really go all-out for that last girl!

Hey cheer up! At least no one sank, and she's insistent on pulling her own weight around here."

"The 4th Fleet is rather flexible, taking on all roles and comers! They are also sent out on expeditions, in case the supply lines are strained under enemy fire.

Not that we can't do expeditions, it's just that being at the forefront of the war has its perks, like getting a larger bulk of supplies sent in from the mainland and from our supply lines, as well as being able to send out many smaller fleets to gather resources! Myoukou, Nachi, Shiranui, Goya, Hiryuu and Kagerou of The 4th Fleet!"

"The 5th Fleet specializes in Scouting, led by Chikuma. Developers say her blueprint Kai Ni allows her to have one of the highest Line-of-Sight amongst all ship girls!

Mutsuki, Jintsuu, Shoukaku, Zuikaku, and Akatsuki are in the team. Imagine being able to see your enemies coming from over the horizon, and preparing for whatever formation they're in! That's what they do!"

"The 6th Fleet brings forth the thunder, as Akagi, Soryuu, Chitose and Kisaragi are led by Kaga.

The payload they deliver can drop entire Abyssal Fleets in their opening strike!

Ahh, but they are mostly relegated to bombardment duty, since their follow-up is rather weak…"

"The 7th Fleet is the true backbone of our firepower, as the greatest battleship to ever exist, Yamato, leads the 7th Fleet!

My Onee-sama, Kongou is in there too, with Atago, Shouhou, Hibiki, and the German Battleship Bismarck, sent here on an extended overseas exchange program!"

"The 8th Fleet is the Specialization Fleet, full of quirky ship girls who specialize in a particular field! Hayasui, Kiso, Hatsuzuki, Akitsu Maru, and Unryuu, are all led by Akashi the repair girl!"

"Among the girls on this base are ship girls who are bench-warmers, and they are often called on to replace injured, or preoccupied ship girls on missions! I won't name them all, but you have a general idea of how large we are as a Base! So, Shigure, did you get all that?"

A blank-faced Shigure instantly replied to the enthusiastic Hiei,

"Not really."

Causing Hiei to trip over herself and kiss the ground.

Looking up to Shigure with a bruised forehead atop a dumbstruck expression that contrasted with Shigure's innocent, and frankly quite amused expression, Hiei exclaimed.

"HHIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! You really didn't get any of that?!

Despite your ship girl functions likely helping you record this conversation?"

Shigure started to feel a giggle coming on as she watched her senior's expressive range of emotions, and tried to keep a straight face as she pacified Hiei.

"No Hiei, I know all of those ship girls. I participated in the war, remember?

It's just that, I prefer to meet them in person to get a feel of how they are now, since we were all ships in our previous lives. The ones I really paid attention to were the big-shots like Nagato, Yamato, Kongou, Kaga-san, and my sister, Yuudachi."

Then smiling, added. "And you too, of course.

You're the Emperor's Battleship, after all."

A blushing recovery hastily made to cover up her transparent happiness, Hiei was as happy as a lark as she pushed off the floor to pull herself back up to her full height.

Not a lot of people had looked up to her before!

Most had certainly looked up to either Kirishima or Kongou, leaving Hiei and Haruna content to simply stand back and admire the respective brains and brawn of their Four-girl band. But every so often, someone like Shigure would come up and say something along the lines of,

"Wow! You're the Emperor's Battleship! You must be strong! I wanna be like you someday!"

It made her chest swell to know that she had a few admirers out there.

Dusting herself off to make her way to their destination, Hiei stuttered.

"W-Well, lip service isn't going to make me treat you any differently compared to anyone else!

A lesson one learns around here is to put your money where your mouth is, so you'd better do your best not to slow me down, got it?"

Shigure, nonplussed, pointed out.

"But you're the one who stopped to face plant the floor."

Causing Hiei to miss a step and reunite her face with the floorboard of the barracks.

* * *

Stepping into the Light Carrier Barracks, Shigure reviewed the recorded memory of Hiei's exposition, finally concluding,

"So am I in a Fleet?

You didn't seem to say the composition and purpose of the last fleet, and Nagato told me that today was the Fleet exercise, which leads me to conclude that I might be a part of it."

Hiei, a slight air of resignation and nursing her bruised forehead, turned to her to confirm.

"Yep, you and I are to be in the 1st Fleet, along with Ayanami, Tenryuu, Tatsuta and Junyou to be the Second Fast Response team, also known as the 1st Fleet.

We're made up of Light Carriers, Destroyers, along with a Light Carrier and a Fast Battleship." pointing her thumb up at herself,

"We can go anywhere in a relatively short period of time while bringing significant fire and air power to the battlefield to protect our turf."

"So do we work together with the 2nd Fleet to cover more ground?"

"Yep. Our analysts estimated that having only one Fast Response team wasn't enough, especially if the Abyssals decide to mount an offensive on several fronts.

Not out of the question for them as we don't even know the upper limit to how many of them they can send out to attack us.

So when we finally created the last Fleet, we decided to shuffle the groups around to try to keep up with the Abyssal threat."

Shigure noted that they were outside the Hiyou-Class Light Carrier bedroom, marked out with a ' **飛鷹** ' tag above. Hiei stopped and warned Shigure to hold her breath if possible, a piece of advice she would regret not following as Hiei opened the creaking door.

The stench that hung around the air of an alcoholic hit her harder than the sight itself.

Her nose was assaulted by the bitter aroma that permeated through the clothes, bed and room of the ship girl in question, abandoned and finished sake and alcohol bottles littering the room, not unlike the sight of a mass grave.

Torn snack wrappers were peeking out from under the mattress, causing the mattress to look suspiciously thicker, and spare uniforms left unwashed and crumpled, hanging down hangers and the railing upon the frames of the beds.

The toilet seemed to radiate a stench of an uncleaned toilet, betraying the last few times its sole occupant had emptied her stomach into. The Light Carrier known as Junyou was sprawled over her bed, in the last few stages of undress, prone and completely and utterly wasted.

Shigure scrunched her nose as she tried to hold in a slight air of disbelief (but mostly to hold her breath, how much had Junyou been drinking?).

This was going to be her comrade from now on?

Hiei didn't seem too put off by the sight, lightly kicking away beer bottles and wrappers as she stood by the window, Junyou stirring in her sleep as she seemed to notice the arrival of intruders in her room. Hiei sighed as she pulled open to reveal the morning sun, a bane to the now-struggling Junyou, writhing like a vampire exposed to sunlight.

"Get up, drunkard. Your training starts today."

Announcing as she moved over to pull the blanket from the wasted Light Carrier, desperate to find anything to cocoon and protect herself against the blinding light.

"Fuck off, whoever-the-hell-you-are, I'm not drunkkkk…."

"Oh, still got a little fuel in your alcohol stream, yeah?

Then GET UP!"

"Come on, fight me, mate, urghh…."

Sighing, Hiei looked to the passive bystander that was Shigure, pleading.

"Think this is going to take a while, could you head down to the Light Carrier rooms to meet Tenryuu and Tatsuta? They should be up right now.

Tenryuu's got an eyepatch, purple hair, carrying a sword, and mechanical bunny ears. She'll ask whether you're scared, no doubt.

I saw Ayanami in the canteen earlier, she should be at the Training area getting some training done by the time you get there."

Turning to the door with half a mind to get out of the room, she looked back to the Fast Battleship, asking.

"What about the last Light Cruiser, Tatsuta? She'll be with Tenryuu since they're sister ships, but what's she like?"

Hiei, wrestling with Junyou on the bed for control, seemed to develop a concerned look as she pondered how to describe the enigmatic Light Cruiser.

"She's got a mechanic halo, purple hair like her sister, a glaive as a weapon and she's, um…

Detached."

Shigure shivered hearing that. Tatsuta sounding quite a fair bit scarier than Tenryuu, as Hiei seemed tense, compared to her indulgent tone with Tenryuu. Even the drunk Junyou was struggling harder, now that she learnt of working with the dreaded Tatsuta.

What did a Light Cruiser have to be like to make everyone uncomfortable mentioning her?

* * *

Meeting up with the Tenryuu-Class Cruisers wasn't that hard. A boisterous, senior ship girl swaggering about wearing her dark school uniform wasn't hard to miss.

But it was her quieter and darker sister Tatsuta, that she found herself shying away from as she met them both. Fitting the battleship's description to a tee, the eye patched ship girl was bragging to her,

"My name is Tenryuu. Fufufu, ya scared?"

As Tatsuta, purple hair and eyes with a one-piece school uniform, stood by while smiling like a Cheshire Cat with her light-up halo, content to let her sister introduce them both.

"Me and my sister, Tatsuta, we're one of the strongest Light Cruiser duos out there! So there's no need to feel bad if you decide to follow in our footsteps!"

Shigure, seeing that most ship girls in this base had already decided to humour her, decided to bring up a point which had been bothering her all this while.

Specifically, her eyepatch.

"Tenryuu-san, I'd like to ask about your fashion choice.

Isn't your eye-patch going to mess with your depth perception, requiring more computing power to compensate for it? And wouldn't your entire left side be a blind spot?"

The Light Cruiser started, obviously not prepared for such a rebuttal, while Tatsuta simply giggled, content to see her sister shift about as her mechanical ears twitched erratically, thinking of a reply.

"W-Well, it's…"

"It's to give the enemy an advantage, to make them feel worse when they lose."

Tatsuta replied bluntly, causing an awkward silence to fill the uncomfortable air as Shigure started to sweat under Tatsuta's smile.

Now she had some idea of why everyone feared this Light Cruiser.

Tenryuu, desperate to recover, stuttered.

"Y-Yes, o-of course! That's why! I'm so good, I handicap myself to give my opponents a chance to win!"

Moving her left feet to turn, Tenryuu seemed to regain her composure and gait as she raised her hand to point,

"Now then, to the traini- "

And ran right into the corner of a wall.

If the air was uncomfortable before, it was dead silent now.

Shigure raised her hand to ask 'Are you alright?' when Tenryuu, failing to contain a sniffle, stated.

"I was preoccupied with my thoughts. That's why. Let's move."

Watching Tenryuu's back shuffle down the corridor, Shigure sweat dropped as Tenryuu seemed to just want this day to be over with. Tatsuta, now trying to hold in her laughter at her sister's silliness, finally calmed herself down to address the bewildered destroyer in her melodic voice.

"Tenryuu-chan is rather clumsy when she's not fighting, so please protect her in times of need, alright, Destroyer-chan?"

Shigure vigorously nodded, not wanting to get on her bad side.

Tatsuta seemed to accept her answer, following in her sister's footsteps before turning back and motioning down the hallway. She took that as a sign to move, following the two Light Cruisers to the Training Grounds.

* * *

The training grounds was a part of the base that had been modified to cater to all ship classes, from underwater targets for submarine warfare, long range distance targets for carriers, and moving targets loaded with practice rounds for anyone aiming to test their combat skills.

Custom-made Abyssal princess targets, with their respective power levels programmed into them by the resident computing genius Kirishima, built by the late engineer Yuubari, and maintained by the repair girl Akashi, were stationed in the makeshift docks at the range, a challenge to be taken up by any Fleets willing to test the limits of their teamwork.

An extended area of ocean was reserved for PVP, or pitting fleet against fleet in a friendly round to bring a breath of life and unpredictability to training, in contrast to the pre-programmed Abyssal practice targets incapable of improvising and creating new tactics unless manually controlled by an overseer of the training.

The Abyssal bots compensate for their static patterns by simply increasing their speed, agility and firepower, matched only by the strongest and fastest ship girls.

Combined with a ship girl with competent micromanagement skills and an ability to formulate a basic strategy, and even a simple fleet training exercise can escalate into a heated firefight, not unlike in reality.

Capable of hosting up to 4 fleets, the name ship of the Ayanami-class was on the training grounds, practicing her strafing manoeuvres to avoid the shells of the Abyssal Destroyer bots, currently set to a low firing speed to accommodate the destroyer.

A brown-haired ponytail with a barely formed widow's peak, with emerald eyes on a youthful Japanese face and a brown-white school uniform making up the destroyer performing an evasive dance atop the sapphire sea.

The overseer, a Heavy Cruiser with black twin-tails held up by white ribbons. Her orange, green and white one-piece dress, with a knee-length sock up her right leg, and a thigh-high stocking up the other, partially covered by her ship girl equipment.

Supervising and playing against the fledgling ship girl on the range by controlling the Abyssal bots in an installed module in her mind, she was training Ayanami in dodging and map awareness skills, the red dots on her map orbiting about the solitary blue dot as Ayanami twirled and weaved past the ballad of bullets, intent on bringing her down regardless of their lack of lethality in their weapons.

Tone the Heavy Cruiser finally called off the assault, remarking on her earpiece,

"Good job, Ayanami.

Those were the first few levels though, so don't be afraid to crank it up a notch on the range if you think you can handle it."

As Ayanami simply nodded in thanks to the Heavy Cruiser, noting the Abyssal bots sinking back into the ocean, likely guided by autopilot into their maintenance pods, content to stand by until they were summoned again for another round of practice.

Sailing back to the edge of the base, she was greeted by her overseer for the session, with a fuel can in one hand and a small magazine of ammunition in the other. Likely bought from the vending machines littered around the base before the training, Ayanami accepted them both graciously from Tone, who smiled down at her.

Popping open and drinking the refreshing can of fuel to hydrate her body and to refill her fuel gauge from 'Medium' to 'Full' on her HUD, crumpling the empty can when she was finished to slowly bite at the edible can made of steel.

Noticing several ship girls coming by the range to join Tone, she loaded the magazine into her cannons, swallowing the remnants of the edible steel can, and moved to meet with her new team mates.

Tenryuu was nursing her bruised nose, along with a wounded ego. Why couldn't she make a good first impression for once?

When she was first constructed, she introduced herself to Shiranui, who simply stared her down until she cried. Then, she introduced herself to the newly constructed Shimakaze before being left in her wake in a race.

She wasn't going to give up though!

She'd show everyone what she was capable of, and hopefully get an upgrade to her stats and skills! But right now, she had a team to work with, and working together meant that she had to try to contribute to the team, and not just look out for her and her sister Tatsuta.

Speaking of her sister…

Tenryuu looked towards her purple-haired sister, smiling nonchalantly with her halo atop her head, in contrast to her darker personality more befitting that of a demon.

To be honest, Tenryuu never really had a problem with her sister's more sadistic persona, seeing it more as a charm that her sister held.

After all, she channeled that blood-thirst towards the enemy, and also looked out for her previous team, the 6th Destroyer Division that was Hibiki, Akatsuki, Inazuma and Ikazuchi.

In her own 'dark-knight-slash-silent-protector' way, of course.

Besides, Tatsuta was her sister!

She wasn't going to treat her any differently just because she was a little detached from everyone else. Tenryuu was more of an active guardian and role model, being the expedition leader and Team Mom during the days when she led the 6th Destroyer Division.

Over some time, she had watched them develop their skills, eventually learning to be independent and split into different teams and roles.

It was a little sad seeing them split up like this, but they had reassured her that they would always remain as the 6thDesDiv, and more importantly, as sisters.

With Tenryuu as their mom in all but Class, and Tatsuta as their Batman. (for lack of a better comparison)

She shook her head to get her head back into the game, as Tone stood in the centre of the team. At some point in time when she was visiting memory lane, Hiei had appeared, bringing the last member of their team to the Training Grounds.

Junyou reeked of alcohol, and her clothes seemed to have been put on by an external party, likely Hiei, as her mismatched buttons and unkempt clothes revealed.

She was in a daze, fighting the hangover, dry throat and general headache that was the usual package that came with alcoholism.

Carried bridal-style by the grumbling and, at this point in time, really pissed off Hiei, Tenryuu could make out whispers of her plotting to dump Junyou in the ocean if the spiky purple-haired light cruiser vomited on her, as she slowly let Junyou down onto the ocean surface.

Tone coughed into her fist, catching their attention as she introduced herself to everyone in a mature, enthusiastic female voice that contrasted her 'young teenage ship girl' motif.

"Good morning, team!

I'm Tone, and I'll be your guide to the Ship Girl's Weapons and Tactics of the 21st Century!

To be precise, it's the Spring of 2015, and the weather is perfect for training!"

"More like 'perfect for sleeping in'…"

Junyou mumbled, earning a low growl from Hiei, prompting her to shut up and nurse her headache quietly.

"Well, this session is more for our newcomer, but since she's been on a few sorties already, let's just run through the weapon introductions and get to the formation training."

Swinging around to show Shigure a 14cm Single Gun Mount, Tone remarked,

"These are the usual cannon we used in the war. They operate through a simple logic, 'The bigger the better', with built in safeties, but we all can only use cannons that are made to suit our classes, ok?"

Tenryuu saw Shigure nod, all of them understanding the simple logic behind it. Battleships couldn't use the smallest cannons fitted on Light Cruisers and Destroyers, and vice versa for the larger cannons.

Seeming satisfied with the nods from the team, Tone motioned down towards the torpedo launchers on her thighs, a mechanical joint allowing for more flexibility holding the strap on her leg and the launcher together.

"Storing any torpedo in the launcher when the launcher safety is 'on' will render them inactive, but you can still pull out and use inactive torpedoes. But turning the launcher safety off will activate all the torpedoes in the launcher. "

"Torpedoes by themselves work a little differently from the past.

They work with a 'fire-and-forget' principle when shot out of our active launchers, but pull out inactive torpedoes and they can be used to melee kill any Abyssals.

They don't have a muzzle flash, a smoking barrel, and hardly any recoil, so they're good for stealth, but are exposed targets with their warheads exposed compared to cannon ammunition, and most torpedoes leave trails as they move through the water, which can lead the enemy back to you!"

Tenryuu nodded along with the group, thinking that the torpedoes were useful for smaller ship classes to try to stay relevant in a battle against stronger opponents, and they weren't too hard to understand.

Active, they were relatively simple fire-and-forget underwater rockets. Inactive, they could be used as melee weapons for ship girls when they were forced into close-quarters combat, although it was a technique in close quarters fighting that few ship girls actively used due to the inherent risks of carrying an exposed torpedo in their bare hands.

Pulling out a Type 0 Reconnaissance Plane from her combat backpack, the Heavy Cruiser continued her monologue as she showed the seaplane to Shigure. The Fairy mounting the plane, a little girl barely the size of Tenryuu's clenched fist had purple hair held together by a visor cap with two bunny ears sticking of them.

Long sleeves covered her minuscule hands, and a float was around her tiny waist. Her head, large and impossibly balanced on her body, was chirping animatedly in a foreign language that didn't resemble any particular human language, but Tenryuu could somehow make out the Fairy's words introducing herself as Meiko.

She heard that they could only communicate with humans through written messages in the past, which led to a delayed construction of the ship girls.

Maybe it was a ship girl thing, to be able to understand these mysterious creatures who aided in their creation and maintenance since it would make sense if the Fairies programmed them to understand Fairy speech.

Tone explained the equipment in front of her.

"These are planes, that can help scout and bomb the enemies.

They are piloted by the Fairies, who help us in combat to fly our planes, man our turrets and engines, and to act as damage control specialists to help us recover in combat.

Recon planes like the one Meiko is piloting now are different from planes carried by Carriers and Light Carriers like Junyou, which are classified as Dive Bombers, Torpedo Bombers, and Fighter Bombers."

Keeping the recon plane, and indicating to the final equipment on her shoulders, Tone said.

"Finally, these are Anti-Air Machine Guns, which help shoot down the enemy planes, and the largest AA guns can double as pseudo-cannons. "

The AA guns twitched upon being called, ready to shoot down whatever Abyssal signatures that were in the air.

"Now then, that's the end of the basic weapon guide for today! Let's gather up in formation! There are fleet formations which can help in certain situations, against certain enemies. So, let's move!"

* * *

"Fucking drill bitch, I almost puked again, errgghhh…"

Junyou moaned as she stepped out of the harbor, while panting slightly after the grueling drill session Tone had conducted throughout the day, thankfully with breaks in between.

The six sets of mechanical arms and machinery in the harbor were capable of suiting up a ship girl in 20 seconds flat, and helped them in terms of responding quickly to emergencies.

The machines on the harbour floor helped them take off their 'boat slippers', what they called the foot wear that they wore to help them float on the water when they sortied, and the mechanical arms from above helped them unload their combat backpacks and store their battle gear.

Junyou was finally recovering from the hangover that plagued her the entire morning and afternoon.

Bloody hell, she'd downed 5 plastic bottles of water, and she still felt thirsty after the disarming! Tone was running them through the respective formations until the fleet could move into the formation she ordered in less than 15 seconds.

What a drill sergeant!

Hiei was on the field looking over her shoulder, willing her into action through sheer willpower (and her expression that promised an indefinite cold-turkey treatment didn't help either), while Tatsuta simply smiled at her.

That alone was the most terrifying part of the day. She sighed as she wobbled slightly whilst making her way to the vending machines, her intention to buy a sake metal can to help make herself feel better.

As a dizzy spell hit, she started to feel the world tilt, and she closed her eyes and braced herself for the oncoming impact of the cold concrete floor.

However, she was surprised when she felt herself falling on a small, petite figure struggling to hold her up. She opened her eyes to look down, expecting Ayanami there.

She instead saw the willful eyes of the Shiratsuyu-class destroyer looking up at her.

She wasn't expecting this little brat to come rescue this alcoholic Light Carrier, filtering through her memory to try to remember her name before she introduced herself. She didn't want the little brat to look down on her as some sort of incompetent Light Carrier with a drinking problem.

Even she had some semblance of pride to maintain.

Her savior finally responded, stating her question.

"Do you need help getting that can of booze?"

Damn, since when did destroyers nowadays learn the art of mind-reading?

Or was she so easily stereotyped as the team drinker?

She studied the little destroyer's face, detecting concern, kindness, maybe a little bit of pity.

And if she looked closely enough, a whole lot of repressed sadness within her.

She finally looked away and got off of the destroyer, stating.

"Ahhh, if a little brat like you is looking, I probably shouldn't be drinking in your company.

Don't want Hiei busting my balls just because I drank in front of a minor."

Ah, Shigure, that was her name.

Struggling to recover from the tiring exertion of strength, on top of Tone's drill-instructor style training, Shigure seemed out of breath and more than likely a little fatigued, Junyou noticing the sweat that lined her forehead and permeating her schoolgirl uniform.

Ahhh, fuck.

Now Junyou felt bad for trying to skip out on training, when its newest member was doing everything she could to improve herself. She finally decided to offer what help she could by sticking out her hand and asking.

"Maaa, since you've expended all your energy during training and I didn't, the least I can do to make it up to you is to take you back to your room.

You probably won't make it back halfway before your legs give out."

A look of relief washed across Shigure's face, thankful that not only was Junyou helping her, but that she didn't slink off to get that can of sake.

The destroyer accepted the offered hand, as Junyou heaved and lifted Shigure up on her back. Being a Light Cruiser, she wasn't too perturbed by the weight, only that Shigure might be put off by the light stench of alcohol that still hung on her clothes.

But then again, Shigure's uniform was also drenched in sweat, so it all worked out in the end with Shigure's sweat mixing with Junyou's alcoholic stench.

Junyou shifted her weight to accommodate the tired destroyer on her back, and slowly made her way back to the barracks. She wasn't sure of what to talk about to Shigure, as they were of different ship classes and had different interests.

Heck, she wasn't even sure the little brat had _any_ interests, being constructed not even a month before!

Then, Shigure finally broke the silence between them, as she spoke of the one subject that made everyone uncomfortable.

"Junyou-san, did you survive the war?"

A slight pause stopped her in her tracks, as Junyou wished she hadn't asked about that.

What was up with everyone and trying to grill her today?

She sighed, trying to repress the feelings of guilt that was often hidden and lost in the sea of alcohol that she consumed. She resumed her hike back towards the barracks, trying to come up with an appropriate response to such a hard-hitting question.

She finally settled with a quiet,

"Yes."

And wondered what sort of thought processes were going through the destroyer's mind as she rode piggy-back on her.

Probably the same guilt trip that Junyou used to plague herself with, being one of the few survivors of the war before she found the ultimate distraction that was alcohol.

Seemingly able to numb her mind to the horrors of war and help her cope with the losses in the base, the beer bottle became her closest friend.

Slowly but surely, the Yokosuka Fleet Girls learnt to typecast her as the drunkard and leave her be to her own devices. Not that Junyou was complaining, mind you.

Anything to get out of sorties by being hungover as heck and escaping the stress of possibly dying every time they sortied.

Now that she thought about it, Shigure was probably carrying some burden of her own. Destroyers, like any other ship girl, were often under heavy stress, especially during the later stages of the war.

She remembered Yukikaze, who was constructed in this base as a ship girl as a happy and innocent, but also somewhat haunted ship girl who had one of the highest luck stats recorded due to the sheer number of near-death encounters and lone-survivor situations she lived through in her previous life.

She was watched over by Ashigara the senior Heavy Cruiser, and Nagato, one of the Big Seven.

"Look, if you're thinking of your friends in the war, don't drive yourself crazy with guilt. You won't accomplish anything that way."

This caused Shigure to perk up, focusing on the light carrier's advice as she continued,

"You have potential, so you should strive to become stronger so that you'll be able to protect them, especially now that we all have a second chance at life.

The guilt that you harbor only weights you down, and drags you down into the darkness that is depression.

Trust me, I know that feeling as a survivor. Why do you think I do my best to get hammered all the time?"

Shigure silently thought of the answer to that, unaware of the rhetorical nature of Junyou's question.

"Are you afraid of going back out there? To watch any of us sink again?"

Junyou stiffened and her breath stopped as her face morphed into one of dread, afraid that Shigure had somehow divined the true nature of her insecurities and fears, awkwardly disguised over a layer of aloofness.

By God, she was really starting to fear the destroyer that she carried on her back.

"I-I'm sorry, Junyou-san,"

Shigure tried to get Junyou's attention, suddenly afraid that she might have pissed off another ship girl, especially since Junyou was her teammate, making it even worse.

"I didn't mean to reveal something so close to you."

Junyou paused and took a deep breath before recovering.

She wasn't so weak as to let a seemingly all-knowing destroyer, who just read her like a book, cow her into submission. After all, she was supposed to be the older and more mature ship girl here!

Albeit with a drinking problem, but that wasn't the point.

She tried her best to smile back to Shigure, the destroyer looking remorseful and fearful that she might have alienated her teammate.

"Maa, it's alright! You're just a sharp little destroyer who's good at reading others, so don't worry!

You're right, though, I simply hate the fact that every time I sortie, someone could potentially die due to negligence or bad luck.

I'm not as strong as a little destroyer like you, so I've been burying my guilt and insecurities through drinks and snacks!

Eventually, the Admiral decided to pull me out due to my drinking problem, and I've been a bench-warmer ever since then!

But now that I'm in a team, I should probably cut down on my drinks, and start being like Tenryuu, more like a respectable senior and a role model to you and Ayanami, eh!"

Christ, how cringe-y could her fake attitude be?

Eventually Shigure seemed to accept her answer, nodding. Junyou took that as a sign to continue towards the dorms, Shigure quietly asking.

"Junyou-san, do you have a Kai Ni remodel?

And... do I have one?"

Junyou slowed down her pace as she thought about that, searching through her memory archives to search for the answer that the destroyer desired before confidently answering.

"Yeah.

Both of us, we have second remodels if we work hard enough to earn them.

Why, already looking for a goal for you to work towards?"

She detected the previously hopeful tone now become a thankful one, the light carrier surmising that Shigure wanted to work for the Kai Ni remodel that she no doubt had already seen some ship girls achieve, her voice now barely audible despite speaking into Junyou's ear.

"Yes..."

Junyou nodded while raising an eyebrow, understanding if Shigure wanted to become stronger to protect her comrades and friends, a primary motivation of some of the strongest ship girls in the Yokosuka Naval Base as Junyou had spoken with them before, their answers unanimous in their reasoning.

That anything less was tantamount to betrayal of those closest to them, should their shortcomings be the cause of someone's sinking.

Shigure continued, Junyou able to pick up on the fact that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer didn't want to offend her any more than she already did as she asked politely.

"Um, Junyou-san, I was wondering... if you're going to aim for achieving Kai Ni since you're now in a fleet?"

 _'Hmm, interesting.'_

Junyou pondered on Shigure's question while considering her past, present and her future goals.

She had been lucky enough to survive the war, and had seen her fair share of sinking comrades.

That likely translated into the apprehension whenever she sortied with teammates, and the inevitable thoughts that likened the sorties with those of the past, and she could never shake the feeling that she might survive where others wouldn't.

And unlike the rest of the ship girl population which would take this as an opportunity to improve themselves, she instead took this as a sign that she didn't want to sortie, since there was always the possibility of someone sinking because she failed them at a crucial moment.

But contrast that to now, where she was now in a fleet and was going to fight alongside her comrades.

There was no other path except forward, so why not?

But still...

"I don't know..." Junyou shrugged nonchalantly as she continued walking forward as she gave Shigure her answer.

"I admit that there's a part of me that wants to achieve Kai Ni and fight alongside you all, but I want my reason to have a little more depth than 'Oh, I want to achieve Kai Ni because it's there.'

Can you give me some time to come up with a legit reason to improve myself?"

Shigure nodded acceptingly, Junyou sighing in relief before remembering.

"Hey Shigure, want to stop by the canteen?

I could grab some dinner for both of us.

You don't want to go to sleep hungry after that drill sergeant of a ship girl's routine, now do you?"

A low growl escaped Shigure's stomach in agreement with Junyou's suggestion, causing the destroyer to blush and hide her face in Junyou's shoulder.

Junyou laughed heartily, diverting from her current course and heading towards the canteen.

Along the way, she slowly shared her discovery of her love for alcohol, the recent discovery of modern Japanese animation on TV called 'anime', and recalled various interesting and hilarious events on her previous sorties.

She noted to herself that this could be a new start for her, and decided to take that suggestion on cutting down on her alcohol intake more seriously.

After all, she couldn't let the little destroyer carry the team on her tiny back alone now, could she?

* * *

The Intelligence Room, filled with the Coordinators of the Base, was a fortress made up of stacks of papers and reports, occupied by machines clicking away and beeping softly to record and transmit messages of ship girls on sorties and to intercept and decode messages either from Headquarters or from any of the tens of thousands of Fleet bases around the world.

This room was, essentially, the 'brain' of the base, coordinating local and international sorties and directing the orders of the Admiral through the proper channels to the ship girls, each one of them ship girls who were promoted by the Fleet Admiral, Mako Nakahara.

The base also contained a collective database on all ship girls ever constructed or found, as well as a formidable collection of intelligence on the enemy, on their ecology, classification, habits and known tactics among others, sharing this information with all who requested for the knowledge to help combat the threat on the seas.

The Coordinators in the room were currently busy with a meeting to try to answer the Americans on the projected schedule of the two-pronged assault on the Pacific Theater.

"What is your best estimate as to when we can consolidate our forces to push out into the West?"

Nagato, sitting at one end of the cluttered coffee table that was planted in the center of the room, taking up the Gendo Pose as she observed the members in the room.

Ooyodo, the central secretary ship responsible for coordination of the ship girl fleets, pushed up her glasses, partially obscured by her long hair and held back by her hair band.

She contemplated the question, her eyes seemingly distant as she calculated the Fleet's projected return paths, the estimated time of arrival and their refueling speed when they return to base, along with the logistics of resource and weapons allocation to the respective fleets for their sorties before replying.

"It will take at most 5 days for all the fleets to return.

Then, my best estimates would be about a week for them to relieve whatever fatigue they may have accumulated over their sorties and prepare for the upcoming assault."

Musashi, a large and powerful presence in the room by her sheer size and height as a Yamato-class Battleship that overshadowed even Nagato, with her tanned skin, wildly-styled pale blonde hair, and large breasts held up by struggling bandages wrapped around her chest.

Wearing a red mini-skirt, black thigh-highs, a capelet and a metal collar with the Imperial Chrysanthemum Symbol upon it similar to the collars on Nagato and Mutsu, she raised a gloved hand from her crossed arms to push up her glasses, asking in a young and formal voice that rang with authority and power,

"If someone would be so kind as so inform me, am I included in this assault? I would certainly like to sortie to fight the Abyssal threat out there.

We seem to have a stockpile of resources that we've amassed through countless sorties, and I'd like to prove my worth to the Admiral, since she was the one who planned for the construction of me and my sister, Yamato."

Yahagi, the Light Cruiser in the room, looked up from her laptop that contained the minutes, or notes, of the meeting, commenting.

"Of course, Musashi. We require quite a lot of firepower if we're to make any headway breaching the Abyssal defences.

We'll certainly require your expertise, as well as your firepower to annihilate the enemy.

After all, that's what the resource stockpile is for. For the Battleships and Carriers to resupply quickly and re-sortie.

You'll get your time to shine."

The Light Cruiser smiled at Musashi, her black pony-tail falling to one side as she regarded the Yamato-class Battleship. Her gloved hands flew over the laptop, continuing to type in the minutes of the meeting, noting Musashi's eagerness to begin fighting.

Mutsu stood to the corner of the Intelligence room, smiling at Musashi's blush and nod in response to the Light Cruiser's reassurance. She thought it was cute how polite the battleship could be, especially when she was one of the capital ships in the base who automatically garnered everyone's respect.

It was obvious that despite her extreme resource consumption rate and her efficiency at paperwork hampering her chances of sortieing, she wanted nothing more than to drop everything and sail the seas to protect her fellow ship girls from harm.

Kirishima, in a miko uniform similar to her sister ship Hiei, with a curtain of short black hair held down by a golden-colored winged headdress shared by the Kongou-class Fast Battleships, pushed up her glasses and stated.

"Such worries are unfounded. The Pacific has dozens of Princesses, most of which require a level of firepower that only battleships like us can achieve to defeat.

Our Admiral has already foreseen an advance like this happening in the past, and has already finished preparations for us to be able to sortie."

Before adding.

"After all, you're not the only one who wishes to protect everyone."

Earning a small laugh from Mutsu, who commented.

"Well, even the diligent and hardworking pen-pusher Kirishima has her own ambitions too, hmm?"

Kirishima only huffed in response, ending that conversation.

Nagato lightly coughed to regain the group's attention, and continued.

"Moving on, I need to know why the Abyssals within the Pacific have significantly reduced in terms of manpower.

It's noted that the amount of Abyssals have taken a dip, something that worries Central and Admiral Mako, since the Abyssals have never had a problem with numbers, and anything abnormal when it comes to Abyssals is something to be noted immediately.

This even applies to the various Princesses littering the seas in their usual hideouts.

This is confirmed across all the bases, as the Princesses have always had seemingly pre-programed routes to patrol and islands to protect.

Are they really running out of Abyssals to spawn, or are they planning something so large in scale that requires that many Abyssals to pull off? I need to know what is happening, and why.

Dismissed."

The room echoed the dragging feet of chairs, as the various members returned to their posts to try to make sense of the enigma that was the Abyssals.

Nagato sighed, addressing Mutsu, who had left the relative comfort of the wall and strode over to the edge of the table to stand beside her.

"The last point is about Admiral Mako's concerns regarding the Abyssals' lack of innovation in the last five years, Mutsu.

Some say that the Abyssals have plateaued in terms of technological advances, but I, like Admiral Mako, think otherwise since I heard that those are the exact words coming from those who never saw the Abyssal Princesses coming.

What do you think, Mutsu?"

Mutsu lost her smile as she seriously pondered the question, before answering coyly while looking down at a seated Nagato.

"I think... we need evidence, more than anything else."

Nagato perked up at that, shifting in her seat to look up at her sister ship as Mutsu elaborated whilst holding up a finger.

"Just think about it.

Even if we are absolutely convinced that the Abyssals are up to something, and if they indeed are but we are lacking in terms of evidence, what do we have to convince Central and everyone else of their plans?"

Nagato looked back down at the table, at the pieces of paper that she ignored as she used her right hand to support her chin in a thinking pose while resting her right elbow on the table, speaking more to herself than anyone else.

"Yes, I see. Without evidence, we'll likely be dismissed as fear-mongers or conspiracy theorists without evidence to hold our case."

"And remember, the human psyche is unpredictable, and it's not unheard of for them to vehemently deny any possibility of things getting worse than they already are, despite mounting evidence pointing to the contrary.

So expect resistance even when you find evidence of an Abyssal covert operation underway, since no one wants to believe that it can get any worse than this."

Nagato nodded solemnly, mulling over things for a considerable period of time before leaning in, motioning for Mutsu to do the same as she asked.

"What do you think about this?

We'll send our Infiltration Fleet outside of the Safety Zone under the cover of night, and we try to find out something about their plans in one of their abandoned production factories."


	3. Chapter 3 - Team Spirit

Shigure was with her team, enjoying a well-earned break in the pub that was the _Shinsengumi_ after a day of harsh training, the bar managed by the mother of all carriers, Houshou.

A dark-haired ponytail atop a gentle female adult's gently parted hair with a scarlet kimono top, and a dark _hakama,_ or a form of heavily pleated loose trousers, beneath.

She was smiling down on the 1st Fleet, patiently listening to their troubles as she served them some food and drinks.

Or to be more specific, Junyou's complaints as she rambled on while drunk. The light carrier had certainly kept her promise to Shigure, trying to lower her alcohol intake, but this was a Friday, which meant that she didn't have to worry about staying sober, since there was no official training on the weekends.

"… And then, that damn drill freak commended on our Fleet performance, and you know what she did? She ran us through another set! AGAIN!

Oh my god, I was so lonely without my best friend _sake_ right here…chu, chu!"

Junyou started making smooching noises as she puckered up her lips to kiss her _sake_ bottle. The team simply sighed, accepting their teammate's alcohol dependency as her coping mechanism.

Tatsuta was sharing her well-done steak with Tenryuu, the name ship trying not to look grateful for having a bite of that oily, yet delicious and tenderized meat that her sister ordered. Tatsuta certainly seemed to like spending quality time with her, and didn't seem to mind the company of others.

Hiei was a passive observer, drinking her soda and observing both Shigure and Junyou. Ayanami was chatting to Shigure about her sisters, and about her past experiences on this base.

Shigure was content to sit back and enjoy the company of her Fleet, especially its livelier members. She would enjoy their boasts and their exuberant natures as they filled the bar with their jovial voices that helped to keep Shigure busy with trying to keep track of everything they said.

She then focused her attention onto the manager of the bar.

According to Houshou's introduction, she constructed the _Shinsengumi_ to accommodate the ship girls, and also as a way to help out in her own base after her 'retirement'.

She wasn't an active ship girl by any means, considering her own design to be too antiquated to be of much use in the field.

However, she was one of the few ship girls who also garnered everyone's respect through her seniority and dedication to serving the base and the ship girls who still fought on the front lines.

Tearing her eyes from the light carrier that was behind the counter, Shigure finally asked Ayanami,

"So, what do you think of our team so far?

I think we're a pretty good team, with good teamwork and a pretty good Fleet composition."

Ayanami looked down to consider the question, taking into account the characters of its individual members, and their performance in practice, and potential problems in the future. She didn't seem to want to give a half thought-out answer to such an important question.

"I think that we can accomplish a lot together, but something of concern may be our personalities, especially our interactions and whatever individual issues that might need to be addressed."

"Oh, I agree with Ayanami-san here, but I also believe that if all of you learn to trust in each other to listen to you voice your woes, you'll certainly mature as a team and further improve your team dynamic."

Houshou politely interrupted, adding in her own opinion to try and help out the duo and their team.

"But the important thing is whether you learn to trust each other to such an extent.

If you don't, then there's only so much you can do."

"But how we supposed to do that? Bonding time? Living with each other?"

Junyou drawled lazily as she sipped from her bottle.

Houshou only smiled, and replied.

"If that's what it takes."

Shigure wondered about that. She certainly understood the importance of Houshou's advice, but as she looked around the table at her teammates, she wondered how she was going to achieve such a level of trust with her current teammates.

Junyou was a drinker, her reliability and ability to garner respect as a senior rather questionable, despite her inner kindness that was hidden beneath her indifferent and drunk exterior.

Ayanami as well as Hiei could be trusted due to their trustworthiness and desire to do their best as teammates, and with their good service record.

Tenryuu was a good senior, but she was always trying too hard to impress everyone in battle and be stronger, not unlike her own attitude to try harder at the expense of her own safety, and seemed as if she was aiming to protect everyone by risking her own life in battle.

Tatsuta was downright scary, and Shigure wasn't sure if she could even approach the light cruiser without being downright terrified of her killer aura and her creepy smile.

But she wasn't going to sit around and theory-craft all day, and determine that such an effort wasn't worth attempting without actually trying.

She really wanted to go far with her team, and help them all through their problems, whatever they may be.

And perhaps they'd help her in return.

* * *

Shigure was now standing on the training zone with her own fleet as well as the other Fast Response Fleet while ready to sortie, Tone instructing them to only observe the teamwork that the more experienced fleets exhibited.

The importance of teamwork in this day and age, and what it could accomplish in this day and age was something that could only be witnessed with their own eyes as the 2nd Fleet prepared to engage an artificial Abyssal Fleet controlled by Tone through her mind, requiring a respectable ability to multitask and micromanage even by ship girl standards.

Shigure looked around her, observing her seniors that were preparing themselves for combat, Shigure having learnt enough about combat to see that these ship girls knew what they were doing, and they whoever their enemies were, they likely didn't stand a chance against the 2nd Fast Response Fleet.

The 2nd Fleet was the original Fast Response Fleet, able to sortie at a moment's notice to fight the Abyssals, or to provide fast reinforcements to any fleets that were in trouble. They were made up of 3 destroyers, 1 light carrier, 1 heavy cruiser and a light cruiser to lead the fleet.

Sendai was the leader of the Fast Response Fleet, a ship girl with black twin tails and had auburn colored eyes that scouted the area lazily.

She was wearing a sleeveless orange, black and white uniform with a black dress underneath, along with knee socks that were partially covered up by her boat slippers, her arms that were supposed to be exposed to the elements was instead covered up by black, skintight gloves.

Along her arms were smaller cannons, and on her hips were two other torpedo launchers, a flight catapult located close to her right elbow on her upper arm.

She had heard about the light cruiser's infamous penchant for night battles from other ship girls as she slowly learnt about the ship girls of the naval base, and wasn't in the mood to put up with Sendai's enthusiasm for night battles at this point in time.

But Sendai looked pretty tame right now, simply nodding towards them as her eyes rolled over them. Perhaps Sendai was only enthusiastic at night, or was what they would call 'nocturnal', something that wasn't out of the question considering the wide variety of ship girls and their various personalities.

Furutaka was an auburn-haired Heavy Cruiser wearing her primarily white and blue school uniform, with a red ribbon around the front. Her short auburn hair covered her left eye, which seemed to be glowing.

Hiei explained that she had a searchlight as a primary equipment, which was indicated by her radiant left eye which was now rather dimmed. She had a gentle attitude about her, likely to be the Team Mom to tend to the team, as she was listening to the rest of her team talk.

Her rigging was interesting in that her main cannons were strapped onto her right arm, causing her entire right arm to look like a reinforced robot's arm from the shoulder down, an antenna sticking out from the rigging on her right shoulder as another elevated gun platform was sticking out from behind her left shoulder horizontally, all her main cannons 20.3 cm Twin Gun Mounts, while her torpedo launchers were strapped to her left leg starting from the knee.

Hatsushimo the Destroyer was dressed in all black, with long black hair cascading down her back, with her black jacket along with her black dress and a red tie around her neck. She was conversing with Furutaka, her brick-red eyes open and shining as she spoke merrily about her subject of interest.

She was holding a 12.7 cm Twin Gun Mount with her right hand and a Single Cannon Mount on the other, her ship girl antenna sticking out atop the battle backpack behind her while two Triple Torpedo Launchers were stuck to her sides like Sendai.

Shimakaze was… dressed like a fetishist, to say the least.

Her ribbon top above her blonde hair formed black bunny ears, stripped red and white thigh-highs, a sleeveless sailor top and long gloves with a blue mini- _mini_ -skirt that deliberately failed to cover her black G-string.

She was speeding about, often commenting on her fast speed, and how she was the fastest while carrying her 61 cm Quadruple Torpedo Launcher on her back.

Shigure's eyes tried to keep up, before she decided to focus on something else to prevent a headache from trying to follow the Destroyer's speed, due to Shimakaze running circles around them.

Three little robots with deformed body proportions were producing clicking noises with the dual cannons on their heads, along with their happy expressions. They were of varying sizes, the largest one of them seated on a lifebuoy ring that had Shimakaze's name on it,

'ぜかまし'

The three of them were held up by a blitzing Shimakaze, who had no problems whatsoever with her balancing act while running and almost seemed to have limitless stamina.

Yuudachi, Shigure's sister, was wearing a black sailor school uniform complete with black socks protecting her foreleg, straight blonde hair flowing down her back with a ribbon on the crown of her head, golden bangs exposing bright green eyes. She was talking merrily with the light carrier of the team, and Shigure's heart leaped at the sight of her sister.

Although her world had broken down once when her sister died in the war, she had never been able to fully recover from the impact of her death.

However, she learnt how to live with the pain, and 'keep trekking on' was the soldier's path in war, hoping in some twisted way that she would join her sister in death.

But now that she had a chance to be with her sister ship upon the both of them being resurrected in the same base, this was now another reason for her to become stronger so that she would be able to protect her sisters this time, looking at the equipment her sister was carrying.

The chimney stack and antenna were both sticking out of her battle backpack was visible as it was peeking out from behind the golden crown of Yuudachi's hair, her own 12.7 cm Twin Gun Cannon slung diagonally across her torso while two torpedo launchers were strapped onto her thighs.

The short girl wearing a metal visor cap was Ryuujou, who also spotted a red shirt with a black skirt, and was flat as a cutting board, as Shigure noticed.

Her uniform was a little large, her sleeves looking rather wide compared to her wrists, and she had a red magatama in lieu of a tie at her white collar, much like Junyou's orange magatama on her red collared dress shirt, which would make Ryuujou's red shirt much like Junyou's white blouse.

Her spirited conversation with Yuudachi helped reassure her that her sister was being treated well here, her utmost concern at this point in time as Shigure could pick up her heavily accented Japanese as well as the fact that she was carrying a summoning scroll much like the one Junyou used to summon her planes into battle, using paper cutouts that were shikigami.

Tone had told them that although they were pretty well-rounded as a team, there was still so much that they could improve on in terms of teamwork and the development of their own personal styles to complement each other in battle and achieve so much more together as a team.

Hence the demonstration today as Tone summoned the Abyssals that surfaced from the depths wordlessly and appeared on her radar as bright red dots as opposed to the allies on the radar that were presented as blue dots.

Noting the ship girls all tensing up and readying themselves for battle, Shigure could only watch as the 2nd Fleet run up to greet the Abyssal Fleet with a hail of cannon-fire whilst evading the bombers of the Abyssal Nu-Class.

The Nu-Class was a twisted amalgamation of parts that were taken from parts of different beasts, Shigure picking out the deformed, pale childlike hands that propped up the its body, a dark shell covering the entirety of its quadruped body structure with some sort of finger-shaped hind legs behind its main body.

Their bodies had a dark exoskeleton protecting its body as an exhaust port and a cannon pointed forward while positioned on its temples to resemble anything remotely close to eyes, having some other antennas and smaller cannons attached to their flanks while a jaw with eerily white teeth was positioned in between its 'eyes' to summon the Abyssal bomber planes.

Shimakaze boosted away, something that Shigure anticipated and was itching to see as she was told that Kai and Kai Ni ship girls had their bodies upgraded to hold up under great stress, which was required to handle the potent boost gauges that were installed in their boat slippers upon their remodeling.

The ship girls scattered as Ryuujou summoned her planes upon conjuring a ball of light blue fire on the tip of her finger to run down her rolled-out scroll, summoning the planes whose parts were embedded in the scroll, gathering and assembling them in the short time it for Ryuujou to finish running her finger through the scroll, a Fairy Pilot summoned in the process as he pulled up, gaining altitude and taking out a bomber that was swooping down in an attempt to open fire at Ryuujou.

Sendai lazily dashed past the enemy torpedoes as she performed a back flip over two incoming torpedoes as Shimakaze's Rensouhou-Chan provided cover fire, Yuudachi staying behind to provide some protection for the light carrier as Ryuujou did her job.

The Abyssal Ne-Class, possessing short white hair, pale-skin and was about the age of a teenage girl, was wearing something akin to a sleeveless turtleneck and metallic stockings made out of black steel while metallic twin tails that snaked out of her rear doubled as cannons, firing at Hatsushimo and Furutaka as they unloaded a salvo of torpedoes at the Abyssal bots.

The Ne-Class managed to squeeze itself into a tight gap in between the incoming torpedoes and prevent herself from getting destroyed, but the reprieve it experienced was short lived as a projectile flew in from another direction, hitting the Ne-Class square in the right shoulder as it detonated upon impact.

Shigure's head snapped back to see that Sendai had pulled out a torpedo whilst holding it in a reverse grip, and likewise had thrown the second torpedo like a kunai knife at an Abyssal Chi-Class torpedo cruiser.

The enemy torpedo cruiser, a dark-haired Abyssal that had an arm cannon stretching the length of her left forearm, wearing a sleeveless dark grey tank top while her most prominent feature was the plain white mask that covered the majority of her face save her lower jaw and her left eye.

Not that the 'eye' resembled anything human, as the cracked mask exposed wires and a bionic eye that left a trail of blue-tinted flames in its wake.

The 'motorcycle' it rode in on was the one which looked even more sinister as Shigure noted the front plate being extended vertically upwards like a windscreen for the Chi-Class to hide behind, beneath that the signature pearly-white teeth that lined the barreled jaws of the hideous machine as several metal plates adorned it, the entire contraption a speeding machine of certain death.

The Chi-Class responded by sliding down while slamming the side of her Beast onto the ocean surface and performing a powerful power slide, Sendai's torpedo passing over the Chi-Class harmlessly and the Abyssal now able to point her arm cannon towards the sky, something that the Abyssal exploited as she pointed her cannon at an incoming Shimakaze who was performing a front flip.

The Shimakaze-Class destroyer grimaced, but it was nothing she couldn't handle as she contorted while airborne and utilizing her boost gauge, narrowly avoiding almost all the shots as she dropped her torpedoes on the Chi-Class, the four torpedoes dropping like dead weights onto the Chi-Class who couldn't come out of her power-slide in time to avoid the hail of torpedoes as her entire body was engulfed in a massive fireball.

Elsewhere, Furutaka was using her powerful spotlight for a eye to blind a school of I-Class destroyers into misfiring while unable to look away due to it being rather tough for them to swim backwards.

Black metallic husks protected their feeble white limbs that protruded from their undercarriage, with mechanical green eyes looking forward upon each side of the tubular shell with their cannon barrels sticking out of their mouths, attempting to retreat or submerge in the face of being unable to damage the superior heavy cruiser.

But Hatsushimo came in running on the surface of the water, using her boost gauge sparingly to go faster than what her boat slippers could achieve while set at maximum speed, the little destroyer engaging in close-quarters combat as she emptied a torpedo at point-blank range into the left flank of a I-Class destroyer.

This caused the afflicted Abyssal to be taken out of the fight as the I-Class destroyer roared in anguish, Shigure noting that Hatsushimo often angled her body such that she wouldn't be blinded by her own teammate's searchlight, Furutaka now turning off her searchlight to buy her teammate a few more precious milliseconds while the enemy struggled to adapt to the sudden plunge into relative darkness, the I-Class destroyers stunned by the lack of Furutaka's blinding ocular searchlight.

Hatsushimo shot at them with her handheld 12.7 cm Twin Gun Cannon while holding her cannon sideways, before some sort of message was relayed to her as she utilized both her recovered boost gauges to boost away, Ryuujou's Type 97 Torpedo Bomber sweeping in to drop its payload while leaving a wide berth to allow Hatsushimo to evade safely.

The remaining Abyssals were easily dispatched as the 2nd Fleet worked together to take them all down in no time at all, Shigure awestruck at their ability to finish up fights so quickly in their favor as the dust cleared.

Seeing the Abyssals taken out but not annihilated due to the amount of punishment they had to endure at the hands of the 2nd Fleet was due to their practice ammunition that was loaded into their weapons before heading out to the training area.

Shigure had been told beforehand that practice ammunition was a lot like paintball bullets to humans, and that despite hurting when hit by one, they were never created to kill, much less sink as these shells could never penetrate ship girl bones that were created to be significantly tougher than their skin and flesh, which was rather comforting when, God forbid, a practice shell was accidentally fired into a ship girl's head, their ultimate weak point.

The torpedo warheads were also modified to be less lethal than they actually were, any sort of explosion dialed down in intensity and the explosions more to show that a torpedo had hit instead of actually killing whoever was on the receiving end.

Shigure noted Tatsuta coming up beside her, ready to answer any questions she might have about the training as Shigure asked inquisitively.

"Those boost gauges that're installed in their boat slippers...

We get them when we achieve Kai status and above, right?"

Tatsuta nodded calmly, responding in a matter of fact tone while she had a slight smile on, also drawn in by the sight of the far more experienced 2nd Fleet decimating the Abyssals, explaining.

"Ara, but using the boost gauge also consumes fuel as well, so remember that whenever a battleship utilizes her boost gauge wantonly, the Admiral cries a bucketful of salty tears upon refueling."

Shigure sweat dropped upon seeing the senior light cruiser give her a winning smile after saying that, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer simply opting to brush aside that last remark as she considered.

"But to wipe out an Abyssal Fleet so quickly...

They must be really powerful..."

But Tatsuta gave her a noncommittal,

"Hmm."

As the light cruiser considered the question, finally answering.

"Honestly, they aren't considered anywhere near the most powerful fleet in this base, and none of them have reached anywhere near their full potential, which is likely the reason for not being the best."

Tatsuta pointed at them, explaining to Shigure as her finger moved from one ship girl to another.

"Sendai, Furutaka, Hatsushimo and Ryuujou have all achieved Kai status, but have not yet earned their second remodels.

Yuudachi is a newcomer compared to the rest of them, and like you, she's in her default ship girl state.

Shimakaze's achieved her Kai remodel only recently, and hasn't been able to experiment with it for long."

Shigure looked at them as she considered the mind-boggling possibility of the 2nd Fleet being nowhere near the strongest, yet being able to take out so many Abyssals that were admittedly controlled by one ship girl, which might mean that they could only function at a fraction of their true power.

Tone was clapping as she approached them as the Abyssal bot Fleet was wiped out, the Tone-Class heavy cruiser connected to the 1st Fleet through the wireless radio that they all possessed in their minds as she commented on their performance.

"Well done, girls.

You've become a lot stronger than what I had anticipated."

Shigure tuned her radio such that she could listen in on the conversation between the 2nd Fleet and Tone, not that it was on an encrypted frequency anyway as she made out Ryuujou's accented voice speaking up over the radio, the static dissipating to reveal her crisp and clear voice.

"Yeah, ain't muchf'a surprise when we learnt that there was gon' be another Fast Response Fleet like us now, hmm?

Had to set a good example fer them to follow, get what'm sayin'?"

Tone nodded, but pointed out a few things in their performance as Shigure could make out the heavy shaking of her head.

"You're all expanding your skill sets wonderfully, but don't you, for one second, think that I didn't realize the few blunders that you committed.

Shimakaze, you got clipped by the Chi-Class's cannon as you flipped into the air, right?"

Shimakaze's voice, although not outright denying Tone's claim, was rather defensive as she pouted.

"Mouu, I'll just go faster next time, like I always have!"

Tone already predicted her response as she tutted softly, chiding and reminding her of their limits.

"Adopt that mindset for too long, and I promise you, one of these days that speed alone might not save you."

Shimakaze only grunted in response, her tone now holding a grudging acknowledgement of her trainer's words as though she were reminded of it after a serious blunder that she almost forgot, Tone moving on and addressing the heavy cruiser.

"Furutaka, I know you're Kai and turning off your spotlight was the right thing to do to disorient your enemies, but don't be afraid to be on the move when you keep it on, lest you get blindsided by a torpedo or something."

The meek heavy cruiser simply placed her palms together on her thighs as she bowed in response, Tone now commenting on Hatsushimo's cannon firing while holding her cannon sideways.

"And you.

What's your deal in holding your cannon sideways as you fire?"

Hatsushimo shrugged as she answered, slightly unsure of her own answer.

"... Because it looks cool?"

"But without your ship girl aiming system to compensate, would you have hit your target?"

"..."

Tone sighed as she raised her extended right hand in a 90 degree angle, before jerking it back down at irregular intervals to emphasize her next words.

" _Never_ do that. Ever. Again."

Hatsushimo's shoulders slumped at that, Tone clapping her hands to get the 2nd Fleeet's attention as Tenryuu commented.

"Well, they sure do get along rather well, hmm?"

Junyou nodded, a single sweat drop rolling down the side of her face as she wondered out loud.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure that it's gonna take a lotta work to be _that_ good, and I know that we lot have Kai Ni remodels like the rest of them, but still..."

Noting Tenryuu's slight look of consternation at that, Shigure leaned in closer towards Tatsuta as she asked politely.

"Tatsuta-san, do you and Tenryuu-san both have second remodels?"

Tatsuta's eyes slightly widened at that, but she recovered quickly as she gave Shigure her best smile and answered honestly.

"No, we don't.

And amongst this newly-formed fleet, we are the only ship girls who don't possess a second remodel."

"I saw Tenryuu react slightly upon hearing Junyou's comments, do you suppose that she feels rather upset?"

Tatsuta nodded, looking back at the 2nd Fleet surrounding Tone as she commented.

"Well, I suppose it's a sore point for her, and despite me trying to convince her otherwise, I know that ultimately, she wants to break out of her previous 'play-acting' being powerful and become stronger for real to protect the comrades in her new fleet."

Looking back at Shigure, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer could see that although the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser wanted to help her sister ship, there was also something known as being too protective of your own siblings.

Tatsuta explained herself to Shigure, the both of them watching the 2nd Fleet talking animatedly to their trainer while the 1st Fleet was standing off in the distance.

"I want to help her, but there're some things she has to figure out for herself, and it's made even worse as she wants to be 'independent'..."

Using her gloved fingers to form air quotation marks as her expression betrayed a tinge of solemnity.

"...But I can't help but feel rather sad that we might grow apart, and I won't be there when she needs it most."

Shigure looked down at the murky waters of the training grounds as she thought about Tatsuta's question, finally answering when she felt confident enough to give the light cruiser her answer.

"I haven't lived long enough to be that close with my sisters to feel or understand this fear that you experience, but I personally don't think you have much to worry about.

I mean, you're on the same fleet as she is, so half the job's done when you sortie with her all the time, right?"

Tatsuta shifted her head as she lifted an eyebrow to concede the point, Shigure feeling a little more emboldened by the light cruiser agreeing with her to continue cautiously.

"Well, if she wants to improve herself for the sake of her teammates, why not support her since she's doing it for a greater cause?

I mean, I would feel that the right thing to do is to support her on her path to strength so that she can better protect herself than if you voiced your dissent and tried to hold her back, am I right?"

Tatsuta nodded at that, looking away at Tone seemingly finalizing her comments on the 2nd Fleet's performance as she changed the topic abruptly, having lost her smile and a clear sign to Shigure that she should just go along with the light cruiser and leave the previous conversation topic alone, Tatsuta commenting.

"It's a little strange, though.

That our fleet is formed a fair bit later than them, but they're the ones who are known as the 2nd Fast Response Fleet while we're the first, named according to our fleet numbers."

Shigure shrugged her shoulders as she replied, never really having put much thought into such things as she nonchalantly remarked.

"Well, I guess it would be an administrative nightmare for the 2nd Fleet to be named the 1st Fast Response Fleet and vice versa.

Besides, Admiral Mako and the 2nd Fleet don't seem the type of people to take the name of the '1st Fleet' that seriously, so long as we remember that they're our seniors and are better than us right now."

Tatsuta nodded at that, Shigure now hearing Tone finish up the conversation and walk away from the 2nd Fleet, saying.

"Well, like I said, I'm sorry."

The 2nd Fleet was rather confused as to the heavy cruiser's words as she walked back towards the 1st Fleet, asking unanimously.

"Sorry about what?"

But some sort of presence that was felt underneath them, barely registering on Shigure's sonar as the reddish enemy signatures started rising from the bottom of the ocean at breakneck speed, the 2nd Fleet not wasting any words between them as their muscles tensed, expressions hardening as they boosted into action.

And as two other fleets of Abyssals popped up from the ocean, surrounding them in a semicircle to shoot at them as soon as the seawater was cleared from their cannons.

Tone was barely audible over the gargantuan splash of seawater as a result of the Abyssals surfacing and the shocked expressions of the 1st Fleet, walking towards the 1st Fleet and past the line of Abyssals that had their backs turned to Shigure as the Tone-Class heavy cruiser smirked, answering to no one in particular.

 _"This."_

Shigure couldn't make out the distinguishing features of the Abyssals that were facing away from them, but the firepower they brought to the battle was immense, their cannons blazing a short while after surfacing as the 2nd Fleet evaded their shots.

The Ro-Class destroyers that were flying out of the ocean were shaped much like the I-Class destroyers, save for the fact that instead of a tubular bullet-shaped exoskeleton, they were instead shaped more like the front end of a shark that was cut off from its own body, fins and all.

The Ro-Class destroyers had their teeth showing like a shark's, and each had its small belly conspicuously exposed underneath it as the fish-shaped destroyers propelled themselves out of a wave crest and flew towards the 2nd Fleet with steel barrels protruding out of their throats and unhinged jaws as they fired.

Shigure jumped a little at what she assumed was a battleship firing their cannons which clipped Furutaka in the thigh, heavily bruising her flesh instead of simply punching through it like a real battleship's shell would, fighter planes from both sides frantically buzzing about in the skies as Ryuujou ducked, protected by Yuudachi's cover fire with her handheld 12.7 cm Twin Gun Cannon.

The Abyssals moved up as Tone approached the 1st Fleet, raising a finger as she illustrated a point, expression serious and leaving no room for anyone to break her concentration as she controlled the Abyssal bot Fleets with her mind.

"You see, it's a no man's land out on the battlefield, so you have to be on your guard and ready to respond to an approaching enemy fleet at the drop of a hat, be it coming from atop the ocean's surface or from beneath it."

Shigure couldn't help but agree with Tone as the 2nd Fleet handled the surprise attack rather well, requiring no words to be spoken and yet synchronizing their movements almost flawlessly as Sendai started pulling out all of her torpedoes to throw them like knives at the group of Abyssals that were closing in on them to stave them off.

Shimakaze, too, already had her Rensouhou-Chan all blazing to shoot down the airborne destroyers, as was Hatsushimo as they struggled to get out of the ambush whilst trying to minimize damage to themselves, the three destroyers and the lone light cruiser dumping their torpedoes into the water when they were clear of the line of fire, Ryuujou micromanaging her bombers to coincide with the torpedo salvo and try to box the Abyssals in by utilizing a pincer attack and denying them their available escape routes.

This paid off as two Ne-Class heavy cruisers were engulfed in fireballs upon being unable to evade the salvo of torpedoes, a Ro-Class Abyssal squirming and being physically pushed back by the shells impacting its exoskeleton as Hatsushimo shot at the Ro-Class and her rounds punching into the Abyssal's exoskeleton.

A Ri-Class heavy cruiser had her arm cannons trained on the injured heavy cruiser that was limping somewhat, the Abyssal heavy cruiser's forearms covered with armor plates as two abominable, jet black, beast-like cannons covered the ends of her arms while thick wires led from their rear onto a similarly dark pod on her back, located between the shoulder plates.

Armor plates protected her neck in a neck-brace like structure while her mop of short black hair barely covered her luminescent green eyes that were also streaming fire behind her, the back of her head also connected to the pod via a dark cable and her pale body wearing nothing except a black bikini and boots to walk on water.

The Ri-Class was ready to fire at Furutaka as Shigure gulped, trying to tell herself that there was no way that a ship girl could ever die from training, and by the looks of things, the shark-like arm cannon on her left arm was aimed at her gut, not at her head where a real enemy would likely point at.

But a blitzing figure of blonde hair, white uniform and blue miniskirt came in like a comet as Shimakaze launched herself into the air whilst tucking her bent legs in, still holding her Rensouhou-Chan as she began stomping on the Ri-Class's face, shouting.

"Meteor Shower!"

The Ri-Class's face was assaulted with a dizzying barrage of foot stomps that, alone, didn't do much damage, but when one was as fast as Shimakaze with her shapely legs that thrust the sharp underside of her boat slippers into the face of an Abyssal, it took a toll on the Abyssal as the Ri-Class stumbled back, trying to lift her left arm cannon to shoot Shimakaze.

But the Shimakaze-Class destroyer was too fast for that, her right foot stepping on the Ri-Class's left forearm as she performed a pirouette mid-air to spin out of the way before the injured Ri-Class could fire off a round, hitting the ocean with all four limbs slapping on the ocean surface before she pushed herself off.

She boosted backwards and away as the Ri-Class aimed her cannon at the retreating destroyer, only to have an explosion consume her back as an airborne torpedo hit her from behind, Sendai already moving on to the next target as the opponents kept on coming.

But Shigure could see that although the 2nd Fleet was in deep trouble, they always seemed to have the whole situation under control save for the initial shock of the two Abyssal fleets appearing before them, Hatsushimo and Yuudachi ganging up on another Ri-Class as they kept their distance and evaded the torpedoes launched by the Abyssal.

A few bombers had been shot out of the sky by the Abyssals, but Shigure knew that the pilots wouldn't be harmed as the Anti-Air barrage lacked the lethality that it normally possessed as the Fairies had ejection seats that they could use to escape what she assumed was a warning that simulated a truly damaged bomber plane, as underwater bots would retrieve and repair the 'damaged but not totaled' equipment to be used again since the training area was within the safe confines of the base.

The flagship of one of the fleet was a Ta-Class battleship, lurking behind her teammates and taking pot shots at the ship girls whenever they stopped to catch their breath or when their boost gauges ran out, small moments of weakness in battle that could be fatal.

The Ta-Class battleship was the only battleship that was amongst the Abyssal lineup, being a fast battleship instead of the Ru-Class which Shigure heard was a slow battleship.

She had a decent-sized, black-colored left shoulder guard that held up a white cape that hung from her left side and covered most of her upper torso, and she was wearing a cut-off sailor uniform top that had a black sailor collar and white shirt that failed to cover her lean abdomen.

She was wearing skimpy underwear that was quite utilitarian in nature, only serving to cover the bare minimum as she also wore some sort of black steel thigh-highs on both knees.

The cannons that were sticking out of her cape and pointed forward were dark and covered in jet black metal, and her rigging had several large feral jaws that were glowing a neon green from within its throat, the rigging on her right being smaller and having one Twin Cannon and jaw while her left side possessed the bulk of the cannons and having three Twin Cannons that were positioned under her arm facing forward.

Her hair was snow-white like her pale skin, her eyes were emerald green and also had a neon green flaming effect as she skulked around firing her cannons sparingly.

Shigure could see that the Abyssals were losing, and that Tone's expression was an interesting mix of consternation upon fighting a losing battle against the 2nd Fleet as she sweated from the mental exertion, and pride upon seeing the 2nd Fleet in action and performing so well.

And as the 2nd Fleet started to whittle down their numbers and surrounded the flagship of the Abyssal Fleet, the Ta-Class was now lashing out in a barrage of cannon fire, spraying her cannon rounds to catch at least one of them in the process as the ship girls boosted away, ducking and throwing themselves onto the surface of the ocean.

Shigure gulped as saw that the large-caliber cannon shell of the Ta-Class impacted Hatsushimo square in the right shoulder, sending her catapulting back in a spectacular back flip as she hit the ocean like a rag doll.

The practice shells weren't created to kill, and this was one of the moments that really showed as the shell impacted Hatsushimo's shoulder, Hatsushimo taken out of the action even though her shoulder was still attached to her main body, the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer trying not to cry as she feebly clutched at her useless shoulder, the blood staining her dark uniform and muddied the seawater.

But the 2nd Fleet simply gave her a simple glance before looking back at their remaining enemies while looking all the more ready to destroy the Abyssals, the Ta-Class fast battleship surrounded by an I-Class destroyer, a Ri-Class heavy cruiser and two Ho Class light cruisers.

Ho-Class Abyssals were made up of a black column of cannons mounted on its top and sides, guarded by two steel pieces of armour on its sides, with a deformed mouth hanging open, the jutting and larger lower jaw attached to the column with large teeth protruding menacingly.

And the upper jaw, shaped like a dark helmet, was the substitute of a head for whatever passed for a body sticking out of its throat, two arms maintaining the main 'body', if it could even be called that.

Shigure could see that the 2nd Fleet was down to essentially five ship girls as the Abyssal bots that were controlled by Tone didn't target the immobile Hatsushimo, but Furutaka was still in the action somewhat considering that she was limping about, but was still combat-ready.

The two sides fired their torpedoes in a concentrated salvo, intending to take out the opponents as all combatants performed evasive maneuvers so as not to get hit by the torpedoes that were moving in the water.

Shigure could see that Sendai was pulling on Furutaka's uniform to get her to move that bit faster while a torpedo was heading towards them, Shigure reciting to herself in her mind to convince herself.

 _'It's alright._

 _They can't die, they can't die...'_

But Furutaka had a plan to deal with this as she lifted her right hand and pointed one of her cannons at the approaching torpedo, sniping it and shooting it out of the water as Sendai and Furutaka both cringed and tried to cover themselves as a column of water was thrown up upon the torpedo exploding prematurely.

The Ri-Class, to Shigure's surprise, jumped in front of the torpedo salvo as they were directed towards the fast battleship to sacrifice herself in order to keep the Ta-Class alive and allow her to fight on.

Ryuujou's bomber planes swooped down to take out the two Ho-Class Abyssals before flying away safely, having emptied their payload and needed to be restocked before engaging in the enemy again, which meant that Ryuujou was also pretty much done until her bomber planes could be launched again as they swooped in gently to land on Ryuujou's scroll-based flight deck.

But Shimakaze, Sendai, Furutaka and Yuudachi weren't out of this fight yet as they all fired their cannons at the remaining Abyssals, something that the Abyssals that were glad to reciprocate as they traded cannon fire.

Shigure held her breath upon seeing the remaining enemies that the 2nd Fleet had to go up against, Shimakaze shooting the I-Class in the optics to disable it long enough for her to run up to it, positioning her three Rensouhou-Chan to fire down at its cracked exoskeleton, causing Shimakaze to be splattered with the Abyssals' blood and fuel as Shimakaze ignored the dead, sinking Abyssal to move onto the next target.

The Ta-Class was triple-teamed by the three remaining ship girls before Shimakaze joined in, the ship girls' torpedo launchers trying to reload and allow the ship girls to fire another salvo at the Ta-Class, their primary tactic in taking down a superior enemy.

But the enemy wasn't going to give them the chance as the Ta-Class battleship opened fire again, causing the ship girls to be on the move and keep evading her large-caliber cannon shells, lest they get injured like Hatsushimo and be taken out of the fight.

Sendai utilized the cannons lined up on her arms to fire at the Ta-Class, causing the Ta-Class to cringe upon the Anti-Air rounds being fired at her face, the fast battleship shielding her own face to protect her eyes from sustaining damage.

This was a diversion for Yuudachi and Furutaka to fire another salvo of torpedoes at the Ta-Class, something that didn't work as the Ta-Class evaded the torpedo as its lighter body allowed it to move relatively quickly, the Ta-Class raising her leg to allow a torpedo to pass safely underneath the spot of ocean where her feet previously was.

And was a tad slower in responding to Sendai who ran in quickly after Furutaka had recovered from the shock of the injury to walk on her own as Furutaka provided cover fire to discourage the Ta-Class from firing at the approaching light cruiser.

The Ta-Class was about to get a lock on and fire at Sendai, but was distracted by Shimakaze having hurled a torpedo in her direction as though she were throwing a spear, engulfing the Ta-Class's back in a painful explosion that sadly didn't take her out for good, the few milliseconds that Shimakaze's thrown torpedo bought enough for Sendai to close the distance.

Stepping backwards wasn't going to save the Ta-Class as Sendai bounced off the ocean surface and performed a tight front flip to protect herself against the Anti-Air fire of the shocked Ta-Class as Sendai straightened herself while upside-down and right atop the Ta-Class, spinning in a ballerina-like motion.

The Sendai-Class light cruiser had taken the time to charge forward to manually hold her own torpedo launchers that she pointed down at the Ta-Class, firing them all and allowing gravity to finish the job, the upper half of the Ta-Class being obliterated despite practice torpedoes being used.

Sendai used whatever boost she had recovered whilst in mid-air to boost away upon landing, the transition between landing and boost-evasion almost non-existent as Sendai's ponytails trailed behind her.

And as the smoke cleared, the Ta-Class's upper body was shown to be destroyed as her corpse hit the ocean with a dull splash, the six ship girl combatants all breathing heavily as they watched the carnage that occurred, even if it was against Abyssal bots.

The 1st Fleet wasn't faring much better, wide-mouthed upon seeing but a glimpse of what true teamwork was, and how working together was beneficial to them all in covering each other and taking down enemies that were greater than them, seeing that the 2nd Fleet didn't possess fast battleships to match the Ta-Class bot that was summoned, yet came out victorious.

Shigure was the one who was the most awestruck, having been shown not just how the ship girls of this world could take naval warfare to the next level, but how it added so many depths to their conventional weapons that could be utilized in so many ways.

And now, the ship girl herself was just as important, if not even more so compared to the weapons she carried after witnessing Sendai's impressive boost-dodge immediately upon landing, which required quite a fair bit of training to pull off as well as the aerial maneuvers that Sendai and Shimakaze pulled off flawlessly, the agility and speed of response that they possessed almost frightening due to their potent lethality.

And watching the Abyssal corpses sinking back into the ocean was a testament to their accomplishment and potential, seeing that they weren't even Kai Ni, Shigure finally recomposing herself enough so that she could pick her jaw up from the ocean surface to take in her future goals, in which the bar had now been raised by the feats of the 2nd Fleet.

* * *

The 1st Fleet was now sitting back in the same seat of the _Shinsengumi_ establishment, and the 1st Fleet was now relaxing as the 2nd Fleet had to soak in the bathwater of the docks to recover completely by tomorrow, Tone having demonstrated to Shigure and company how the ship girls of today fought their battles to hold the line against the Abyssals.

Shigure was talking to Ayanami about the 2nd Fleet, asking a senior about how hard they had to train in order to achieve such skills to defend themselves in battle, Ayanami answering calmly.

"Well, attending training sessions is one thing, and seeing that ship girls like Sendai and Shimakaze take part in lessons outside of sorties to improve their agility, a vital factor in our performance seeing that we're the fastest ship girls in the fleet."

Shigure lifted her eyebrows at that, Ayanami taking a sip from her _ramune_ bottle before answering and elaborating on the fighting styles of the ship girls.

"Destroyers like us are fragile, but are the fastest in terms of speed and have great numbers.

And with great speed means greatly improved evasion abilities along with high luck, you and I, and we perform extremely well in night battles."

Shigure's eyebrow creased at that, but Ayanami didn't seem to notice, or decided to exercise tact by not drawing attention to it as she continued.

"The weaker destroyers often go on expeditions to resupply our base, since we can't survive off of the resource donation of various companies forever."

Shigure lifted an eyebrow at that to accept Ayanami's point, the name ship of the Ayanami-Class looking forward as she explained the light cruisers.

"Light cruisers are more powerful than us destroyers, and it's reflected in their stats and their teenage bodies that are more developed in terms of their physique and the skills available to them."

"And let me guess, heavy cruisers are more powerful than that, which is reflected in their 'young adult' looks, while carriers and battleships are created as full-fledged adults to reflect being the epitome of physical strength?"

Ayanami nodded as they both looked at the bickering Hiei and Junyou, the fast battleship holding the wine bottle away from the light carrier while Junyou desperately lunged and stretched her hands out to try and grasp the wine bottle while leaning on the fast battleship, the entire comedic routine involving a lot of physical contact and hair-pulling.

Shigure sweat-dropped as she commented on the sight before her, asking her silent comrade.

"I believe that maturity doesn't always extend to their behavior, right?"

Ayanami could only chuckle at the sight of the last two members of the 1st Fleet 'getting along so well', commenting.

"Well, of course not, for things wouldn't be as interesting now, would it?"

Shigure lifted her eyebrow in acceptance, noting,

"So, each ship class has a unique specialization, us being raw speed and light cruisers being agility.

I'm making an educated guess that heavy cruisers are well-rounded, carriers having powerful situational awareness and enhanced sight, seeing how Ryuujou was able to coordinate all her bombers so well across the entire battlefield.

And battleships obviously are the strongest in terms of physical strength and firepower amongst all ship classes."

Ayanami nodded serenely, commending.

"You seem to be rather perceptive, as that point about the carriers having powerful sight can pass by those who didn't know of it before."

Shigure shrugged, remembering her time with the light carrier on their fleet.

"Well, I remember Junyou often commenting offhandedly about a few things that required me to get closer to see what she had seen, which led me to come to that conclusion, it being a skill naturally required to complement their powerful radar and to visually keep track of the planes in the sky."

Ayanami nodded, looking back at the sight of the two squabbling ship girls, before gentle hands reached out and relinquished the wine bottle from Hiei's grip, Houshou standing next to their table as she asked, being the unofficial mother figure to everyone as she stood before them all.

"Well, by the sound of things, I believe you've seen the 2nd Fleet in action against Abyssal bots on the training grounds, am I right?"

Tenryuu's face lit up like a Christmas tree upon hearing that, speaking animatedly about the feats that the 2nd Fleet pulled off while using her fingers and hands to mimic the motions like an overexcited child, Tatsuta smiling at her sister ship's enthusiasm.

"Oh yeah!

Sendai was like, flipping over the Ta-Class, and Shimakaze was like, _tstshtshtsh_ while stomping on a Ri-Class's face..."

Houshou giggled as she held the wine bottle beside her, Hiei and Junyou already patting themselves down as they tried to make themselves look presentable in front of the mother-ship as Houshou asked.

"Well, I believe that it's a simple matter for you to achieve that level of skill in due time."

"Really?!"

Shigure was rather surprised at the possibility of someone currently as weak as her could become that strong, although now that she thought about it, she had a Kai Ni remodel like quite a few ship girls in her fleet.

This would mean that they, like the 2nd Fleet, possessed quite a fair bit of untapped potential when one looked at the fleet composition, Houshou answering her question as she gave Shigure a warm smile.

"Oh, of course.

Even after all of you achieve your final forms, it's not what you can achieve alone, but instead as a fleet to cover each other and take down opponents tougher than you.

You all now play a part in ensuring each other's survival, and I do believe that you'll do everything in your power to ensure that you all come home alive."

The 1st Fleet nodded at that, wondering about what new aims they were going to have to set for themselves upon seeing what they could achieve to be at the level that the 2nd Fleet was currently at, not just to attain victory for the sake of the Yokosuka Naval Base, but also to protect their comrades in battle.


	4. Chapter 4 - Heart to Heart

The 1st Fleet was sitting with the 3rd Fleet and was eating breakfast with their Admiral in the canteen where Mamiya served her breakfast before their training session with the 3rd Fleet.

The Admiral wanted to spend time with the two fleets, having finished her paperwork and rushed down to grab her breakfast, having deliberately seated herself between her two lovers that were Ashigara and Nagato, something that was not lost on all the ship girls who were present in the canteen.

The 3rd Fleet was the unofficial 3rd Fast Response Fleet. However, since they were the backup to the first two Fleets, they could travel slower, and sortie at a later time to carry more firepower if the situation required it.

They were a six ship girl fleet, consisting of 2 heavy cruisers, a battleship, a destroyer, a light cruiser and carrier to balance out the team and work closely with the 2nd Fleet, and now the 1st Fleet.

Through sorties and training exercises, they had already developed their team dynamic and were sent onto the battlefield not just to fulfill their role of fighting Abyssals, but also to support their teammates in times of need.

Ashigara led the team, possessing a voluptuous figure packed with lean muscles that were developed over countless sorties and drill exercises. Her long, dark auburn hair was let down and was held down with a single-horned hairband.

She had on a uniform of a dark purple office shirt with a colorful ribbon tied around the collar, together with a dark skirt covering her white pantyhose as she wore a pair of black and white high heels.

White gloves were gripped in anticipation as the metal utensils in her hands threatened to bend and deform despite being tailored to resist the strength of ship girls, grinning with gleaming brown eyes as she seemed to look forward to the practice session later.

She sat up proudly to match Nagato's posture while sitting beside the Admiral. She had the air of someone in charge, and indicated a headstrong attitude as she sat with her own teammates, the First Fleet and her Admiral.

Haguro sat beside her sister, looking meek and seemingly afraid of her own shadow as she looked down at the breakfast platter and held her own utensils delicately, while a silver hairpiece was attached to her left temple and held up her hair as she ate like a gentle lady would with bite-sized chunks being cut.

She was wearing the same uniform as her sister Ashigara, a dark purple top with a black skirt and white pantyhose. Her short hair parted to show her bright and open eyes scanning for trouble, a slight expression of apprehension as she ate her breakfast.

Nagato was the slow battleship and was the unmovable support pillar of the fleet, a demanding presence due to her status as a famous battleship, and as a towering figure over her comrades. She seemed to be in her usual clothes, and had a destroyer seated on her laps.

Yukikaze the destroyer was sitting on Nagato's lap and was been spoon-fed by the esteemed battleship as she looked to her comrades and smiled at Shigure. She wore an extremely short, white sailor one-piece dress that could have doubled as a large shirt for a larger ship girl, a pair of binoculars hanging from a strap around her neck.

She had two blow horns attached to her temples, and some sort of contraption atop her head. Her brown hair was cut short, and her brown eyes reflected sadness and guilt that was well-hidden to all but the most perceptive of ship girls in the base, Shigure having detected it partially because she, like the Kagerou-Class destroyer, had been through a lot and thus knew what to look for within the eyes of the destroyer.

The blonde light cruiser Abukuma was talking to the carrier of the team, her double buns and hair rings to hold up her long hair, her light green sailor uniform with her black knee boots that made up her uniform, and her high-pitched voice was audible even across the table. She was lively, and seemed to contrast with her conversation partner, who was calmer and attentive to the light cruiser that was Abukuma.

Amagi the carrier was taking up the rear while listening to Abukuma, allowing her teammates to bask in the spotlight while she supported them from behind as her role as a carrier, to summon planes and to strike from afar.

She had the pin of a red maple tree leaf on her left temple with her auburn hair tied in a ponytail, with a camouflage-green kimono covering her body. She had the same air as Houshou, the patience of a motherly ship girl along with her stance that conveyed not just seniority, but also a hidden dragon deep beneath her genuinely kind exterior.

Shigure could see that the Admiral was rather explicit in her affection for her own ship girls, especially towards her girlfriends Nagato and Ashigara, although it was also made clear that she loved all the ship girls that were under her command, Shigure watching her try to give all her ship girls as much attention as possible with impressive results as she wolfed down her breakfast in the process.

And Shigure was rather interested in what the 3rd Fleet had to teach her, having heard that the 3rd Fleet wanted to help train up the 1st Fleet before they ever sortied in order to maximize their odds of success and survival.

Interesting, Shigure thinking about what they had to teach them, likely something like little tips to keep in mind in order to defeat the Abyssals, Shigure looking down at her own breakfast.

Shigure was looking down the tray of fresh vegetables mixed in with soft, pinkish-white fish meat and soy sauce on one plate, and the typical miso soup, a steel fuel can, and a rice bowl with a soft boiled egg sprawled atop the small heap of rice, and a pinch of pepper atop that to add a bit of flavor to her meal.

Looking back and seeing Admiral Mako look so happy while leaning from side to side to cuddle with her girlfriends, with Nagato trying to fight a blush and telling her that this wasn't the right place for personal displays of affection, while Ashigara was rather accepting of her Admiral's affection but was more focused on finishing her own meal.

It really made Shigure wonder how this life also held out the possibility for them to find a soul mate and feel genuine love for someone, regardless of gender.

Shigure could note the few subconscious motions of affection, like both the ship girls having slightly dilated pupils, the slight leaning motion to reciprocate the Admiral's motion and the simple fact that they didn't simply change seats, Shigure smiling at the fact that love could blossom on the battlefield.

Admiral Mako was talking to Ayanami about something or another, and Shigure tried to make sense of the prior conversation by listening to the destroyer ask innocently about their relationship.

"So, Nagato and Ashigara are just two of your many girlfriends, right, Admiral Mako?"

Admiral Mako nodded excitedly, commenting on the situation of being in a polygamous relationship and how she loved everyone involved equally.

"Yeah, I really love all my ship girls, but there are a few ship girls that I love more than others in a romantic way, which means that I really love _love_ them, and it'd only be natural for me to want to be their girlfriend, right?

I don't force them into the relationship with my Admiralty, of course.

I do my best to court my ship girls when I'm off-duty, although there's nothing prohibiting little displays of affection..."

Looking at Nagato and raising an eyebrow whilst giving a coy smile, the slow battleship looking away and choosing not to comment as Admiral Mako looked back at them and continued.

"I also preach the understanding and acceptance of others and mutual love between all parties, and I respect and accept the fact that some of the ship girls in our bases have boyfriends who are sailors and normal civilians alike.

I mean, ship girls are all created to be bisexual, so that they can find a male or female suitor to fall in love with, am I right, Nagato?"

Shigure's interest was piqued upon hearing that, listening to the blushing battleship try to explain the situation upon being unknowingly put on the spot by her own Admiral, coughing into her gloved fist as she elaborated.

"Even though the world, especially the major countries like Japan, the USA and Germany, amongst others, have led the world in loosening up on their conservative views on LGBT relationships and permit sister ships to marry each other, two girls having a relationship would still be considered rather high-profile, no matter what the society or country.

And should the war ever end, I believe that our creators, the Fairies, designed us with the intent to allow us the choice to fall in love with a person of either gender.

So instead of designing us to only be attracted to females, as demonstrated by some of our sister-loving ship girls, and live a relatively high-profile life, we were created to also be able to sincerely love a human male and quietly fade into obscurity, which is what I believe most of us would want after the war."

Shigure nodded upon hearing that, somewhat understanding the reasoning behind that aspect of their creation, since if the ship girls were created to only be attracted to females, most of them would likely be unable to a peaceful, low-profile life in a country like Japan, where even if they had loosened up on their views and allowed ship girls to marry their own siblings, it would still attract a lot of attention in their daily lives, which is likely the last thing they wanted.

But Admiral Mako put a hand on the visor of her officer's cap and removed it, uncoupling her arm from both Ashigara's and Nagato's arms as she leaned back, patting Ashigara on the shoulder as she smiled cheerily and commented.

"Maa, the relationship between me and Ashigara might not be classified as an official 'relationship' yet, since our relationship started recently."

Nuzzling the base of Ashigara's neck where it connected with her right shoulder, whispering sensually.

"Although I hope that's gonna change soon enough..."

This caused the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser to flinch and blush a little as she hissed at her commanding officer,

"Oi...

Not here, everyone's watching...

Besides, you have so many girlfriends already, so the charm of being called that kinda wears off after a while..."

This caused Admiral Mako to pout at that, making a whine that a wounded puppy would make upon being wounded and giving the heavy cruiser the 'puppy dog eyes' while Ashigara did her best to keep a straight face and looked away while shoving a spoonful of white rice into her mouth.

And Admiral Mako finally replied to Ashigara's comment, although in a way that neither Shigure, nor any of the ship girls present could have ever predicted while her tone was genuinely confused.

"Then you want our relationship to be classified as 'fuck buddies' instead?"

Causing everyone at the table to do a spit take upon hearing that, and Ashigara to choke on the mouthful of rice that likely went down the wrong pipe as a slightly coughing Haguro helped her sister ship lean over as she slapped her on the back, in between the shoulder blades.

Admiral Mako blinked as she looked around at the coughing ship girls around her and even at the tables that were close enough for the occupants to overhear her, and Admiral Mako scratched her head, seeming genuinely confused as to what she was supposed to call her girlfriends other than the conventional 'girlfriend', confusedly muttering to herself as Shigure tried to calm her furious blush down.

"I mean, it _does_ have a unique ring to it, and it's not as if we're a chaste couple by any stretch..."

And finally, Nagato recovered enough to speak into the Admiral's ear, warning her about the heavy cruiser's fiery temper.

"Admiral...

I think you'd better run."

Admiral Mako blinked again, before raising both her eyebrows in agreement as she picked up her Admiral's cap again, plopping it on the slow battleship's head as she stood up, the slight screech of the chair legs on the canteen floor barely registering in the minds of the ship girls as the Admiral gave Nagato a quick peck on the left cheek, remarking.

"I suppose you're right, since Ashigara's known for flaring up sometimes.

But her fiery temper's part of the reason why I love her, y'know.

In fact, I can pretty much feel her temper flaring up behind me right now, and I can almost picture Haguro valiantly trying to hold her back."

Shigure was surprised to see that Admiral Mako, jerking her thumb back, was absolutely correct in that the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser was looming behind her, her dirtied uniform a result of her coughing out the bits of rice, Haguro fretting as she tried to hold her sister back, wrapping her arms feebly around Ashigara's waist as she pleaded.

"Please run away while I can still hold her, Admiral-san!"

Admiral Mako uttered a barely decipherable,

"Gottagobye!"

Before bolting for the canteen door, Ashigara prying Haguro's arms off of her waist before chasing her commanding officer, and the last thing Shigure saw was the Admiral's blazer and Ashigara's long flowing hair being thrown up as they left the canteen at breakneck speed, leaving the entire canteen's occupants in a pregnant silence before resuming their lunch and conversations.

Shigure was slightly shocked at that, wondering to herself,

 _'No reaction?!'_

But thinking about a naval base that had so many colorful personalities in one area, it wasn't unreasonable of them to simply shrug off anything as a daily occurrence within the naval base.

Nagato lifted up her free hand to feel the spot where the Admiral's lips had met her cheek for an instant, bringing it forward to observe her fingers, before muttering to herself in a droll tone that contained a fair bit of exasperation, remarking.

"How unprofessional..."

Shigure was rather afraid for her Admiral now, and asked the slow battleship as to what was going to happen between them.

But Nagato simply waved her concerns aside, commenting as though she knew the outcome to be a forgone conclusion as she continued eating her lunch nonchalantly.

"Oh, there's no need to worry about them.

Ashigara is likely to perform the Boston Crab submission hold on her for awhile as harmless punishment, and we'd make better use of our time finishing up our breakfast and joining them at the harbor."

Shigure sweat dropped at how fast everyone seemed to have recovered from the entire incident, resuming eating their breakfast as though nothing had happened as some of them even began chatting with each other, Shigure hearing Yukikaze comment innocently.

"But, Nagato-san, didn't the Admiral say that she likes being held by her girlfriends?"

To which Nagato blushed a little, but managed to keep a straight face as she shushed the Kagerou-Class destroyer and simply commented.

"Shush.

You'll learn about it all when you're an adult."

"But I'll never be an adult, Nagat-"

To which Nagato softly pushed a spoonful of fish meat into the destroyer's mouth to end the conversation.

Shigure looked down as she tried to hide her tomato-red face, although she was not alone as she peeked up to see that a few of her teammates and the ship girls of the 3rd Fleet still had colored cheeks.

And after another two minutes later, it was when Shigure was almost done with her breakfast when she saw that the members 3rd Fleet raised their eyes and looked behind her as she could feel another presence standing behind her, something that chilled her to the bone as she was unable to explain why.

It just felt as though the Grim Reaper was standing behind her as she whirled around, seeing a pink-haired ship girl who had a blue and white sailor schoolgirl uniform with plated pieces of armor on her left shoulder and covering the outside of her leg, her pink hair styled in freshly-cut strands held up by red ribbons that exposed her green eyes.

She had thigh-highs on her legs held together by beige ropes while she wore platform shoes, a white headband peeking out from behind her bangs and was hugging her forehead, the ends of the pure-white headband trailing from behind her head while she kept her hands in her skirt pockets.

Shigure couldn't help but avert the stare of the ship girl, only requiring a glimpse into her hollow pupils to already feel scared of her, Nagato creasing her brows and asking the newcomer ship girl as to why she was here.

"Good morning, Akashi.

I assume you have business with Shigure of the 1st Fleet?"

Akashi.

Shigure remembered her to be the repair ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was likely the chief medic of the naval base who was also a part of the hospital that she saw off in the distance when she first came here.

Akashi responded, although Shigure noted that her tone was chillingly indifferent as everyone's eyes were already on her, some of them even sweating as the repair ship responded.

"Yeah, I need to check up on Shigure, since I need to ensure her psychological well-being.

She needs to come with me."

Nagato's eye narrowed at that, trying to point out their training session later in the day, retorting as Shigure found herself stuck in between two titans of the naval base, and even her own teammates were slowly inching away from her.

"I don't believe you've heard, but Shigure's fleet, the 1st Fleet, has a training session with the 3rd Fleet, so she'll be unavailable for today."

Shigure, although keeping quiet in the midst of this civilized argument, was rather elated that someone as respected as Nagato was speaking up in her defense.

She didn't have anything against the repair ship, but she did _not_ want to go along with someone who had the Josef Mengele or the Shirou Ishii vibe, both participants of World War 2 having disgusted her with their work as she read through history books to catch up with the times.

And a blood-red aura was what leaked out of the repair ship as she leaned in, casting shadows over herself despite the canteen being well-lit as Shigure felt another chill run down at her spine, a sentiment that was likely shared by everyone at the table as the bloodthirsty aura emanated from her every pore and caused everyone to react reflexively, grabbing their utensils a little tighter and chairs scrapping on the floor in a knee-jerk reaction.

But Akashi was unfazed by the fact that she was facing off against 11 other ship girls if one didn't include the rest of the ship girl population in the canteen, responding defiantly.

"I think I made it clear that _I wasn't asking a question._

Or would you like to tell the Admiral why you compromised a ship girl's mental welfare for the sake of training, should she be psychologically compromised on the battlefield?"

Shigure blanched at that, her head swiveling back and forth between the repair ship and the slow battleship, wondering how this stare-down was going to end, Akashi and Nagato both unwilling to back down and yield.

But Nagato eventually looked away as she conceded the point,

"...I understand.

The well-being of a ship girl's mental state takes higher priority than one training session, and I do believe that she might require some help getting over her previous experiences."

Shigure couldn't believe her ears, and she looked back at the Nagato-Class battleship to get her to reconsider her face as she tried to look as sympathetic as possible, her teammates coming to her defense and trying to defend her, something that made Shigure rather proud of them for sticking by her.

But Akashi silenced them all with this one question, Shigure herself holding her own breath upon hearing a valid point being made.

"All I hear from you all are assurances that Shigure won't break in battle.

But you _do_ know that all her trauma stems from night battles, right?

So does that assurance extend into the nighttime?"

Akashi shifted her eyes to look down at the crowd of ship girls gathered at the table, never mentioning any names but made it very apparent who exactly it was that she was talking about.

"Certain ship girls are naturally marked for observation due to potential underlying feelings of guilt and depression, having survived traumatic experiences or the war in general.

And having counselled some of you, it'd be natural that I would want to at least talk to Shigure."

Akashi took out her right hand from her skirt pocket, lifting her hand up and waving it around as her aura dissipated and she took on a more benign expression to elaborate her point.

"Maa, it's not as if I'm going to operate on her or something.

And I'm still a repair ship at heart, so I genuinely have your best interests in mind when I say that I want to help you out with your issues."

Shigure looked around, noting the finer motions that went unnoticed by most, but was most evident in Tatsuta, Junyou and Yukikaze.

Slightly looking away from the repair ship, tightening their grip on their utensils, shifting their feet to position them in a way that expressed a desire to leave the conversation and the table, and Shigure almost wanted to ask anyone about what exactly these issues were.

But she held her tongue out of a newly developed sense of tact, feeling Akashi leaning in to whisper in Shigure's ear to make sure that they could meet up to chat privately.

"I'll be waiting at Room 23 of the Administration Office."

* * *

Shigure was now standing before Room 23, having climbed up the stairs to reach the second level as she wondered about what the repair ship had said about her, and how much of it was true.

Having received reassurances from the ship girls surrounding her that no physical harm was going to befall her, which meant quite a big deal to her as she was rather apprehensive about a repair ship who knew the ship girl anatomy inside and out, and had more than enough experience in dissecting and patching up her fellow ship girls.

But her fleet had instead warned her about the psychological aspect of the treatment, everyone from Nagato giving her a concerned look to Tatsuta, the one ship girl that Shigure least expected to say anything to her informing her.

"Shigure, Akashi-san is sincere in wanting to help you, but you need to be honest with yourself to this to truly work.

And we know that we can't help you in the way that she can, but I want you to know that we'll be here for you every step of the way."

Shigure looked down at the floorboards, reflecting on their words and how true they were, that despite their enthusiasm and dedication, there really wasn't much they couldn't do to help her get over something that had happened more than half a century ago other than be there for her whenever they could.

Honestly, when Shigure thought about it, there also wasn't much that she could do to actually help her teammates should something from their past crop up, the past being set in stone.

But that wasn't a reason for her to give up on even trying, knowing that ship girls were not chained down by their pasts and that there was no reason why they couldn't rise above the events that they had been through in their past life.

But reflecting upon her own past, Shigure wondered if she possessed the strength to practice what she preached, thinking back on all her comrades that had died while she had lived, feeling rather bitter about her own lucky streak during the war and wondered if any other ship girls felt this way.

But there was no point in putting off the inevitable, Shigure exhaling as she knocked on the door to signal her presence, and entered after she heard the repair ship respond with a dry:

"Come in."

The room was simple, with a couch for the ship girl to lie down on, and a chair for the occupants to sit on, Shigure noting that Akashi had already made herself comfortable on the chair she was sitting on, the room comfortably sized so as not to make a ship girl feel claustrophobic, but also retaining a tight size so as not to overwhelm a ship girl upon entering, with a small shelf with story books stacked on them, and a fake potted plant to the corner of the room to occupy the room without overcrowding it.

Shigure looked at the couch before the repair ship, Akashi looking at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer and motioning for her to lie down on the couch to make herself comfortable, Shigure bowing politely to greet her senior as she pressed her own skirt in to lie down.

Akashi clapped her hands together to start the session, explaining herself to Shigure,

"Right, I'm Akashi, the repair ship and base psychologist, and this here's the first session of therapy for you."

Shigure did a double take at that, blurting out as she wondered out loud about how this was just the first of many sessions as her eyes widened.

"'The first'?!

I need to train, Akashi-san!"

But Akashi raised a hand to get Shigure to be silent, and revealed a bit about the data that was gathered over the course of 20 years concerning the various psychological states of ship girls and the possible mental and psychological pitfalls that many ship girls had unfortunately fallen victim to over the decades.

"I believe you understand me when I say that there's a lot of bad memories about the war that can affect us adversely in various ways.

But what you fail to comprehend is simply the fact that despite the best efforts of some our brightest minds working on diagnosing and helping scarred ship girls recover via therapeutic psychological treatment, there are simply too many ways that the ship girl psyche can fail, and too many ship girls for us to keep track of at all times."

Shigure narrowed her eyes as she looked away, unable to retort as she knew that Akashi was right; that there was simply no way for her to predict how any ship girl, much less someone like her who has been through so much in her past life would react upon being thrust into the heat of battle under adverse conditions.

But perhaps there was some sort of morbid curiosity that welled up within her, shooting the repair ship a glance as she asked inquisitively.

"So when you say 'psychological treatment', I assume there's a hospital of sorts to house them, right?"

Akashi tilted her head to the side as she lifted an eyebrow, clarifying.

"Well, medical and psychological care _has_ progressed since the 40's, and we prioritize the welfare of the patients to help them recover, but we also try our best to help healthy ship girls through whatever issues may arise..."

Akashi looked back at Shigure, causing her to flinch a little at how serious the repair ship was about helping her, ensuring that the entire 'prevention is better than cure' motif stayed true as she continued.

"... since it's easier to help you out before any issues arise or to guide you through them, instead of helping you _after_ you've been hurt by whatever comes up and screws you over."

Shigure nodded at that, having heard of Akashi's argument that she likely wasn't fit to participate in night battles, something that she wasn't keen on herself and only having been in training sessions and practice bouts in the daytime.

Shigure nodded, and Akashi comforted her by saying,

"Well, don't worry about today, since I just want us to get to know each other better.

I do believe that that step's essential in helping us be a little more comfortable in exchanging information with one another as well as making sure that we both get to ask our fair share of questions.

And just to be a good sport, I'll go first and answer a few questions of yours."

Shigure narrowed her eyes upon noting that this might be a ploy on her part to try to allow herself to look nice as she answered Shigure's questions to make Shigure feel as if she was compelled to answer Akashi later on in the session, but her curiosity won out in the end as she asked simply.

"So, about those hospitals, or rather, mental asylums..."

"Institutes."

Akashi raised her left index finger at that, Shigure again flinching at how seriously Akashi took her job as she added.

"Remember that these are institutes where psychologically tormented ship girls are sent, a large part of them having been through traumatic situations, suffered damaging breakdowns, and they never asked to become who they are today.

And if you're going to address the place where I once worked at, please use the appropriate term."

Shigure paused for a while to consider the repair ship's words, before nodding apologetically as she corrected herself.

"The mental institute where you worked in...

How did it work?"

Akashi lifted her eyebrow again at that, folding her arms as she leaned back in her chair and elaborated.

"Well, for starters, you need to understand that we need to ensure the safety of our doctors and orderlies, so we use non-chafing rubber restraints for light cruisers and below, and straitjackets for heavy cruisers and above in the most dire of circumstances."

Shigure blanched again at that, cringing a little at that treatment as she commented.

"That seems a little...excessive."

Akashi shrugged as she retorted,

"Hey.

When you consider the fact the hospitalized ship girls aren't exactly in their right minds to follow orders and restrain their strength, they do possess an ever present threat to the human personnel, and especially to themselves as some of them have resorted to self-harm to cope.

And you tell me how you're going to hold back a Hiei or a Nagato without the use of powerful restraints that are admittedly tailored to ensure some degree of comfort, without compromising their ability to restrain the fearsome strength of the adult ship girls."

Shigure shivered at that, wondering how she was to even stand a chance against even a heavy cruiser, remembering the physically imposing Maya that looked as though she could kill Shigure with one punch, conceding the point as she asked the next question.

"So how bad _can_ things get?

I'd like to know some of the cases that you worked on when you worked there."

Akashi smirked, now resting her right cheek on her right fist while her right elbow was placed on the arm rest.

"Ah, ah.

Patient confidentiality."

"But you're not naming specifics, and besides, didn't you say that you'd 'answer a few questions of mine'?"

Shigure retorted, causing Akashi's smile to droop a little as she considered the Shiratsuyu-Class's question, before answering with brutal honesty.

"If you insist.

Arashi is commonly known for causing the sinking of the 1st and 2nd Carrier Division back in the day when the Americans followed her wake as she regrouped with the carriers.

One Arashi was escorting the same carriers as they died around her in the present day, causing a mental relapse on the spot and she almost succeeded in self-termination.

Quite curious, that the trembling of your hand on the gun can cause you to miss your brains and only shoot out your optics, making all the difference between life and death."

Akashi formed a gun with her free hand's index and middle finger and her thumb, giving Shigure a shit-eating grin and letting her tongue out as she put the 'gun' to her temple and mimed pulling the trigger, resuming her resting position before continuing.

"There was also a Kongou who suffered from a broken heart as her Admiral broke up with her, and her emotional breakdown was, well, let's just say nothing short of legendary.

And let's just say that, speaking in a purely utilitarian manner about the responsibilities of being an Admiral, you don't need the use of your limbs to lead a base, just a mind to think up of a plan and a mouth to communicate your thoughts."

Shigure raised her eyebrows to agree with that point, slightly squirming in her seat upon hearing her own comrades acting in such ways upon being thrust in traumatic or unfavorable situation.

But Akashi formed a fist with her free hand and extended her index finger, leaning in close to Shigure and pointing to a point on her forehead as their eyes met, and Akashi's tone was dead-serious about the last case as she explained.

"Right here, through the forehead, is where a cannon round punched through the head of a Kai Ni Shigure, and a little like the curious case of Phineas Gage, her personality was warped so much from a well-adjusted leader of the base into someone with barely any personality, and no remorse about shooting her own teammate for hindering her fleet's progress."

Shigure's eyes widened at that, covering her forehead with both hands in a defensive gesture as Akashi leaned back, intertwining the fingers of both her hands as she explained herself.

"You may have heard a few things about me from your teammates, and I couldn't really bring myself to care about what they say about me behind my back, be it good or bad.

But know that I do want to prevent any harm, be it physical, emotional or psychological from befalling you in the first place, instead of sticking around to pick up the pieces after the damage has been done, which, sadly, happens far too often despite our best efforts."

Shigure drew back a little our of surprise as Akashi leaned in, the repair ship relaxing as she asked, giving the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer a warm smile and doing her best to look approachable as she leaned back.

"So I know that you might have been expecting this, but I'd still like to ask you this generic, but well-meaning question.

How are you doing today, Shigure?"

* * *

Tenryuu was rather worried about her comrade who was now in the company of the naval base's infamous repair ship, who was known not for her treatment techniques, which worked extremely well due to her desire to help everyone in the base with their issues and her experience in wielding a surgical knife.

No, what she was known for was her classified past that she was reluctant to share with anyone but her bosom buddies that were the members of the 8th Fleet (they were all rather well-stacked, which meant that phrase could also be taken literally).

But shaking her head to get her mind back into the practice session, she glanced around and noted the fact that most of the two fleets had broken up into 1 on 1 individualized training sessions, before looking back at the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser Ashigara standing before her on the training grounds, giving her a small lecture on the ship girl body to get her to be more well-acquainted with their limits.

"The ship girl body is an engineering marvel, and can accomplish many feats.

But we're bound by this physical realm and its rules, and no matter what anyone says, ultimately being part machine, everyone has a limit.

Don't let _anyone_ tell you different."

Tenryuu's shoulders deflated a little at that reality check, but Ashigara patted her shoulder in order to cheer her up, letting her in on one thing that she discovered in her years of service.

"But don't feel too defeated just yet, alright?

I'll tell you one thing, and that these bodies, they were designed to be flat-rated, or at least, that's what I heard people call it.

When we were designed, they didn't want us pushing ourselves so far that our bodies would break down, so they lowered the acceptable limits and told us not to go past them for our own sake.

So when they say that we have limits, those are the limits that we can safely achieve without destroying our bodies.

But in reality, we can go beyond those limits when we're pushed far enough."

Ashigara's face darkened, as Tenryuu's face hardened in response and listened even closer to Ashigara's warning that came after the revelation.

"But remember, that what I'm telling you right now, is something that you should attempt only in a dire situation.

Because if you exceed your limits too much, your body is prone to breaking down and sustaining wear and tear that needs special repairs or replacement of entire body parts.

And if worst comes to worst, you need to be benched and hospitalized for a few months, far longer than any battleship or carrier.

So in case I didn't make myself clear, this is a _LAST RESORT._ "

Tenryuu nodded, understanding Ashigara's concerns, and asked her coach,

"So then, what _can_ I do to improve myself?"

Ashigara's face softened, and she regained her smirk as she stood on the ocean. Today's weather was rather lax, seeing that the spring sun was starting to beat down on them a little harsher now, but the drifting cloud masses came to their rescue by blocking most of it, making the ambient temperature bearable.

"What we _can_ do, is to learn our limits, and work within them.

As an example, if you know that you can go all-out at 100% for 5 minutes, after which you can only access 80% of your full strength for the next 5 minutes, that's good.

And if you know the time limit for your limit-break, for example, you know that you can access 120% for exactly 5 seconds without compromising your current physical condition, that's excellent."

Looking down at her sword, Tenryuu was surprised as Ashigara pointed down at her sword and politely demanded.

"And not to sound as if I'm changing the topic too quickly, but what's your sword's name?"

Ashigara paused as her head tilted, trying not to sound impolite as she asked Tenryuu.

"I can't keep calling it 'the sword' or 'your sword' in case you have a name for it…"

"Oh,"

Tenryuu finally understood the question, and held up her sheathed sword, proudly proclaiming,

"My sword's got a strong-sounding name that I found on the internet!

Her name is Ezekiel!

But why would you want to know that?"

Ashigara nodded as she went into detail about the weapons that were created along with certain ship girls to complement their fighting styles.

"You see, when you were created, Ezekiel was created with the steel used to create you, and the material was infused with a pinch of carbon and bauxite to strengthen it to the point where it would be called an Anti-Abyssal Weapon."

Raising her gloved palm to ask Tenryuu to stick with her as she elaborated on the nature of these unconventional weapons.

"Technically, all our weapons can be considered Anti-Abyssal Weapons, but the clearest definition to distinguish these unique weapons that were created upon your inception are,

'Weapons that cannot be cataloged within the naval arsenal that was used in World War 2'."

Ashigara looked Tenryuu in the eye, asking sternly.

"Do you get me, Tenryuu?

Ezekiel is an Anti-Abyssal Weapon that transcends the normal weapons that we equip on ourselves, since this weapon answers to you and you alone, much like Tatsuta's glaive and Murakumo's antenna-shaped staff, amongst others.

It's made of the same steel that makes up you, and reinforced to make it quite literally, cutting-edge technology that few ship girls possess."

Tenryuu's ear flaps were now waggling excitedly by that point in time, thinking up of various ways that she could destroy Abyssals while remembering the times she spent with Kiso playing make-believe and coming up with the names to cool moves.

But Ashigara lightly flicked Tenryuu's forehead, bringing her back to reality as she pointed out the hard work required to achieve anything close what Tenryuu was conjuring up in her mind.

"Hey.

Don't just imagine that you can do whatever you please, now that you learnt that your sword can potentially cut through almost any Abyssal's skin.

Training yourself up in terms of physical strength is a given, since it's useless if the swing of your sword has no strength behind it."

Tenryuu's mechanical ears drooped a little at that, but she knew that this was a given, seeing that a ship girl needed to be strong to wield an 'unconventional' weapon like a sword properly, as all that is required of a ship girl to fire a handheld cannon is to pull the trigger.

But Tenryuu also asked a question of her own as she thought about the enemies that she could only get a glimpse of before the senior fleets took over the battle.

"Ashigara-san, I too, would like to change the topic to ask how powerful are the stronger enemies that are out there?

A-And when I saw one, it had a sort of aura around it, like it was on another level that I knew I didn't stand a chance against..."

Ashigara nodded, explaining the enemies that possessed greater stats than the rank-and-file Abyssals.

"Aye, those Abyssals are Elites, or what you would know as the Kai versions of the enemies that you normally face on the battlefield.

And that aura is something that stems from the soul of a ship girl bleeding out of her own corporeal body upon being remodeled."

Tenryuu was admittedly rather confused about what was spewing from Ashigara's mouth, in which Ashigara scratched her head, trying to explain things in a way that Tenryuu could understand as she continued.

"Imagine a being that inspires awe and fear in you because of the power it exudes, and to some extent, this applies to ship girls when we are remodeled and become stronger because of it, as the power that our soul exudes is used to make up a significant portion of the power required to drive our superhuman bodies.

This is something that humans do not possess as they do not pose a threat to us in terms of raw power, but rather in terms of intelligence.

What I'm trying to say, is that no matter how hard we try, we will always have that air around us, where the size we previously possessed and the power that we naturally wield as ships will be felt by everyone around us, because ultimately, in here…"

Ashigara pointed to her own heart, as she sadly smiled.

"...we are ultimately warships given human-like forms."

Tenryuu nodded in understanding, mentally referring to powerful and legendary battleships like Yamato and Nagato.

The warships themselves, in their previous lives, had not just their immense size, but also an air of strength and superiority that complemented their large, powerful cannons and impenetrable armor.

So it wasn't surprising that in this life, the same powerful air around them would be compressed along with the size of their vessels that were their bodies, so much so that you could almost feel the strength radiating from their very presence, something that could easily help them distinguish a ship girl from a human.

Tenryuu asked,

"Well, being a senior ship girl and a Kai Ni ship girl, are you capable of such a feat, Ashigara-san?"

The Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser didn't respond to that for a while as the adult ship girl closed her eyes, her face a picturesque example of peace as Tenryuu waited, wondering what her senior was up to.

But an explosion of feral might from the heavy cruiser's very being was what took the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser by surprise, the purple-haired ship girl gripping the scabbard of her sword out of a natural reflex to be ready to quick-draw her sword at the drop of a hat as Ashigara's eyelids lifted open, her savage aura emanating out of her.

And the sheer ferocity behind her shrunken pupils was what got to Tenryuu as she felt her own feet shift backwards out of fear, and the sweat that started to line her forehead as she grabbed the handle of her sword, unable to do anything in the face of such bestial strength that seeped from Ashigara's pores.

But the heavy cruiser's voice was snapped her out of her fearful trance, Ashigara leaning forward and stretching her arm outward to point it in Tenryuu's general direction as she reassured Tenryuu.

"It's alright.

That fear you feel, the sweat on your skin and the slight trembling of your hands and feet.

It's a natural response when facing off against someone far more powerful than you."

Tenryuu was about to proclaim that she wasn't scared of anything, but the heavy cruiser's stare only intensified, shutting Tenryuu up as the Myoukou-Class had predicted her response and wordlessly communicated through her eyes,

 _'Don't even say it._

 _You know you're just lying to yourself.'_

Ashigara moved her outstretched hand back towards herself, pressing her gloved hand on her bosom as she continued in a lecturing tone.

"I didn't want to show you this, but I'd rather you feel this killing intent now than freeze up in front of an Abyssal in the middle of combat.

And I must say that the goal you set for yourself is quite a lofty one.

Let me guess, 'To fight and win against Abyssals and ship girls stronger than me on paper, and to hit above my own class', or something along those lines, right?"

Tenryuu started, clenching her teeth in indignation before she shouted,

"I get it, alright?!

It must sound stupid to someone who's Kai Ni, that someo-"

"It's not stupid."

Tenryuu was stunned at that, drawing back with only a stunned,

"What?"

As Ashigara's aura relaxed in intensity as she corrected the light cruiser's thinking.

"It's not stupid, as there are a lot of ship girls known for fighting Abyssals that are stronger and winning. Most of the time.

What matters is how creative you get, and how dedicated you are to improving yourself and defying the limits that your stats set for you."

Tenryuu blinked, never having thought about things that, watching Ashigara hold out a finger to point in Tenryuu's direction as she pointed out a few things about the light cruiser herself.

"I know that you might have a few issues with not having Kai Ni..."

Tenryuu winced at that, clutching her sword a little tighter upon hearing that, but Ashigara pointed out something about her that she never stopped to think of.

"But since when did you think that our stats were the end-all-be-all of our abilities?"

Tenryuu started, and Ashigara clued her in as to how mindbogglingly large this world was as she explained.

"I might seem fearsome now, but know that I'm not the only one who's achieved this level of strength, and out there are ship girls from destroyers to battleships who are just as strong as I am.

And the Abyssal Princesses?

They're far stronger than me, and like you, I can't help but feel fear in their presence.

And sometimes, retreat is the best course of action despite wanting to pick a fight."

Tenryuu was rather taken aback at that, knowing that her senior had likely been through quite a number of large-scale battles herself.

But to think that someone as respected and powerful like Ashigara could feel fear, and even had to retreat a few times in the presence of an Abyssal Princess?

But Ashigara again pointed to her as she continued.

"So that fear you feel, and cause you to keep a distance of three paces from your opponent?

That's the difference that's going to keep you alive in battle as you don't just fight harder, but also fight smarter to hit above your ship class.

And besides, that distance can be easily covered by your little friend, as well as your comrades, right?"

Tenryuu jerked her head down to see her own sword Ezekiel, by her side and ready to be drawn and used in battle, Tenryuu mentally smacking herself in the head and remembering that she wasn't exactly alone on the battlefield.

Ashigara tilted her head forward to cast a shadow over her own face despite the morning air shining down on them, lowering her arms to form clenched fists beside her body as she finished her lecture with a question, the aura intensifying to make her look and feel as fearsome as any Abyssal despite lacking the intent to kill.

"The lack of Kai Ni doesn't diminish the fact that your fighting spirit is going to drive you on with the drive of ten ship girls.

But that does not overcome the fact that you're created to be considerably weaker than everyone else, and if you're going to fight, you're going to have to also fight smarter as well as harder.

So I suppose the final question is, Tenryuu, that even in the face of a stronger opponent like myself, and knowing that despite me going easy on you, that you're likely not going to win.

So are you going to fight anyway?"

Tenryuu snarled, drawing her sword as she gave Ashigara a shit-eating grin as she answered defiantly.

"No fucking way!

I know the difference between wisely retreating and putting your foot down and not be pushed about by others who are stronger than you!

If I can't stand up to someone who's nowhere near the strongest, then how am I going to progress from here on out?!"

"Stubborn, just like me!

But I don't dislike that kind of tenacity!

 _En garde!"_

And the two ship girls rushed towards each other, their weapons blazing and the light cruiser's sword, Ezekiel, reflecting rays of sunlight as they clashed on the ocean surface.

* * *

Admiral Mako was slinking down her own chair as she sat in her own office, waiting for the Infiltration Fleet to show up as she nursed her back.

Geez, she was didn't want to sound like an old person as she was only 32 years old, but she was still human, and the fact that so many ship girls either glomped or tackled her affectionately took a strain on her back and body, and even a little destroyer weighed a fair bit heavier than the average human adult with her ship girl mode off.

She was wondering if she could at least request for a brace to be installed on her back before another heavy cruiser, or God forbid, Kongou accidentally sprain her back the next time she interacted with them again, relaxing as stretching like a cat would as she basked in the sunlight that was streaming in from the windows.

But that was neither here nor there as she heard a knock on the door, Admiral Mako straightening up in her chair as she curtly announced,

"Enter."

The door creaked open, and the Infiltration Fleet filed in with Sendai in the lead, being one of the best combatants in the night, and her obsession with night battles had also lent itself well in helping her learn about stealth, a coveted skill in the Infiltration Fleet.

Kagerou was talking animatedly to Shiranui, and she had an ahoge sticking out her forehead, colored a chestnut-auburn like the rest of her hair that was tied back in two ponytails with the help of yellow ribbons, and her collared white uniform was covered by a grey waistcoat, her similarly grey skirt covering her black compression shorts.

She had a green string tied around her collar, and her pristine-white gloves were holding the hand of her beloved sister ship.

Her cheery demeanor was a stark contrast to the pink haired destroyer beside her, the destroyer that was known as Shiranui of the Kagerou-Class destroyers, who spotted the same uniform save for a red thread tied around her collar in the style of a bow tie, and her blue eyes were steady and composed as she entered, much like the last destroyer beside her.

Arare was of the Asashio-Class destroyers, and her uniform consisted of a grey waist high skirt held up by overalls straps that reached up to her shoulders, wearing the same collared white shirt and school socks that stretched the length of her calves like the rest of the destroyers present.

She also had on dark grey cycling arm warmers, colored like her short hair that was held down by a chimney-like hat was strapped onto her head, the strap visible underneath her chin.

Together, the three destroyers and the sole light cruiser were the 'muscle' of the fleet, going into situations and didn't carry too much with them during stealth missions to ensure a fast travelling speed, and a faster retreat if necessary.

Chitose the light carrier was wearing a white blouse that was straining to hold itself together at the chest, with a red dress over her black vest and a headband crowning her swept silver hair.

She was the scout and the Team Mom, and her planes could give the team a heads up when enemies were coming, and rain fire down on the enemies.

The final member, a submarine, was known less by her designated I-58 and more as Goya. A white and blue schoolgirl uniform top over a school swimsuit, and a strange ornament atop bright pink hair, a fitting match to her exuberant personality and expression.

The secondary scout to sneak below and stalk the enemies due to her capability to submerge underwater, she could scout out Abyssal fleets undetected and to strike where they least expect it.

They all saluted the Admiral, to which Admiral Mako waved at them to acknowledge their greeting as she got to the point.

"Alright, I gathered you here today because I've got a top-secret sortie for you girls to go on."

The ship girls were now a little more serious, even someone like Goya hardening her expression and listening to their commanding officer with rapt attention.

"This is considered a classified mission, and I know that you girls are professional enough to not divulge this to anyone, right?"

They all nodded resolutely, and Admiral Mako resisted cracking a smile at seeing how mature some of these ship girls were, and how they could take on such heavy responsibilities without question, continuing.

"Well, the recent Abyssal movements and strange phenomena occurring around the world are enough for me to suspect that they're trying to pull off something large, and you know what that means.

I need you to go to this area..."

Spinning her laptop around to display the coordinates of the island that they were going to infiltrate, and the general layout of the islands that could be gleamed from both satellites in space and previous illustrations of the island itself, continuing,

"This island's sitting slightly beyond the Safety Zone, and it's currently uninhabited since we pushed out into their territory.

We were certain that the Abyssals were occupying it, although we never uncovered the full details of what they had on the island other than a production factory as the Abyssals pushed back before we could do a thorough sweep of the perimeter."

The girls shifted, remembering the push into the Pacific last autumn as the Abyssals defended these little islands with a vigor that was rarely seen, before abandoning them entirely and taking the ship girls by surprise, before they shortly came back with more of their buddies and drove the ship girls back.

The island was last reported to still be uninhabited by even the Abyssals, but there was no telling when the Abyssals were going to put an end to that.

"I need you to sail there, which we estimate to be take up to a day, since we included the time you need to wait for sundown while skirting the Safety Zone before entering Abyssal waters under the cover of night.

Search the entire island for whatever they may have hidden on the island to clue us in on their activities, and since we have the rough timetable concerning the Abyssals' movements, we need you to capture a Wo-Class when an Abyssal patrol comes by around this time and approaches the island."

There was activity at the door again just as the ship girls were about to ask how they were going to do just that, Kirishima opening the door and nodding to both the Admiral and the Infiltration Fleet, both parties reciprocating the motion.

Kirishima walked in whilst carrying a small handheld case, the Kongou-Class battleship turning around addressing the confused ship girls as her every footstep made the floorboards creak.

The innocuous steel case was held out for the Infiltration Fleet to observe, the Kongou-Class fast battleship unlocking it to display a medical syringe with a needle to load, explaining herself.

"Seeing that the Admiral's displayed the time that the Abyssal patrol is estimated to arrive at the abandoned island and their usual patrol route, I suppose this's my part to introduce our new toys."

Pushing the case out for the interested ship girls to observe, Kirishima elaborated on what the item was used for.

"This here's a fluid that contains nano-machines to counteract the 'mental suicide' ability all Abyssals share to prevent capture and interrogation.

You need to inject this in the Abyssal at the nape of the Wo-Class's neck to stop her, since their minds use the port located there to send signals to the various weapons connected to them to self destruct, and we can use that to hack the mind directly and stop the order before it's carried out."

Kirishima flipped the box in a manner that caused the lid of the case to close on itself, clicking closed as Kirishima now held the case closer to her protectively as she continued.

"And if you'll follow me, I'd like to show one other equipment that we'd rather not bring out here, since it's classified and in the field-testing stage."

Kagerou raised her hand as she pointed out bluntly to make sure that they were on the same page.

"And we're the field testers, right?

So how are you so sure that the equipment's gonna work?!"

But Kirishima only pushed up her glasses, catching the sunlight and her lenses turning white as she simply commented.

"I was the one who designed this experimental tool and built it.

Barring a few limitations that we're still working on, I stake my pride as the base's engineer on the personal guarantee that it'll work."


	5. Chapter 5 - Better, Faster, Stronger

The 1st Fleet was gathered around a canteen table and were discussing their thoughts and woes over lunch, their tough training day ending on a high note as the food supply ship Mamiya gave them a free treat and made them all her signature ice cream dish to celebrate the inception of their fleet with a belated treat.

Mamiya was a senior ship girl, and yet looked relatively youthful and impossibly beautiful like any other adult ship girl, who, along with Houshou, also carried herself with a motherly vibe as she was the chief cook of the naval base.

She wore a light maroon collared shirt and an azure blue dress that reached down the length of her body much like a gown, and her white apron and baggy sleeves adorned it as she smiled down at the exhausted yet satisfied and starving 1st Fleet, who were wolfing down her professionally made sundae after a hard day's work.

Her light brown hair reached down to the arc of her back, with a hair pin to hold up her right fringe and an _ahoge_ sticking out of her hair, and she also had a purplish red ribbon hanging down behind her head, lazily holding up the ponytail that was located behind her head.

And Mamiya's Ice Cream was one of the most delicious things that Junyou had ever tasted ever since she was brought back into this world.

The ice cream didn't come cheap, but through Mamiya's grace, she graciously made everyone an ice cream sundae that had chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry scoops mixed together in a glass cup with sugar strands sprinkled atop them.

It came with a chocolate bar sticking out diagonally from the vanilla scoop, and with strawberry and chocolate syrup added to the vanilla scoop, but much care was taken to ensure that the flavors wouldn't interfere with each other or get muddled with each other in the sundae, each scoop and drop arranged intricately to instead enhance each other's flavor no matter where you started eating from and building up to a crescendo, the warm strawberry and chocolate syrup hidden in the other's ice cream scoop.

Several times, Junyou felt a warm sensation in her mouth, the sweet flavour of the strawberry syrup mixed in with the chocolate ice cream scoop or vice versa, a syrupy and delicious blend of syrup and ice cream mixing together in her mouth and stimulating her tongue.

Everyone was silently enjoying this mouth-watering work of art, and it was a little sad to have to eat it, but Mamiya told them that the ultimate purpose of the sundae was to be eaten, not admired like a piece of art, so they shouldn't feel too bad whenever they take a bite out of it.

This did help alleviate the short-lived guilt within them, as they happily feasted on the sundae.

And finally, Junyou was sipping on a bottle of ramune that replaced her usual bottle of sake to wean off the booze, talking to Hiei and Shigure about their future plans and goals, seeing that they were like her.

Tenryuu had pretty much proclaimed out loud her goal to fight above her ship class which Junyou could understand and empathize with, but she was now, engaged in a conversation with Ayanami and she didn't want to interrupt them

She wasn't too sure about how she was to hold a conversation with the more bloodthirsty member of the Tenryuu-Class, although she ws sure that would change over time.

Ayanami was kind of like a bro to her, where she was the straight man of the fleet and a name ship that everyone could rely on for elder-sister advice, Tenryuu being a little too hothead to fill that role despite also being a name ship.

And although she was sure that there would be a chance to talk to the Tenryuu-Class cruisers in the future, she wanted to take her time to develop the existing relationships she had with her Fleet as she spoke to the two teammates about their future plans, Shigure explaining.

"I, well, talked to Akashi about myself for a while, and I like to think I understand myself a little better now.

I realize that one of the goals I want to achieve in this life is to become stronger than I am now.

I never want to see another ship girl sink before me again, and unlike my past incarnation, I'm now conscious and am in control of my own progress.

I want to become stronger and protect you all, as well as my sisters."

Hiei nodded, biting down on an unwrapped sweet as she pointed out,

"Well, it's great that you've set a goal for yourself, and that you're driven to accomplish that.

But you also have to remember that you still have limits, and that you should take care of and pace yourself.

And that no matter what, know that we'll always be here for you as the 1st Fleet of the Yokosuka Base."

Shigure nodded thankfully at that, Junyou silently taking in the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer and thinking back on what she had learnt about the little ship girl.

Being a lucky ship girl, she had often survived situations where others had died, like the Massacre of Surigao Strait and the Battle of Vella Gulf, and it was no surprise that much like the luckier destroyers of this base like Hibiki and Yukikaze, they were haunted by the events that almost sank them, resulting in their high luck as a mark of shame for them.

And perhaps even for her too, seeing that she never wanted to feel the way they did in the very unlikely, but not impossible case where she survived when everyone around her died, much like in World War 2 and making her experience this bottomless pit of despair and self-condescension that alcohol managed to wash away temporarily, although she now had friends to try and fill that hole.

This was a whole new world, and she now had an entirely new fleet to fight alongside as she contemplated her own future goals, something that she never really thought of beyond simply achieving Kai Ni.

Thinking about the conversation between her and Amagi during the practice session, Junyou wondered how else she should proceed from here on out.

* * *

 _Junyou was training with the 3rd Fleet, and being a light carrier, naturally, she was paired up with the standard carrier of the 3rd Fleet, Amagi._

 _The Amagi-Class carrier wasn't exactly powerful, but what she lacked in terms of stats she made up in terms of hard work by coordinating her movements with the 3rd Fleet and backing them up whenever they required it._

 _It was all rather intriguing to Junyou, who was as much awed by the amount of hard work she put in as well as confused by it, unable to see why this carrier, who couldn't hold a candle to the 1st and 2nd Carrier Divisions, was trying so hard to matter._

 _And now was the time to train with her, Junyou participating in the mock battle session while facing off against Amagi._

 _Only that her heart wasn't in it._

 _She didn't know what it was about being a light carrier, but they were naturally inferior when compared to standard carriers, and maybe this was something that only she felt, but she didn't like going up against carriers since she knew that she was naturally at a disadvantage._

 _And after training for a while where they summoned their planes and tried to 'destroy' the opponent while doing their best to evade the opponent's own bomber planes, Amagi stopped right in her tracks as she recalled her planes, Junyou anticipating the incoming lecture and bracing herself mentally as she did the same._

 _Amagi calmly walked towards her as her bomber planes landed on her rigging that was shaped like rectangular-shaped plated wings, waving her hand aside to signal a pause in the practice session as Junyou's bombers also landed on her scroll and transformed back into shikigami for her to collect._

 _Amagi's youthful face was concerned in the way a mother would, much like Houshou did sometimes as she looked to her and asked, Junyou unable to meet her gaze._

 _"Junyou-san, I'd like to know why you aren't going all out in fighting against me, and despite being a light carrier, you're getting hit a little too much by my fighter planes..."_

 _Junyou shrugged as she gave a halfhearted excuse that she could think of off the top of her head as she thought about other things, remarking._

 _"Well, you_ are _categorized as a fast warship, and I'm the slow one here, so it goes without saying, you know..."_

 _But Amagi was shaking her head as she corrected, trying to bond with the light carrier as she pointed out._

 _"That can't be the reason, as I understand that you've been through enough physical training to be able to at least try and physically evade my bombers, since the categorization of our boat slippers' maximum speed does not influence our physical evasion capabilities._

 _So may I ask what's_ really _bothering you?"_

 _Junyou sighed at that, looking away and slumping as she admitted to the standard carrier who was genuinely worried about her, and she wouldn't feel good about herself if she turned someone like that away without at least humoring her first._

 _"Well, I mean, I'm a light carrier, and I'm naturally unable to beat a standard carrier like you, right?"_

 _Amagi's expression darkened at that, responding seriously about how the carrier didn't even put any effort into overcoming that gap in power and stats._

 _"And is that going to stop you from even trying?"_

 _Junyou's eyes flitted back towards the Amagi-Class carrier at that, seeing that the carrier looked almost disappointed in her, something that she really felt bad about as she listened to the carrier continue on._

 _"You're a ship girl who possesses a lot of potential compared to someone like me, since I died in an earthquake in an earlier incarnation as a battle-cruiser, and never even got to participate in the war as a carrier."_

 _Junyou wasn't sure how to respond to that, and quietly listened to her senior try to talk some sense into her, and even though she was rather tired of ship girls left and right trying to do the same, she was rather glad that this incarnation allowed them to explicitly communicate with each other and allow them to display their concern for her, watching Amagi look at her with hurt eyes._

 _"I understand that I'm not the best carrier in this base, since others like the 1st, 2nd and even the 5th Carrier Division easily surpass me, but I don't care!"_

 _Junyou was rather taken aback by the forceful manner that Amagi enunciated that last word, the carrier's words resonating with her as she tried to pull away from Amagi who was leaning in a little close._

 _"There's potential in you, and you don't need a blueprint to achieve it!_

 _You need to work hard, sure, but I do genuinely believe that you can perform as well as a carrier if you do your best!"_

 _Junyou was surprised at that, never having thought of such a lofty goal, and Amagi clasped her hands around Junyou's and raised them to the height of their bosom, Junyou now able to see the whites of her eyes as she pointed out._

 _"I need a blueprint to upgrade myself to Kai, and this is quite the struggle when other better and stronger ship girls are also competing for it._

 _Tone-san has already guaranteed herself one due to her great skills, while Abukuma, Chikuma, Bismarck and Chokai-san are all also competing with me for blueprints, Abukuma-san being in the lead._

 _So I won't know when I'm going to receive my upgrade, if ever._

 _But you're not hindered like I am, Junyou-san!"_

 _Junyou's face cringed as she snickered, mocking Amagi's version of a bad joke._

 _"Naw, there's no way that's possible..._

 _Performing close to the level of an esteemed carrier like Kaga and Hiryuu..."_

 _But looking at Amagi keeping a straight face at her own 'joke', Junyou's smile was wiped off her own face as she tried to point out how that was simply not possible._

 _"But..._

 _But I'm a light carrier, and I'm not as tough or as armored as any carrier..."_

 _"You've got good evasion stats."_

 _"And I don't perform as well as you do..."_

 _"But you do perform well as a light carrier, right?!_

 _And it won't happen overnight, but I know that you can eventually learn to perform splendidly with enough training and enough determination to try and perform at the standard of a carrier!"_

 _Junyou had nothing to say to that, because she knew that the Amagi-Class carrier was correct._

 _She did indeed have the potential to go far and the only thing holding her back was her own drive, which was pretty much non-existent right now._

 _And she was absolutely silent all the way back to the harbor to get back on land, the training session now being over._

* * *

Junyou's attention was brought back into the present as she saw that Hiei and Shigure were looking at her, slight concern reflected in their eyes and likely having asked a question, waiting in awkward silence as Junyou was lost in her own thoughts, the light carrier scratching her own head and asking meekly.

"Ehe, sorry.

I was lost in my own thoughts, and I wasn't paying attention to the conversation.

What did you ask again?"

Hiei spoke up, the tension in her expression now relaxing as she repeated herself.

"I asked, 'What's your aim for the future, other than Kai Ni?'"

Junyou blinked at that, thinking about how the conversation was also about her future, remembering the flashback about Amagi as she responded, a little embarrassed at even saying that lofty goal out loud and getting mocked by her own teammates.

"I don't know, it's kind of an impossible goal by my standards..."

But Shigure was surprisingly the one who spoke up this time, taking Junyou by surprise as the headstrong destroyer leaned in and pointed out.

"Junyou-san, we've been revived to assume human forms, something which we would never have dare to imagine back when we were simply steel ships, and it's not up to you to determine what's impossible for us by this point in time!"

Junyou held her palms up to placate the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer as she conceded the point,

"Alright, alright, I get it, girl!

I mean, I just didn't want you all to think that my goals were unrealistic or whatever.

And my goal is..."

Junyou inhaled, and she braced herself as she tried to accept the fact that she _did_ want to achieve the goal that Amagi suggested to her, revealing.

"...I want to fight at the level of a standard carrier when I achieve Kai Ni.

And I know, I know..."

Junyou started defending herself and pointing out why she wanted to do so, lowering her head as she didn't want to meet her teammates' gaze as she did so.

"I know that my stats aren't as impressive as the carriers from the 1st, 2nd and 5th Carrier Division, but I don't really care about any of that.

I don't want to lose to them despite being weaker than them, and I just want to protect all of you..."

"Ok."

"Eh?"

Junyou's head jerked up as she met Hiei's flat gaze, the fast battleship reaching for the bag of sweets as she nonchalantly responded to Junyou's future goals.

"It's not unreasonable to want to do better than what your stats limit you to, and I say that it's almost like mine, except that I have a specific battleship whose battle prowess I aspire to reach."

Hiei shrugged as she munched on the sweet, Junyou still a little too stunned to say anything and tried to focus on Hiei's admittedly attractive lips as she consumed the sweet that was in her mouth and spoke at the same time, her beauty a natural result of being created as a ship girl.

"If you've thought of a foolish dream to fight on the level of a carrier and want to chase it, then I guess I'll also chase a foolish dream of mine.

I want to become as powerful as Nagato-san, since I have a second remodel that makes me stronger, and I, too, want to fight with all of you and do my best in battle."

Junyou nodded, lowering her head as she accepted the fact that this life held new possibilities that should be explored by them, and she did indeed want to achieve a level of strength that she wouldn't have even bothered to try had she not been drafted into a fleet and shown that there were still things worth fighting for in this world.

But Shigure was also adamant in trying to make them feel like a team and achieve their goals together as she leaned in, giving them a shy smile as she made clear the goal that she had set for herself.

"I want to achieve Kai Ni so that I can protect all of you, as well as my sisters!"

Junyou's lips creased upon hearing that, asking a question that she previously refused to ask out of tact and concern for her mental state since the destroyer was recently constructed.

But now that Akashi talked to her concerning her past, Junyou was a little more emboldened to ask her teammate this.

"Is this desire to protect us borne of your inability to protect those around you in World War 2, Shigure?"

Junyou was worried about her teammate, and how she might try too hard to protect them in battle, needlessly endangering herself and perhaps even dying, or, God forbid, sinking because of their inability to protect themselves...

Oh man, she was now craving that bottle of alcohol to wash away her own fears again.

And as she expected, Shigure flinched upon hearing that, and Hiei looked at her nervously as she ate her snacks, Junyou barely registering the staggering amount of food that the fast battleship consumed to feed herself as Junyou met Hiei's gaze, Junyou pointing out something to the destroyer while shifting her gaze to look Shigure in the eye.

"Look, I'm no oracle, so I can't say whether I'll be proven right or wrong in the near or distant future.

But I want to make this clear right now that I don't intend to simply sit by and wait like a damsel in distress for you to save us all."

Shigure's eyes widened, and Junyou used her left thumb to thrust at her bosom as she continued.

"I've lived through enough shit in my past life to know of loss, and although I won't even bother comparing the loss that I've felt with what you've felt, I want you to know that I absolutely hate feeling useless and watching others die around me, so I'm going to tell you right now.

I'm going to be a light carrier that you can depend on not to get in trouble in times of crisis, because I understand the fear of that self-loathing feeling that comes after failing to save a fellow comrade.

And I would really hate to see you crash and burn because you felt as though you had to carry the burden alone, you get me?"

Shigure blinked at that, nodding resignedly as she accepted Junyou's offer to back her up, Junyou hearing Shigure slightly uncertain and fearful tone about her prediction concerning Shigure's 'must-save-everyone' attitude as she listlessly responded.

"I guess so..."

But Junyou was having none of that, wielding her half-full ramune bottle like she would her usual alcohol bottle with her left hand as she wrapped her arm around Shigure's neck and pulled her in for a big hug, exclaiming in an annoyed tone as she shoved the little destroyer's face into her right breast, feeling the destroyer's frantic arms flail about uselessly when resisting the strength of a light carrier.

"Ah, don't be so full of yourself, you precocious little brat!

I'm not lacking in the luck department, and I now have no problems in saying that I survived the war, so I'm a survivor, just like you!"

Junyou pulled up Shigure's head to prevent her from passing out due to asphyxiation, and made sure to look down at her slightly reddened, gasping face as she proclaimed.

"We're a fleet, and more than that, we're ship girls who've been through the same war!

Don't just write us off as delicate flowers to be coddled by you, and learn to rely on us a little more to practice the art of 'not dying'!"

Shigure blinked at that, and Junyou could see that the little destroyer had watery eyes and looked as though she was about to cry which made her wonder if she went too far in trying to convince Shigure.

But the destroyer slowly nodding and leaning on her boob was all that was needed to convince Junyou, the light carrier giving her a big grin that stretched from cheek to cheek, Junyou calling out to her fleet.

"Well, now that that's all said and done, let's celebrate!"

* * *

Tatsuta was now walking around the barracks to allow her body to digest the delicious food that she had eaten while in the canteen, cooked for them courtesy of the skilled senior ship girl Mamiya, who was good with her hands.

She was also trying to review the memory of her training with the Kai Ni heavy cruiser, and although Haguro looked rather meek and passive, fighting her was an absolute nightmare, as Tatsuta could now attest to having fought against her in a 1v1 mock battle.

And being a senior in this base, Haguro could naturally see through her despite Tatsuta's best attempts to try and keep her distance from others to prevent herself from being hurt by the unpredictable events of life.

Haguro, being a ship girl who also had more life experience, had also given her some relevant advice pertaining to her own concerns and problems after handily defeating her, to which Tatsuta was secretly grateful, seeing that not a lot of people approached her and gave her advice that was actually useful.

* * *

 _Things were not going well for Tatsuta._

 _Well, they rarely did for the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser, but this was a special case where she felt completely out of control despite being an active participant in the battle, in which secretly infuriated her to no end even when she was one hell of an expert in maintaining a poker face._

 _And it just didn't seem nice of her to be angry at a ship girl who looked as though she regretted every action that she had to undertake in order to defeat Tatsuta, looking at the frightened but steady expression and stance of the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser before her._

 _Haguro looked as though she were suppressing the fear that welled up within her when facing off against one as dreaded as Tatsuta, the light cruiser breathing heavily as she gripped her glaive, named Sado, a little tighter than usual._

 _But that wasn't the point, wondering how there could be such a large difference in terms of skill between her and the heavy cruiser when Haguro didn't even sortie with any of her equipment._

 _Haguro was standing in front of her, leaning in and almost cowering as she brought her gloved hands together and asked meekly,_

 _"Tatsuta-san?_

 _I-If you're tired, should we take a break?_

 _Tatsuta blinked, never missing a beat as she responded smoothly,_

 _"Not yet._

 _I just want to understand how you were able to evade all my attacks, and why you didn't sortie with your equipment when fighting me._

 _I was wondering if you don't see me as much of a threat and not worth using your weapons to defeat."_

 _Tatsuta smiled in a saccharine manner as she considered that possibility of Haguro possibly looking down on her and determined to defeat her without use of her weapons._

 _But the heavy cruiser pushing her hands out and vehemently denying Tatsuta's claim was something she didn't expect of the timid heavy cruiser, watching her large and innocent eyes express genuine disbelief at that insinuation and trying to correct it, Haguro exclaiming._

 _"N-No, it's not that, I promise!_

 _I respect your abilities, and especially how hard you trained to try and counter my observation skills by attempting to eliminate all visible tells pertaining to your attack moves!_

 _It's just..."_

 _Haguro looked as though she deflated from within as her shoulders sagged, the Kai Ni heavy cruiser bringing the tips of her fingers together as she admitted to Tatsuta while looking away ashamedly._

 _"I really don't want to accidentally kill you, Tatsuta-san."_

 _Tatsuta blinked as she thought about that claim, gripping Sado's shaft a little tighter as she debated herself on whether she should use the new move she thought up of against a senior ship girl._

 _Now, she had heard that the Myoukou-Class heavy cruisers were all skilled combatants, and that all of them had spent up to a decade in training up on a particular skill that was difficult to emulate or fight against, Tatsuta having heard that Haguro possessed extraordinary battle senses, situational awareness and body-reading skills._

 _And having heard that the 1st and 3rd Fleet were going to train together, Tatsuta had done the math and eventually concluded that her training partner was likely going to either be Abukuma or Haguro._

 _And although Shigure going off with Akashi was unexpected, it didn't change the outcome by much, seeing Tenryuu fighting Ashigara, Nagato coaching Hiei, Amagi with Junyou while Abukuma and Yukikaze trained Ayanami, watching the Kagerou-Class destroyer sit on the Kuma-Class light cruiser's shoulders and add another pair of firearm-wielding hands to their bizarre totem-pole fighting stance, Tatsuta sweat-dropping at how energetic they were._

 _Back to the matter at hand, Tatsuta, in preparing for a potential sparring match between Haguro and herself, had tried to eliminate all her tells and any subconscious movements that the heavy cruiser could pick up on to predict and evade her attacks in time._

 _But that obviously didn't work, Tatsuta accepting the fact that if it were so easy to counter her observation skills, anyone would have beaten her and she wouldn't have performed as well in battle against the Abyssals, who possessed impressive firepower and manpower to make up for their lack of close-quarters combat skills and would've killed her with a simple shell into her torso or something._

 _And now, Tatsuta had an attack that she wanted to try out on someone, and the problem here was that she wanted to find someone who could defeat her offensive technique._

 _Here was a ship girl who possessed (in her eyes) almost godlike reflexes and powerful battle senses that were honed through years of training and could shut down her attack in a way that wouldn't end her life (hopefully), and help point out any glaring issues in her technique._

 _In the end, Tatsuta decided to go for it, choosing to believe that the heavy cruiser would be able to stop her technique, and she also hoped that she wouldn't accidentally injure the Kai Ni heavy cruiser on the off-chance that the heavy cruiser failed to counter her attack._

 _Tatsuta dropped her smile, her pupils emptying as she focused all her might and got into her glaive-thrusting stance and feeling her muscles tense up and prepare to strike like a wary snake, coiled and ready to explode at the drop of a hat._

 _Haguro was also aware of something going on with the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser, because unbeknownst to the light cruiser, the Kai Ni heavy cruiser could feel a purplish-red aura emanate from the light cruiser and cause her halo to glow a predictable crimson red as Tatsuta allowed her killing instinct to take over her body and increase the deadliness of her attack to ensure that she wouldn't hold back despite Haguro being a fellow ship girl._

 _And finally, Tatsuta burst forward and accelerated from a resting position, achieving a breakneck speed through her leg muscles pushing her forward and her turbines running at maximum capacity._

 _She used her right hand to thrust her glaive forward and achieve the final burst of speed required to perform the move she envisioned in her mind, shouting in her mind._

'God-Killing Spear!'

 _Her execution was perfect, having performed the move exactly as she imagined after going through the motions in practice without the burst of speed to conserve her strength as she flew through the air at a disgustingly swift velocity._

 _So why was her right temple bleeding, her head reeling from some sort of unknown impact to the side of her head, and her entire body collapsing onto the ocean surface?_

* * *

 _Tatsuta's eyelids flew open as she laid down on the ocean surface, trying to remember what happened as she looked up at her HUD, which read,_

'31 March 2015

12.53 p.m.'

 _And looking up at the ship girl who was blocking out the sun, casting a shadow over her entire body and shrouding her in darkness as the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser squinted her eyes to look at the heavy cruiser watching over her._

 _Haguro again brought up her clenched hands to cover herself as she chided, looking as though she were about to cry._

 _"That's not very nice, Tatsuta-san._

 _I really didn't want to hurt you..."_

 _Tatsuta reached up to her right temple, wincing as she tried to remember how she ended up lying on the ocean surface, feeling the cool steel patch stuck on the side of her head._

 _She knew that the steel patches were like band-aids, where the 'patch' was composed of inert nano-machines to be activated when they were placed on a wound, helping the ship girl body recover faster as the nano-machines went to work, treating the wound and utilizing the steel material that the patch was made out of to replace ship girl flesh if the need arose._

 _Haguro no longer looked as though she wanted to fight anymore as she was already seated on the ocean and wiping her tears, causing Tatsuta to blink at the show of weakness._

 _Tatsuta knew when to throw in the towel, remembering how the heavy cruiser shut down her moves prior to her ultimate technique somehow being shut down as she graciously nodded in apology, wiping the sweat from her face as she squatted and eventually sat on the ocean surface as Haguro shifted to give her some space._

 _She pressed her skirt in to sit down in a ladylike manner, the both of them looking at the rest of their fleet training together and enjoying the silence between them as Tatsuta took the time to catch her breath and nurse her wound._

 _She shot the heavy cruiser beside her an aside glance, trying to piece together the Kai Ni ship girl's fighting style, and how she was able to evade all her attacks thus far._

 _Haguro must've picked up on her looking at the heavy cruiser, as the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser covered her face shyly with a slight blush upon someone looking at her so keenly, stuttering._

 _"U-Um, Tatsuta-san, why're you looking at me like that?"_

 _"Oh no, I just want to note how you were able to counter my attack without getting even a scratch on you._

 _And besides, you're a beautiful ship girl, so looking at you's a rather pleasant experience."_

 _Tatsuta giggled at that as she covered her mouth, and Haguro was sputtering as she tried to explain herself to the stunned light cruiser while trying to hide her blush._

 _"U-Um, you see, part of how I can keep track of everyone i-is to feel their killing intent._

 _And when the Abyssals often want to kill you, that killing intent flares up right before their cannons fire._

 _That allows me to perform a split second counter to evade and reflexively shoot back at them, often which they die very quickly._ _"_

 _Tatsuta nodded at that, nodding as she understood that Abyssals would possess killing intent as they faced off against the ship girls, something which was difficult for participants of both sides to suppress, Haguro continuing on as she looked down at her own shoes._

 _"I've trained myself up to read and predict the movement patterns of the enemy, and_ _I'm also able to keep track of their position around me, as well as whether their cannons are empty, which I take advantage of to advance and predict when their cannons have reloaded._

 _So for instance..."_

 _Gesturing to Tatsuta, Haguro gave her an aside glance as Tatsuta noted the heavy cruiser's eyes roaming over her sweaty uniform and body as she elaborated._

 _"I already knew that you were right-handed, and I've already noted the maximum range that your glaive extends and the various ways that you would wield it in with your master hand._

 _Add the fact that I deduced the limits of your speed and agility, as well as your fighting style that is offensive in nature and leaves a margin of safety to protect yourself, giving up that margin of safety to enhance the deadliness of your final attack._

 _Keeping all that in mind, I can counter your every move while also watching the weapons that you carry on your backpack to ensure that I wouldn't get hit by a torpedo."_

 _Tatsuta blinked at that, never having thought about such things before and rather amazed that the heavy cruiser could take in so much information and render her impotent through observation skills alone._

 _And it wouldn't be out of the question if Haguro detected her killing intent well before she even attacked with any of her weapons and detected the instant that killing aura flared up as a sign that she was attack, the light cruiser now beginning to see how the heavy cruiser operated in combat as she operated on instinct and observation._

 _And even if Tatsuta was carrying her handheld cannons, she could picture Haguro whipping around to evade her attacks and squeeze off a shot in her direction before Tatsuta even had a chance to respond should she decide to bring her weapons to the battlefield and overpower Tatsuta._

 _Her skills might be fearsome to the enemy, but fighting reflexes that had been honed and drilled into the ship girl body could also pose a danger when sparring with allies, possibly injuring them or worse as she felt the cool metal patch stuck to her head._

 _Tatsuta nodded, heaving as she leaned back to enjoy a cool breeze that had blown in from the south as she looked back at her training teammates._

 _But Haguro still saw that something was troubling her, and seemed determined to help out a fellow comrade in arms despite her timid demeanor, leaning in to get a closer look at Tatsuta as she asked,_

 _"U-Um, T-Tatsuta-san, is there something that's troubling you?_

 _I-I'd like to help give you some advice, because I'm concerned about you as a senior and as a fellow comrade!"_

 _Tatsuta blinked and drew back a little as Haguro leaned in, her eyes innocent and sincere about her cause as Tatsuta thought back about her own troubles._

 _Well, there was always the problem about controlling her own blood lust and the overpowering urge to feed off of the carnage and destruction of her enemies._

 _The blood lust, which was useful in battle to spur her on to eviscerate her enemies was slowly beginning to interfere with her daily life and interpersonal relationships, but that wasn't such a serious problem that required help from an external party, right?_

 _Right?_

 _Tatsuta's eyebrows creased at that, and she was stuck between coldly rejecting her senior and sharing her personal issues with someone who wasn't her sister or even her teammate, contemplating as she glanced back at the bright face of Haguro inching closer with her eyes widening in anticipation._

 _Finally, Tatsuta sighed as she shared her issues with the heavy cruiser so as to get her off her back, leaning forward as she looked down at her boat slippers, watching the reflection of the airborne clouds and the distant figures of her sparring teammates as she elaborated._

 _"I've often felt the urge to see my enemies bleed on the battlefield, and it's served me well in that I've always felt sated after a good battle, and especially when the enemy dies in a spectacularly gory fashion._

 _But recently, I can't help but feel that that blood lust is seeping into my mind when I'm not on sorties."_

 _Tatsuta hugged her own thighs and held her own weapon Sado tight as she thought about the possibilities that could occur, which were frightening even to her as she remembered what Akashi told her in confidence._

 _"Akashi-san told me that there have been various Tatsuta that have hurt their own comrades to try and sate that blood lust whenever it became uncontrollable, something that I admit that I wouldn't be comfortable with doing._

 _She told me that I needed to have a few hobbies to pass the time, since 'idle hands are the devil's workshop' and all that, and she offered me the chance to join her as a medic and a surgeon."_

 _Tatsuta shrugged her shoulders as she pondered over the frightening possibility of being allowed to do anything else than what she was created to do, something that she touched upon as she glanced at the attentive Haguro._

 _"I'm just worried that I might not be a good surgeon, because I'm created to be a weapon, right?_

 _So if I ever hold the surgical knife, I might want to hurt the patient and kill her because of my blood lust, although I understand the need to find a hobby or an activity to apply myself..."_

 _But Haguro leaned in again as she seemed rather agitated at that, responding passionately._

 _"Y-You should accept Akashi-san's offer, because I know that you can do it!_

 _You're comfortable when handling bloody situations, and you look like the type that likes to handle knives, no offense, Tatsuta-san!"_

 _Tatsuta blinked at that as she looked into the eyes of Haguro, but she was unable to get a word in edgewise as the Kai Ni heavy cruiser continued on._

 _"Actually, now that I think about it, Akashi and Mamiya work together closely as surgeons and cooks, as both professions require the delicate use of knives to help ship girls heal correctly and to_ _create delicacies respectively._

 _So, you should ask the both of them to teach you skills in your free time to take your mind off of more morbid things._

 _And also..."_

 _Haguro put up a finger to silence Tatsuta as she tried to talk some sense into Tatsuta, the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser having only seen a handful of ship girls this concerned about her, and looking at the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser, she was actually beginning to feel something that she currently hadn't felt concerning anyone who wasn't her sister ship or her teammates._

 _Gratitude._

 _Watching the heavy cruiser be so concerned about her when she didn't even need to bother in the first place since they weren't sister ships or even fleet-mates, she expected to feel irritated by the heavy cruiser's concern when her issues didn't even involve her._

 _But that never occurred to her as she watched Haguro's heartfelt and genuine expressions flit across her face as she continued, being concerned for a fellow ship girl without any sort of hidden agenda behind her words._

 _"This second life that we've been given and reincarnated into human bodies and with personalities of our own would mean that we aren't simply machines of death, but are now able to develop our personality and skills to prove to ourselves that we aren't all about combat and killing, right?_

 _And besides, I want to ask..."_

 _Haguro pointed at Tatsuta as she asked a question,_

 _"If you're in control of your blood-lust, then why don't you exert that control?_

 _That blood lust isn't the only thing that defines you, so I personally wouldn't recommend relinquishing control and let it blind you to everything you could become."_

 _Tatsuta thought about that, and saw that the heavy cruiser had a point in that her own blood-lust wasn't her only defining trait, and as a few institutionalized Tatsuta could attest to, letting her violent and sadistic urges run wild to cause wanton destruction wasn't a very good idea, and might slowly infest and corrupt her mind, making the entire situation with her blood lust a delicate balancing act._

 _But was she the one in control?_

 _If one would forgive her for sounding a little like Tenryuu,_ hell yes _._

 _Tatsuta flashed Haguro a smile, and this time, it wasn't one of those superficial smiles that she put on her face when she didn't know what other expressions to put on to face others, but this time, it was a genuine smile of gratitude at the heavy cruiser having shared her thoughts in a genuine attempt to help her as a comrade._

* * *

Tatsuta looked down at her hands, having dropped by the docks and had Akashi check her wound to make sure that she wasn't going to suffer some sort of brain damage before leaving for dinner.

And having rested up the docks, she could clearly remember how the heavy cruiser had countered her attack at the instant before contact.

The heavy cruiser spun around to avoid Tatsuta's God-Killing Spear that moved in a linear path, and Tatsuta could clearly see that the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser was frozen as she took in all the information concerning her attack as Tatsuta ran towards her.

And when Tatsuta got close enough for her to counter, Haguro, acting on instinct alone at this point in time, spun around to evade her incoming glaive thrust.

She nailed Tatsuta in the side of her head with an elbow strike too fast for Tatsuta to even see coming as her eyes blanked out for an instant, Tatsuta certain that her brains would have been splattered all over the ocean had the heavy cruiser not become aware of her actions and held back at the instant before impact, causing the Muay-Thai-esque elbow strike to become a love tap instead of the devastating blow it was meant to be.

As Tatsuta raised her fingers to inspect the area of impact, she thought about the heavy cruiser's frightening ability to negate her attack so easily, and how she had trained herself up to respond to attacks that possessed killing intent so quickly that she almost wasn't aware of her own action, and would have killed Tatsuta in an instant were she an Abyssal.

Clenching her gloved hand tightly, she tried to grapple with this newfound fear of the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser's abilities, now having seen a glimpse of what the ultimate ship girl was capable of, and how she felt a chill down her spine as she imagined training herself up to be able to fight like that.

And having previously thought of the kind and meek ship girl as rather weak in terms of her mentality, she now saw that the heavy cruiser, despite having been through so much throughout the entirety of her existence, still stayed true to herself and genuinely wanted to help and protect others, now heavily respecting the heavy cruiser both as a kindhearted person and as a skilled soldier.

Looking at someone like that, Tatsuta thought about Haguro's advice and wondered to herself as she contemplated her own existence and worth, not just to her sister but also to her own newfound teammates.

She wanted her sister and friends to be safe despite keeping herself emotionally distanced from them, and the last thing she wanted to see was her sister cry over her losing control of her own blood lust and having to put her down.

She was finally seeing other ways to apply herself that had never occurred to her before and learn to firmly control a bloodthirsty desire that she had always kept at arm's length for fear of possession.

 _'Can I become stronger and also protect my friends, despite being who I am right now?'_

And the thing was, Tatsuta was strangely feeling a little more enthusiastic about the answer to that question.

* * *

Hiei was sitting in her room, laying down in the darkness on her bed as she heard the tell-tale signs that her sisters were sleeping, with her Onee-sama snoring resoundingly, Haruna mumbling almost inaudibly in her sleep and Kirishima being deathly silent save for her steady breathing.

Haruna had turned in for the night after learning first aid from Akashi and the various orderlies around the hospital, having heard that her sister ship wanted to expand her skill sets and not simply be a machine of death, being able to treat and help her teammates on the battlefield instead of simply pushing forward.

Kongou had come in around the same time that Hiei did as the 7th Fleet that was the Firepower Fleet had also trained throughout the day, and her Onee-sama was exhausted after a hard day's work as she collapsed on her bed and promptly fell asleep, leaving her sisters with the responsibility of removing her sweat-drenched miko clothes with heavy breathing on Hiei's part as she tried to stay her hand.

Kirishima was the last to arrive as usual after a hard day's work and tinkering with her equipment in the workshop as she too, changed clothes and went to sleep after a productive day, leaving Hiei alone in the dark, awake on her bed and clutching her Kongou Onee-sama dakimakura with a blanket covering her body.

Hiei had considered her training session with the esteemed Nagato, thinking about the words they had exchanged as Hiei admitted to the battleship her desire to become stronger and protect her comrades, and especially the battleship she wanted to match in terms of strength in order to fulfill that goal.

* * *

 _"You're tired. We'll take a break here."_

 _Nagato turned away from a panting Hiei, who was resting her palms on her knees as she tried to get up, the fast battleship struggling to get the words out of her gasping mouth, feeling sweat drip from her chin and run down her head as she exclaimed._

 _"Not... yet...!"_

 _Hiei could feel that considerable superficial damage had been inflicted on her body courtesy of the stronger Nagato-Class battleship, most of which could be repaired in less than half a day as practice rounds were being used, and Hiei had reacted fast enough to avoid being hit by her large-caliber cannon shells full-force and potentially taking her out in one-shot._

 _But Nagato turned around and Hiei could see that she had hit Nagato a few times with her own shells, her own 35.6 cm Twin Gun Cannons smoking as she noted that Nagato's uniform was ruffled with a few bruises on her abdomen and her gloves smoking from having punched a few shells out of the air._

 _Nagato was going her an unrecognizable look, and Hiei wiped the sweat from her forehead as she listened to Nagato's words._

 _"You don't understand._

 _If you fight constantly without rest, especially when going up against a superior opponent, it's only going to wear down your stamina and send you to the docks prematurely."_

 _Hiei shook her head, thinking about how she wanted to surpass her current power level as she tried to straighten up her body, and laying her eyes upon the long-haired battleship striding towards her._

 _And was powerless to stop the smoking fist flying towards her face as Nagato's gloved fist blurred._

 _It stopped a centimeter from Hiei's stunned face, a slight gust of wind that was produced by the flying fist blowing her hair back and ruffling it as Hiei felt a chill go down her spine despite knowing that the Nagato-Class battleship wasn't going to hurt her._

 _Hiei collapsed onto the ocean floor as she looked up at the proud and immovable battleship, heaving as she caught her breath and tried to muster the strength to fight on, despite having been utterly drained of stamina due to having fought the Nagato-Class battleship all the way into the afternoon._

 _She could feel her muscles aching, although in a good way after a good workout had stretched her muscles and pushed them to the limit after a period of inactivity._

 _This was something that battleships often suffered from since one, they didn't always get the chance to sortie on a weekly basis like the rest of the ship girl population save for carriers due to their high fuel and ammo consumption, and two, even when they did, most of the work was done by their large-caliber cannons and thick armor, and they didn't get to physically exert themselves like the destroyers and light cruisers did._

 _But this was a good fight, Hiei wanting to fight to the end despite feeling rather fatigued as she had to physically evade the slow battleship's cannon shells and trading physical blows without giving out, considering the prospect of fighting on even when Nagato leaned down and extended her hand to help her up._

 _She eventually relented as she raised her hand to accept Nagato's offer, and slowly struggled to get up as Nagato leaned back to use her own weight to pull Hiei up, Hiei complaining about her own incompetence and inability to secure a win._

 _"Shit, I can't seem to match your might, no matter how hard I try._

 _Is this the limit of a Kongou-Class battleship?"_

 _Nagato blinked at that, pointing out and talking as one esteemed battleship to another as Hiei stabilized herself, speaking curtly._

 _"You and I are created for different purposes, where you're a fast battleship who can move fast while I'm slower, but can carry more armor and firepower as a result._

 _So why are you so driven to defeat me?"_

 _Hiei looked away, wondering about whether she should reveal her goals to the waiting Nagato-Class battleship, ultimately not seeing much wrong with it as she revealed._

 _"IwanttofightonyourlevelNagatosan."_

 _Nagato blinked again, raising her hand to gesture to her in a placating manner as she requested of Hiei._

 _"I'm sorry, come again?"_

 _Hiei inhaled deeply, and looked into Nagato's red eyes as she repeated herself while slowing down her speech._

 _"I want to fight on your level, Nagato-san._

 _I have a Kai Ni remodel, and being a fast battleship, I have every right to believe that I can make that dream a reality!"_

 _Hiei waved her clenched fist around, ready to prove a point if the need arose, but the slow battleship lowered her gloved hand and simply replied with a blank face,_

 _"Alright."_

 _Hiei blinked at that, unprepared for the slow battleship's immediate acceptance of her stated goals, Hiei waving her hands around as she tried to get the Nagato-Class ship girl to respond in the manner which she expected, retorting._

 _"But aren't you going to tell me that it's not possible since, well, y'know, I'm a mere battle-cruiser and can't compare to a real battleship, or something along those lines?"_

 _"So?_

 _It's a whole new world for us, and we can't simply narrow our mindsets by thinking that a fast battleship can't fight on par with a slow battleship."_

 _Hiei drew back at that, never having thought of things like that and and was unable to interrupt the slow battleship's small monologue as she continued._

 _"I've seen skilled light and heavy cruisers defeat slow battleships via 'Death-of-a-Thousand-Cuts' without the use of torpedoes._

 _And weapon-wielding ship girls like Hyuga, Tenryuu and Kiso, amongst others, change the game as their Anti-Abyssal weapons possess the tremendous potential to cut through almost any Abyssal skin if they train hard enough."_

 _Hiei looked away at that, having known that presence of Anti-Abyssal weapons, requiring intensive training to unlock their full potential._

 _And Hiei was confident that Tenryuu and Tatsuta, despite being mediocre light cruisers on paper and not possessing Kai Ni, would be able to find a way to stay relevant and fight on even when they had to go up against stronger opponents in the future._

 _But back to the present, where Nagato was looking down at her, due to the slight difference in height as she continued,_

 _"Besides, right now, your stats can't compare to mine, and yet..."_

 _Looking down at her third 41 cm Twin Gun Cannon that was deemed inactive as Hiei had likely hit a vital spot, the flank of the cannon spotting a nasty dent caused by Hiei's shell impacting it._

 _"...You were able to hold out for a few hours and get some good shots in._

 _If keep this progress up and achieve Kai Ni, where the difference in our stats save for luck are pretty much negligible, I do believe you can fight on par with me."_

 _Hiei's eyes widened at the possibility of her goal being fulfilled, and Nagato huffed as she pointed out a slight obstacle that stood in the way of that lofty goal._

 _"Of course, there's no getting round the fact that you need to train harder than me, and sortie more often to achieve Kai Ni."_

 _But Hiei clenched her fists, undeterred by the long path ahead so long as she could reach the end and protect her sisters and friends with that newfound strength as she broke out in a silly grin._

 _But Nagato must have seen through something within her, as her eyebrows creased and she asked Hiei politely._

 _"And I don't wish to interrupt whatever thoughts you may have about your own odds of success, but what is the reason that drives you to seek this strength?"_

 _Hiei's smile was wiped off her face as she blinked, taken aback at that question before responding coolly._

 _"To protect my friends and family, of course."_

 _Ngato's eyes narrowed as she tried to peek into the fast battleship's heart, which made her a little uncomfortable as she racked her mind for possible reasons that would drive her to achieve Kai Ni._

 _And she remembered the obvious reason why she would work to obtain Kai Ni, adding to her answer as she face d the battleship._

 _"I want to make Kongou Onee-sama and my sisters proud._

 _I mean, that's not a bad reason to achieve Kai Ni, right?"  
_

 _Nagato tilted her head as she lifted an eyebrow, before resuming her default stoic expression as she pointed out in order to give Hiei something to think about._

 _"I understand that you love your sister ship Kongou, but I know her to be a larger-than-life ship girl._

 _And as I understand it, you want to protect your friends, but also want to make your sisters proud, first and foremost."_

 _Hiei's eyebrows creased at that, and she saw how the battleship might get that idea, which wasn't wrong anyway, but she kept her mouth shut as she listened obediently._

 _"I might not have any right to ask you this, but would your sisters approve of you prioritizing making your sisters proud over protecting your teammate?_

 _I mean, you're the eldest ship girl of your fleet, and in the eyes of the 1st Fleet, you're_ _now considered the representative of the Kongou-Class battleships, so wouldn't it be more appropriate of you to strive to grow up and be an 'Onee-sama' to your comrades?"_

 _Hiei was silent at that, never having thought of things that way and mutely listened to Nagato elaborating on her point._

 _"I'm not saying that you shouldn't make your sisters proud or anything like that, but as a name-ship, I think I can safely say that seeing your sister ships mature and branch out to achieve independence on their own._

 _It reassures us when we see that our sisters can take care of themselves, instead of constantly worrying about them._

 _I mean, that's why your other sister ships, Haruna and Kirishima both signed up and are now working in the medical and intelligence departments respectively to help out the base in other ways, right?"_

 _Hiei couldn't argue with that, and quietly sailed back towards the base as training ended, various thoughts running through her mind and having been thrown into disarray by Nagato's opinion on things._

* * *

Hiei looked back at her sisters, watching the peaceful, resting faces and figures of Kirishima, Haruna and Kongou as she thought about the slow battleship's words.

She knew that the Kongou Sisters as they knew it, where the days where the four of them were in the same fleet were no more, and they had split up to pursue their own paths.

And now, watching the prone, sprawled body of her sister, she considered Nagato's words that was spoken as a name-ship, and could thus empathize with another name-ship's feeling about not having to worry about her sister ships when they grow up and become independent.

Hiei now knew that to achieve Kai Ni was a noble goal, and to strive to perform above your limits was a lofty, yet not an unreasonable goal that she had eventually learnt to share Nagato's view on and accept it as a possibility that could come to fruition only if they worked hard enough to closer the gap in power, something which she was grateful that she had communicated to Junyou to inspire her to perform better.

But Nagato's point about her Onee-sama worrying about Hiei's dependence on her also made sense, Hiei remembering how Kongou sometimes broke character to look at her with worried eyes that Hiei had never been able to comprehend, especially when she coddled and hugged her sister ship affectionately (outside of battle, of course; she considered herself to be mature enough not to show that on the battlefield).

And now that she thought about it, perhaps that dependence was what was holding her back, since their lives were fleeting and life was unpredictable, where ship girls could die and sink at any time.

And perhaps her Onee-sama was worried that Hiei wouldn't be able to brave the loss of Kongou, which put that much pressure on her to keep herself alive while trying to get Hiei to become independent by dissolving the Kongou Sisters.

Hiei almost wanted to cry upon seeing that she had placed such a burden on her Onee-sama, but reminded herself that she was now taking the next step in maturation, and she now had to be a pillar of strength to support her own teammates instead of always depending on her sister ship and being perfectly content to stay in Kongou's shadow.

Hiei looked back to her dakimakura, which had her Onee-sama on both sides and she was currently looking at the image of her sister which was far less lewd, and she planted an affectionate kiss right where her sister's lips were as she slowly felt her consciousness fade, falling asleep as she hugged the dakimakura with all her might, promising to do better tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6 - What Lays Beneath

The 1st Fleet had no scheduled training on the next day so as not to tire them out, and thus Shigure could sleep in as long as she wanted.

She woke up to the sight of her beloved sister ship Yuudachi, who greeted her with a kind and patient smile, leaning in to give her a small but passionate peck on the forehead.

That was all that was needed to invigorate Shigure, who pushed herself up from her messy bed despite still feeling dead tired, the blanket hurled back as her feet made contact with the wooden floor, changing into a newly-ironed uniform as she lumbered over to her bathroom to do the usual song and dance that all girls did in the bathroom to get ready for the day.

After she exited the bathroom, having at least brushed her teeth and fixed her bed hair and used a wet towel to wipe away any sweat that might have accumulated on her face or body from last night's beauty sleep.

She exited the bathroom to find that Yuudachi had left a note on her bed, saying she'd make her way to the canteen first, in order to get her some breakfast, so that she wouldn't have to waste her time waiting in line. There was even a Poi at the end of her sentence.

God bless Yuudachi.

Shigure made her way over to the canteen, some of her muscles still aching and sore from the training yesterday.

Even though she was rather passionate about training as it was a means to become stronger, she was glad to have been granted a day off.

After Akashi's counselling session yesterday, she found that she had just missed her teammates' training session and was rather dispirited at not having gotten any training which was considered rather valuable to her as she had little actual combat experience and needed all the training she could get.

So she accepted Akashi's offer to make it up to her.

Akashi then ran her through an exercise regime that could help train up her physical condition and improve her flexibility and stamina, explaining to her that Shigure's muscles weren't as developed since she was created recently, and Akashi's exercise regime would make it much easier for her to catch up to her peers in terms of physical stamina and minimize the risk of muscle cramps or any sort of human setback that might occur.

Only that this exercise regime took place in the sports hall, Shigure being put through the muscle grinder as she was ordered to assume all sorts of obscure poses and do repeated motions to train up her body, having felt her muscles all throughout her body burn up as Akashi made good on her word to train the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer by stretching and straining her muscles to their limit.

Several times, like when she was attempting to do a split, Akashi would step in to 'help' her assume the pose as she felt her body get stretched and contorted in ways she never thought possible, and eventually wished she had never known as her joints creaked and her muscles ached.

She teared up a little at times, but kept silent as she knew that one needed to endure hardships to achieve great things, and Akashi was dead serious about improving her physical condition despite not being obligated to do this did touch her heart and made her feel a need to complete this without complaining too much.

Besides, Akashi was a repair ship and was thus knowledgeable about the limits of a ship girl's body and how to loosen up the muscles and joints within a ship girl's body to reach that limit without significant risk to one's body, Shigure never actually feeling much legitimate pain despite her muscles experiencing the strain of going through Akashi's grueling exercise regime.

And after the rigorous training session, Shigure had collapsed on the hall floor, desperately gasping for breath while feeling utterly exhausted and feeling as though every muscle group in her body was burning up after having been stretched and pushed to the absolute limit, Akashi wordlessly carrying her back to her room and plopping her back down on her bed before she almost instantly fell asleep.

She didn't know anything about the repair ship's past, but having seen her up close, Shigure could feel that something was terribly wrong with her.

While riding on the repair ship's back, Shigure noticed the red rims and slight eye bags that plagued her eye lids, along with her pink hair forming shadows over Akashi's face, likely from having to deal with critically injured ship girls around the clock.

Along with the pressure of being the head of an entire medical division, she had to evaluate the mental health of her comrades and play 'counselor' to the ship girls on their base while maintaining patient confidentiality, along with dealing with God-knows what else from her past.

Now, Shigure knew she wasn't the role model of perfect mental health, but she would like to personally talk to the repair girl sometime, and offer her a hug and a shoulder to cry on.

But back to the present.

Each step and every swing of her arms as she walked sent a pang of discomfort throughout her sore muscles, causing her to wince upon feeling like this even after resting up throughout the night.

This was the one thing that was a significant factor in their ship girl lives and how it factored into their battles and lifestyle, and that was their humanoid bodies.

While it made for easier maneuverability and made interaction between ship girls possible, having the best of both worlds with the power and armor of ships contained within the bodies of humans, essentially making them superhuman, it also had some drawbacks as well.

Their bodies required fuel to power their ship girl modes, and although their ship girl bodies could recover quickly with the help of nano-machines in the bathwater, there were other wounds that no machine could repair upon granting them sentience and recreating them as humanoids with their World War 2 memories intact, with emotional and psychological pitfalls abound and could pull them into a quicksand of despair where it was difficult to pull them out of.

They also possessed considerably shorter lifespans than the average human as they lived life on the edge, and were constantly being sortied and sent into life and death battles which not all of them returned from.

Some of them needed to be fed with gratuitous amounts of food, they all had to sleep in order to prevent fatigue and also needed to be clothed, things that they never needed as ships.

And when one considered the fact that they were often shot at and their clothes were often damaged along with sustained physical damage, it was no wonder that the tailoring industry was flourishing as they fixed or replaced shredded or burnt uniforms.

The ache that echoed throughout her body was one indication of such a problem.

In her ship days, even though she felt the 'pain' of being shot at and the strain of the ocean pushing against her as she raced across the ocean, there never was a nervous system that transmitted the sensations to her soul, or her mind, if she ever had either of those as a ship.

Sailors maintained her hull, and all she ever had to do was to do everything she could and leave the decision making to her captain.

Not now.

Now, she had a mind of her own along with a humanoid body to fight battles with and could use to communicate with her teammates, and was now able to form coherent thoughts of her own.

There were also smaller things in life she had to learn, one example being the morning rituals like brushing her teeth and eating breakfast along with downing her daily fuel and steel intake.

She also had to wear fabric that barely served as protection against what the enemies threw at them, instead wearing them to cover up their humanoid bodies to protect this thing called 'modesty'.

Not that these things mattered, especially when a gunshot from an Abyssal could blow off an entire shoulder, or when she could lose a leg from a torpedo coming her way and ensuring a painful trip back to the docks if they didn't outright die from these wounds.

Sure, they could recover from it far quicker than any human, but then, who'd want to survive excruciating pain, rather than die quickly and painlessly?

Shigure could now sort-of understand the many desensitized ship girls that were tired from the endless sorties, the never-ending suffering and the countless losses, and decided to end it all by taking their lives or were institutionalized after failing to do so.

No one wanted to live forever, especially when you were stuck in a perpetual cycle of violence and loss.

Shigure sighed, the drooping of her head causing her neck muscles to act up as she moved away from the barracks, wondering if something was wrong with her to start thinking about such morbid stuff this early in the morning.

Sometime in between the stroll over to the canteen, Shigure met up with her sister, Samidare.

She had sapphire blue hair and eyes, her long hair stretching down and nearly touching the back of her thighs as she wore a sleeveless, collared dark-black and white sailor uniform, bangs hanging over her forehead, the same dark blue hue shared by her elbow gloves and her black thigh-highs gracing her legs.

She was graceful, yet kind, as she bowed to her sister in greeting, and her smile brilliant as she regarded Shigure warmly, with a look of familiarity as she conversed with Shigure along their path to the canteen.

Shigure was relieved that another one of her sisters was on this base, and from her interaction with her, she didn't want to wake Shigure up after seeing her sleep so soundly after Akashi's stretching session.

Samidare seemed to be a kind ship girl, who personally wanted to meet up with her sister Suzukaze, and didn't have the best of eye-hand coordination, stating that she sometimes dropped items and tripped over herself while walking, but she did her best to cover up her mistakes, explaining that she had trained and developed faster reflexes to catch objects that she dropped.

They chatted about their time in the base, where Shigure listened attentively to Samidare going on about the happenings on the base, sharing the time that she sortied with some of the ship girls.

She had acquainted herself with the ship girls of different classes, along with learning about their lives and experiences, and how she had been learning about the art of knitting and embroidery from the internet, having quite a fair bit of spare time as a bench warmer on the base.

When Shigure asked her how she felt about being side-lined, Samidare smiled down, acknowledging her intention in asking such a question, and replied serenely that she understood her limits as a low-tier destroyer.

She knew that she wasn't in the priority list of girls to sortie, despite the Admiral trying to include everyone in the fleet roster, cycling its members as often as she could without interfering with the fleet's teamwork.

She listened to Samidare chat about her little adventures a bit more before they reached the doorway of the canteen. There, Yuudachi had already queued up for their meals, and she waved at them to get their attention, the two Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers making their way. Yuudahi had on her usual carefree attitude, especially now that she was going to eat with Shigure and Samidar at the same time.

"Oiiiii, Shigure-chan, Samidare-san! I waited in line to get your breakfast, so you'd better be grateful, Poi!"

Samidare and Shigure bowed in appreciation of the gesture, as Yuudachi simply gave them a wide grin that exposed her pearly-white teeth, happy that she was able to help her sisters in any way possible.

They sat down on the benches to recite 'Itadakimasu' before picking up their utensils to dig in. The meal was modest, the classic miso soup coupled with a bowl of cooked rice, and a hearty serving of salmon and eggs.

Samidare even had a cup of coffee in lieu of the usual fuel can that was served, Samidare explaining that she wanted to break away from the norm a little as she tried coffee in the morning to keep her awake.

Shigure talked to her sister ships, Yuudachi talking to her about her own training with the 3rd Fleet and recent global events concerning the ship girls.

Shigure nodded as she looked at her happy-go-lucky sister, known to a lot of ship girls as the Nightmare of Solomon due to her stellar performance at the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, and Shigure wanted to see her grow into the headstrong Kai Ni destroyer she knew her sister ship would be.

Yuudachi looked back at Shigure, and asked affectionately.

"Ah, but I'm likely talking a little too much, Poi.

A penny for your thoughts, Shigure-chan?"

Shigure blinked, but she gave Yuudachi a tired smile as she admitted.

"Nothing much, I'm just a little tired from training with Akashi-san yesterday."

Yuudachi's smiled drooped a little at that, expressing her opinion on the repair ship candidly as she leaned in.

"Maa, I don't want to talk bad about Akashi-san behind her back, I feel that she's bad news, Poi..."

Shigure's interest was piqued at that, asking with a little more concern as she thought about Akashi.

"That's interesting, Yuudachi.

How's she 'bad news', and before you ask, no, I'm just just want to hear my beloved sister ship's opinion on this."

Yuudachi blushed a little at that, shaking her head adorably to clear her mind as she gave her honest opinion.

"Well, I'm not sure how, but I can almost smell the blood on her hands, and it made me really uncomfortable the first time I had to shake her hand.

And she's a doctor with the smell of antiseptic, medical things and death, you get me, Poi?"

Yuudachi leaned down as she elaborated, picking up small amounts of rice with her chopsticks to eat as she did so.

"I mean, I don't have anything against her as a person, since she's nice and wants to help heal and repair everyone.

But her and the 8th Fleet are..."

Yuudachi shivered upon recalling something, and Shigure was now interested in the enigmatic 8th Fleet that had spooked Yuudachi so much, almost wanting to learn what was it about them that spooked Yuudachi so much to fear them all, despite the blonde Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer being friendly to everyone.

And now that she thought about it, although she had seen quite a lot of ship girls populating the canteen, where ship girls of various fleets had come and gone, she had hardly seen the 8th Fleet's members entering the canteens, Shigure hypothesizing that they may not want to eat with the majority of the Yokosuka Naval Base's ship girl population for some unknown reason.

Shigure looking back at the concerned Yuudachi and patted her head affectionately as she pointed out something that endeared her to her sister ship.

"Well, thanks for the heads up, Yuudachi.

I feel that I can trust you to detect the trustworthiness of other ship girls, much like a faithful hound would, hmm?"

Samidare giggled upon hearing that as she sipped on her coffee, and Yuudachi was pouting with her cheeks puffed out, exclaiming.

"I'm not a dog, Poi!"

Shigure calmed her down as she ate her breakfast, sharing her thoughts with Yuudachi as she originally intended.

"I just remembered that you're the Nightmare of Solomon, and I was thinking how wonderful that you'd eventually be strong to attain Kai Ni and hold that title proudly."

Shigure expected Yuudachi to start boasting about herself or start accepting Shigure's praise sheepishly, thinking that she had her sister ship all figured out.

The last thing she expected for Yuudachi to drop her chopsticks and clasp Shigure's hands tightly, looking into her eyes as she admitted.

"I-I don't want to achieve anything without you, Shigure-chan!

I admit, I don't think about all these complicated things like you do, but I know one thing."

Yuudachi looked into Shigure's eyes, and Shigure could almost see into her sister ship's green irises, which were actually aperture lenses cleverly disguised to look as human as possible but unable to completely hide the mechanisms underneath their humanoid bodies, Yuudachi exclaiming.

"I want to be with you all the way, Shigure!

I remember feeling so bad when I was revived, since I learnt about what you had to go through after I left, and how you you suffered in the nighttime where I shined, which made me feel a little ashamed about my accomplishments..."

Shigure flinched upon hearing Yuudachi say that, and looked away at that, unsure of what to say about that.

But her sister ship wasn't having any of that as she let go of Shigure's hands and clamped her face, causing her lips to pucker up and feel a slight sting upon her sister slap her palms on her cheek, continuing.

"I'm going to live on, Shigure!

I want to protect you at night so that you wouldn't have to feel afraid anymore!

I want to survive this war and live life with our sisters in a world where there's no more war.

So please look after yourself, alright, Poi?"

Samidare leaned in to lean in next to Yuudachi to explicitly state the support that they would always be able to provide for a sister ship.

"Shigure, I know that we can't change the past and replace those whom you've lost.

But I also want you to know that we're still here, just like you are, and it doesn't hurt to admit to us that you're afraid and allow us to carry some of the burden for you.

We're warships that have been through our share of war and death, and come back stronger because of it."

Shigure looked at their heartfelt expressions, blinking and seeing that they were absolutely serious about helping her out in any way they could.

Shigure lifted her hands to slowly pry Yuudachi's hands from her face and feeling the slight sting of the cold canteen air hitting her face, but she looked to the both of them as she gave her response.

"I appreciate you all being here for me.

And I want to say, I understand that our lives are fleeting and that we may sink at any time."

She looked into Yuudachi's eyes as she unflinchingly continued despite them wincing a little at the blunt admission of their own mortality.

"But I now know that those aren't the things that we should allow to cast a shadow over the fact that we can spend the present as the Shiratsuyu-Class sisters again.

I want to take the time to slow down and appreciate every meal that we eat together, every sentence that we speak from one sister to another, and every second that we spend together."

Gesturing to the trays of food that were left partially uneaten, Shigure gave them her best smile as she tucked in, feeling better about today despite her sore muscles still acting up as she let the fact sink in that she was eating a meal with her sisters, and took in the moment as her sisters brightened up and followed suit, the three of them merrily eating their breakfast as reunited sisters.

* * *

Shigure was walking down the wooden corridors of the barracks, distractedly looking out of the window and at the small garden that was surrounded on its four sides by ship girl bedrooms, probably an aesthetic choice to have a garden so close in proximity to the ship girls' bedroom, with sliding doors to allow access into the garden so that they wouldn't be woken up and be constantly reminded of the war.

Shigure was resting up since yesterday had been rather taxing on the 1st Fleet to have gone up against a stronger opponent, not that she would know since she missed out on quite a lot of it, and Shigure was taking the time to enjoy the quieter moments in life.

Her idle thoughts were disturbed and she was brought back to reality by a bickering duo, one of them energetically shouting,

"The 5th Carrier Division is better!"

Followed by a mature and patient voice that responded calmly,

"It's obvious that the 1st Carrier Division is better."

As Shigure located the source of the voices that came from behind a door, she stealthily made her way to the door that was simply marked ' **鳥の巣** ', which, translated into English, simply meant 'Bird's Nest'.

Shigure quietly activated her radar to scan the carrier bedroom, and found six occupants in there. One of the dots was pacing back and forth, constantly circling one of the solitary dots.

The other four simply sat themselves at different areas, and made no move to either stop the argument or attempt to join it, likely used to it by now.

The voices didn't stop even when she snuck up to the door, the energetic voice bragging on about how the 5thCarDiv was better, while the monotonous voice deadpanned that the 1stCarDiv was better.

It wasn't until the monotonous voice changed up the game, and intoned,

"The 5thCarDiv is better."

And the energetic voice boasted,

"The 1stCarDiv is better, and you know it!"

A few silent seconds passed before Shigure heard the monotonous voice quietly replied, and yet Shigure could practically feel the slight smile on her face as she lightly mocked,

"I'll keep that in mind."

Before Energetic Voice sputtered in protest at what she just said, trying to come up with a witty retort, before lightly sniffling and wailing, a light ' _bamf_ ' as Energetic Voice cried into someone's body as she whined,

"Shoukaku-nee! Kaga-san's bullying me again!"

As a sisterly voice consoled her,

"There, there, don't worry about it, Zuikaku. If you keep improving yourself, you'll eventually reach the level that the 1stCarDiv is on."

"B-But right now, am I not better then Kaga-san?"

"Errmm, h-have you ever won any of the archery contests that you've challenged Kaga-san to?"

"N-No?"

A pregnant silence ensued, before the sniffling reached a fever pitch, and a new ' _bamf'_ could be heard as Zuikaku cried again, now sounding as if she was in a new position in the room.

 _"WAAAAHHHH!_

Akagi-san, Kaga-san and Shoukaku-san are conspiring against meee!"

Shigure held up her palms in an attempt to cover up her snicker, and failed as her laugh escaped her lips, causing everyone in the Carrier bedroom to freeze up as the voices stopped.

Shigure was standing outside of the carrier bedroom, and was debating on the pros and cons of making a choice to run away like a frightened schoolgirl when the door swung open quickly and the interior lights slightly blinding her for an instant, before her apertures focused and shrunk to compensate for the increase in brightness, and she saw a ship girl at the doorway, her light tangerine kimono top and her green pleated skirt as part of her main uniform.

She also seemed to have some sort of board that covered her hips and crotch, held up by two bands of string that stretched around her hips to from some sort of apron, the board that covered her hips styled like a flight deck and had the katakana 'ヒ' on the top left hand corner.

She had a grey headband that had white stripes running across it, and the rising sun symbol on her forehead and holding her short brown hair down with a barely-noticeable side-tail on her right temple.

She was looking down at Shigure inquisitively, her eyebrow cocked as she was likely wondering what a destroyer like her was doing outside their room, Shigure's horrified, yet resigned expression calculating the odds of her successfully outrunning a carrier.

* * *

Shigure was sitting in a _seiza_ position, her feet neatly tucked underneath her thighs and bum as her arms were straightened out, her hands clenched and placed above her knees and her head lowered respectfully in the presence of several senior ship girls.

The girl who greeted her at the door introduced herself as Hiryuu, and her sister, Souryuu, who had the same kimono top in a teal-green colour instead of the orange colour of her sister. She had her dark blue medium-length hair in twin tails.

She had a softer expression that was more sympathetic and understanding, but she didn't have a Japanese headband wrapping her head unlike her sister, and her apron having no katakana.

Two ship girls that were sitting on the same bed on the left of the room had the same uniform. A black _muneate,_ or a female archery chest plate, likely made out of metal or something similar, her white kimono top and an azure blue pleated skirt beneath.

She had the same flight deck apron that was likely the norm for two-thirds of the room's occupants, excluding Shigure, and her medium length brown hair tied in a side tail to the left of her head.

She had introduced herself as Kaga, Kaga's apron having the katakana 'カ' on it. She had the same air of seriousness and her grave and no-nonsense expression directed towards Shigure.

The girl sitting next to her was rather jovial and carefree, her brown hair flowing straight down as her eyes sparkling at the newcomer. She had on a red dress with the same _muneate_ her chest, along with the same several red ribbons holding her kimono together, the Red to Kaga's Blue.

Her flight deck apron had the katakana 'ア' identifying herself, and had cookie crumbs littered on it, her cheeks stuffed with food and the carrier possessing the enthusiasm and appetite of a squirrel as she held a cookie jar in her hands, half emptied by the carrier. She was introduced as Akagi, and waved to her happily when she entered the room, which Shigure replied in kind.

The last two sisters in the team, both wearing the same shortened red _miko_ uniform dress and white top, steel thigh boots, and the same _muneate_ that provided more cover than Kaga's or Akagi's.

The difference in them was that at their top right hand corner was the katakana 'ス', pronounced 'Zu' for Zuikaku, and the other had 'シ', 'Shi' the first katakana of the name Shoukaku.

Zuikaku had dark-green hair that was done up in long twin tails held up by white ribbons, and was like Hiryuu, but being more brash than the Kai Ni carrier, getting up in Shigure's face to question her about her presence outside of their bedroom, Shigure respectfully keeping silent.

Shoukaku was more subdued, standing back as her sister interrogated Shigure, awkwardly signalling and pleading for Shigure to forgive her headstrong sister. Her silver hair was long, and flowed down her back and a hairband was holding up her hair, positioned above her forehead. The hairband itself was red, with a white ring around it to symbolize the Japanese flag and Air Force.

Shigure finally raised her head, to find Zuikaku come face-to-face to her as she stated,

"How much did you hear, huh?"

Before Shigure deadpanned,

"Enough for me to assume that you and Kaga are a comedy duo."

Zuikaku sputtered as everyone in the room save for Kaga started snickering at how accurate the destroyer's assessment was from that short interaction between the two rivals of the 1st and 5thCarDiv.

The room had three double-decker beds, spaced evenly throughout the room, and the frame of the middle bed facing the door. There were two desks that were being straddled by the beds on the far end of the room, and there were quite a few bags of chips and an assortment of snacks that were piled up on the tables, along with a standard table lamp that stood over the pile.

The few drawers that came along with the drawer had papers filled in them, Shigure seeing several paper edges sticking out. The room was quite well maintained despite the number of occupants it held, and a soft white glow of the two lights on the roof illuminated the room, one directly above Shigure as she faced off against Zuikaku.

"H-Haahhh?! I'm not a comedian, I'm a proud member of the 5th Carrier Division!"

"Y-Yes, I could infer that from the 4 times that you proudly announced how much better you were compared to the 1stCarrier Division. Other than that one time when that you said otherwise."

"RRRGGGHHHH!"

"U-Um, Zuikaku, maybe you shouldn't get triggered by a destroyer getting the best of you…"

Shoukaku finally spoke up, trying to pacify her sister who was pulling at her twin-tails comically, obviously frustrated by Shigure's 'straight-to-the-point' attitude reminiscent of her arguments with Kaga.

"Yeah, since that's Kaga's job, pfftt!"

Hiryuu piped up before bursting out into a fit of giggles, Souryuu softly slapping her on the shoulder to discourage her from teasing the carrier like that, although she also had a smile creeping up her face.

Zuikaku only seemed to get more triggered by this, her arms cycling as she softly whacked Hiryuu, resorting to making babyish squealing noises as she was getting tired of receiving the brunt of the teasing from everyone.

Shigure observed the situation, drawing the conclusion that Hiryuu and Souryuu were the two disciples of Kaga and Akagi, the two default leaders of the carrier team. Zuikaku was likely the aspiring star, and Shoukaku was the Team Mom, trying her best to defuse whatever conflicts that arose from within the team.

Akagi was the carefree one in contrast to Kaga's stone-cold demeanor, which likely allowed her to calmly assess the situation and make the tough calls.

She was also likely the most respected carrier on the base other than Houshou, who Shigure remembered was introduced to be the mother of all carriers.

This was evident, when even the Kai Ni Hiryuu looked to Kaga apologetically, which the stoic carrier nodded in acknowledgement, and Hiryuu continued to laugh softly at Zuikaku, who was still acting out in frustration at everyone around her and oblivious to the subtle cues around her, Shigure being a silent spectator to the entire spectacle.

* * *

"Hmmph! That stuck-up 1stCarDiv bitch, when I get my Kai Ni, she'd better watch out, 'cause I'll be the best in the base!"

Zuikaku was complaining to the quiet Shigure, who was meekly following behind the Shoukaku-Class carrier as she was stomping around vehemently, trying to let off steam by gaining some distance from the source of her annoyance.

Although Zuikaku was venting her frustration, it was clear to Shigure that she was accommodating towards her, slowing her pace to allow the destroyer to keep up as Shigure took smaller steps than her.

Not that they were going anywhere in particular, Zuikaku simply taking a hike around the mostly-empty barracks to let off some steam.

"So, what do you think, does she need to take it down a notch? I can't stand the way she criticizes me every time, and point out my flaws!

UURRRGGHHH!"

Zuikaku got triggered again, pulling at her twin tails again in exasperation, Shigure wondering if her hair was supposed to be as short as Kaga's, and the only reason her hair became so long was that she kept on pulling at her hair so much whenever she got triggered or got too frustrated at anything, so much so that she stretched them out permanently.

But she gave her advice based on her earlier observations,

"I believe that the both of you aren't communicating well enough, and that this causes the conflict that exists between you two."

Zuikaku paused, and looked back towards Shigure with a befuddled expression that convinced Shigure, that she had to clarify herself.

"U-Um, it's just that, it seems that you're putting too much focus into your feud with Kaga-san, and if this continues, you might risk your life in order to prove a point.

And I do believe that while Kaga-san is tolerant of your attitude, I do believe that she doesn't want you to go that far just to prove that you're better than her."

Zuikaku seemed more confused than anything at this, and disputed,

"Yeah, but if I risk my life and I _do_ prove that I'm better than her, isn't that a win-win?"

"Yes, but how many times can you escape death?"

"I'm a lucky ship!"

"High luck doesn't guarantee your survival.

Trust me, I would know."

Shigure was stung upon hearing Zuikaku say something as thoughtless as that, and perhaps it was something that Zuikaku liked to boast about, but Shigure wasn't having any of that as she personally didn't like anyone talking as though they naturally had an immunity to death.

Zuikaku looked at Shigure upon hearing that, and Shigure could see that the Shoukaku-Class carrier was suddenly hit with the weight of her own words as she cringed upon realizing who she was talking to, backtracking as best she could while unable to meet Shigure's eyes.

"Well, I just want to show that we're better than her. I can't stand the fact that she does everything so…"

Her face contorted comically, as her arms formed claws and she held them up at an angle to claw at her imaginary foe, obviously frustrated at Kaga's ability to back up her status as an unforgiving senior and an inhumane screech escaping her clenched teeth.

"She does everything so… _so… so perfectly!"_

Shigure sweat dropped as Zuikaku raged on.

"Every time I mess up a shot, she makes a snide remark about my form _every, single, time,_ and as I turn back to shoot back a retort about her shooting stance, there she is, letting loose a perfect shot, and I'm too awestruck to even criticize her form!"

"But don't you think that instead of criticizing it, you should instead learn from it, since you admire it so much?"

"B-But, that would mean that I'd have to ask her to teach me her ways!"

"Isn't that the point?"

"Eh?"

Zuikaku's expression was now straight out dumbfounded, uncomprehending of the wisdom hidden in the destroyer's words.

Shigure explained sagely, her index finger raised in order to get the carrier's attention and to illustrate her point.

"You see, you must learn from the best, which is currently Kaga, otherwise you'll forever be stuck in this back-and-forth relationship, where you're not performing to Kaga's standards.

Right now, the both of you are painfully aware of that, and she's stuck with making cold but observant remarks, probably until the end of time, since you're too prideful to explicitly ask her to teach you, and she keeps a respectful distance.

Answer me this, Zuikaku-san, have you ever heard even one of Kaga's remarks, that explicitly attacked you as a person, instead of criticizing your form, release or conduct?"

Zuikaku started, raising her right index finger her mouth opened up to retort, before her mind stopped, racing to find one, even one incriminating comment in her memory drives, that she could use to prove Shigure wrong.

After a solid 15 seconds perfectly mimicking the stillness of a statue, when Shigure started to look a little uncomfortable while wondering if she had broken the carrier, before Zuikaku slowly twitched her finger and slowly lowered it in defeat.

She couldn't find it.

Shigure could see that the Shoukaku-Class carrier had truly tried, but no matter how hard she tried to protest, Kaga-san's comments had likely all been beneficial in some way to help her improve her shooting form of to point out a flaw, without direct physical intervention to help her or attacking Zuikaku directly.

Shigure dropped her finger to let her hand hang by her side, closing in and asking.

"Is it truly such a repulsive idea, to ask your self-proclaimed rival for lessons to help improve yourself?"

Zuikaku sighed, replying meekly.

"Not entirely… It's just…"

Shigure leaned in closer to give her full attention, as she noticed Zuikaku looking uncomfortable, her cheeks colouring.

"I'm embarrassed…"

Shigure had to mentally replay that last part, and manually amplify it to hear what she said.

And when she heard it, she drew back, observing Zuikaku who was looking as if she wanted to be anywhere other than here, but it was hidden well behind her façade of toughness.

As to the reason why…

Zuikaku had feelings for Kaga.

She mentally took a step back, and reviewed everything about the situation.

From what she learnt from Junyou when she spoke of the modern world, the _tsun_ part of _tsundere_ meant to be initially cold to who you liked, or at least try to hide your feelings.

Check.

The reason of the whole rivalry thing was likely to get Kaga's attention, the target of her affection.

Check.

Embarrassment at taking the initiative, and getting closer with her crush via a one-to-one training session?

Check.

She noticed several features on Zuikaku's body as well, her contracted pupils and slightly colored cheeks along with a few stray beads of sweat to indicate heightened heartbeat, and her body posture awkwardly held up to indicate a false image of bravado, likely concealing something.

She wasn't an expert on body reading by any means, but Zuikaku wasn't a hard ship girl to read.

Not that she'd ever say that to her face.

But she was going to point out the elephant in the room.

"Do you like her, Zuikaku-san?"

Bingo.

Zuikaku sputtered, and her face was flushed as she bolted forward, and held her palm to Shigure's mouth to silence her, fiercely whispering.

"Shh! How do you know that?! You haven't even known us for a day yet!"

Shigure slowly held her arms up to pry Zuikaku's hand from her mouth, and conspiratorially whispered:

"It's not difficult.

But, please explain, why do you repress your feelings and treat your senior, who might be cold but ultimately means well, with such disdain and refuse her training because of the very feelings that you're repressing?

It's a self-perpetuating cycle."

Zuikaku was stunned, suddenly looking very afraid of the very sharp and observant destroyer before her.

But she swallowed the lump in her throat as she silently pulled Shigure into a corridor not often used for navigating the building, and closed her eyes to take a few deep breaths.

The stale air that permeated the corridor, only made bearable by the air-conditioner at the end or the corridor pumping in fresh air to create a current of air, and she slowly opened her eyes to find Shigure looking intently up at her, every bit interested in hearing her explanation out.

Zuikaku looked away, as she looked around to make sure that there wasn't anyone nearby to overhear them, Shigure wondering why she was so adamant about keeping these feelings secret.

And now Zuikaku was looking into her eyes, trying to ascertain as to whether she was trustworthy enough to share this secret with, Shigure trying her best to look as nonthreatening as possible to convince the Shoukaku-Class carrier.

And the carrier's head finally drooped upon the entire thing being exposed by the newcomer destroyer, giving as she muttered.

"Sigh, I'll tell you what I want you to know, but I promise,"

She held Shigure by her shoulders, and pulled her in close to whisper in in ear, in a sickly sweet sing-song voice that promised only pain if her secret were ever to be revealed.

"If _anyone_ hears of this, and this spreads throughout the base, I'll know who to find.

And when I do, being used for target practice will be the most _lenient_ of your punishments, _do you hear me?"_

Shigure could only nod her head vigorously, already convinced that this was one secret that she would take to the grave with her.

Zuikaku looked convinced of the destroyer's sincerity, and let her arms drop to her sides to try to describe her problem.

"W-Well, it's like, all throughout my time here, Kaga-san has always been the very picture of a perfect carrier.

Being calm and collected, never missing a crucial shot, and the shots that aren't so important, and… _sigh_ …the rest of the shots, too."

Zuikaku raised her hand to scratch at the back of her head, suddenly looking rather embarrassed now that she was getting into describing her emotions, her face reddening again.

"As to how I feel about her, i-it's like, I do admire her unflappable demeanor, and I like how she's, like…hmm…cool?"

Her eyebrow was cocked when she was at a loss for words as to how to describe a positive trait about the stoic carrier.

"I really don't know what about her attracts me, but the mere fact that she's in the 1st Carrier Division, and the fact that she's so damn smug about it, just pisses me off and make me want to show her the greatness of the 5th Carrier Division.

But to do that, I had to suppress my feelings for her, and face her like I would a true rival."

Zuikaku now looked rather conflicted, her emotions now surfacing and interfering with her disdain concerning the 1st Carrier Division.

"But now that you mention it, as to why the feelings that I'm suppressing are now interfering with my decision to ask Kaga-san for advice,"

Zuikaku sighed again as she released Shigure, looking down at her shoes as though they were the most interesting thing in the world as she admitted.

"Yeah, I guess it's true.

I've always hoped that if time passes, these feelings would go away.

But no, the feeling's persisted, and right now, the advice that you've given is sound.

But the question is how I'm to make peace with these feelings without letting Kaga-san know about these feelings, because I'm definitely not ready for that yet."

Shigure lowered her head, brooding over the question, before raising her head to answer the carrier.

"Well, you can try to explain that you're uncomfortable with taking lessons from her, but that's not going to stop you from asking.

She'll understand if you're flustered around her, but your dedication and your humility is likely to impress her, and she'll likely accept.

As to how you're to make peace with your feelings, I'm sorry, but you'll have to figure that out on your own."

Zuikaku seemed a little dejected at that last sentence, but her face suddenly brightened up, trying to look on the bright side as she remarked,

"Ahh, it's alright! You've helped me enough, and I've got something to work with now! Thanks!"

Zuikaku gave Shigure a vibrant smile upon having accepted the Shiratsuyu-Class's well-meaning advice, Shigure unable to suppress the smile that also graced her face in response to the Shoukaku-Class's genuine smile as they both looked at each other, able to enjoy each other's company as ship girls who were able to connect with each other on some level.

* * *

The evening sun had set half an hour ago, and the island in the middle of the ocean was shrouded in darkness as a few orange rays of sunlight still shone through the night and peeked over the horizon.

They barely illuminated the highest point of a island that was silently sitting in the midst of the dark ocean in almost meditative silence as its world was plunged into darkness once again.

The reason for said silence was the simple fact that mankind had never settled on the island that was located in the middle of nowhere, and didn't bear the trademark signs of human civilization like small plumes of smoke or artificial light sources that glowed in the midst of the forest like the luminescent tails of fireflies to keep the darkness at bay.

The forest was devoid of mankind's influence, and yet bore the usual signs of occupation that were dirt paths leading into the forest as a result of people trampling on the grass to go somewhere inland as well as disturbances in the lay of the land.

There were also several trees cut down to create a large clearing in the middle of the island, the dead trees reclaimed by nature as the trees were occupied by wildlife and flora with bugs and plants infesting the fallen tree barks, the wildlife on the island relatively unaffected and unconcerned about the war going between the metal-fleshed humans and the unnatural aliens that came from the sea.

This quiet and dark island was what greeted the Infiltration Fleet, this not being the first time laying their eyes upon this little island located out in the Pacific Ocean and slightly beyond the Safety Zone that divided ship girl territory from Abyssal infested waters.

Sendai and company had sneaked in when the sun had set after taking the entire morning and afternoon to confirm the Abyssal patrol routes and evade them, timing their entrance to coincide with a swap in Abyssal patrol fleets, all six of the ship girls wearing black to minimize the risk of an Abyssal spotting their flashy uniforms in the middle of the night as well as using their night-vision ability available to them as ship girls to navigate in the darkness, their world now a grainy green.

The Infiltration Fleet had already taken off their boat slippers as they approached the island, unable to use their ocean-based footwear to walk on land and leaving the job of maintenance to the Fairies who watched over their battle backpacks and boat slippers.

Chitose had already split up to hike up the hill located near the southeast section of the island to keep an eye on the surrounding ocean with the enhanced ocular organs that carriers possessed lest the Abyssals decide to change up their patrol routes and sail towards them, while Goya was patrolling the surrounding ocean for the exact same reason.

Sendai, Shiranui, Kagerou and Arare were patrolling the island while armed with two handheld 12 cm Single Gun Cannons each, the only weapons in their arsenal that were small and light enough to be wielded on land with minimum penalties to their movement speed, and some form of protection was better than none at all.

They were working on setting up the top-secret equipment that was loaned to them to be field-tested, Sendai having carried the five steel pikes that were wrapped in a blanket and tied with a black rope to secure it against the elements as Shiranui and Kagerou carried two shovels each to make their jobs easier.

Kirishima had explained to them that these pikes were designed to cancel out radio waves within the area that they covered and prevent radar from detecting their presence.

But they needed to see how large of an area the pikes could cover before the machine was unable to function, taking into account the shifting terrain that was the island it had to cover and the effectiveness of the radar-blocking pikes when going up against Abyssal radar.

And after an hour and a half of hiking, hard work digging up sand on the shores of the island to cover a large enough area and planting the spear-like machinery, the pikes were now ready to cancel out all radio waves and disallow radar from detecting the island to hide their presence on the island.

But activation would have to wait, as Kirishima had predicted that if they activated the pikes to block out _all_ radio waves, it would include the radar of the ship girls on the island. Their search would be far harder if they couldn't split up to search the entire island while keeping in contact with each other.

The search was tedious, the Coordinators having predicted that they would have at least six hours after sunset to search the entire island before the Abyssals arrived, to which they'd detect the abnormality on the island and decide to check.

The four of them were determined to search the entire island, which thankfully wasn't that large as it was only four acres in terms of area, the ship girls starting with the artificial clearing in the middle of the island as the ship girls looked around to find the myriad of strangely-shaped rocks that was not the work of any human or ship girl.

They split up the clearing into a grid, whereupon the four ship girls would search the four sections of the clearing to make sure they didn't miss anything as they inspected the various rock formations to see if they contained some sort of well-kept secret, Sendai even smashing one rock with her steel fist to make sure that the relatively brittle granite wasn't hiding Abyssal steel.

That was an hour ago.

A sweating Arare, who was carrying the sling-bag that carried the syringe and their infiltration equipment to access and recover lost Abyssal data, perked up as she saw some sort of strange symbol being produced upon sitting down at the edge of the clearing, blinking as she stared at the entire rock formation that was sitting out in the clearing.

She leaned and tilted her head sideways as she shifted her body to crawl on all fours, observing how the rocks were placed in the clearing, all of different shapes and heights.

They ranged from destroyer-height to coming up short of knee-height, but there was one thing that the Asashio-Class destroyer could see from her point of view.

These rocks weren't supposed to be here, despite how innocuous they looked.

And now that she had positioned herself well enough, she called her teammates over as she pointed out.

"These rocks look like they're leading somewhere."

And Kagerou voiced out a disbelieving,

"Eh, are you sure?

Could it be the Abyssals trying to mislead us or something?"

But Sendai respectfully disagreed, citing the strange sight that beheld them as they approached the island.

"No, man, I don't think that's the case.

Remember all the boulders that the Abyssals brought onto this island back when the Abyssal War started, some of which we came across and looked pretty obvious someone hauled 'em here?

And don't you think these rocks are markers, as we see here..."

The Infiltration Fleet looked forward, seeing that the rock formation of varying heights and seemingly scattered randomly throughout the clearing lined up almost perfectly from their point of view to form an iron sight of sorts, with the stones forming a 'U' with a short rock jutting out in the middle.

"... and might be arranged to indicate a direction to travel in?

I mean, I might be wrong, but remember that this pointed in the general direction of one of the boulders located in my section."

Kagerou shrugged in response, while Shiranui added her own opinion on things.

"I think that everything here's just a diversion.

They wouldn't be so stupid as to hide what they're up to here in plain sight since this's the first place we would start looking, and I think that the few boulders we've seen here are markers, to hide one amongst many.

And besides..."

Pointing to the rocks that didn't completely line up with the formation, Shiranui noted.

"I think there're a few false markers to mislead us, as looking at this formation from different angles would give different results.

We have to assume that the Abyssals wouldn't want us to find it, and would do their best to give us false leads, since it seems as though the formation points in different directions."

Walking around the formation, they saw that the formation of the rocks were shaped in such a way that allowed them to point in five different directions, the four of them convened to decide on whether they should split up or stay together to get things done faster.

But finally, Kagerou pointed something out as she thought about the formations.

"Y'know, I won't say that I'm 100% correct on this, but I'm here thinking if they would want to hide their secret in a location where it's closer to the Pacific Ocean where they come from?"

Everyone blinked at that, accepting that logic as they walked into the forest, doing their best not to disturb the wildlife as they trekked through the grass and trees and followed Kagerou as she sounded as if she had a point.

And after three minutes of brisk hiking, they found themselves facing a boulder sitting right in the middle of a distinctly smaller clearing, one of many strange monuments scattered throughout the island.

This boulder was the closest to the Pacific Ocean when compared to the four other boulders that the rock formation pointed to, but wasn't the closest to the shoreline when comparing it to the boulders littering the island, since a few boulders lined the beaches and effectively hid it amongst other dummy boulder markers.

Sendai and the girls got to work in moving the average-sized boulder, selected likely because of its portability and the weight it possessed, the Infiltration Fleet easily able to achieve a heavy cruiser's level of super-strength when they all turned their ship girl modes on as the boulder was finally moved aside, the girls getting to work on digging a hole to uncover whatever lay beneath the boulder.

The Coordinators had told them that the shovels that they brought served two purposes, where one was to dig into the beach to install the radio wave-jamming pikes, and the second was to uncover any potential Abyssal secret hidden underground, since if a cursory search of the island surface yielded no results, where else could they go but down?

And fifteen minutes of sweat-filled excavating with the speechless and slightly imposing boulder being a bystander as they had dug a deep and wide pit where the boulder once set and getting their uniforms dirty, Kagerou's drudging shovel hit something hard, the hard and sharp echo of metal upon metal ringing throughout the site, silencing the ship girls present and causing them to freeze up upon hearing that.

Sendai and Kagerou discarded their shovels and immediately dropped on all fours to push the dirt out of the way, while Shiranui and Arare, both of them resting up to prevent exhaustion before the sortie that was to come later, joined them in the pit and mimicked their motions to clear the dirt from steel.

Uncovering some sort of steel hatch that was now dulled, the four ship girls gazed upon a symbol imprinted into the dark steel, a stylized capital 'A' designed to look like a shark swimming towards the surface ala _Jaws_ , complete with small yet sharp teeth and small beady semicircles to symbolize shark eyes.

This was the rarely-seen Abyssal symbol used by the underwater invaders, and much like the Imperial Chrysanthemum was to the Japanese, whatever was stored beneath this hatch was undoubtedly Abyssal property.

Jackpot.


	7. Chapter 7 - Dark Spectre Conspiracies

Wielding three glow sticks like claws in between her clenched fingers, Shiranui lowered herself effortlessly into the opened steel hatch as the three other destroyers looked down at her, Sendai holding the steel rope that was tied around Shiranui's waist as she felt around with her gloved hand and finally clamped her fingers around a cold hard handle of sorts.

Shiranui found herself pulling herself towards a ship ladder welded into the wall, finding her footing on the rungs as she swung her hand around to both illuminate her surroundings and clear the dust that permeated the air as she lowered herself into the Abyss.

Her brown school shoe finally hit the hard floor and the destroyed hatch plate at the base of the ladder, a victim of an explosive breach charge to circumvent the issue of needing specialized equipment to remove the weld metal, the Kagerou-Class destroyer using her feet to clear what remained of the steel hatch from the landing area as she untied the steel rope from the carabiner clip on her utility belt.

Shiranui got off the steel ladder as she reached for her 12 cm Single Gun Cannon in order to provide some form of protection against whatever booby traps the Abyssals might have laid to kill trespassing ship girls.

Shiranui secured the area as she checked around cautiously for traps while Arare and Kagerou lowered themselves into the mystery hatch to join her, Sendai sitting right outside the hatch so as to watch over their surroundings to make sure that the hatch stayed open and didn't accidentally slam shut on them or something.

They also needed someone to relay messages between the two surveying ship girls and the three destroyers who were uncovering the Abyssal secret base, since it was hard for radio signals to penetrate deep underground and through thick Abyssal steel.

Shiranui tossed a few glow sticks into the distance, one of them bouncing off a metallic structure of sorts as the delayed echo reverberated throughout the dead-silent base, the three of them having turned on their ship girl modes to prepare for anything.

Kagerou was the one who took point as she started walking forward, lighting up a few glow sticks of her own as she made her way through the underground facility and dropping the glow sticks occasionally to provide a trail back to the steel hatch as their green-tinted luminescent night-vision eyes picked up the inactive equipment in their immediate surroundings.

There were steel assembly arms hanging from the ceiling and lining the sides of a halted assembly line, ghost-like limbs of an arcane design with bundles of exposed wires lining the machinery.

The metallic construction tools were frozen in time as their lifeblood that was electricity had been cut from the facility, and were threatening to stretch down and grab them with their open steel claws, all overlooking one of their own that had fallen onto the steel walkway and rendering it mostly inaccessible.

It wasn't out of the question to assume that the facility they were currently in was clearly used at a point in time for production, metal shavings and pieces of dark Abyssal armor littering the factory floor and uncleaned by the Abyssals before leaving.

Torn wires snaked down each module that sat atop the torn assembly line at regular intervals, grounded to the partially destroyed conveyor belt and created to hold a now non-existent unit up as the assembly line previously worked to assemble the individual parts they held, several of them toppled over like fallen dominoes.

An acrid stench of motor oil and metal filled the air, a testament to its true purpose before its demise, the Abyssals likely having expected this facility to be well-hidden enough with the hatch being welded shut, Shiranui suddenly feeling rather thankful for the breaching charges provided by the Coordinators, just one of many gadgets they had to carry on every mission to make sure they could overcome most obstacles like locked doors.

They had thrashed everything that was in this facility to a degree where everything was still recoverable, but never came back to this island to reoccupy this facility as it was still a hotly-contested island that no one side occupied for long.

Shiranui could hear Kagerou's distinct voice ringing out through her grainy-green night-vision mode that illuminated her world, not unlike the green goggles utilized in the _Wizard of Oz_ to make her world appear green as Kagerou looked back at them and stated.

"Well, we can't just look around and simply speculate as to whatever they've made here.

I think we may need to hack a few computers to find out what they were planning through their servers."

But Arare pointed out something that they may have failed to consider, seeing that the Abyssals weren't the kind to simply leave their bases unattended.

"I'm rather suspicious that they Abyssals don't have at least some traps in place, and if even they didn't, I think they may at least be aware of our presence here.

I don't believe we have the luxury of time anymore if they are indeed aware of our presence on this island, and we may only have the element of surprise left with the radar-cancelling pikes installed."

Shiranui nodded, seeing the logic in that as she considered the probability of them being found out and trying to rethink their moves.

"Well, the Abyssals might still send that patrol fleet here, just earlier than we expected if we did indeed trip some sort of alarm entering this factory, and they might send an armada here to stop us from leaving this place.

But the good thing is that this island's on the edge of the Safety Zone, so we still have some time to act, just that our schedule might've been pushed forward and our window to escape narrowing if they indeed want to bring an entire Abyssal Fleet to greet us."

Looking to Arare and Kagerou, she directed them as to what they were going to do.

"Arare, give me the laptop and go tell Sendai to notify Chitose and Goya to watch out for the Abyssal patrol coming earlier than expected, and also get her to activate the radar-jamming pikes to hide our presence.

Kagerou and I will search the rooms for any sort of recoverable intelligence before the ambush to find anything we can bring back to the Coordinators."

Arare nodded, taking off the sling bag to hand over to Shiranui as Kagerou began looking for a server room to access the facility's data cache and extract whatever they could from their servers before the Abyssals brought the hammer down on them, Arare plodding off towards the source of the dimly illuminated squarish hatch where Sendai kept watch.

Shiranui opened up the sling bag to bring out, unfold and boot up the laptop that was used by the Infiltration Fleet to hack into the Abyssal servers and extract everything that was of use to them, generally disposable should the Abyssals decide to leave a virus behind in their disconnected servers to fry their laptops in order to slow them down.

Setting down her 12 cm Single Gun Cannon to pull out the various paraphernalia needed to accomplish their task, she could easily make out Arare's soft voice speaking up to a dark-haired light cruiser whose head was peeking down the hatch as Kagerou's light steps resounded throughout the empty facility, connecting the various cables and USB sticks in a practiced routine.

She suddenly heard a large banging noise ringing throughout the facility a moment after Kagerou's footsteps stopped, sounding not unlike an explosion in the confined spaces of the ringing facility, causing the pink-haired destroyer jto ump upon hearing that.

Shiranui's hands were itching to reach for her 12 cm Cannon to check out the commotion, but her sister ship's voice calling out through the darkness stayed her hand somewhat.

"I'm OK, just kicking down doors to breach them.

Am I being too loud?"

Followed by Shiranui and Arare's exasperated,

 _"Yes."_

To which Kagerou thankfully took into account as the next door was opened normally, Shiranui almost able to hear the clicking of the door mechanism as the laptop whirred upon coming to life, finally displaying the image she desired as the infiltration program was already booted up and ready to run.

Shiranui turned off her built in night-vision ability to prevent the computer's LED screen from blinding her and reaching into her waist bag to bring out, wear and turn on her head-strap flashlight.

She heard Kagerou shouting out to prepare Arare and herself for the next deafening noise that was about to engulf the underground facility, the name ship of the Kagerou-Class destroyers calling out to them.

"I'm using another breaching charge!

Y'all might want to cover your ears for this!"

Shiranui plugged her ears with her gloved index fingers, her superhuman ears still clearly picking up the ear-splitting controlled explosion of the breaching charge, this time considerably muffled by the material of her gloves and Shiranui having braced herself mentally for it as she lowered her hands to take in the sharp echoes still present throughout the facility.

Shiranui made her way towards where she believed the breaching sound to have originated from after holstering her Cannon and picking up the laptop, occasionally spotting a dropped glow stick to mark Kagerou's path as she moved down a corridor of sorts.

She was warily watching every opened door she came across to watch for enemies Kagerou might have missed, watching the destroyed computers and shredded papers littering the floor and untouched by even the wildlife of the island and perfectly preserved to mark the final activities of the Abyssals that occupied these rooms.

And the fact that all the ship girl signatures of her teammates were now wiped off her radar upon the radio wave-jamming pikes being activated just made her that little bit more paranoid, her free hand hovering over her holstered Cannon out of habit, having been through a few sticky situations in the past where it paid to have a quick trigger finger to respond to unexpected threats.

But there was no need for that, the silhouette standing at the end of the room next door resembling her sister positioned in the middle of a wrecked server room, Kagerou spinning around quickly and tightening her grip on her own 12 Cm Cannon, but the both of them relaxed and nodded to each other as Shiranui approached the end of the room with the laptop in hand.

Shiranui turned down the brightness of her head-strap flashlight as she stepped over the demolished steel door that she assumed to have been previously locked to require a breaching charge, and could make out Kagerou jerking her thumb back to point at the thrashed computer server that was left unattended.

And although it was obviously dark, Kagerou had likely found the one server that seemed as though whatever was within wasn't completely demolished, and was thus recoverable when connected to their powerful yet disposable laptop.

Kagerou leaned down to grab the cover of the deformed access panel before ripping it clean off with her superhuman strength, tossing it to one corner and causing the impact to produce a clanging sound that resonated throughout the room, ignored by both the Kagerou sisters as they looked down at the busted electronic hardware within.

Kneeling down and looking through the torn wires, Shiranui reached in and rummaged around until she felt the hard, cool touch of a motherboard, gently prying it out and unplugging the various cables connected to it.

Retrieving a few USB cables and an Ethernet cable connected to the laptop, Shiranui plugged them into their respective ports and activated the hacking program to access its partially destroyed content and attempt to recover whatever they could.

Looking at the few lines of code running down the black computer windows and the few images that popped up on the screen for an instant before being covered up by other images, all of it almost as mysterious as hieroglyphs to her as she looked back at Kagerou.

"I think this might take a while, so I think it might be wise to use this time to split up and look through the various shredded papers in the other rooms for any valuable information."

Kagerou nodded in agreement, the both of them now having head strap flashlights on their foreheads to prepare for the manual search and reorganization of the pieces of paper on the floor and preparing to play a game of 52 pickup in different rooms to salvage the paper pieces.

And after that, it was the tedious job of putting the pieces back together like assembling a jigsaw puzzle with the help of clear tape to help hold the pieces together, Shiranui's ship girl mode helping her out a lot as she utilized her heightened pattern recognition skills and improved memory to remember each piece to put back a small folder's worth of material in about five minutes.

Getting back up from her kneeling position, Shiranui walked back into the room where the laptop was still running, Kagerou coming up behind her to display her own recovered file as the laptop was pretty much finished.

And when the laptop was done, Shiranui uncoupled the cables to briskly walk back towards the opened hatch to rendezvous with the night battle light cruiser, Shiranui worrying that things might be going to shit faster than she thought if the Abyssals really did leave behind some sort of tripwire system to detect metallic humanoids trespassing in the facility.

Looking back up at the Sendai-Class light cruiser's face, Shiranui stored her laptop in her sling bag and slapped her hand on the metal rungs to climb back up to the surface and take in a breath of fresh ocean air instead of the stale, aged air that permeated the underground facility.

Sendai and Arare helped them up from the opening in the ground, the two sisters dusting themselves off after handing over everything to the light cruiser, who was now more energetic at night, yet contained her enthusiasm as she skimmed through everything quietly.

Shiranui looked to the skies as she noted a lone reconnaissance plane lazily flying through the air and patrolling the skies closer to the Pacific Ocean, likely trying to detect any incoming Abyssals that came in from the large sea.

Shiranui looked down at the seated Arare as she asked in a concerned tone, trying to estimate how fast the Abyssal patrol fleet was going to reach the island before the backup fleet arrived with Ru-Class and Ta-Class battleships to crush their stealth-based fleet.

"Have the Abyssals arrived yet?

We might need to prepare for the ambush and interrogation right now if the Abyssals detected our presence on the island simply because we discovered and entered that base."

Arare shook her head, explaining the situation which had likely already changed for the worse.

"We told Goya and Chitose to pull out all the stops to keep an eye out for the Abyssals, and Chitose told us that she managed to send out a reconnaissance plane to scout the area passively.

We can't communicate with Chitose right now since she's now out on the ocean..."

Tapping the side of her head with her right index finger, Arare explained the ways that the seaplane tender would try to notify them.

"If the recon plane detects Abyssals, it'll fly back towards Chitose in a straight line.

But if it can't detect any incoming Abyssals before going back to Chitose to refuel, it'll fly in a loop above us before landing."

Sendai was now looking at the two recovered files after handing the laptop and sling bag back to Arare to handle as she had one file clamped under her armpit, furiously flipping through Shiranui's file as she exclaimed.

"What the hell have the Abyssals been making to need so much resources?

I mean, I think it's safe to assume that the Abyssals may some sort of bottomless resource pit to spawn so many Abyssals, but what the hell, man!"

Shiranui knelt down on one knee to look at the cover page that Sendai was holding up for them all to see.

The three destroyers all looked as Sendai cycled through the papers, leaning in so that they could get a clearer look at the graphs and statements on the papers that were spread out on the ground before them, detailing a wide variety of operations from receipts to resource transfers via Wa-Class transport ships, to scraps of blueprints for something that was undecipherable.

Arare was looking through the few recovered pictures and computer documents recovered from the destroyed server, and the things she saw seemed to corroborate with Sendai's statements.

"These documents were orders from someone high up in the chain of command of the Abyssals.

It seems that whoever up top used this island as a means of transport and creation of Abyssal units while we were concentrated on securing our naval routes to Europe via the Suez Canal.

It _could_ mean that they somehow knew of our intentions and tried to get what they could out of this facility before destroying it."

Shiranui looked at one of the images that were presented on the screen, stopping the slide show to compare the image of a rudder to an as of yet unknown ship with the same rudder that was shown in the partially recovered blueprints, along with two letters.

'Fl...'

Shiranui's mind was racing to try and identify the ship class from the only visual cue they had, guessing.

 _'Fletcher?_

 _Florida?'_

Sendai now placed her gloved hand on the restored cover page.

The Abyssals, efficient as computers, had never really taken up on giving their operations grandiose names. This meant that the Abyssals had held this particular subject of significant importance, as the name on the cover not only echoed the scale of this project, but also sounded of a promise of things to come.

The name on the cover was ' **啓示** ', translated to 'Revelation', or 'Enlightenment'.

An alternate translation was 'Apocalypse'.

The four ship girls stared down at the puzzle pieces, trying to piece together everything with what they currently had on hand.

But Kagerou got up and patted herself down as she remarked on the situation.

"Geez, man, we're the Infiltration Fleet, not the Thinking and Brooding Fleet!

I think we need to get back to the cove where we landed on to prepare ourselves to sortie in an instant.

So how about making our way back instead of sitting near this god-forsaken hole here and getting a splitting headache looking at these things?"

The group of ship girls nodded, and the four of them made their way back to the cove that was located inland on the west section of the island and was covered by the radio wave-blocking pikes, which would mean that their exit from the island was pretty much covered and gave them the element of surprise against the patrol fleet.

* * *

The Abyssal patrols were pretty varied in their patrols throughout the seasons and the days of the week.

However, through patience, the Coordinators had managed to observe some level of repetition in their movement and patterns, as well as some frequented hot-spots.

Such information would surely have come in useful in the past.

But this was the present, and the Coordinators had been trying to capture a live, sentient Abyssal to interrogate for information about their activities and some strange observations observed around the world.

However, they all had pre-programmed mental self-destruct modules installed in them to be activated upon the possibility of capture to prevent themselves from being at the mercy of their captors, and could be toggled and reset with a grace period of 20 seconds to confirm the kill order, self-destructing almost instantaneously.

For the first few months, the few humanoid Abyssals they've tried to capture, who could understand and communicate in the human language have all committed mental suicide along with the frying of their hard drives and central processing unit that was located down their spinal columns, making interrogation nigh-impossible.

But they persisted in their research and efforts, and through studying the programming of the Abyssals, they managed to partially crack the code that guided their thought processes, and created an experimental liquid full of nano-machines that would temporarily stop the self-destruct module from being activated.

Although untested, they were certain that it would at least work in practice.

The downside? It had to be injected, preferably close to the nape of the neck for maximum effect. And the Abyssals would likely learn how to counter it quickly, likely making it a one-time McGuffin.

That was the second objective of the Infiltration Fleet, to test out the effectiveness of the experimental vial and also to obtain information from a captured Abyssal when the Abyssal patrol fleet arrived at the island.

Sifting through the schedules of their patrol routes and schedules surrounding the island as well as the landmarks that they would visit to check on their turf, they finally decided on an Abyssal Carrier Wo-Class as the target.

This was because she had higher clearance than the rank-and-file heavy cruisers and torpedo cruisers, but was easier to capture than a battleship Ta-Class or Ru-Class, who had enough firepower to fight back long enough for the self-destruct sequence to activate, and fatally wound someone with their immense firepower.

The carrier was simpler to capture due to her specialization in long range-combat and mediocre firepower at close range.

They simply had to ambush the patrol under the cover of night.

The island wasn't very large, but still consisted of a small hill, a cove, a small cave overlooking the ocean and the island was covered by some foliage and trees that populated the island.

Aside from the Abyssal showing particular interest in this island, its small size was an important factor in it being chosen due to the shorter distance to traverse the length of the island, which meant the prototype radio wave-jamming pikes could be installed faster around the island.

The fact that they knew that there was a small cave which could double as a spot to hide the Abyssal worked in their favor, seeing that the Infiltration Fleet would find whatever the Abyssals hid on the island, defeat the patrol fleet and interrogate the Wo-Class before getting out of there in record time.

It was also located on the edge of the Safety Zone, and any Abyssal backup fleet sent to kill the ship girls on the island and investigate the disappearance of their Abyssal patrol fleet would still have to take a while to get to the island should they decide to bring out the big guns, which would give the Infiltration Fleet some time to interrogate the captured Abyssal if they succeeded.

The Infiltration Fleet was now shrouded by the shadows, under the cover of the cloudy night as predicted by the weather forecast.

The moon was a double-edged sword at night when it illuminated the way at best, and at worst, eliminating any chance of a stealth-based approach to situations.

Hence new moons, rainy or cloudy nights were preferable during stealth missions or escapes, and a clear sky with a full moon at night for a patrol or a recovery mission.

The ship girls moved out as per their internal clocks indicated,

'2 April 2015

1.15 a.m.'

They spotted the incoming patrol fleet coming in earlier than scheduled, consisting of a To-Class light cruiser, 2 I-Class destroyers, a Ne-Class heavy cruiser, and the Flagship Wo-Class carrier.

The Infiltration Fleet predicting that the Abyssals might have detected their presence in the secret facility and would immediately respond paid off in the end, the Abyssal patrol fleet arriving earlier than their schedule planned for to search for the enemies detected in the area, the Infiltration Fleet used to adapting their plans or outright improvising whenever the Abyssals responded with curve-balls of their own.

Fortunately, the experimental pikes that were mounted across the island formed a 'dead zone' where the Abyssal radar couldn't penetrate, blocking their radar from detecting the other side of the island in a small arc to also serve as camouflage.

This drew their attention as they discussed whether or not to go ashore to investigate this recent phenomenon as well as to find the ship girls likely hiding on the island.

What they failed to account for was that the ship girls had already prepared their equipment and were laying in wait, sailing out from the cove to slowly hug and sneak along the coast to maintain the element of surprise, the shadows of the cloud-filled night blanketing them and covering their approach.

As they spotted the Abyssals attempting to go ashore, they opened fire and dumped their torpedoes into the water, encircling the posse that surrounded the flagship while cornering and sandwiching the Abyssal Fleet between the shore and their incoming torpedoes.

The Abyssals, regardless of class, could all submerge and escape back into the Abyss.

However, they were too close to the coast, and the waters were too shallow for them to consider that as a viable means of escape.

The Abyssal Ne-Class was the first to go, blocking the initial salvo from the ship girls by jumping in front of the torpedo salvo, killing it instantly as the torpedoes detonated upon contact with her body.

Her gun turrets, twin tails that snaked out of her rear, was firing rapidly even in death, clipping Chitose in the shoulder and moderately damaging her.

The To-Class light cruiser, a twisted amalgamation of three black metallic, beast-like mouths and two pale arms that were stitched together and expertly weaponized to project whatever sick aesthetic tastes its creator held, was firing at anything that moved, including at the ship girls in the water who remained at a distance from the shore to shell their enemies without hitting their High Value Target.

A set of jaws on the To-Class seemed to roar and communicate in growls, its teeth gnashing together to create screeching noises as it seemed to rally the last two I-Class destroyers into action while laying down cover fire.

The destroyers followed suit, the I-Class destroyers trying their best to propel themselves forward against the waves that were crashing against the shoreline, unhinging their jaws to fire at the Infiltration Fleet.

The Wo-Class was busy preparing her planes for combat, also possessing shoulder-length white hair with pale skin and was wearing a large, black pod atop her head, a freakish abomination of an accessory to wear.

It sat atop the Wo-Class's head, with its large deformed mouth and two 'eyes' that doubled as air vents to discharge exhaust. Two double barreled turrets were joined at its sides while several tentacles snaked down, extra appendages to protect its owner in a melee combat.

The humanoid Wo-Class herself had emerald-green eyes, with a collar that seemed to be the lower jaw of some unknown beast, with its pearl-white teeth and black gums.

A black cape shielded the back of the Wo-Class while she wore black leggings beneath her lean and pale torso, held up by a few pieces of armor.

Holding a black cane and wearing black high heels, the monochrome and stony-faced carrier wordlessly communicated with her top through a cable connected to the back of her neck, the pod's deformed mouth screeching open to summon black-and-white beak-shaped planes, each with an exhaust hole on its top and several turrets on its undercarriage.

They swooped down to bomb and fire at the ship girls, who dodged the payload with varying levels of success.

Some of the ship girls were hit by the Abyssal machine guns that were cycling through their gun barrels in rapid-fire mode, sustaining light damage in the process.

The ship girls decided to close the gap, gathering around the remaining Abyssal Fleet who were still putting up a fight as the ship girls tightened the noose around them.

As another Abyssal destroyer was sunk, the Wo-Class deduced that this wasn't a run-of-the-mill infiltration and an attempt to wipe the Abyssal patrol out, but a deliberate attempt to eliminate her security detail after luring her to the island and were trying to capture her for interrogation after seeing them all deliberately try not to hit her.

As she discarded her pod top to reduce weight for the eventual chase, a metallic tube was uncoupled from the nape of her neck to disconnect and discard the black pod.

The pod and the cable fell into the sea as she started to run towards the shore, the ship girls screaming to 'get that bitch before she goes full Nazi-cyanide-pill on us'.

They emptied their clips into the two remaining Abyssals, not even looking back as they discarded their boat slippers in a hurry and barreled down the beach after the clumsy Abyssal Wo-Class, who was too preoccupied with escaping to take off her high-heels, attempting to put some distance between them for the self-destruct sequence to activate.

Being a nocturnal ship girl, the active Sendai-class light cruiser was leading the chase and kicking up sand as she ran, but even running at her fastest with needle in hand to stop the self-destruct sequence upon injection, she was certain that she wasn't going to catch up to the Wo-Class, who had a pretty large lead despite the Abyssal stumbling several times and getting caught up in her fluttering cape, allowing them to close the gap considerably.

Finally, as a resounding gunshot pierced the air, the Abyssal was thrown forward, a wound opening as though struck on the left shoulder, falling face-first into the sand and dropping her cane.

Sendai was absolutely focused on her mission, reaching the fallen Abyssal, finding the nape of the neck atop her black cape with a hole for the cable of the black headdress to be inserted for mental transmission of signals, and stabbed the needle into a location on her neck.

Injecting the contents into the Abyssal, the Wo-Class shuddered, and then convulsed as the nanites began to affect her system, before her muscles finally loosened after a good 15 seconds.

Sendai removed the needle, and turned the Abyssal around to lie in a prone position, uncertain of both the effectiveness of the vial and her timing before she heard the weak Abyssal croak out in agony,

[…Wo…]

She smiled and looked up to see her arriving teammates, panting as the adrenaline of the battle and chase rushed through them, and were covered with specks of sand and blood on their uniforms due to the kicking up of sand and the Abyssal machine gun bullets hitting them and causing the latter.

Kagerou was holding her 12 cm Single Gun Cannon between her hands, with a smoking barrel that was pointed down at the paralyzed Abyssal, with a shit-eating grin on her face as she announced:

"It's just been revoked!"

* * *

Dragging the Wo-Class back into the island into the small cave wasn't the hard part, especially since there were six of them.

The important part was doing so in a way that wouldn't upset the injuries of the ship girls, who had certainly sustained casualties.

The second most important part was the tight schedule they were on, when you considered that they had likely sent out an SOS signal to the Abyssal home base, and reinforcements were on the way if that were the case, estimated to be about half an hour from now and likely half that time since they had discovered the secret Abyssal facility.

They came here to gather intelligence, not to do battle with an armada.

The Infiltration Fleet was busy dressing the wounds of those injured in the skirmish, including the injured Wo-Class that they captured.

They didn't want her bleeding out on them, after all.

The Wo-Class was regarding them with surprise, especially when she saw them dressing her gunshot wound.

She was silent the entire time, looking as though she was holding her tongue to avoid setting them off.

She didn't resist the cable ties that doubled as makeshift handcuffs on her wrists, the vial having taken effect and rendering her unable to fight back temporarily.

The silence also meant that she wouldn't give the ship girls any extra reason to make the ordeal worse for herself even though the Abyssal seemed as though she had already prepared herself for the worst.

Finally, Chitose had recovered enough to barely send out and oversee one recon plane as the bullet had hit her collarbone, and repairing the wound was the higher priority of the Fairies than reconnaissance.

Goya was patrolling the ocean, keeping out for the reinforcements that might approach the island from either the depths or the surface of the ocean, Goya's underwater scouting abilities watching out for the former as the refueled reconnaissance plane took care of the latter.

Kagerou had returned to the fallen Abyssals to reinforce the 'double tap' rule, and emptied another shell into them to make sure they were well and truly dead.

She single-handedly completed the required minimum to help the Fairies clean and prepare the ship girl sortieing equipment for them all to sail home safely.

Right now, she was patrolling the ocean surface for signs of the Abyssals and as a second pair of eyes.

The cave that they sat in was lighted up by some glow-sticks, carried in Sendai's pockets in preparation for the sortie.

They were sorted out and evenly spaced to maintain a certain level of luminosity in the near pitch-black cave, the glow-sticks glowing a sick green and casting eerie shadows as they prepared for the eventual interrogation.

Arare sat across the Abyssal, looking down at the laptop and pulling up the correct files for the interrogation, since there were a few things that happened around the world that was confirmed to be the work of the Abyssals.

Shiranui sat beside the Wo-Class, who was sitting further into the cave, Shiranui holding up her 12 cm Single Cannon pistol while Sendai completed the ship girl trio in the cave, wielding a rare Anti-Abyssal knife for them to protect themselves with should the need arise.

Sendai decided to get the ball rolling, as the clock was ticking.

She opened with,

"You understand us, don't you?"

The Wo-Class simply stared, before replying.

[Wo.]

Causing Shiranui to snap, and rammed the handle of her pistol into the Wo-Class's temple with vigor, the Abyssal falling to the ground.

She straddled the Wo-Class and pointed the barrel at the affected area, demanding with an intense stare that promised nothing but pain if the Abyssal refused to comply.

" _Don't mess with us._

We listened in on some of your communications, and you speak in various human tongues, wherever you're stationed at.

If you say 'Wo' again, this bullet is going into your skull."

Pointing the muzzle of the Cannon into the left eye of the supine Wo-Class, Shiranui continued.

"I know my shell can't penetrate your armored skin, but I don't think your eye possesses the same armor to protect it from my cannon.

So that means I can, and _will_ , pull the trigger to get you to talk.

 _Don't test my patience_."

The Wo-Class wasn't exactly injured from the blow, but she seemed to consider Shiranui's glare, Sendai's face palm, and Arare's blank look finally deciding to choose wisely and to open up communications by stating,

[…I understand.

And don't do such pointless things, little destroyer.

It'll do nothing but hurt yourself in the process.]

The enraged destroyer closed her eyes, counted to 10 to calm herself down out of habit and got off the hostage, pulling her up back to her original sitting position to resume their interrogation.

The Wo-Class decided to take her chances by asking,

[Why aren't you torturing me?

You even dressed my wound, and even though it made sense to ensure that I would not die in the middle of the interrogation, this seems to be a risky move, due to the fact that I could fight back.]

The three ship girls simply stared, Sendai was cringing with the mere thought of torture, Shiranui furrowed her eyebrows, and was looking as if she was trying and failing to decipher the words of the Abyssal.

Even Arare had an eyebrow raised in question.

Sendai tried to make sense of the previous statement, asking.

"I-Isn't that what you Abyssals do, experimentation, torture and the like?"

The Wo-Class shook her head, clarifying.

[No, we simply interrogate to obtain information, and stop when we are done.

Experimentation is only done when we need something tested, nothing more.

Torture is a clumsy and ineffective method of information gathering, we would rather have you work for us as prisoners-of-war with bomb collars to enforce compliance, or Abyssalization to turn you into one of us.]

The Wo-Class continued, the buzz of the recon plane still barely audible from outside the cave.

[We have studied up on your human masters, and it is known that they torture and violate the dignity of their fellow beings and us Abyssals outside of official duty as a means of self-gratification.

And you ship girls do so to us out of the concept of revenge, which is almost alien to us.

The corpses we recovered, and your combined history, were enough proof of your… _savagery._ ]

The Wo-Class delivered the last line with a hint of venom that leaked into her monotonous voice, her usually-impassive eyes narrowing and taking on a flinty look, clearly indicating the works of man and ship girls in the past.

Shiranui noticed her change of tone, and held her pistol closer to herself to warn the Abyssal not to try anything funny.

Sendai tried to cut in to clarify the situation, stating,

"B-But you know, there are rights that were given to us, to protect us from harm by them humans, you know?"

As the Abyssal shot back calmly,

[Yes, but that only protects you ship girls, no?

We Abyssals are not protected by the human Geneva Conventions, because, by definition, we _are not human._

Hence, we would rather kill ourselves before surrendering and being at your mercy.

And even humans do not stand by their Conventions all the time, so we saw no reason to hold back against any of you.]

Shiranui sighed, creased her eyebrows in anger and raised her weapon to point at the ship girl's head, cocking back the trigger and announcing,

"Look, I know that stuff happened, and that we did shit in the past that would get us court-martialled and scrapped by today's standards.

But I'd go ask you to cry yourself a river, build yourself a bridge and get over it.

We've suffered losses and abuse, too.

Now, we're not going to do anything bad to you, but don't think of our compassion as a weakness.

We're here for answers, and unless you want to suffer _before_ answering, I suggest you just tell us what we need to know, and we'll be on our way."

The Wo-Class regarded her with interest, answering,

[Very well.]

Shiranui simply stared, with her cocked gun still in hand, nonplussed.

Arare turned the laptop to face the Abyssal, the screen displaying digital photo on its screen, depicting a ruined island with cracked and upturned earth radiating from the epicenter of an unknown blast of sorts that resulted in a small crater being formed on the ground, web-like crevices formed by the detonation at ground zero.

The island was barren and devoid of life aside from a few flattened and uprooted trees in the next few photos, lying parallel to the ground and their leafless branches stretching towards the sea that surrounded the island, as through the plants themselves were attempting to reach out and crawl towards the sea, blown down by an immense shock wave that rocked the island at some point in time and blew off their leaves with a mighty huff.

Sendai narrated the situation to the captured Abyssal,

"A few months ago, Australian government surveillance detected one hell of a shock wave from this island off the Tasman sea, near the South-Western end of the Pacific Ocean, and a sound wave that resulted from it threw off their radar and wireless communications in the area for a good couple of hours.

The subs we sent there to investigate found no ignition source nor any charred earth, which meant that this wasn't a conventional explosives test.

What was it that you were testing here? Some sort of super-sonar and radio wave jammer of sorts?"

Sendai waved the torpedo that was in her hand around, to gesture to the Abyssal to answer.

And after a short while, the Wo-Class replied.

[My best guess is that this might be an acoustic weapon of sorts.

I have nothing more to comment on the matter.]

Holding her 'Thinker' pose, she nodded for Arare to move on to the next picture. Arare leaned forward and pressed the Right Arrow Button on the laptop, the next picture showing a blurred satellite shot that showed the bird's-eye view of an island on the left of the screen.

On the right was the same ocean, except the island had disappeared, the barest hints of a few rocks jutting out from the ocean, as though the island had been the focus of a Houdini-level disappearing trick.

Another explanation was that it had been wiped off the face of the earth.

Sendai explained the sight on the laptop.

"This was from 2 years ago.

At around 1050 hours, energy levels spiked around this particular island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

There was an insane security detail that surrounded the test site, like, 4 princesses and several dozen battleships at the time of this event.

What were you testing, some kind of bomb? Or…"

[Not a bomb, a gun.]

Another heavy silence filled the air as the Wo-Class deadpanned.

Everyone tried to wrap their head around the Wo-Class's statement, about an experimental island-destroying gun being developed by the Abyssals.

Even the Yamato-Class Cannon turrets, unofficially crowned the most powerful guns in the world, could only severely injure battleships and one-shot them if lady luck was smiling down on them.

Sendai had her eyes widened in shock and near disbelief of the words coming from the mouth of the Abyssal, if not for the all-too-real reality of the Abyssal's enigmatic means of achieving anything they set out to do.

Arare and Shiranui were starting to sweat, the latter looking as if she was calculating the odds of such an experimental weapon being completed ever since the test in the Pacific Ocean two years ago.

Shiranui narrowed her eyes in expertly-contained fury, and gestured with her gun, warning in a growl.

"Stop trying to stall for time.

How do you know that? For all you know, it could have been a fusion bomb, isn't that the more powerful version of an atomic bomb?"

Their hostage simply shook her head, adamant about her point as she tried to explain.

[No.

We already have nuclear bombs ready to be deployed.

We simply didn't see the need to, since we are still at an impasse in terms of progress in the war and we see that things are going in our favor.]

A shudder ran down their steel spines, as the three ship girls wondered what would happen if the Abyssals _had_ decided to use the nukes to wipe them out.

No more ship girls, no more civilization.

Sendai rubbed the bridge of her nose, wondering how to proceed with this new information, that they all reminded themselves, _was not entirely reliable._

Shiranui tried to remind herself that it could be a scare tactic, to try to intimidate them into submission.

Seeing how the Wo-Class seemed so nonchalant about their side possessing weapons of mass destruction, like.

' _Hey, for your info, we got a few nukes lying around, we're just didn't see the need to use them.'_

And seeing how they were holding her hostage and forcing her to tell the truth, the ship girls didn't find themselves doubting the information they heard, although the opposite could also be true and that she might simply be bullshitting them to buy time for the Abyssal backup fleet.

The Abyssal continued,

[There was quite the buzz about a few new classified weapons in the works, and there were talks about their true nature and potency.

But it is definitely not a bomb, as that wouldn't be worth our attention.]

Sendai held up her palm to signal the Abyssal to pause, looking wearier by the minute as she asked:

"If you all have nukes, why didn't you use them?

You can just shoot them at us and _boom,_ battle over. So why not? And how the fuck did you guys develop them?"

[We stole them from the American nuclear facilities near the East Coast, when we invaded America in a land invasion back in 2007 and improved upon their design.

And besides, we seek to conquer all ship girls and wipe out humanity, not simply reduce everything to radioactive rubble and leave everything as an unsalvageable mess.]

"So when you say 'conquer', you mean..."

[We want to capture all of you to turn you into us through the process you call 'Abyssalization'.

The humans do not deserve you.]

They had no response to that, wondering how true the adage was now, that they were indeed 'the last line of defense' against the saving of mankind and complete annihilation.

Arare clicked on the laptop to change the displayed picture, Shiranui taking the initiative this time and asked about what they had uncovered here in the abandoned facility.

"You Abyssals are hoarding a lot of resources to build something far larger than anything we've seen.

You building more Princesses?

And what's with the partial picture of that rudder and the 'Fl'?

Has it got something to do with the fact that you Abyssals haven't been developing anything new in the last five years?"

The Wo-Class blinked, trying to think about the myriad of questions as she finally decided on an answer.

[I believe that the creation of something large in the deepest sections of the ocean which is highly classified.

I have nothing to comment about the partial name reveal.

There have also been many rumors of a new Abyssal being created as per the next Five Year Plan.]

"A new Abyssal?"

Sendai was now very interested, and also very worried about this new revelation, but whatever the Abyssals have created, they clearly kept a tighter lid on this development program than they did about the Princesses, the Wo-Class not exactly confirming anything as she continued.

[Nothing concrete that our leaders would dare reveal to us, for fear of leaking information like we did the Princesses.

But thank you for showing me that this much resources are being used for something.

At least I now know that there might be some truth behind those rumors.]

Arare slammed the laptop closed, eyes narrowing as she finally commented on the Wo-Class's statements.

"No.

Whatever you throw at us, we'll learn to beat it, no matter what."

[The predicament you now find yourselves in does not support that claim.

We have far more resources, manpower, and all the time in the world to maintain our assault for decades to come.

These three factors will ensure your demise sooner or later.]

The Abyssal decided to get a little philosophical, in order to stall for time.

[Besides, even if you defeat us, so what?

The humans will eventually learn to fear your powers, your nigh-immortality outside of sorties, which are almost akin to godhood to them.

And fearing a possible insurrection, they will likely start a manhunt for you all to be put down by scrapping you all.]

"You say that as if it's already a foregone conclusion."

[And you sound as if you blindly believe it isn't.

And even if that wasn't true, even now, when a global threat exists to wipe them all from the face of this earth, there still exists terrorism, infighting, wars in less-developed countries, anti-war unions who protest.

We do listen in on your mass-media channels, you know.]

The Wo-Class's head leaned forward, casting a shadow over her face as she continued.

[They _will_ return to fighting each other in full force, as the cycle of violence that has been perpetuated throughout the course of human history cannot, and will never be stopped.

What happens then?

Would you fight and kill your current allies in the future, should they order you to?]

Shiranui pressed the muzzle of her pistol at the Wo-Class's head, seething as she whispered into her ear.

"Shut up.

Anything you say, it's just sophistry to make us doubt our cause, even if it makes sense.

Stop stalling."

The Abyssal, her head tilting due to the Cannon pistol pressed to her temple, didn't even look fazed as her unblinking and emotionless eyes looked into Arare's calculating pupils, stating her cause ominously, every word reverberating and echoing within the cave as she spoke.

[Know that I'm telling you this, not because I fear you, or your powerful fleets.

Not even the Cannon in the hands of the Kagerou-Class Destroyer, pointed at my head.

It is the simple fact that no matter what you ship girls do, no matter what I say, even if you gathered every ship girl from all four corners of the earth to fight us, you cannot ever hope to defeat us.

You can kill me, but you cannot kill _us._ ]

Her pupils darkened, causing the temperature to seemingly drop in the void of the cave, her voice lowering as she tilted her head ever-so-slightly forward as the glow sticks started to dim, casting a shadow over her face and barely hinting at the unfathomable forces at work deep down in the Abyss, where the light dared not reach.

[Here we were, paranoid that you ship girls were looking over our shoulders and that you may learn of our secret projects.

Yet here you are, asking a mere carrier these questions and clinging to every word I say, which proves that you don't even know half as much as I do.

And my sources were from what you humans would call 'through the grapevine', which makes things even worse.

Despite all your databases, your knowledge of our ecology, our weapons, our tactics _,_ you _really_ don't know anything about us, _do you?_ ]

Nobody had anything to reply to that, being too shocked by the hard truth that the Abyssal dropped on them, of their ignorance, and their inability to prepare or even _understand_ what was to come.

Finally, with the mental beeping of the timer that rang in Sendai's head to remind her of their new escape schedule, she snapped out of her trance and stood up to pack up everything for the escape as her hand hovered over the Anti-Abyssal knife strapped to her thigh, gesturing to the chilling Abyssal and shakily remarking,

"W-Well, you tell your boss, whoever it is, that we're coming for them.

We may not know everything now, but we will learn of them and we will win with superior tactics, like we always have."

Only to earn the petrifying and unyielding stare of the Abyssal, and Sendai eventually turned away in distress as the trio attempted to gather up their equipment in the cave to begin the long trek home, their thoughts whirling as they tried to decipher the warning made by the Abyssal and everything that had transpired thus far.

A slight mumble escaped the Abyssal's lips, the sound caught by the sharp light cruiser, who whirled around to address the hostage that they were going to let her go, and that she could signal for the Abyssal fleet from the shore with the glow-sticks if she tried.

Only to find the Wo-Class standing before her, her empty green eyes piercing through Sendai's horrified expression, the shadows in the cave cloaking her and her eyes almost luminescent in the quasi-darkness.

The cable ties lay on the floor, broken with sheer force.

The terrified Sendai whipped out her Anti-Abyssal knife, only for the Abyssal's hand to shoot out from beside her body to intercept her weapon with equally blinding speed as the two destroyers quick-drew their Cannon pistols to form a stand-off to deter the frozen Abyssal.

However, the Wo-Class only seemed interested in getting through her final speech to the three wary ship girls, as the darkness of the cave's interior seemed to seep into and blanket the Abyssal through the cape draped around her back, along with her jet black cape and pale head making her seem like a living Reaper.

[As a human once said, _'If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.'_

Rejoice in ignorance of your enemies and people, for death is upon you all.]

She dropped her hand to passively observe the ship girls packing up and exiting the cave without glancing back as they tried to escape the incoming Abyssal Fleet that were bound to appear soon.

She simply stared from the beach as she observed the ship girls hurriedly gathered their equipment and sailed away, their minds trying and failing to comprehend the sheer scale of things to come.


	8. Chapter 8 - Beautiful Minds

The 1st Fleet was at the canteen, Shigure chatting with a few of the naval base's ship girls, a little overwhelmed from the attention that she was receiving for no reason whatsoever as she ate her breakfast which consisted of a boiled egg to be eaten with her rice, some sushi and green beans to go along with their miso soup.

Naka and Jintsuu introduced themselves to Shigure, being the two sister ships to Sendai who was currently out on a sortie with the Infiltration Fleet, the last time anyone checked.

Naka was wearing the same orange, white and black dress that was standard of the Sendai-Class light cruisers, along with the two black shoulder gloves also worn by the three sisters.

She had two _ahoge_ sticking out of her crown, and with two buns at the rear sides of her head with hair strands hanging down her head. She was cheery and seemed never to lose her smile, and the air seemed to brighten up around her as she introduced herself as the Base's idol,

"Naka-chan Dayo!"

Shigure was told that she was the Base Idol, and that meant a big concert was held every two months for the whole base to attend free of charge, and was an integral member of keeping the Fleet morale up through her upbeat and inspirational, yet meaningful songs.

She was also in line for a Kai Ni upgrade, having had an excellent service record in the past along with Mutsuki, who was also Kai and was preparing for a Kai Ni.

Although she introduced herself in an upbeat voice while softly shaking Shigure's hand, the destroyer concluded from their momentary exchange that while Naka held herself with confidence, it never went so overboard as to seem prideful, or even arrogant.

From the way she cheered the members of the 1st Fleet on and seemed genuinely interested in Shigure's experience so far in the base, she didn't seem to keep up any facade of sorts or hiding any deep-seated psychological issues.

She was just extremely enthusiastic about helping others out in any way possible, not just because she was an idol, but because she was genuinely a compassionate ship girl, who truly cared for her comrades.

Jintsuu was the opposite of her sisters, although no less compassionate and kind despite being quiet, concerned and supportive towards her sisters as she completed the Sendai-Class light cruiser trio.

The difference between her and her two sisters was that although she was also established to be a serious contender for Kai Ni, she was humble enough to admit that she was quite under-leveled and wasn't quite ready to receive it compared to her sister and thus supported her idol sister in her endeavor to attain Kai Ni.

Along with her orange-black dress and with her black long gloves, she had brown hair like her sisters that reached down to her waist, and the hair on her forehead was swooped down on both sides of her temple and twirled up at the ends, along with a green bow that held her hair up from the back of her head.

Ayanami was quick to let Shigure know that despite Jintsuu's polite demeanor, she was a closet drill sergeant, being more effective than Tone despite also being tougher as an instructor.

Her 'drill sergeant from hell' persona was so feared that she was approached by few ship girls for training, despite the effectiveness of her training.

One of the ship girls who was previously under her tutelage, Maya, was instantly silenced upon being asked about Jintsuu, and only had a thousand-yard stare in response to her question, along with breaking out in a cold sweat and quiet mumbling like she had a PTSD-flashback.

It would have almost been funny, if Jintsuu wasn't standing right behind them, smiling innocently.

Some of the other ship girls under her guidance had gone on to achieve greatness, like Hatsuharu, Kawakaze, and Kiso, who had all gone on to achieve Kai Ni at the expense of refusing to talk about their time with the kindhearted light cruiser's training methods, which weren't abusive, simply grueling.

Shigure also kept a mental note about another one of her sisters being on the base, wanting to meet her sooner or later if possible.

However, Shigure noticed Furutaka moping at the side, entertaining whomever tried to make conversation with her, but when she left the table to retrieve a tray to put together another plate of freshly cooked food, no one stopped her or interrupted her small routine, seemingly used to it by now.

She was sitting with a ship girl who possessed grey-pink hair that was tied up in a side ponytail, and she had green eyes looking downwards at her breakfast.

Kinugasa donned a white uniform with a blue dress and sailor collar while a yellow necktie was reaching down her chest, a belt to hold up said dress while two thin black stripes ran down her unblemished white uniform top, finishing the uniform with brown thigh-highs and a pair of slippers in lieu of shoes.

Along with Furutaka, they both gathered to talk about something as they queued for food while everyone gave them a wide berth to respect their privacy.

When Shigure asked Ayanami about what was up with Furutaka and Kinugasa, Ayanami's face drooped in response to the question, Shigure already mentally preparing herself for the response that was to come with a depressed expression.

"She's taking the dinner tray to Aoba, who's holed up in her copper-shielded room."

Shigure's eyebrow was raised at that last remark, as Ayanami explained.

"Aoba's got a…condition, where she can detect a lot of radio waves in the area around her.

And in order for the information overload to not drive her insane, she needs to stay in her copper shielded room to block out the radio waves.

It's rather sad, really, when you consider what she was like before."

Shigure couldn't help but wince at that.

She didn't know how Aoba, the heavy cruiser that had survived several close encounters with the Grim Reaper in World War 2, had to be grounded and was even living like a recluse.

Ayanami noted Shigure's discomfort, and consoled her with her standard 'name ship elder sister' voice.

"W-Well, if you wish to find out, you should ask Furutaka, or Kinugasa and even Aoba herself to find out what really happened.

I can at least say that no one fully understands the situation more clearly than those three.

You can ask them, and I believe they'll try their best to fill you in with unbiased information to the best of their ability."

Shigure thought about it for a second, before noticing the Furutaka and Aoba-Class heavy cruiser duo approaching her, waving meekly to her in advance so as not to scare her off. Furutaka opened up the conversation, asking if Shigure would mind following them to Aoba's room.

When Shigure inquired as to why Aoba would want to meet her, the heavy cruiser duo looked away shiftily, unable to come up with a reason as to why their sister would want to meet the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer. Kinugasa finally took her chance to introduce herself, and to explain their predicament.

"Um, I'm Kinugasa, and I'm Aoba's sister ship.

The thing is that, our sister's changed a lot ever since something happened to her, so we can't really understand anything she does anymore.

But she wants to meet you, and we'd like you to fulfill that wish of hers and be someone whom she can talk to."

Furutaka looked down at the dinner tray, and her face couldn't get any more depressed as she had Aoba's best interest in mind, and clearly Aoba wasn't in the best of conditions if she could inadvertently make her sisters this depressed just by worrying about her.

Shigure sighed, resigning to her fate and picking up her tray to put it in the sink as she exited the canteen with the heavy cruiser duo, her curiosity now piqued and interested in what the Aoba-Class heavy cruiser was like.

* * *

Shigure looked up to the label on the door, titled ' **青葉** ' as Kinugasa was knocking on the door, Furutaka behind her with the dinner tray, dinner still piping hot.

All three of the ship girls were waiting in trepidation, two of them waiting for any indication of rejection that Aoba might shoot them down with.

Shigure had gotten some backstory on the name ship of the Aoba-Class heavy cruiser, and what she had done to get herself in this situation.

It was a long time ago, it was a few weeks after Yuubari had sunk when Aoba was tasked with going through and sorting out her unfinished plans and files, and was sifting through her drawn blueprints to see if anything was of worth, or could be put to good use.

From what Furutaka and Kinugasa could coax out of Aoba, apparently, she found the plans, and even rudimentary blueprints for some sort of machine that could install a mental module in their minds allow a ship girl to detect radio waves around them.

This could potentially make for a division of ship girls with powerful mental capabilities that could lay the foundations for a far more efficient and powerful communication system.

She'd stolen the blueprints, and being a competent engineer due to having spent some time interviewing engineers and intently studying up on the topic to better understand the subject, modified the design to fulfill her own goals, which Aoba had never revealed to them.

Whatever her intentions were, it landed her in the Ship Girl Institute of Mental Health, in a padded cell wearing a straitjacket.

When Shigure blanched at the mention of a straitjacket, Kinugasa tried to explain that ship girls were treated with the utmost of respect and care when it came to rehabilitation, with their well-being in mind.

But anything stronger than a light cruiser was strong enough to cause significant harm to ship girls or orderlies.

So, in order to pacify ship girls suffering from mania due to overwhelming stress, traumatic events or were being affected by something that would impair their judgement, isolated and put under intense medical observation.

And to prevent them from harming anyone or themselves, they sadly had to resort to medical rubber straps for destroyers and light cruisers to strap them to medical gurneys and beds.

Straitjackets were used to restrain ship girls who were heavy cruisers and above to stop them from hurting anyone, including themselves, before medical staff could step in to find out what was wrong with the ship girl in question and establish whether it was safe to remove the restraints to start treatment.

The restraints were created to be as comfortable as possible without compromising their ability to effectively immobilize the ship girl, Shigure having heard everything from Akashi, but was almost unable to believe that anyone could be so damaged to require such extreme measures to restrain in such a day and age.

It wasn't the best of solutions, but it was the most practical one, although Kinugasa was also quick to point out that Admirals could be reported for overuse, or misuse of the restraints as a means of punishment.

Kinugasa had an example in mind, asking how they were going to stop Hiei if she ever lost control and went berserk, and was _a freaking battleship_.

Shigure shuddered at the mere thought of even _trying_ to stop her powerful teammate without being reduced to a smear on the wall, and solemnly conceded the point.

Aoba had spent an entire week screaming herself hoarse and crying herself dry, begging everyone to 'get the fucking voices to stop'.

She attempted to bash her head against the wall of the padded cell, only to be stopped by the medical staff on the 24/7 watch, and failed to get any sleep, which further exacerbated her situation with paranoia, fatigue and hallucinations.

After several mental evaluations and neural scans, they discovered that she was receiving the radio waves from not just from the television channels that were being sent to the televisions in the hospital, but also from every computer, phone, radio and WiFi in the city that filled the sky with radio waves and entered her mind, and she couldn't control her ability to filter out the signals.

So they constructed a padded cell with copper walls that served as a shield of sorts to block out electromagnetic waves, after which Aoba finally got a good sleep as the radio waves that plagued her mind were blocked out.

After a few months of rehabilitation, Akashi brought back a twitchy Aoba from the hospital, along with prescribed medication specifically made to help desensitize her radio-receiving capabilities and a copper helmet to shield her mind, effectively making her barely qualified to sortie without them.

Being labelled as a special case and Akashi being quite close to her as a caregiver and a friend, her single room was renovated and every panel of the wall was lined with copper to shield her from radio waves in the environment.

She had slowly requested Kinugasa for a landline, and had slowly moved on from pen and paper to a typewriter, and finally had established a relationship with her sisters, where she'd request them to do something or get her something, although they had never been invited into Aoba's room.

Furutaka and Kinugasa had been relocated to another room, right opposite Aoba's room. This relationship had been going on for six months, and they had been increasingly worried about their sister's mental well-being and her change of character.

But they respected Aoba's privacy, and decided to comply with her sister's wishes and simply provide her with her three meals, which Aoba thankfully ate regularly, took our her trash and did her laundry.

The response behind the door came after a while, a quiet voice that had likely once sounded sweet, fast and energetic but had slowed down considerably, and had transformed into a bitter and lethargic tone due to unfathomable events happening to her, contrasting with her default high-pitched voice that moaned out.

"Whhhaaaattt…"

Furutaka responded with a false, cheery voice that announced that she had brought Aoba's dinner, to which the ship girl on the other side of the door mumbled,

"Leave it at the door. Thanks."

Furutaka looked down, instantly dropping her smile like a dead weight, slouching down and kneeling to put the tray on the floor, turning away to shamble away with Kinugasa behind her before she turned back to address Shigure.

"Ahh, Shigure-san, just wait outside the door.

Aoba will be with you shortly."

Shigure was left standing outside Aoba's door, and was slowly inching away in dread, already afraid of the possible jump scare that would pop out of the door at any moment.

She wasn't exactly sure how a quasi-schizophrenic ship girl would react to her presence, having forcibly altered her perception of the world and wasn't the most mentally sound ship girl on the base.

Not that she was one to talk, remembering the fact that Akashi had highlighted her for counselling.

Eventually, she was greeted by a quiet voice from the opposite end of the door, requesting politely.

"Um…Shigure-chan, are you still there?

If you are, can you please bring in my dinner?

I won't bite, and I'll open the door slowly."

Shigure could only stand there, wondering what was the next best course of action.

On the one hand, she could just walk away and wash her hands of this matter.

But, despite the sour and pessimistic tone plaguing the voice that came from the other side of the door, she could clearly detect loneliness and maybe even a hint of desperation in her voice.

She finally sighed, kneeling down to pick up the dinner tray that had a miso soup bowl, with small pieces of seaweed and tofu sprinkled in it.

There was a bowl of rice along with 6 pieces of sushi on a plate with various ingredients wrapped in them, and Shigure could see several of them with tuna, cucumber, and eggs amongst other ingredients.

A small piece of steamed salmon was served on a plate with a small dish of soy sauce beside it to dip the salmon in. A pair of chopsticks and a spoon was also provided by Furutaka.

Shigure announced in a resigned voice,

"I'm here.

Please open the door, Aoba-san."

As small clicks and scratches sounded down the door, Shigure tilting her head in surprise at the number of locks the heavy cruiser had in place as redundancies to protect herself against the world.

The door noiselessly swung open, swinging into the room and barely revealing anything amidst the darkness plaguing the interior of the room.

The hinges were clearly oiled, thought Shigure, but why would anyone to do that for a ship girl that could barely socialize, and likely couldn't go outside for extended periods of time due to her condition.

A ship girl who was around the age of a young adult peeked out, her grayish-pink hair tied up in a ponytail, although that did nothing to hide the fact that her hair strands were split and her hair was as messy as a mop.

Her blue eyes were dulled and tired like Akashi, and her crumpled blue and white sailor school uniform seemed to be hurriedly straightened out to at least make herself presentable to meet Shigure.

Her thigh-highs were torn, but despite them being riddled with holes, they were still worn and rode up her legs while exposing patches of skin.

The rims of her eyes also had the signs of insomnia and stress, bloodshot eyes with red rims along with slight eye bags plaguing her lower eyelids.

She was looking down the corridor with a shifty look, as if looking out for anyone who was spying on her, and after looking relieved at the lack of people in the corridor, she quickly pulled Shigure into her room by the forearm, and it was by some miracle that Shigure didn't accidentally spill or drop the dinner tray she held in her hand as she was pulled in.

Aoba slammed the door closed and locked the door in a quick routine, pushing in the sliding lock, twisting the door lock closed, and slid in the chain locks to ensure that the door was secure.

As Shigure stood in the center of the room in a daze, her eyes adjusted to take in more light in the dim environment, and while she wasn't exactly scared of the heavy cruiser, she was now getting more and more worried about the heavy cruiser's mental health.

The room was filled with a yellowish tint due to the incandescent LED light on the ceiling. The room wasn't very large, being about the size of a standard prison cell or a small hotel room, about 2 meters by 3 meters in terms of area (or about 6.5 by 10 feet).

She was standing in a corridor with a closed door to the right that led to a bathroom. The end of the short corridor led to the room itself, and the fold-down bed that lay at the right of the room was unmade as the blanket, pillow and bolster were all lying in a heap on the bed next to the wall.

On the table to the left of the room and right in front of Shigure, there was a typewriter, relatively ancient in terms of technology but supposedly the best equipment for a girl like Aoba to write effectively, a slower method being the pen and paper.

The table was surrounded by research papers and a half finished cup of coffee that was still steaming, and had a laptop to the extreme end of the corner of the table, barely covered by a copper-shielded serving tray cover with a ground line connected to one of the jacks.

Her discarded uniforms laid were strewn all around the room with crumpled waste paper littering the floor due to the fact that her wastepaper basket hadn't been thrown out recently.

There were several vents in the roof of the ceiling for ventilation, along with drawn window curtains at the extreme end of the room and an air conditioner that was currently turned on for ventilation.

Shigure wouldn't have minded the room so much if it weren't the wall of crazy plans on one wall, and the scribbling on the other wall next to the desk.

Above Aoba's fold-down bed was a map of the world, along with stapled-on enlarged maps of Japan on the left and America on the right.

Red threads crisscrossed the maps and pictures hung down from the threads. Some of them were ship girls that were crossed out, and Shigure could see her face on one of them.

Others were photos of scenes that were likely taken by a camera, beautiful locations that looked too picturesque to simply be ripped off the internet, remembering the fact that Aoba was once a reporter and had likely been to a few places to capture these breathtaking images.

Newspaper clippings and scribbled down notes hung from the strings, and erasable marker writings were all over the map, arrows pointing to several specific locations with a note jotted down.

Small pieces of paper were tied to the edges of the map, with numbers and coordinates, along with timings written down in rows.

Everything was held together by what was likely color-coded thumbtacks, and formed a complex spider-web that spanned the entire wall in her room and connected the proverbial dots in Aoba's mind.

The amount of inane scribblings above the typewriter wasn't exactly a better indication of Aoba's mental health as they were rambling scribbles, Shigure finally deciphering some of them after staring at them for a while, some of them being.

'ThEy're LisTEniNg IN.'

'HElpme'

'tRUstNo oNe'

'WhYwhYWWHyWhY'

'BReAkFasTTT'

'OhGOdshUT ThE FUCK uP'

'91838skn1wu567u12843n4….'

Needless to say, Shigure was more than a little creeped out by the heavy cruiser's room, but she swallowed despite the uncomfortable lump building up in her throat and set the tray down on the table as she looked to Aoba for permission to sit on the solitary foldable chair, to which Aoba nodded.

Shigure sat down and made herself comfortable on the chair in between the table and the bed.

Aoba took up the tray and plopped down on the bed as she set the tray down on her lap, using the utensils to start eating the food on the tray that Furutaka brought to her.

Shigure looked over the papers on the table, noting several lines regarding the happenings of the fleet, including a comprehensive description of the last few sorties, along with a list of Shigure's fleet members and all sorts of numbers concerning her fleet.

Others were about findings and events of other Bases, like how Harusame from another base had sunk because of several events prior, and had encountered an opponent stronger than they had predicted due to the Abyssals utilizing the element of surprise to take her down before she could even respond.

Shigure had to force herself to look to look away, telling herself that events that occurred outside the confines of her base was beyond her area of influence, and that this was war, where everyone, even her sisters ships, sank all the time.

That didn't mean that didn't want to cry her heart out over it.

The final paper she looked at was a paper with mathematical equations trying to work out some sort of answer to a question that was never written down, Shigure guessing that the numbers came from the readings on the map, or probably from some numbers Aoba had literally pulled out from the sky with her condition.

Aoba piped up, asking,

"You're Shigure, a ship girl from the Shiratsuyu-Class of destroyers, right?

I'm Aoba, name ship of the Aoba-Class heavy cruisers.

How do you do?"

Followed with a slight bow in her seated position.

Shigure shot up from the chair to attempt to bow to her senior, but Aoba raised her chopsticks to motion for her to sit, her wan expression gently smiling up at her.

"No need to be so formal.

I've never talked much to anyone besides my sisters ever since I came back, so I'm not one for formalities in conversations.

You must have some questions about my condition, right?

You're new here, so it'd have taken you a while to hear about me."

Shigure wondered how to proceed with the conversation, still hesitant with outright asking her some questions for fear of accidentally committing a faux pas with an insensitive question.

She didn't want to say this, but after hearing how Aoba behaved during her first few days in the mental institute, she would be lying if she said she would trust Aoba 100% with her life on the line.

Not that she had anything against her, mind you, just self-preservation instincts holding her back from truly opening up to the heavy cruiser, who was now eating her meal heartily.

Aoba seemed to understand her dilemma and pointed to the laptop at the edge of the table and near the walls, and motioned for Shigure to open the laptop.

Upon removing the tray cover, Shigure flipped the laptop open, and the monitor lit up her face,passively asking her for a password. Shigure looked back to the heavy cruiser, who was now dipping a sushi into the soy sauce.

She looked up from her food, and upon seeing Shigure's puzzled expression, Aoba replied.

"A03A right now. Don't worry, I randomize it quite often, so that no one can ever access its contents."

Turning back to the laptop and entering the password, Shigure was greeted by the wallpaper of a mountainside. The shot was excellent, the sun peeking over the mountain and casting a shadow over the whole area.

However, the picture took advantage of that, and being taken from a low point, the orange hue of the mountain outline contrasted with the shadow of the mountain that faced the photographer.

The mountain was surrounded by clouds in the sky, seeming to be lit up by the setting, or rising sun from within and causing an incandescent glow, almost forming a halo over the meditative mountain.

Coupled with the minute details of a few rays of light piercing through the clouds, and the small forest that covered the mountain and the small town that lined the edges of the picture, it made for a brilliant wallpaper.

Aoba looked up from her lunch, her mouth full as she instructed,

"Open up the folder called 'Zenchi', and watch the videos in sequential order."

The folder titled ' **全知** ', or 'Zenchi', translated into 'Omniscience', and Shigure wasn't exactly sure what to expect when she opened up the first video.

The video player opened up to play the first video in a well-lit room where stacks of paper filled the background, and Aoba was alone in the room, adjusting the video camera to whisper conspiratorially into the screen.

Her face was brighter, and she hadn't developed the bloodshot eyes and eye bags, and regarded everything with enthusiasm, especially her new discovery.

In other words, right then in the video, she was still the 'Intrepid Reporter Aoba-san'.

"Ok, guys, I was sorting through the blueprints, and I just found this one blueprint right here."

The camera blurred, and after re-positioning herself, the screen focused on a blueprint in Yuubari's room.

"Ok, look.

This blueprint was part of the plans for a machine you wear on your head, like Professor X wearing Cerebro,"

The camera zoomed to the part of a blueprint detailing a design for a helmet of sorts, along with several wires hanging from it. Small typed-out notes and dimensions were on the paper, and the title of the blueprint was simply ' **全知** '.

"And as Yuubari, bless her soul, explained in her notes, this will pave the way for powerful ship girls, and have sick mental powers."

The camera turned back to the reporter, her bright blue eyes staring into the camera, eyes oblivious to the inherent dangers of the idea that she put forth and simply twinkling in anticipation.

"Like, what we have, now, our communication system, is capable of receiving radio signals that bounce off of satellites in space to detect orders from our bases.

But the purpose of this machine is to allow a ship girl to detect every radio signal in the area, and if we coordinate teams of ship girls who possessed these abilities, we can better coordinate our efforts to fight back better."

The camera shifted back to display the bright face of Aoba, who looked into the screen and explained.

"Look, I think that this can be used to receive news channels updates and phone calls without even having to check in all the time, and this ability can be toggled on or off and even fine-tuned to detect certain radio signals.

This way, I can keep up with everything around me, and maybe even listen in on emails and conversations to get a better insight on things."

Aoba seemed to try to justify her intentions to the camera, a slight gleam in her eyes as she continued.

"I want to try building this, which I _could_ , due to some dabbling in engineering, but not just for myself.

Maybe, if we teach ourselves to decipher encrypted signals out on the field, we may even be able to learn of the Abyssals' plans if we try hard enough.

But I don't want to be suspended for testing this out on another ship girl, and I'd never be able to live with myself if someone was hurt because of this.

So, if I'm actually going to make this, I'm very likely going to test it on myself.

I'll likely update this story at a later date, but for now, this is the Intrepid Reporter, Aoba-chan, signing out."

The video ended right there, and Shigure clicked on the second video, and after three seconds of loading, the video played.

Aoba was alone in this very room with the same tint that was the result of the light fixture, except that the said room wasn't anywhere as messy, or as defaced as it was right now.

Instead, the room was had cables and metal pieces were cluttering up the room. A stack of thick books were balanced atop each other, the entire assembly sitting on a medium-sized data server connected to a laptop on the floor.

The whole set, which consisted of books atop a server was pushed over to the corner of the room, the thick book on top of the stack opened up and flipped to a particular page.

A metal dentist chair, situated around where Shigure was sitting right now, had metal cables dangling from it and snaking across the floor. Aoba wore her signature school uniform, albeit with plastic gloves and boots to protect herself against possible electrocution.

If she looked closely enough, she could see blowtorches, a small fire extinguisher hidden behind the chair, and something closely resembling a skeleton of the helmet depicted in the blueprints.

Aoba looked at the camera, away from the book she was looking at and set it at the frame of the fold-down bed. Aoba sat on the bed, and narrated while facing the camera.

"Ok, two and a half weeks ago, I got permission to live in a separate room from my sisters.

I told them I needed the space and privacy to write my stories, and they obliged.

Before that happened, I was gathering the equipment to build this machine. This,"

Aoba reached down to pick up the helmet, showing it off to the camera on the bed.

The metal plate to the side had the Kanji ' **全知** ', and wires were exposed from within, a few dozen small sensors surrounding the interior of the helmet, likely to read the brain waves of the wearer.

Aoba seemed to regard it in awe, continuing her narration.

"Ok, as you can see, these sensors are implemented to help upload the module into my brain, and also to read the signals in my mind.

Of course, our physiology and neurology differs quite a bit from humans, and I've been consulting engineering books and Yuubari's papers to create a prototype. So, the first thing to test out is whether the helmet can actually read the signals in my ship girl brain and access what's inside.

The program has to be manually written, but Yuubari had thankfully already started on it before her untimely demise.

So I just have to finish what she started, store it in the machine, and upload it into my mind when I finish building the helmet and hook it up to the server."

Aoba's eyes gleamed as she continued.

"Now, if this works, I can proceed to gain access the inner workings of my mind and learn how to install various modules without the risk of possible rejection or failure.

Now, not all this is legal, some of this information I hacked and stole, some I asked Akashi and the Admiral for help, since it's been quite well-researched upon while being as non-invasive as possible.

I'll upload some fail safes to ensure that I _don't_ die, and implement what's basically a hack to ultra-enhance my ship girl radio wave-receiving functions while the fail safes kick in."

Aoba put down the helmet, and her eyes dulled a little to regard the viewer with serious eyes, her voice and expression taking on a more somber tone.

"Ok, I know that you're likely shouting at me,

'Aoba, this is a bad idea! Don't you know that these ideas never turn out well, especially then you're messing with your own mind?'

Well, I think, right now, I'm still trying to explain this in a way that would get my point across.

But right now, I still need to work on this helmet's program, and I don't feel like it's the right time to reveal it.

This is Aoba-chan, signing out."

Shigure wondered what Aoba's true intentions were, but saw the current state of the heavy cruiser behind her, who was invested in eating salmon along with her rice, and decided to move on to part 3.

The dentist chair was in the center of the room, facing forwards and away from the curtains while and the data server was situated behind the chair, in between the back rest and the covered window.

Aoba had clearly cleaned up the room, the books cleared away and the tools arranged on the table, along with a dozen cups of coffee and cans of Red Bull _each_ on the crowded table.

The heavy cruiser in question _still_ had on the same uniform, although now there were now discarded uniforms strewn across the bed in a pile, over her pillow and bolster.

The lighting was dimmed considerably, casting a slight darkness over the room that blanketed the heavy cruiser who was in front of the camera.

Aoba set down the camera on the table, moving herself back to sit on the dentist chair that was propped up, looking dejected as though the weight of such an endeavor had weighed down on her over the weeks.

The Aoba in the video was starting to look more like the current Aoba, having (admittedly less prominent) eye bags under her eyes.

As Aoba plopped down onto the dentist chair, Shigure noticed straps installed on the handles of the dentist chair, illuminated by the camera's flash set to 'ON'.

Aoba took a deep a deep breath, and started her monologue.

"Ok, I think, now that I'm close to a breakthrough on this project, I think it's safe to try to leave a will, or at least a final message of sorts."

Her face was drained of energy, her expression blank, and didn't hesitate to state the truth about her mortality when she said,

"I'm not that stupid to think the odds are with me on this one."

She looked down, scratching her now-oily hair, as she continued.

"Especially when I found out I had to tap into the whole base's electricity supply to run the machine effectively, because this machine right now isn't exactly efficient, and is quite the electricity guzzler."

Shigure didn't like the sound of that, wondering how Aoba survived the lethal current that could have easily fried her central processing unit and memory drives, amongst many delicate mental and physical faculties.

"Look, I did this, it wasn't entirely for the story. I just wanted to get stronger, you know?

I mean, as of the moment of this recording, I don't have a Kai Ni, while everyone has one.

And they all can aspire for something greater, and I'm happy for them but…"

She looked back at the camera, seemingly passionate about her revelation.

"I mean, the Myoukou Sisters all have Kai Ni, Furutaka, Kako, even though Kako's not in this base, they _both_ have Kai Ni, as do Maya and Choukai.

 _Fuck, even my sister has KAI NI!"_

Aoba caught herself mid-rant, dejectedly putting her face into her palm, as she rubbed her face.

Sighing, she continued.

"Don't worry, this isn't going to be a rant video.

I just want to say that everyone has something they can strive for, to achieve something greater, while I'm stuck here with Kai.

Not that I'm mad at them. No, I'm happy for them. But it's me, I'm just…"

Aoba clawed with her free arm that wasn't resting on her thigh, as she made a face before exhaling in resignation and quietly completed the sentence.

"…I'm just weak."

Looking back at the camera, Aoba had on a look of a girl who was pushed to the limit by her limits.

But she wasn't going to give up, oh no.

She was the Intrepid Reporter Aoba-chan, after all.

"So, just to sum up, I'm not exactly in this for the story.

Not anymore. I did some soul-searching yesterday, and I found that, maybe I'm doing this to try to catch up with my sister ships.

Maybe I'm just tired of knowing that I have limits, and am going to do whatever it takes to exceed them.

Hey, I mean, we got our second chance, having been reincarnated in human bodies and can push the limits of what's possible.

After all,"

Aoba smirked, finally regaining some of the fire in her eyes and thirst for adventure in the previous videos.

"I'm not the Myoukou Sisters, nor am I Furutaka or even Kinugasa.

I'm the Intrepid Reporter Aoba-chan.

I play with the hand I'm dealt with in life, and rather than just being content with who I am, I'm going to keep improving myself and keep up with my sisters no matter what.

And also, what sort of reporter am I if I don't take a few risks to get the best stories?

This is Aoba, signing out."

The end to this video had Shigure hurriedly clicking on the final video, not realizing that Aoba was drinking her miso soup behind her and observing the destroyer's reactions.

Aoba was looking over her shoulder in the video, approaching her room and unlocking her door to let herself in.

She was looking quite panicked, having seen something at the end of the corridor, which Shigure squinted her eyes and made out the silhouette of a few ship girls looking around the corner at her.

Aoba slammed the door behind her, locking the three locks on her door and rushing over to her laptop and booting it up.

She commentated on the situation at hand, her voice fast due to her panic.

"Ok, I think that several ship girls have been on my tail, especially Akashi, Kinugasa and Nagato.

Shit, even the Admiral's noticed my prolonged absences and the missing items from the naval base inventory.

And for now, I've got them off my tail by explaining that I'm writing a sensitive story, but I don't know how much longer I can keep this a secret. So, right now, I'm going to do it."

The exposition was narrated as she set the camera on the head of the bed, and got to work by pulling switches, pressing buttons, and even connected crocodile clips to the transformer atop a car battery that Shigure was pretty certain wasn't in any of her prior videos.

As her preparations went on, she continued in a fever pitch, partially from the adrenaline and from the excitement and fright before performing a potentially fatal experiment.

"Alright, preparations are go, and all that's left is to strap myself in to prevent myself from chickening out halfway, taking off the helmet halfway and possibly killing myself, unless I don't die from electrocution first."

Aoba stopped dead her preparations and regarded the camera with a look that reeked of a desperate ship girl, who wanted nothing more to become stronger, eventually shaking her head, looking down at the equipment in her hand and commenting.

"Ok, I really couldn't care at this point. Not after all this struggling, all this building, all this _fucking_ secrecy and pressure."

She seemed ready to put on the helmet that was connected via wires to the data bank, but she remembered something as she put down the helmet and strafed over to the camera to pick it up and narrate to the audience.

"Ok, in case I hadn't made it clear, Furutaka, Kinugasa, everyone who's watching this.

I love you all.

And Admiral and Nagato, in case you're screaming yourselves hoarse at my stupidity in these few videos, know that I wanted nothing more than to become stronger like my sister ships."

Aoba's eyes were tearing up, as she smiled up at the camera, narrating what could be her final words into the camera.

"Furutaka, Kinugasa, know that I did all this on my own volition, and that I simply wanted to get stronger through my own means.

If that gets me killed, well, maybe, I wasn't meant to stand on the same stage that you two will no doubt one day find yourselves on.

I love you all."

She leaned in with her lips for a quick peck on the lens, before wiping the lens of any vapor or saliva and setting the camera back down on the head of the bed.

She darted over to the dentist chair to put on her helmet, which exuded an electric blue glow due to the LED lights inside, likely reprogrammed to light up in a blue glow if there were no problems.

Since she announced 'All Systems Go', the helmet was aglow with soft blue lights.

Several wires that connected the exterior of the helmet was also connected to the data server behind the chair, and the data server was also buzzing with activity with soft whirs and beeps.

Aoba sat down on the dentist chair, holding a big red button connected to the data server, and strapped her occupied arm down to the armrests.

She reached down with her face, and biting the straps, she managed to tie up her other arm, her right hand still on the button and ready to activate the contraption.

Aoba looked to the camera one final time, and nervously remarked.

"T-This is the Intrepid Reporter Aoba-chan, signing off."

Before adding, audible to Shigure.

"Hopefully not for the last time."

Aoba squeezed her eyes shut and pressed the button.

The next scene was right out of a 20th century execution via electrocution, making Shigure queasy and uncomfortable just watching the scene.

Aoba was lit up, pure electricity coursing through her steel skeleton and almost lighting her body up from within her body in a neon blue glow.

Spasms affected her whole body, quaking and thrashing about as if to protest and attempt to make a break for freedom, the button that sealed her doom already dropped onto the floor.

Aoba's eyes flew open, and Shigure could almost feel the raw electricity, the raw _power_ coursing through her mind as her bright blue eyes started lighting up in a brilliant sapphire glow, after which a current of electricity started emitting from her pupils as her eyes rolled up, the blue lights of her helmet starting to glow brighter and engulf her skull like the radiant sun, coupled with the dimming and ultimately darkened light in the room.

And no matter how hard she tried, Shigure was simply frozen to her seat in fright as she failed to reached for the mute button whilst hearing Aoba's ghastly scream emanating from the laptop and petrifying the destroyer.

Her body continued flailing in her restraints, sparks starting to fly in the darkness as ship girls started banging on the door outside, and even attempting to break it down.

Aoba looked as if she was suffering from an epileptic seizure, convulsing and shaking from the electric current that ran through and warped her mind. Shigure couldn't make it out in the darkness and Aoba's convulsions made it hard to see, but Shigure could almost make out small wisps of smoke wafting from her skin and skull.

Eventually the door was kicked down, and Shigure could make out Nagato's back in the darkness as she reeled back from the sight of Aoba howling in pain on what seemed to be an electric chair.

Furutaka and Kinugasa were screaming along with their sister, and Kinugasa had to be held back unless she wanted to be potentially electrocuted just through contact with the foreign machine.

The camera fell onto the floor just as a few more girls rushed into the room, and one of the girls may have stepped on the camera with her body weight on her feet as the camera cut to black and left Shigure staring at the screen in shock, trying to process what just happened.

"Gets me every time.

What about you?"

Shigure pulled back and fell back onto the messy floor, landing on crumpled uniforms and balled-up pieces of paper, horrified at the hushed whisper right beside her left ear as Aoba rose up to her full height, towering over the destroyer on the ground. She looked tired and hung her head as she peeked at Shigure with downcast eyes.

Shigure wasn't sure what to think anymore.

But she was absolutely sure that she was downright terrified of what Aoba had to go through, and could somewhat see things from the heavy cruiser's point of view, where she had tried to transcend her physical and mental limits with the best of intentions and paid dearly for it.

Burnt out and grounded, almost unable to sortie but also inconveniencing her sisters as they needed to take care of her, and isolated by the other ship girls who feared and misunderstood her.

It could be argued that being dead was preferable to living like this.

Aoba slowly leaned forward, offering her hand to Shigure and smiled softly as her eyes tried to regain some of its lost luster.

Shigure took the offered hand, her petite hand shivering slightly from the recent chain of revelations.

She was pulled up gently, Aoba making sure that she didn't hit her head on the table or the upturned chair, regarding her with a level of warmth that Shigure hadn't expected from the heavy cruiser.

"Sorry about that, I've always wanted to do that to someone, you know, sneaking up on someone and whisper in their ear?"

Aoba giggled, as though having accomplished some great prank, but shortly afterwards losing her smile and facade to regard Shigure seriously.

"So you know what happens next.

I'm locked up in the intensive care unit of a mental hospital, they find out this radio wave-receiving module has been installed in my mind and practically fused to it.

And since they couldn't uninstall it, they gave me meds and helped me learn to cope with living with almost no radar and radio communications.

The Admiral made preparations to line my room with copper plates along with making a copper helmet for me to wear when the meds run out.

I came back to this base, and here I am."

She spread her arms outwards as though preparing for a hug, an awkward smile on her face as she presented herself, or what was left of the 'Intrepid Reporter' to Shigure.

Her eyes looked fearful as they slowly drifted away from Shigure's, as though she wanted to properly communicate with Shigure but was already certain that she had scared off the destroyer with her scary backstory, and was trying to hide her desperation and disappointment with her cheery voice.

So Shigure did what she thought was right.

Shigure moved in, wrapping her arms around Aoba's waist and pulling herself close to Aoba's warm body as the heavy cruiser's breath stopped and her body froze at the sudden ship girl contact.

Her breath hitched as she looked down to see Shigure's teary, doey eyes looking up at her, not with sympathy or pity like everyone had ever since she came back, or with eyes of fear that most destroyers had when she got too close to them, Shigure's eyes shone with understanding.

Understanding how hard it was for Aoba, who had to isolate herself from everyone and stay inside this copper cage, which was especially hard since she had been an extroverted and energetic girl before this, always looking forward to the next big story with anticipation and was friendly with everyone on the base.

Now, she was reduced to staying in a small cell with a mental condition that couldn't be reversed by even the developers and engineers of the mental institute, and was forced to live with her debilitating condition.

All while everyone stayed away from her like she had the plague, always fearful that she might break down and hurt someone, something which Shigure guessed Aoba wasn't quite capable of since she had retained her mental faculties and reasoning (most of it), and likely took her medicine to cope with her condition if the half-finished prescription bottles lying prone on the floor were any indication.

As if living in a cell wasn't enough, she was likely afraid of what she had become, never wanting to lose control even for a second and eventually resorted to staying inside her cage to protect everyone from herself.

Add that to the fact that she had little to no one to communicate with without the use of her laptop, her condition probably acting up on several days and the claustrophobic room being too much to deal with sometimes.

Shigure looked as if she was going to cry, as she whispered to the shocked Aoba.

"You don't have to be alone anymore, Aoba-san.

I'm here."

Aoba held up a shaking hand to Shigure's hair, disbelieving of the sight and sensation of the destroyer that was in contact with her, as she hasn't felt the touch of another ship girl in…

She couldn't remember anyone, honestly, her memories before the incident having become a jumble of blurred images in her mind that she tried to sort through day by day.

Everyone was afraid to even talk to her for fear of triggering some sort of mental breakdown, and she eventually got used to the loneliness and isolation that filled her life.

And not wanting her sisters to suffer any more because of her, she chose to cut off her ties with them in the end and lived like a hermit in her room.

Not that she actually _liked_ living alone, she wanted to make her life simpler and kill herself due to the isolation and her condition getting to her on the worst of days.

She was almost certain that the sight in front of her was a hallucination, likely brought on by the exacerbation of her condition and her desperate need for ship girl contact.

But the soft and smooth hair that met her trembling hand, and the tears that rolled down Shigure's cheeks to slightly wet Aoba's uniform slowly convinced her of the very real, and very sad destroyer that was hugging her tightly right now.

Aoba also started tearing up, her hands slowly making her way to Shigure's back to slowly reciprocate the hug, her expression a mix of relief and happiness as she let her tears flow freely.

All this time, when she emotionally broke down in her room on occasion and thrashed everything in frustration, no one was there to hear her cries and pleas.

But now, she had someone here to lend her a shoulder to lean on.

To cry on.

For the first time in a long while, Aoba had made a new friend.


	9. Chapter 9 - Chuunibyou Wars

The 1st Fleet was out on the training grounds, sparring with each other to improve their close quarters combat while Tone supervised the training, guiding the members along while they fought each other with practice rounds.

The cannon rounds had rubber tips that were designed to cushion and massively reduce the damage done to ship girls and their equipment, while the torpedoes and the plane-dropped bombs released a weak explosion upon impact that couldn't kill a ship girl if they tried and were only able to injure them superficially, in which a background program in the ship girls' minds calculated the damage and displayed it on their HUD if they got caught in its blast radius.

This time, Ayanami was fighting against Tatsuta, the destroyer utilizing her superior speed to outrun and outmaneuver Tatsuta, who was whirling her glaive around carelessly and content to patiently wait for a chance to strike instead of being pulled into Ayanami's pace and wasting her time chasing the quicker destroyer.

Ayanami blitzed inwards, closing the distance as she ran clockwise circles around the older ship girl.

Tatsuta stopped whirling her glaive, her gloved palms holding the shaft of her weapon firmly as she brought her Anti-Abyssal weapon close to her body in preparation for an incoming attack.

At the last second, Ayanami used her left feet to stop her momentum, pirouetting counter clockwise about her right foot as she swung her left hand out, which held a 12.7 cm Twin Gun Cannon and pulled the trigger that was positioned under the cannon to shoot at Tatsuta.

The light cruiser dodged, running counter clockwise to stay behind Ayanami and hopefully get her from a blind spot.

Ayanami responded by aiming the 12 cm Single Gun Cannon in her right hand at Tatsuta through her left armpit and fired behind her, retaining her momentum. Tatsuta threw her glaive up in a spin and bent down to slap her hand on the ocean surface, cartwheeling as the shells whirred past her body.

She detected that Ayanami was slowing down her spin to bring up and focus both her cannons at her, stopping her cartwheel to hold up her hand and catch her descending glaive.

Her smile was already gone as she mentally prepared for the next move, and the immense control required to ensure that her next move, God-Killing Spear, wouldn't fatally wound her own comrade, Anti-Abyssal weapons equally capable of hurting ship girls as they didn't discriminate and only called such because of their intended targets.

As Ayanami fired her two cannons simultaneously, Tatsuta tuned everything out to concentrate on the trajectory of the incoming shells as she ran forward, sliding underneath them as her knees scrapped the ocean surface before her abdominal muscles pulled her upper body up to start running towards the panicking Ayanami, who had two cannons that needed reloading.

The Ayanami-Class destroyer backed away to gain some distance, Tatsuta's teenage body and status as a light cruiser preventing that from happening and maintaining the distance despite Tatsuta stumbling.

Ayanami sheathed her cannons, her battle backpack accepting the two cannons to allow the destroyer to fight with her hands free while her battle backpack helped hold her cannons as they reloaded.

Tatsuta swung her glaive horizontally forwards, Ayanami ducking underneath the sharp blade and scurrying away from the light cruiser who seemed slightly too invested in the sparring session.

Tatsuta smiled at Ayanami's tenacity and whirled the glaive that was in her right hand before holding her weapon in both hands, bringing back, spinning around and bringing her glaive down vertically and causing some seawater to be kicked up due to the impact of the blade on the water, a few drops of seawater hitting Ayanami's uniform as she skidded away.

Tatsuta smiled, pushing off her planted feet and popping up in front of Ayanami before realizing that the destroyer had both her hands behind her, and was late to respond as Ayanami whipped out her cannons from behind her to shoot at Tatsuta at point-blank range.

Two stretches of blood appeared on Tatsuta's cheek and right temple as she performed a desperate evasive roll to avoid a head shot despite knowing the practice rounds wouldn't kill her.

She hit the floor hard, her bulky battle backpack forbidding her from performing a complete roll to safety and instead scrapping on the ocean surface, leaving a messy wake as she scrambled to escape Ayanami's rapid-fire shots, another wound appearing on her right forearm and her stomach, other shells throwing up sparks as they bounced her battle backpack.

She clamored to regain her footing as she held her glaive down to stabilize herself on the ocean, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself.

As she got back up, she saw Ayanami holding her arms behind her, again passing her cannons to her backpack in order to free up her hands as she placed her hands on her knees in order to rest up.

Tatsuta smiled, breathing in a little heavier as she regarded the relaxed destroyer.

"Ara, Ayanami-chan, don't you think that you should be taking this a little more seriously?

And those surprise shots might have ended me, you know?"

Ayanami tiredly smiled back as she replied,

"You intend to take me down with everything you've got, right?

I simply intend to respect you by returning everything in kind.

Right now, I'm simply taking a break while waiting for you to catch your breath."

Tatsuta's left eye twitched, and she held up her glaive menacingly as she stated.

"Hmm, then, let's continue, shall we?"

Tenryuu was chatting with Junyou on the sidelines while spectating the battle, Junyou's eyebrows creasing as she remarked on Tatsuta's performance.

"What was _that?_

Tatsuta let her guard down for a second, and barely avoided getting shot in the head!"

"Well, when you're facing off against a lone destroyer, you have to admit, your status as a light cruiser can make you a little complacent, no matter how level-headed you are."

"Well, touche, but how is it that even when Tatsuta is giving off her killer vibes and looks as if she wants to wear Ayanami's skin as a coat, Ayanami _still isn't scared shitless?!"_

Tenryuu gave Junyou an aside glance as she remarked dryly.

"Well, aside from that mental image that I probably have to manually delete from my memory drives later, I applaud Ayanami's calm demeanor despite facing my sister.

I think the thing about her is that she always channels her fear into trying to think up of ways to counter, or at least keep up with her enemies."

"Hmm, I guess that's why she possesses the potential to keep up with Tatsuta, even when she's not as powerful as them.

But it's gotta have a limit eventually, especially when her enemies are too powerful."

"But you gotta admit, she's gonna go far, right?"

Junyou looked on as she grunted in agreement, taking a sip of fuel from the fuel can she purchased prior to the training as she watched the destroyer fight on.

Out on the field, Ayanami's mind was whirling as she tried to keep her cool, Tatsuta slowly stalking towards her and bringing the sharp end of her glaive up to her face, the destroyer thinking through the situation tactically.

' _Alright, Tatsuta's a light cruiser, but she's not faster than me, and speed's_ _my main advantage._

 _Tatsuta has a defensive sphere around her as she can strike with both ends of her glaive, and her teenage body means she's taller and thus has a longer reach than me._

 _But it's alright, because I think she's the kind of attacker that strikes you with reckless abandon when she_ _thinks she's got you cornered._

 _And I've to make my counterattack at that moment!'_

Ayanami put her hands behind her to once again relieve her backpack of her cannons, a single barrel cannon in one hand and the double barrel cannon in the other.

Tatsuta burst forward, her eyes dulled as she pointed her glaive towards her own comrade and ready to take her down like a real Abyssal would.

Ayanami was indeed scared, but she needed to maintain her focus to gather everything she could about her enemy and treating this like an actual battle, noticing that Tatsuta was leaning in more than usual to gain more speed as she sprinted towards Ayanami.

Ayanami finally decided on her plan and charged forward to meet Tatsuta halfway, to the surprise of the entire 1st Fleet.

Tatsuta's eyes widened in surprise, but finally narrowed as the remnants of her smile vanished, seemingly ready to impale the destroyer on her weapon as she continued charging in like a lancer, right forearm parallel with her extended glaive that acted as a makeshift lance.

At the last second, when Ayanami could practically kiss the edge of the blade and stare into the abyss of Tatsuta's pupils that were boring into her soul, she ducked to her right and pointed both of her cannons and its three barrels right at Tatsuta's exposed torso and fired, skidding on the floor while holding up three smoking gun barrels as Tatsuta collapsed, dropping her glaive due to the shock of the shells hitting her.

The 1st Fleet rushed forward at this point, moving in to check up on the fallen duo, Tenryuu abandoning her tough facade as she outran the faster Shigure and the taller Hiei as she skidded on the surface to kneel and lean in as she put her ear to Tatsuta's chest, checking if she was still breathing.

Sure, those were practice rounds, but you never knew…

Tatsuta gasped for air, finally awakening as Tenryuu sat up so as not to inconvenience her sister. Ayanami hobbled over to the Tenryuu-Class cruisers, clutching her right elbow that she put too much weight on when she landed, Shigure behind her and helping Ayanami load her cannons onto her battle backpack.

Tenryuu wanted to shout at her for firing at her sister, but she held her tongue that contained her impotent fury as she knew that Ayanami only did so out of respect for her sister's abilities, and wanted to pull out all the stops to defeat Tatsuta.

Tatsuta coughed a little before smirking at the destroyer and commenting on Ayanami's reckless move for all to hear, the fleet gathering around them.

"So you made me stare you down right until the last second before dodging and blindsiding me with three shots that would have certainly sent me into light-damage at such close range, despite being practice rounds."

Ayanami looked slightly shocked for a second, before looking away abashedly, Tatsuta now smiling warmly at her own observation.

"I saw it, you know.

You looked as if you were debating whether to really empty three shells into my chest, before adjusting your aim to shoot at my stomach, which would only have knocked the wind out of me."

Ayanami could only shrug sheepishly, replying,

"Well, I can't shoot my own comrade now, can I?"

As Tatsuta nodded and motioned for Tenryuu to help her up and guide her back to the spectator area.

Tenryuu helped her sister up by slinging her arm under Tatsuta's armpit and supporting her from the side as her wounded sister hobbled over to where Tone was, her eyes fluttering closed as she tried not to nod off.

Tenryuu whispered,

"Tatsuta, what happened back there?"

To which Tatsuta replied quietly.

"Tunnel vision."

Tenryuu nodded, prompting her sister to continue.

"My focus and my blood lust allows me to perform my strongest attacks, but my intense concentration also acts as a double-edged sword when someone blindsides or surprises me, leaving me open."

Tatsuta shook her head in resignation, recalling a certain medical ship's words.

"Akashi was right.

I couldn't help but worry the entire time that my attack might injure Ayanami-chan, and if it was an enemy that had decided to empty those shells into my head…"

Tenryuu held up her free hand to softly flick Tatsuta in the forehead, causing her sister to wince in surprise from the move, Tenryuu chiding.

"Come on now.

I know you wouldn't do that to a comrade.

I swear on my pride as your older sister, Tatsuta.

And the point of training is to get better and allow ourselves to makes mistakes that are to be corrected before we deal with the real threat out there, right?"

Tatsuta looked at her sister ship incredulously, before breaking out into a smile and nodded at that, remarking.

"You say the smartest things sometimes, Tenryuu-chan."

Tenryuu nodded at that as she slowly sat her sister down onto the ocean surface, helping her get comfortable as she sat down.

Tone slowly walked over to the duo, kneeling down as she silently inspected Tatsuta's wounds, the two Tenryuu-Class ship girls silently allowing the Tone-Class cruiser to check up on her.

Tenryuu stood up while supporting her body weight with her palm on the ocean surface, getting up and looking around slowly as she heard Tone looking up and discussing with the fleet on the next match up.

Tone didn't want to pair anyone up unfairly, like Shigure against Hiei, and was instead discussing possible match-ups like Junyou, Tenryuu and Shigure against Hiei and Ayanami, and even Tone could join in to even the odds.

Suddenly, Tenryuu spotted a solitary dot moving towards them on her radar, and she smirked when she saw who it was, holding her scabbard comfortably with her right arm and ready for the inevitable battle.

Especially when the approaching ship girl had gotten her Kai Ni…

Tone had already noted the approaching ship girl, and she held up her index finger to silence the 1st Fleet before her, turning her head to the mystery ship girl in question and had a grin on her face as she introduced the torpedo cruiser to the team.

"Girls, meet Kiso, the Kai Ni torpedo cruiser of the 8th Fleet."

The ship girl that was approaching them had on a white beret on her head holding down her shoulder-length camouflage-green hair.

The eye-patch on her right eye had a grid of gold lining beside a exposed green left eye, along with a black cape that covered the right shoulder of her white and green school uniform, the edges of the cape and her dark battle backpack spotting white streaks on them and not unlike the skin pattern of a tiger's stripes.

The black and gold-lining shoulder guard on her right shoulder had golden braided threads hanging from it, both ends connected to the front and back of the shoulder guard.

Her brown-colored gloved hands were clenched, her right hand resting on the cutlass on her right hip and one torpedo launcher strapped to each thigh along with the other two torpedo launchers on her rigging.

Her knee-high boots were wearing the boat slippers, and she had two belts slung across her school skirt, carrying shells.

Her gait was confident yet poised to strike, a war veteran's face of weariness and experience that contradicted her youthful face, the energetic spring in her step due to the sea being associated with a place of danger and subconsciously scanning her sector for enemies and allies alike before her eyes relaxed a little.

She strode over to the 1st Fleet and folded her arms as she stared Tenryuu down, who returned a stare of her own, the little dragon's eyes hungry for battle despite her inexperience and inferior stats.

Kiso's voice was of an elderly teenage girl, yet her tone was crisp as she delivered her challenge to her rival,

"So, ready to get your ass kicked again today, Tenryuu?"

As the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser's smile widened and replied,

"Sure, but you know it's not a question of who did the 'One-Eyed Swords-woman' earlier, it's who did it better, right?"

Kiso smirked at the light cruiser's retort, shaking her head as she turned her body back towards the designated training field, motioning with her hand for Tenryuu to follow her out, replying,

"Oh don't worry.

There's no question as to which is the better swords-woman here."

Along with a chorus of,

"Ohhhhhhhhhh…"

From the 1st Fleet, Tenryuu's grin growing as she sauntered over to the other end of the tennis court-sized field, her thumb already pushing the small hilt of her sword Ezekiel out of the sheath, revealing the metallic steel underneath and the purple edge of the blade facing up.

She could spy Kiso's fingers twitching, and Tenryuu's grin faded as she leaned forward to assume the _i_ _aido_ position, poised to cut whatever Kiso threw at her.

As Tone whistled loudly, Kiso shot two torpedoes at Tenryuu as an opening strike, the two silent yet deadly killers barreling down the ocean, on a collision course with Tenryuu's boat slippers, their 'V'-shaped wake barely noticeable behind them.

She knew that if the torpedoes scored a direct on her boat slippers, she was as good as dead in real life as she would be half-submerged in water with only one functioning boat slipper, or trying to fight while balancing on only one feet.

One way to evade them was to jump over the torpedoes, which would require immense ship girl stamina due to the heavy weight of their equipment and boat slippers, but this was something that could eventually be overcome via physical conditioning.

She could see Kiso eyeing her, arm frozen as she was itching to reach for her 14 cm Single Gun Cannon on her rigging and uncouple it to hip-fire at an airborne Tenryuu, who would be vulnerable in the air if she jumped.

So she strafed to the left at the last second, and her sword was a blur as she unsheathed Ezekiel and dipped her sword underwater to cut the torpedo in half down the barrel, the motion too fast to even register on the torpedo's pressure-sensitive detonator.

She made a motion to clean her blade on the throat of her scabbard before sheathing Ezekiel in a slow but meticulous motion, the split torpedo sputtering and dying out behind her, while the untouched torpedo exploded harmlessly behind her.

Kiso looked surprised for a second, before her eyes narrowed to charge forward and display a very special fighting style developed over the decades and known as one of the hardest styles to master in the world.

The torpedo cruiser pulled out her two 14 cm Single Gun Cannons, holding them by the handles located behind the turret as if she were holding two large teapots, and fired while she waltzed right towards Tenryuu.

The light cruiser responded to the threat with a weapon of her own, pulling out her 12.7 cm Twin Gun Cannon, holding the horizontal handle and firing at the torpedo cruiser.

The shells met each other halfway, and Tenryuu could see the small sphere of air that the two colliding shells displaced upon impact before harmlessly dropping into the ocean, Kiso predicting the trajectory of every shell flying her way despite her eye-patch hindering her depth perception.

But the light cruiser had a suspicion that Kiso had already learnt to compensate for her depth perception long ago, as almost every shell that Tenryuu fired at her was harmlessly stopped by Kiso's own shells.

They both holstered their cannons after their ammunition ran out to let their battle backpacks hold their cannons while they unsheathed their swords and began whirling them about before charging each other, Kiso using by her boost gauge to move even faster.

They met each other halfway, their swords clashing and throwing up sparks as they swung their swords around in a complex dance of death, neither gaining an edge over the other in terms of swordsmanship as they swung their swords around and parried each other's strikes.

Tenryuu remembered that Kiso was proficient in the hack and slash fighting style, a style of combining gun and swords in combat to fight stylishly in a manner that played to the strengths of the light cruisers, which was incredible agility with almost no equal.

Light cruisers, often looking like teenagers, possessed older and stronger bodies compared to destroyers while being marginally slower than them, but were still light and fast enough to outrun heavy cruisers who were well-balanced stat-wise and were mostly young adults.

Adult battleships specialized in firepower and overwhelming strength to destroy everyone with their mighty cannons while carriers had powerful vision and radar to give them unparalleled spatial awareness, scouting capabilities and the ability to rain death from above.

Naturally, over the years, several styles were developed to fight the Abyssals while playing to the strengths of their classes, light cruiser being able to perform swift acrobatic feats that destroyers couldn't do due to their underdeveloped, prepubescent bodies.

And that was when Kiso decided to step back, sheathing her cutlass and relieving the extended mechanical joints of her turrets before the mechanical arms folded back into the backpack.

And that was when she jumped and fired.

Tenryuu reciprocated, sheathing Ezekiel again and firing with her reloaded Double Barreled Cannon at the airborne torpedo cruiser, both of them alternating cannons or barrels for a steady and rhythmic rate of fire.

Tenryuu would always be amazed by Kiso's flashy fighting style, spotting the few exhaust nozzles that were installed in Kiso's boat slipper, and as Kiso was in the air, Tenryuu got a good look at the nozzle pointed out of her Achilles Tendon and two smaller nozzles on the underside of her boat slippers, the cone of the underside nozzle hidden inside the slipper itself to reduce water resistance when sailing.

As Kiso reached the apex of her jump, a small thrust of nitrous oxide-enriched flames escaped the nozzle of the three boosters for an instant in a micro-boost, halting her descent as she fired her cannons, the recoil from the cannons in her hands further slowing her drop.

Her actions were quick, but practiced as the cannons and boosters were activated in a specific cycle to maintain her balance in the air, although she was slowly but surely descending.

Right booster boosts, left cannon fires.

Left booster boosts, right turret fires.

Tenryuu tsked and started strafing upon finding that Kiso going to land, realizing that the difference between them was like the difference between heaven and earth when comparing herself to the Kai Ni torpedo cruiser, Tenryuu identifying herself as the earthbound dragon despite her name meaning 'Heavenly Dragon'.

The default bodies of the ship girls couldn't handle the stress of the propulsion, but their Kai upgrade reinforced their bodies in terms of bone strength and muscle mass, the Fairies installing the boosters in their boat slippers during the remodel, Tenryuu currently not possessing boosters of her own as she hadn't been remodeled.

Kiso sheathed her cannons yet again upon landing and fired off two torpedoes in the direction of the advancing Tenryuu, who leapt up and flipped over the incoming torpedoes before her feet hit the ocean surface and she pounced forward.

Kiso immediately realized what Tenryuu was up to after spending so much time with her, shifting her left leg back and her arms formed an 'X' in front of her to protect herself.

Tenryuu persisted despite realizing that Kiso expected her to perform a physical attack, leaping up and pulling her feet up to her chest as she adjusted herself to fly forward almost parallel to the ocean surface.

The incoming drop kick from Tenryuu pushed Kiso back, her face grimacing from the impact of the relatively sharp underside of the boat slippers hitting her forearm and stomach, which was exposed.

Tenryuu was smirking as she tilted her head back, commenting,

"Are you testing my skills, or my patience?"

As Kiso smiled and rubbed her wounds, asking.

"That last move, did you play one too many fighting games?"

Tenryuu's smile grew, as she took the time to temporarily rest up by placing a hand on her hip and replying.

"Yeah, I did.

That air shooting move, Devil May Cry?"

Kiso could only reply with a shit-eating grin of her own, the unspoken answer to Tenryuu's question as Tenryuu ran through what she had learnt about the torpedo cruiser's fighting style as they both rested up and took the time to catch their breath.

The light cruisers were older and tougher than destroyers and they thus had access to Medium-Caliber cannons, which provided one hell of a recoil for a handheld cannon.

Everyone assumed that some light cruiser got high one day and decided to mimic video game characters, something that wasn't out of the question as they had superhuman bodies and could use their boost gauges to enhance their performance, and were also capable of using their weapons while hanging in mid-air due to their significantly longer air-time as a result of said boost gauges.

But heavy cruisers, carriers and battleships were too heavy compared to them, and didn't have nearly enough boost to even slow down their descent if they attempted to mimic their acrobatic feats, while destroyers couldn't get access to Medium-Caliber Cannons, the Small-Caliber Cannons not providing enough recoil.

Besides, destroyers were physically weaker due to their prepubescent bodies and couldn't handle the physical stress from performing such a physically demanding style.

The only reason why Tenryuu wasn't fighting like her was because Kiso trained for years to learn this fighting style, the time she spent arguably better used for more practical maneuvers that could be learnt quickly.

And every ship girl weighed differently despite being in the same class, so an aspiring ship girl needed to experiment with her boost gauge to determine how much boost was needed to keep herself airborne, this amongst other minute but significant problems which made for a steep learning curve that few bothered to overcome.

Kiso's gaze hardened as she pushed herself up with her palms on her knees, and rushed towards a slightly panicking Tenryuu, who fired a salvo of torpedoes in response to the torpedo cruiser's swift advance.

The torpedo cruiser simply used her boost gauge to sidestep the salvo, reaching Tenryuu and whispering one word.

 _"Shukuchi."_

Using what was left of her boost gauge and her toned leg muscles, Kiso blurred as she appeared behind Tenryuu, grabbing hold of Tenryuu's battle backpack that was connected to the back of her hip and roared in fury as she bent back, performing a German Suplex on Tenryuu.

The sea rippled fiercely from the impact and threw up some seawater that reached even the spectators, Kiso letting go after the move was performed and scrambled away as she waved her cape around with her right hand, taunting.

"Andale, Andale!"

Tenryuu groggily got up, massaging her strained neck and the throbbing headache as a result of the suplex as she shot a thumbs-up at Kiso out of respect for pulling that move off perfectly as she staggered, shaking her head to clear her mind.

To be honest, Tenryuu wasn't under any sort of delusion that she could actually _beat_ Kiso, and was trying to see if she could force a draw out of her.

But by God, she was going to make sure that she got some good shots in, and make Kiso work for her victory. She drew her cannon, noting that Kiso was drawing her sword.

Kiso was better than her, no question.

Time to kick it up a notch, then.

Tenryuu reached up to her eye-patch, ripping it off and discarding it on the ocean floor. She slowly walked in a counter-clockwise circle, readying the cannon in her hand and slowly blinking to get her left eye adjusted to the brightness of the environment while Kiso swung her sword in a lazy sideways '8' in front of her, stopping the cutlass to hold her cutlass upright beside her at a right angle to her left forearm.

"Aren't you going to take off your eye-patch, Kiso?"

Kiso smirked as she replied nonchalantly.

"You'll have to work for it, Little Dragon."

Tenryuu cracked her neck upon hearing her nickname uttered by her sworn rival, and slowly raised her cannon to meet Kiso's gaze, the crowd now hushed and intently spectating.

Both barrels coughed explosively, muzzle flashes bright as a firecracker as Kiso opened her left eye a fraction before swinging her sword out.

That was the last of what Tenryuu saw before her vision was obscured by the smoking barrel, bringing it up to her lips to blow the smoke away.

As the smoke cleared, she saw Kiso leaning downwards, which meant that she had likely dodged one shell.

But her raised cutlass and three small and almost unnoticeable splashes behind the torpedo cruiser confirmed the light cruiser's worst fears, that the torpedo cruiser had computed the trajectory of the shells and ducked underneath to avoid one shell and used her sword to cut the second shell at a speed that Tenryuu couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Granted, the shells of the 12.7 cm Twin Gun Cannon were slightly larger than a conventional firearm bullet, but _come on, man._

How much stronger did she get with her Kai Ni?

Tenryuu switched the Twin Barrel Cannon to alternate fire to allow for a steady rate of fire as Tenryuu swaggered up to Kiso and fired.

Kiso didn't even look fazed, swinging her cutlass in broad, but precise and predetermined arcs to either cut or deflect the shells fired at her, even evading a few shells so as not to over-strain her swinging hand.

Finally, as Tenryuu was an arm's length away from Kiso, she pointed the barrels right at Kiso's forehead, certain that she wasn't going to block this point-blank shot.

So why was her senior smiling?

Her answer came in the form of the answer of,

"Someone's not counting."

And the loud click of her cannons signaled to everyone that she needed to reload.

As Tenryuu let loose a string of shocked profanities, Kiso had already sheathed her cutlass as her left palm met Tenryuu's face and brought her in close as she whispered.

"Those fighting games that you played to get inspiration from?

I played them too."

As she brought her left foot behind Tenryuu's legs to force her off-balance with a sweep, and put all her weight down as she slammed the light cruiser's head into the water. She heard everyone spectating wince and groan upon seeing her own head hit the ocean.

But Kiso wasn't done yet.

Picking up the dazed light cruiser in a bridal carry, her face contorted as she heaved, and threw the light cruiser up with all her might. The light cruiser flew slightly overhead, Tenryuu only managing to achieve some clearance above Kiso due to her limited strength as a torpedo cruiser.

And at the last second before Tenryuu hit the ocean floor behind Kiso, she felt Kiso's boat slippers smash into her diaphragm and stomach as Kiso performed a reverse drop kick on the falling light cruiser, adding in a burst of boost upon her slipper's contact with Tenryuu's body to deal extra damage, Tenryuu feeling the slight burn of the boost gauge singing her uniform and flesh as the thrust produced by the boosters drove her into the water.

The air left Tenryuu's lungs as she was wheezing from the drop kick, coughing and hacking to clear the seawater from her throat and windpipe, the fallen light cruiser doing her best to catch her breath whilst feeling the seawater drench her hair and uniform as she tried to recover from the torpedo cruiser's devastating blow, barely able to make out Kiso's slightly strained voice amidst her struggling.

"Damn, the power throws and wrestling moves are best left to the heavy cruisers and battleships, after all…"

Tenryuu groaned in pain as she finally exerted her arm muscles to try and push herself up, looking at a surprised Kiso unflinchingly as Tenryuu blinked the seawater from her eyes and tried to coordinate her limbs to get back up into a standing position.

Tenryuu was slowly trying to unsheathe Ezekiel but stumbled a little in the process, finally focusing on the sight of Kiso walking towards her, both 14 cm Cannons out and pointed at her.

She ducked as the shells whizzed past her head, Kiso also alternate firing as Tenryuu stumbled away from the armed torpedo cruiser. The ocean in her wake exploded as the shells impacted the ocean floor behind her, Kiso attempting to lead her shots, but was getting thrown off by Tenryuu's unpredictable movement patterns due to her wooziness.

Finally, when Kiso decided to shelve her cannons to draw her cutlass, Tenryuu saw her chance and charged in apparently without care for her safety, firing another salvo of torpedoes in Kiso's direction whilst running behind them, finally drawing Ezekiel.

She banked on the very likely possibility that Kiso would be pressured into either strafing or jumping into the air to evade the salvo, after which Tenryuu could intercept her with one last sword strike with Ezekiel to end this before she was too tired or damaged to fight on.

Kiso grimaced, squatting down with one arm still on the handle of her cutlass as she sprung up into the air to evade the salvo, Tenryuu following suit as she leapt up to meet Kiso with Ezekiel, swinging Ezekiel in her direction.

But it seemed that the torpedo cruiser had a few more tricks up her sleeve as her expression softened despite Tenryuu's Ezekiel about to cut into her steel flesh, Tenryuu unable to stop Kiso as the torpedo cruiser's boosters all powered up at the same time.

Her legs shone as a directed explosive force propelled her up by just a few centimeters, but the important point was the increased air-time that caused her to practically hover in the sky due to her relatively lighter body.

This meant that the tip of the Tenryuu's blade came up short as it simply nicked her uniform and cape, Tenryuu's face morphing into one of shock at the torpedo cruiser's fast reaction to her move as she started dropping like an anchor.

But the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser wasn't going to give up after coming so far, and reached behind her to whip out her 12 cm Twin Cannon to shoot at Kiso, having somewhat planned for this.

So why was Kiso's wistful smile widening, and why was she reaching up for her eye patch?

Kiso's hair whipped about her face furiously and her cape unfurled to cast a shadow on Tenryuu as they both descended, the Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser tearing off her eye-patch as they both descended, Tenryuu's finger already squeezing the trigger and the cannon ready to fire.

And that was before she heard Kiso mutter.

 _"Yata no Kagami_."

Oh, _fuck._

Kiso's revealed right eye shone with the intensity of a thousand suns, catching Tenryuu by surprise as she flinched upon one of Kiso's three 'Imperial Regalia', the Eight-Hand Mirror being revealed and used to stun her as her shots went wide, instinctively trying to shield her squinting eyes against the harsh glare of the ocular searchlight.

Tenryuu was about to hit the ocean, almost unable to react to the intimidating shadow that was her best friend turned sparring partner's final attack, Kiso bringing her sword down with a passion while roaring the kanji ' **面** ',

 _"MEN!"_

As she slashed down with the fury of a spiteful god at Tenryuu's forehead in a clean Kendo head strike, and the last thing Tenryuu saw were the rays of Kiso's ocular searchlight reflecting off the Anti-Abyssal blade as it was swung down in a killing strike.

* * *

The ocean was split, knee-high waves created as the ocean reverberated from the strike, the 1st Fleet shielding their eyes from the seawater that was thrown up as a result of Kiso's powerful strike before they could move their arms and focus their eyes on the sight before them.

Kiso held her cutlass a millimeter away from Tenryuu's forehead, her arms frozen mid-strike as she looked like a samurai with her dark cape draped over her right shoulder, casting a shadow over her uniform as the sword gleamed in the sunlight, Kiso shutting her right eye so as not to blind Tenryuu.

The sublime anger that Tenryuu could clearly see in the torpedo cruiser's face dissipated after taking a few deep breaths, the sword slowly edging away from Tenryuu's face as Kiso relaxed her tense muscles.

Both of them were panting as Tenryuu tried to stop herself from shaking after nearly being struck down by the Kai Ni torpedo cruiser, but Tenryuu gripped her sword that was held in a reverse grip, pushing the end of her handle into Kiso's abdomen.

"Did… did you really think… you stuck that landing?"

Kiso looked down in surprise at the handle of Tenryuu's sword that was hitting her torso, which meant that Tenryuu could have chosen to stab Kiso in a mutually-assured destructive strike should she decide to do so.

As Kiso got off of Tenryuu, the torpedo cruiser still had her right eye closed as she held out a hand to help Tenryuu up just as the 1st Fleet arrived to help their fleet mate up.

Tenryuu accepted Kiso's hand, but had to be helped up by the the sturdy arms of Hiei as Shigure rushed over with Kiso's eye-patch for her to cover her searchlight eye with.

Kiso calmed herself down with a few deep breaths and graciously accepted her eye-patch from the destroyer, sheathing her cutlass as she slowly and carefully stretched the elastic band around her head, positioning the patch over her eye.

Tenryuu had only this to say about her victory, citing her inspiration from the previous fight that she witnessed.

"You may not have been here to see Ayanami fight, but she used the same tactic before this match, to counter your opponent right when they go all-in with one last strike and leave themselves open.

Gotta learn from everyone who's worth learning from, eh?"

Kiso only nodded approvingly at that, announcing.

"It's a draw, I suppose.

You've improved, Tenryuu."

"Yeah and since I was keeping up with you without a Kai upgrade, maybe I'll be stronger than you when I receive my Kai remodel."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, maybe one day it'll come true."

They could only grin at each other as they leaned in for a bro-hug to celebrate the end of the fight.

* * *

The 1st Fleet sailed back to the harbor, and had already been through the entire process of waiting while the harbor machinery took off their rigging, battle backpacks and boat slippers before the platform raised them back up to the harbor, which was elevated above sea level.

The Admiral was waiting for them while sitting on a steel bench along with a tall ship girl beside her which Tenryuu took a while to identify.

And boy, when she said that a tall girl sat beside the Admiral, she meant that the ship girl was _colossal._

Nagato was tall when compared to the Admiral as Tenryuu had seen Admiral Mako sit beside her girlfriend quite often, but this ship girl was likely even taller if the two ship girls had to stand up to compare their height, Tenryuu deducing that she was likely Yamato of the Yamato-Class of battleships, since they were the only ship girls who were more powerful than the Nagato-Class.

The tie holding her long brown ponytail had cherry blossom petals scattered around it atop her head, wearing a metal head-gear spawning two radar antennas, and was sprouting from her temples.

Her metal collar was similar to Nagato's with the Imperial Chrysanthemum Seal on it, wearing a sleeveless sailor uniform with four colors of red and white with black and yellow lining the uniform.

Her socks seemed to be deliberately misaligned with a knee sock on her right leg, and a thigh-high on her left. She held an Oriental umbrella, folded, positioned between her feet and was holding the handle with her arms covered by arm sleeves.

Yamato was composed and rather formal, yet possessed a tender and considerate air as she looked down and leaned in affectionately to return the Admiral's loving gesture where two lovers rubbed their upper arms together whilst sitting beside each other.

Although it was more like an affectionate elbow rub in this case as Admiral Mako's shoulder that was supposed to meet Yamato's shoulder instead came up short and reached her elbow, and Yamato could lean in to touch shoulders with her girlfriend but risked falling over and leaving her Admiral as a red smear on the bench.

But the two of them saw the 1st Fleet approaching them and stopped their little public display of affection, the Admiral waving them over and the ship girls complying save for Kiso, who explained to them that she had to meet her teammates and left them.

Admiral Mako looked at the somewhat exhausted 1st Fleet, and she leaned forward while fixing her blazer and clothes.

"Hey girls!

How's your training going?"

Tone raised her hand to note the 1st Fleet's progress, remarking.

"They're doing well, Admiral-san.

And although it might take a while for them to realize their full potential, I think we've got a solid fleet here."

Admiral Mako nodded as Yamato nodded to them in recognition, every ship girl of the 1st Fleet awed by the revered battleship's acknowledgement of them and bowing slightly in return.

Tenryuu looked at Yamato and met the gaze of the legendary battleship, feeling her cheeks color as Yamato shot her a smile, feeling the battleship's strength simply by being in Yamato's presence and understanding how this ship girl was essentially the personification of the Japanese spirit, gentle yet immeasurably strong.

Admiral Mako tried to get her attention as she broke eye contact with Yamato, addressing the training ship seriously.

"So do you think they're ready to sortie?"

Tone shrugged, narrowing her eyes as she cautiously answered her Admiral.

"Yes.

But are you sure?"

Admiral Mako nodded, but elaborated a little more on her plans to help the 1st Fleet gain some experience out on the field.

"Yeah, they'll be sortieing two days from now, on the 6th of April.

But they'll be restricted to fending off Abyssal Fleets strictly within the Safety Zone, and they'll also be sortieing with fleets from other bases to ensure their safety."

But Hiei raised her hand to ask her Admiral a question about why they were sortieing so soon, since other fleets sometimes took up to three weeks of training to sortie for the first time.

"Admiral, why are you sortieing us so soon after our fleet is created?

I mean, other fleets train for about two to three weeks before sortieing, but are you sure that only about one week's worth of training is enough for us?"

Admiral Mako looked them with her 'no-nonsense' expression, simply stating.

"No.

I don't want you to sortie without preparing for every situation that could happen out there, like fighting in adverse conditions or learning to fight against stronger opponents.

I mean, I don't have my Nostradamus glasses on, so I want to prepare you all for anything that could happen."

Admiral Mako looked away, considering something as she explained herself.

"But between us, I have reason to believe that things may likely become worse any day now, and I want you all to get as much experience as possible in the coming weeks before the shit hits the fan."

Admiral Mako's gaze hardened as she looked Tenryuu in the eye and continued.

"I can see you all realizing your full potential in time, but potential doesn't mean anything if you're dead.

I need you all to become stronger, but I won't be taking any risks by sortieing you beyond the Safety Zone, where the _real_ danger lurks and we can't get a response fleet out in time should things take a turn for the worse out there."

Tenryuu gulped at that, but kept silent as she saw that the Yamato-Class battleship moved one hand from the handle of the umbrella she was holding to gently reach for Admiral Mako's hand, holding it tenderly and wordlessly comforting her girlfriend, a bold move for a ship girl who was the epitome of the Yamato Nadeshiko archetype.

Admiral Mako looked a little surprised at that, but she did seem to relax a little as she flashed Yamato a quick smile and continued as her mood lightened somewhat.

"Don't worry, y'all.

I'd never send you out on sorties and take on opponents that are out of your league, and you'll have company on a few of the upcoming sorties."

Tenryuu nodded at that, trying to mentally prepare herself for sortie that was in two days, and possibly in the coming weeks as she was part of the Fast Response Fleet, and had to become stronger within the month.

Admiral Mako was suddenly felt something in her pocket as her hand reached down to what Tenryuu assumed was a vibrating phone, nodding at them with a genuine yet distracted smile as a non-verbal signal to get them all to leave, Tenryuu understanding the look as they saluted the Admiral and left the couple alone.

And as the 1st Fleet followed the training ship Tone back to the canteen where they could queue in line for an early dinner, Tenryuu could hear Admiral Mako's infamous ringtone that caused everyone to blush a little upon hearing it play in public.

 _'TITTIES, ASS 'N TITTIES,_

 _BIG BOOTY BITCHES, THAT'S WHERE IT GETS,_

 _COME ON HOE...'_

But Tenryuu slowed down her pace a little to try and find out who the Admiral was talking to without making herself look conspicuous, but was only able to make out Admiral Mako greeting a certain isolated heavy cruiser over the phone.

"What's up, Aoba?"

* * *

Admiral Mako was standing in front of Aoba's room, looking up at the nameplate titled ' **青葉** ', thinking about the Aoba-Class heavy cruiser and wondering what else she could have done to prevent the previously cheery and energetic ship girl from going through everything which left her as an introvert and a mere shell of her former self.

But Admiral Mako shook her head, making sure that she didn't fall into the self-destructive loop where she filled her mind with what could have been or what she could have done differently to help her ship girls, raising her hand to softly knock on the door.

Aoba's tired voice was barely audible, Admiral Mako pressing her ear to the wooden door to hear Aoba mutter.

"Door's unlocked."

Admiral Mako looked down, preparing herself to face the heavy cruiser which she couldn't help in time, this being one of the many regrets in her life as she placed her hand on the handle and opened the door slowly so as not to startle Aoba.

Walking into the dim room which she had once been into in order to ascertain Aoba's mental state which, last she remembered, was 'not good'.

That verdict was not changing anytime soon as she noted the inane scribblings on the wall, the various notes tacked on a map of the world along with the threads and colored thumbtacks that connected multiple locations, Admiral Mako looking around and taking in everything quietly.

Aoba was sitting on the fold-down bed in the room, hugging her knees and looking up at Admiral Mako with slightly fearful eyes, and Admiral Mako could see that Aoba had at least tried to make herself presentable before meeting the Admiral, having bathed and changed into her best uniform.

Admiral Mako closed the door behind her and walked towards Aoba without any regard for her safety while the heavy cruiser shrank into the corner of the bed, Admiral Mako almost seeing how scared the heavy cruiser was of her strength as she squeaked.

"P-Please, don't come any closer, Admiral.

I don't want to hurt you, since you're more fragile than us ship girls."

Admiral Mako sighed upon hearing that, raising her hand to take off her Admiral cap and toss it onto the bed, sitting down on the chair in the middle of the room as she regarded Aoba in a no-nonsense tone.

"Look, Aoba, I know that you'd never hurt me, being one of my beloved ship girls.

And besides, aren't you a little tired of everyone tiptoeing around you and always being uncomfortable in your presence, right?"

Aoba looked away at that, unable to come up with a retort or argument as she lowered her head upon hearing her Admiral bring up that point, Admiral Mako able to see that Aoba had at least gotten some sleep, although that didn't completely help the tired look she always had on her face, Admiral Mako asking inquisitively.

"It's rather interesting, though.

Often, I'm the one who has to call you and ask to meet you.

So what's made you take the initiative this time, Aoba?"

Aoba looked away, but Admiral Mako leaned in a little closer to try and get closer to the heavy cruiser, seeing each and every one of her ship girls as family members in lieu of her real one.

And eventually, Aoba revealed the reason why she wanted to try and get out more after agreeing to the desperate plea of a certain Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"Shigure...

She told me that I couldn't rot in here, and needed to leave this prison of mine sometime.

She practically went down on her knees and begged me to get out and talk to someone who's not my sister ships, and you were the first choice..."

Admiral Mako cracked a genuine smile at that, noting.

"Well, when even a ship girl who's new to this base sees what's wrong with your living conditions, I think it's time to do something about it, right?"

Aoba nodded reluctantly at that, changing the subject to ask about the classified research project which Aoba had refused to be on for various reasons, her own debilitating condition being a major one.

"You wanted me to work on a secret project with Akashi and Kirishima, right?

I know that I previously refused to participate, but I think I might reconsider in the next few days if my condition improves..."

Admiral Mako's smile drooped a little, but she inched closer to Aoba as she tried to explain her point of view.

"Look, Aoba.

I always said that the best way for you to learn to live with your condition was to find a way to apply yourself to help everyone in some way, not holing yourself up in your room..."

Looking around at Aoba's uncleaned room, Admiral Mako lifted an eyebrow before raising her gaze to look at the global map, dryly continuing.

"...and obsessively keeping track of everything through your research."

Aoba shot her Admiral a glance, before looking away ashamedly as Admiral Mako met her gaze with a caring look of a worried parent, silently accepting her Admiral's words as Admiral Mako comforted Aoba and gave her some time to decide.

"Look, I'm not ordering you to join this project even though I have the power to do so, because I want you do things at your own pace.

But the Abyssals aren't nice enough to do the same, so tell you what."

Admiral Mako's gaze hardened as she explained the situation.

"I've sent you some declassified documents and recent reports of Abyssal activities as an act of good faith.

You can look through them and see for yourself how badly things are going to turn out for us from now on, and you might be able to see how important this research project is in helping us win this war.

Because I know no matter how much you try to enclose yourself within these walls and pretend that you're dead to the world, I know that the 'Intrepid Reporter' Aoba still lives on inside you, and you'd never give up a chance to help everyone in any way you can."

Getting off the chair, Admiral Mako walked closer to Aoba, the heavy cruiser trying to curl up into a defensive knee hug the closer Admiral Mako got to her, Admiral Mako sighing and scratching her hair, thankfully free of the stuffy peaked officer's cap as she leaned in and ordered.

"Aoba, close your eyes, and look up."

Aoba looked up at Admiral Mako questioningly, but Admiral Mako's reluctance to elaborate meant that Aoba did as her commanding officer ordered, Admiral Mako easily noting the nervousness and uncertainty in the heavy cruiser's expression as she closed her eyes and leaned in, her right palm pressing against the map stuck on the room wall to prevent herself from falling forward.

Her lips met a surprised Aoba's exposed lips, and Admiral Mako savored the unique taste of the heavy cruiser's juicy lips for a good five seconds before a blushing Aoba pushed her away, the Admiral having spent enough time around ship girls to know when they tried to restrain their strength around her so as not to accidentally break something.

Aoba's cheeks were colored and she was actively scrambling away from Admiral Mako, a complete 180 from her previously depressed and lifeless state, the heavy cruiser covering her mouth with the back of her right hand as she stuttered while exclaiming.

"A-A-Admiral Mako!

I-I'll report you for sexual harassment!

It'll be a-a huge scandal, I-I swear!"

Admiral Mako laughed heartily as she held her right index finger to her lip, commenting merrily.

"Well, at least that's something that'll keep you busy other than obsessively spying on everything and being depressed as fuck.

Everyone knows me so well by now that this little display of affection won't even make the headlines, Aoba.

Besides, don't tell me you didn't enjoy it."

Aoba's colored cheeks reddened even more upon hearing that, becoming tomato red as Aoba's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, unable to say a word as Admiral Mako turned to leave the room, picking up her Admiral cap and lazily slapping it on her head as she headed for the door.

Admiral Mako stopped right in front of the short corridor leading into the room, looking behind her shoulder to regard a stunned Aoba one last time as she made things clear.

"Four days from today, after the 1st Fleet has sortied on the 6th of April, the Coordinators, Akashi and I are holding a closed-door meeting in the Coordinator Room to determine what our future plans are.

Attend the meeting if you're interested."

And with that, Admiral Mako ended the conversation and exited the room, the door clicking as it closed behind the Admiral and left a flustered and silent Aoba in the room, looking at the door while wondering about her Admiral's words and her little parting gift.


	10. Chapter 10 - Escape Velocity

Shigure was lying down on the couch while Akashi was leaning back on her chair in the same counseling room two days before the sortie, Shigure taking some time off to talk to the repair ship in order to learn more about the world of ship girls.

The session was after another training session earlier that day to train them up for their first sortie, the both of them scheduling their get-together session in the late afternoon, after Shigure's training session.

Akashi was currently covering the topic about how the docks functioned and how they repaired ship girls from the inside and the outside.

The 'bathtubs' of the docks were like hospital beds, with heartbeat sensors and hidden X-ray machines amongst others hidden within them to detect a ship girl's injuries and keep track of their vitals.

The specialized nano-machines that filled the bathwater would then attempt to close the wound and perform surgery on the afflicted area with available materials, restoring the ship girl body to its original state.

The walls of the bathtub were lined with little supply lines that supplied recovery materials in almost undetectable quantities to allow the nano-machines to resupply on steel and fuel, both materials essential in repairing a ship girl's body.

Akashi was quick to clarify that to them, dying and _sinking_ meant two entirely different things.

"A ship girl can die countless times, and so long as she's able to keep her brain intact, resurrection is still possible.

But the act of _sinking_ , is, well, being sunk in battle.

We can't resurrect something that can't be brought back to us."

Akashi continued as she stared at the ceiling.

"The Americans nicknamed it the Lazarus Pit, due to the seemingly supernatural properties of the bathwater to bring back dead ship girls to life, almost under any circumstances.

But as they also joked, in such a godless, violent world like ours, what's the point in believing in saviors and gods when all we need is a bathtub to bring us back to life?"

She smirked at that, Shigure raising an eyebrow at how much lightly some girls took their lives to make such morbid jokes, Shigure interjecting with a question.

"So is the ship girl made up of only the mind and body?"

Akashi broke eye contact with the ceiling to give Shigure an aside glance, replying knowingly.

"Not quite.

The ship girl is made up of three components which make up the Trinity, the body, the mind, and the soul.

The body is the physical form we are given, the mind helps us understand the world, granting us intelligence and sentience, and the soul is a unit of self-sustaining source of power to give life to our bodies.

A ship girl's soul is an extremely powerful, flexible and adaptable power source, but a lot of things are not known about it despite its near-miraculous properties, taking on a randomized personality in every construction process."

Gesturing to Shigure, Akashi used the little destroyer as an example of the creation process to explain how a ship girl was created.

"Hence, with you as an example, when a Shigure personality is selected by luck and summoned into this world, the Fairies would then build the body of Shigure and install the soul-slash-personality into the steel body, helping your soul get adjusted to the earthly vessel.

The soul generates enough power to boot up the destroyer body and creates within it the modules necessary for a ship girl to function, amongst them World War 2 memories and basic naval combat techniques suiting that of a destroyer, effectively bringing the ship girl to life with pre-programmed knowledge."

"S-So, if a ship girl were to be decapitated…"

"If the brain's still intact and the head is brought back to us, she'd likely suffer a week of physical rehabilitation after recreating the body."

"But, if the head were to be affected…"

"Then pray that you die or recover quickly.

Trust me, anything could happen.

From being perfectly fine if you're lucky and your brain adapts and recovers, to personality corruption, memory loss, constant headaches or worse."

Akashi sighed, and explained,

"Look, humans don't understand the entirety of how their brain works, and it's almost the same for us ship girls, despite everything up in here…"

Akashi pointed at her temple.

"...being for the most part ones, zeroes, tons of program lines, and modeled after the human psyche.

And besides, I'm helping you understand how the ship girl works in general, not here to give you a full-blown medical lecture-slash-philosophy lesson on the nature of the ship girl to help you get a doctorate degree."

Shigure nodded meekly in agreement, thinking about the conversation at hand and mentally going through the creation process of the ship girls,

She finally decided to ask a morbid question out of curiosity.

"I understand if our mind or our body fails under stress and injury, but can the soul fail?

I-I mean, if that made any sense..."

Shigure looked a little sheepish as she tried to think of a way to clarify herself, but Akashi nodded as she answered with the bored tone of an experienced doctor explaining bodily functions to a child, seemingly dulled by her life's experiences and almost unfazed by what she was talking about.

"With the three aspects of the ship girl, there come the three stresses, psychological stress for the mind, physical stress for the body, and emotional stress for the soul.

The constant stress from battles, the ever-present threat of death, and the less-than-pleasant memories of World War 2 will wear down the mind.

The repeated destruction and subsequent recovery from life-threatening injuries may cause the body to weaken and break down from needing to be replaced so many times.

The inevitable loss of comrades and sister ships along with the very dangerous possibility of a fatalistic attitude seeping in would take a toll on your soul, warping the soul and causing a negative change within you.

And since the soul powers your body and mind, what do you think will happen to you when you fall into despair and lose heart?

Well, I suppose when we gain the ability to understand our pasts and experience life's ups and downs, it also helps when we can communicate with one another and express our joys and sorrows.

It's just..."

Shigure noted the slightly saddened expression, or at least Akashi being a little more sad than usual as she explained to Shigure.

"I'm just one repair ship, and I can't help everyone with their problems.

Especially since ship girls, much like humans, sometimes refuse all help when they need it most and make things difficult for me.

Because of that, I sometimes have to delegate the responsibility of helping them to a ship girl who's in a better position to help them with their issues.

And as you might expect, I absolutely dislike this method as I can't personally talk to them, which greatly increases the possibility of miscommunication and making things worse."

Shigure had a good idea of where this was going, and Shigure looked towards the repair ship as she cautiously asked.

"Let me guess.

You want me to talk to someone, right?"

Akashi nodded as she met Shigure's gaze, answering honestly.

"Well, it was quite a coincidence that you wanted to find me, because I wanted to find you and ask you to talk to a fellow ship girl who tried to bury her pain after a ship girl close to her sank."

Shigure winced at that, now extremely intrigued and concerned about the ship girl in question, Shigure understanding the feelings of pain and loneliness that could overwhelm ship girls who weren't mentally prepared to face and deal with these turbulent thoughts and feelings.

Akashi's gaze softened as she saw the helpfulness and sincerity reflected in Shigure's eyes, asking Shigure about a certain destroyer in the 2nd Fleet.

"What do you know about Shimakaze?"

* * *

After a sumptuous breakfast the next day, Shigure was hanging out with her sisters Samidare, Yuudachi and Murasame, her third sister ship having been on a long two week expedition and was only able to return yesterday, Murasame immediately taking a long nap upon returning and was unable to meet Shigure.

Murasame was understanding of Shigure's circumstances and accepted her apologies, Yuudachi and Samidare consoling and reassuring her all the while.

Murasame was wearing the signature black sailor uniform of the Shiratsuyu-Class, possessing beige-colored hair tied up in long twin-tails reaching down to her hips, and had reddish-brown eyes that were wide and lively, something Shigure found soothing.

Somehow, she needed it in her life to balance out the morbid and depressing matters that insightful ship girls like Akashi were there to discuss and explain, like the workings of the ship girl and the darker topics of the war.

But whenever she needed a shoulder to lean on, she realized that her lively sisters Yuudachi and Murasame were always there for her.

But Shimakaze was always alone.

Sure, she had seen the self-proclaimed 'Fastest Destroyer' running around the base numerous times and often hung out often with the 2nd Fleet, but unlike the majority of destroyers, she didn't have any sister ships.

Not only did she have to bear the burdens of the war, but she also had to do so alone and without any family members to greet her when she went to bed, or when she needed a shoulder to cry on.

Like Aoba, she wondered if she could somehow help out the lonely destroyer by talking to her and working something out.

But like Akashi explained as she laid out the plan, Shigure had to be deliberately kept in the dark to ensure that nothing tipped Shimakaze off about her ulterior motives.

Her ignorance as a newcomer also worked in her favor in that she could get closer to Shimakaze without fear of it looking like act of pity or sympathy, this being the most important reason why other Shigure alone was the only viable candidate.

Shimakaze was obsessed about going fast, being first and generally being a girl of action rather than words, so words were unlikely to get through to her.

So Shigure had to play her game in order to truly connect with her.

Even when she didn't know the specifics about what happened to her to make her so closed off and reluctant to accept help, Shigure felt it didn't matter.

Shimakaze was hurting, and Shigure, being someone who empathized with her situation, wanted to help her.

End of story.

So when she asked her sisters if they wanted to visit Shimakaze and keep her company, her sisters were understandably confused, but accepted the offer without question as the destroyer was likely in need of company.

* * *

The Shimakaze-Class destroyer was rather hard to find, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers always a few locations behind as they struggled with their manhunt despite the sailors and various ship girls around the base giving them a basic idea of Shimakaze's movement patterns.

In the end, Samidare, panting from the exertion of fast strolling around the base for a few hours, was the one who suggested that instead of trying to catch up to the fast destroyer, they should hunker down somewhere and wait for Shimakaze to come to them.

And in the absence of better ideas, the rest of the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers agreed to the plan.

Even Shigure, who admitted that while she genuinely wanted to befriend the lone destroyer, she wasn't going to exhaust herself simply trying to catch up to Shimakaze when she had an important sortie to go on tomorrow.

They picked a sheltered walkway with benches for them to rest and recuperate while they waited. And during the wait, Shigure took the time to speak with Murasame, who was also glad to have some time to get to know her sister better.

Murasame had been built quite a while ago, and after a few sorties, she asked to be sent on expeditions instead of sorties.

When Shigure asked her why she'd want to be stuck doing boring expeditions, Murasame smiled weakly and replied,

"Shigure, I'm sorry to say that not all of us are that eager for battle.

And I'm sorry to say that for me, my motto is that 'Discretion is the better part of valor'.

I'd rather do expeditions all day than risk my life in another battle."

Shigure nodded her head, completely understanding her sister's point of view and held Murasame's hand tightly to comfort her.

She knew that Murasame was quite active doing transport runs back in the war, and it was understandable if her sister wanted to stick to what she knew best rather than risk her life on the battlefield, where she had little aptitude for.

Murasame sheepishly scratched her head, trying not to get flustered at this revelation, laughing meekly as she looked to Shigure,

"Well, someone's got to keep the resources coming in, else we'd all starve here, right?"

And Shigure nodded sagely in reply.

If Murasame didn't wish to court death by sortieing all the time yet wanted to help everyone in her own way, who was she to judge her sister?

She changed the conversation topic to something less serious, talking about the recent weather changes and the fact that she was to sortie tomorrow.

And like that, with Samidare and Yuudachi talking merrily about something or another while waiting, Shigure was enjoying herself at this point in time.

No sorties to worry about, the war now a passing thought in her mind as she chatted with her sisters.

The weather was gentle as the winds barely rustled the nearby trees, and the clouds helped prevent the sun from beating down on them.

The temperature wasn't too hot due to said clouds keeping the sun from raising the ambient temperature despite summer being around the corner.

Shigure made sure to commit this moment to memory, having been made painfully aware of their violently short lives, and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't guarantee that all of them could be together like this in the future.

Her HUD read,

'5 April 2015

11.29 a.m.'

She noticed Shimakaze standing stealthily to the side, quite a fair distance from them.

Shigure wouldn't have noticed her if she had forgotten about keeping an eye out for the fast destroyer.

Shimakaze was carrying her three Rensouhou-chan and she was looking sad, an expression didn't fit the energetic, speed-obsessed destroyer.

The first time she met Shimakaze, she got the impression that Shimakaze was more like Sendai, enthusiastic about being the fastest as opposed to Sendai's enthusiasm for night battles.

Shimakaze wasn't exactly trying to hide, not that it was easy to hide yourself while wearing Shimakaze's embarrassingly revealing outfit, with a cut-off sleeveless sailor uniform top, a micro skirt, g-string, a pair of stockings, shoulder gloves and her black bunny ear headpiece.

But as Shigure looked in her direction, Shimakaze flinched as she turned away to try and escape the situation.

But Shigure bolted from her seat as she tried to catch the elusive destroyer, and finally intercepted Shimakaze.

She caught her gloved hand as Shigure tried to pacify the destroyer in front of her, Shimakaze looking a little scared of being mocked by the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers for peeking at them.

"Shimakaze-san, we've been waiting for you."

And Shimakaze's look changed from one of fear to one of faint surprise as Shigure continued.

"I-I know that you don't have any sister ships…"

And upon hearing that, Shimakaze's face darkened and she smacked Shigure's hand away with her free hand, looking away as she sneered.

"Yeah, I don't.

So why don't you rub it in some more, hmm?"

Shimakaze turned away from Shigure, her Rensouhou-chan all clicking furiously and their eyes in caricatures of closed eyes as they waved their cannons at Shigure.

"I don't need sister ships, not when I'm faster than you all."

But Shigure put her right hand on Shimakaze's left shoulder, which prompted Shimakaze to try and shrug off Shigure's hold on her.

And when they were face to face with each other, Shigure placed her left hand on Shimakaze's right shoulder, Shimakaze lazily swinging her head beneath Shigure's arm and turning away.

But as Shimakaze was trying to get away from the approaching group of Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers, she felt Shigure's hands clap on her shoulders, Shigure not allowing Shimakaze to escape.

Not when she was this close.

She announced,

"We just want to be friends, Shimakaze-san."

Samidare was the voice of reason, moving in slowly so as not to startle Shimakaze as she stated.

"Shimakaze-san, we really want to be friends with you.

We can't ever be your actual sisters, but we want to at least keep you company."

Yuudachi took up the rear and exclaimed,

"We just wanna get to know you better, is that too much to ask, Poi?!"

And Murasame was there, trying to convince Shimakaze.

"Is it too much to ask you to humor our attempts at friendship, even if we're not of the same family of destroyers?

We spent all morning looking for you."

And finally, when Shigure was uncertain if Shimakaze was going to simply walk away despite Samidare politely standing in her way, Shimakaze's shoulders slouched as she exhaled, wordlessly giving in to the suggestions of the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers.

Shigure broke out into a relieved grin as Shimakaze shook her shoulders free of Shigure's hands, Shimakaze bluntly asking.

"So what're we going to do?

I already know that I outclass you all terms of speed, so I'm not so heartless as to ask for a race."

And while the rest of the Shiratsuyu-Class looked to each other, looking confused and clearly not having thought things through, Shimakaze face-palmed along with her three Rensouhou-chan, but Shigure smirked, stating,

"I have an idea."

* * *

Lunch was the first order of things, where the Shigure's sisters surrounded Shimakaze and asked her questions in order to know more about her.

Shimakaze answered them all happily while eating her lunch in classic Shimakaze fashion and finishing her lunch first, saying that her day just got better knowing that she now had friends to hang out with.

Her interests were racing, exercising, training up on her sprints and challenging various ship girls to races, which everyone knew by now that they were going to lose, but still humored her anyway.

But one topic of conversation that Shigure noticed everyone avoided was about Shimakaze's past.

And exercising some tact, she also decided not to ask about such a sensitive topic.

But one thing Shigure couldn't figure out right now was how Shimakaze's smile seemed off.

Well, it was more about how she smoothly looked away when they attempted to know her on a personal level.

It was well-hidden behind her smile, and she recovered fast enough, but she couldn't figure out why the fast destroyer would react so negatively.

Was she uncomfortable with sharing her innermost thoughts because she didn't have any sister ships, or was it because of something bad happening to someone close to her in the past that caused her to distance herself from others?

The Shimakaze-Class destroyer was somewhat easy to read, and this made Shigure feel a little guilty about being able to see through her facade so easily.

After lunch, the group of destroyers were at the engineering block, where they surrounded two engineers and were pleading with them about something.

The engineering block to the extreme corner of the base was filled with scrap materials that were sorted into various large plastic trays with duct tape stuck on them and labels written on them.

There were sawn-off metal poles piled up in one tray, their ends thankfully filed down to blunt edges as they were held down by leather straps and stored at the end of the hangar.

There were instruction pamphlets stapled onto the notice board and engineer uniforms left out to dry on the racks outside where the sun shone.

Machining tools hung from the ceiling like vines from a jungle ceiling, and some of the equipment, like the furnace that was essentially a large oven, was bolted down to the hangar floor with heavy-duty bolts and sealed when not in use, smaller handheld equipment left on the steel shelves.

The whole hangar stank of motor oil and the metallic taste of metal shavings, the impressive ventilation system keeping the air reasonably clean and was a true playground for the two engineers standing before the destroyers.

The engineers were both wearing oil-stained overalls with their name tags sewn atop them, one named 'Akio Fujishima', was a man who looked to be in his thirties, with short cropped hair, black eyes that were hidden behind horn-rimmed glasses.

He was trying to pacify the enthusiastic destroyers surrounding him with his gentle and pacifistic demeanor while standing by his buddy 'Kousuke Nakagawa', who had shorter hair that was barely a centimeter above his scalp, was a little bit pudgy and also wore glasses.

He was smirking at the fact that his best friend was becoming so popular all of a sudden and was shyly dealing with the girls before them.

Shigure was trying to explain the situation to the two engineers,

"We want to loan your go-karts.

We're trying to keep Shimakaze here company, and I heard that you had several go-karts in the hangar to be brought out to race if we could afford the price."

And Yuudachi asked,

"How do you guys have the time to craft the go-karts, Poi?"

And Kousuke answered.

"Well, as to the second question, we're still human.

We still have to entertain ourselves, which isn't too difficult since we're surrounded by spare materials and enough spare time.

Not every one of us has the physique to play basketball as a means to pass the time."

Akio turned back to regard his friend, mocking,

"Yeah, we can tell from your body that you're clearly in no position to engage in any physical activities.

Go do some damn cardio, why don't you? We're at a military base, after all."

"Yeah, well, so long as you remember who has the higher GPA here when we graduated, I'm fine with you taking pot shots at me about my weight, bitch."

Akio waved him off, and turned to face the ship girls.

"We make a lot of the items in the base, but we leave the creation of ship girls and your weapons to the Fairies.

Anything within the base, from beds to benches, we build them.

And since the Admiral's pretty lax about these things, so long as we use spare resources within reason, don't do anything illegal and build these things in our spare time, she doesn't really care what we do."

Samidare pleaded,

"Please, good sir, we are willing to pay the fare if you'll let us ride the go-karts!"

But Kousuke assured her with a relaxed wave.

"It's alright.

We make these things for everyone on this base, and we're more than happy to do anything to help you all relax and relieve your stress.

Go-karts, see-saws, swings, even spare uniforms if you need them."

And Murasame then asked,

"So how much do we have to pay to ride the go-karts?"

And as Akio moved over to the notice board to pick up a set of keys and exited through a door marked 'Garage', Kousuke shrugged and replied.

"Depends how many times you want to run the downhill course."

But when Yuudachi asked why they were only limited to the downhill course, Kousuke deadpanned,

"Well, each one of you destroyers weigh a fair bit more than a human adult even with your ship girl mode turned off.

Considering how much gas the engine's going to consume to move the go-kart uphill, it's more fuel-efficient to only allow downhill runs."

Akio approached the group in a white golf-cart with a small shelter to protect the driver from rain or shine, and in the exposed trunk were a few stacks of traffic cones, 'Do Not Cross' tapes, and a few 'Stop' signs along with some metal poles to prop up the said signs.

He gently pressed on the brakes and brought the already sluggish cart to a halt as he chirped.

"Remember when Yamato asked to ride the uphill course the first week she was here?

The go-kart slid back down after going a few meters up the slope and used up two-thirds of the gas tank."

Kousuke raised an eyebrow at Akio's choice of transport, and asked his best friend.

"Yo, man.

I know that you have shit taste in cars, but could you have picked something with a little more power?

I think even _I_ could out-walk that slow cart everyone uses to get around the base."

But Akio smirked at him, and retorted.

"Yeah, but I gotta bite the bullet because I don't want you to get a heart attack or something when you exert yourself as you walk the course, right?"

Right as he pressed down on the accelerator and turned to the left to exit the hangar.

Kousuke returned the shit-eating smirk and raised his middle finger to his friend, who noted the gesture and returned the gesture while driving away.

When Akio was out of sight, Samidare asked Kousuke, who lowered his hand in a wary voice.

"U-Um, is it alright to treat your friend that way?"

Kousuke shrugged and waved off her concerns, motioning for the destroyers to follow her.

"Eh, it's alright.

We've known each other since young, so we don't really mind it when we trash talk each other.

Not when we know when to cut the bullshit and focus on our jobs when necessary.

Come on, now. We're gonna have to adjust the seats of the go-karts so that you girls are comfortable while Akio sets up the track."

Opening a door on the far end of the room, Kousuke led the group into a well-lit hangar of engineering wonders, amongst them a Ferris Wheel about 3 meters tall and sitting intimidatingly in the middle of the hangar, almost kissing the steel beams atop the hangar roof.

There were several rollers and wheels mounted underneath the large structure, a generator mounted beneath the Wheel the source of power for the currently-inactive light bulbs on the Ferris wheel structure and carriages with steps leading up to the lowest carriage.

The whole structure was made out of reinforced steel and carbon fiber, Kousuke noting the destroyers' interest in the large structure and commented.

"We bring this bad boy out whenever we have a festival of sorts, and the Admiral decides it's ok to waste some fuel powering it for the night."

But when Murasame asked,

"B-But what counts as an occasion for celebration so important that we can bring this Ferris Wheel out?"

Kousuke shrugged and replied dryly.

"Dunno. We haven't got much reason to celebrate nowadays, if you know what I mean.

Besides, we're in the military, and we don't celebrate holidays like normal civilians do."

But as the destroyers drooped their heads and looked depressed at that reality check, Kousuke tried to salvage the situation by scratching his head sheepishly and saying,

"Well, it's not though we don't celebrate at all.

It's just that, we just wait for a lull in the enemy's movements before our Admiral decides it's safe to celebrate some random holiday.

Maybe you'll get to ride it one of these days, if the enemy eases up on their offense."

Walking through the hangar, Shigure noted several stored equipment that were lying around the hangar, one of them being gas-powered rockets stored in a locker secured with heavy-duty padlocks, a large sign on it stating,

"NO DESTROYERS ALLOWED".

Several steel sculptures stood at another corner, depicting several ship girls in authoritative positions or pointing their weapons at unseen enemies.

There were also a few steel swings, an electronics corner with several dismantled laptops and a miniature racetrack marked out by metal girders with remote-controlled drift cars parked to the side.

Finally, they approached six go-karts at the end of the hangar, all hooked together via a heavy-duty cable with a mini-jeep pulling them along.

And by the looks of it, the go-karts were incredibly well-made.

Shigure wasn't an engineer, but she could learn to appreciate good engineering, Shigure herself being the result of a major engineering marvel.

The joints were smooth and the welding faultless, the handles on the underside of the racing seats used to adjust its position with seat belts hanging from the top corners and formed an 'X'.

And by the looks of it, the whole kart itself was crafted to be able to support the weight of almost any ship girl out there as the car tires looked sturdy enough to carry them over any terrain without bursting.

The engine that was tucked behind the driver's seat possessed six pistons, the wiring and tubes stretching out from it neatly bundled up and tucked into the frame of the kart.

The sealed gearbox was covered by the the go-kart's protective shell with colored foam cushions forming an extra layer of protection.

Kousuke clapped his hands to get their attention, announcing.

"Well, girls, get into a go-kart and adjust the seats accordingly until you're all comfortable.

Let me know when you're done, and we'll be on our way onto the course."

Shimakaze naturally ran for the first go-kart and immediately went to work on the seat, the Rensouhou-chan all cheering her on as she studied the workings of the car with genuine interest.

An excited Yuudachi ran for the second go-kart and fiddled with the controls while Samidare politely occupied the last go-kart, pressing her dress in as she sat down and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Murasame went up to the fourth go-kart and motioned for Shigure to take up the third go-kart as she broke out into a wide smile, Shigure as she occupied the third go-kart.

The cushion was hard but not uncomfortable as it was designed to support the ship girl body for extended periods of time.

Shigure noted Kousuke retrieving several hair nets as she buckled her seat belt, coming up behind them and passing out the hair nets, announcing in the classic bored-theme-park-announcer voice,

"Be warned that your long hair can get caught in the many moving parts of the go-kart.

Hence the hair nets to tie up your hair.

This is _compulsory_ , no questions."

The destroyers accepted the hair net without question, understanding that their long, flowing hair risked getting caught in the moving mechanical parts.

After reaching Samidare, Kousuke bent down to uncouple the sixth and final go-kart from the queue, pulling out five wireless helmets from a shelf to hand out to the five destroyers, Shigure noting that the helmet had a built-in microphone as she buckled her black helmet and pulled down the visor.

And as Kousuke walked down the queue of destroyers doing up their hair to pass out the helmets, he motioned to Shimakaze, stating,

"Your little boys can't be with you on the go-kart, but they can sit in the spectator stand and watch the live feed.

We don't want you dropping one of them on the way down.

Also, no bunny ears, unfortunately."

Shimakaze looked distraught by this, but her Rensouhou-Chan cheered her up, chirping merrily and waving their cannons around in an attempt to get their master to smile.

And finally, Shimakaze's eyes hardened as she nodded, removing her bunny ears and handing it to Kousuke.

Shigure tilted her head to observe the Shimakaze-Class destroyer and found that without the black bunny ears, her signature blonde hair hidden by the blue helmet and her trio of Rensouhou-chan missing, she looked like a very different girl indeed.

And finally, Kousuke announced as he opened the door of the mini-jeep to store the Rensouhou-Chan and start the engine.

"On the way there, you all can talk about how many runs you want to do.

The maximum of four runs cost about 3500 yen, and every other round costs another 1800 yen because of gas prices."

But amidst the destroyers' groans about being reminded to spend a fair bit of their salary to pay for the ride, Shigure nodded at the price, understanding the situation the world was in.

A voice popped up from the sides of Shigure's helmet, Kousuke's voice instructing,

"Alright, push down the emergency brake, AKA the lever located to your left, and we'll be on our way."

The go-karts lurched after everyone disengaged the emergency brakes, the mini-jeep pulling the line of go-karts out of the hangar exit at a low speed.

The queue was led out of the hangar onto the road that led into the forest where Shigure could see the neatly trimmed trees shielding them from the sun, the asphalt showing signs of use despite it being on the outskirts of the base.

Shigure heard the voice of Kousuke again from the in-built audio transceiver in her helmet, explaining.

"I ain't here to give you an engineering lesson, so all you need to know is that the go-karts themselves can reach up to about 160 km/h.

The three pedals beneath your feet are what's going to run your go-karts. The pedal shaped 'A'..."

Shigure looked down, and indeed, the right pedal was shaped like an 'A', the 'B' pedal in the middle and the last pedal on the left being 'C'.

"...is what's going to make the car go 'vroom vroom', alright?

The 'B' pedal is the brake, and it's what's going to slow you down.

If you want to shift gears to go faster or slower, press down on the 'C' pedal to release the clutch, press one of the paddles behind the steering wheel to shift gears before re-engaging the clutch by releasing the clutch pedal.

For the steering wheel paddles, remember: Left is to shift down, Right paddle's to shift up one gear, and there's a total of six gears.

The speedometer on the steering wheel will change from green numbers to red to let you know when you are going too fast, or amber to tell you that you're too slow while engaging the gear.

And when that happens, for god's sake, please _change gears._ "

As they entered the forest, a pleasant scenery came into view as the environmental flora were trimmed regularly, the road here marred by black tire tracks stretching down the road, a result of numerous high-speed races being held here.

Kousuke continued,

"If you're worried about practice, don't worry.

We've got a car-park at the top of the hill for you to let loose.

And if you want to speak, press the 'talk' button on the helmet."

A small static sound was heard before Yuudachi's voice spoke up in the headset, Yuudachi exclaiming.

"Is this going to be the best afternoon ever, or what, Poi?!"

Before Samidare interrupted,

"I do foresee that this is going to be fun, but everyone, please exercise caution when on the road, please!"

"Maa, don't worry about that, and instead worry about how I'm going to leave you in the dust!"

Murasame's voice boomed, and Yuudachi's laugh could be heard while Samidare sputtered, Shimakaze joining the conversation and proclaiming.

"Everyone, please.

All of you are going to have to compete for second place, especially now that I'm here with you all."

Shigure smirked at the banter as she recalled Akashi's explanation about the go-karts themselves.

Somewhere along the ten-year history of the base, these go-karts were built as a form of entertainment for the base's occupants and was to be used on the less-often used roads that were built when the entire base was renovated to become one of the largest ship girl naval bases in Japan.

When Shigure asked for a short history lesson of the naval base itself, Akashi obliged, saying that the reason why they took ten full years into the war to decide to renovate the Yokosuka Naval Base was because before that, the Japanese government thought that they could still keep the war under wraps, and the complete renovation of one of the most prominent naval bases in Japan to accommodate girls of steel that could walk on water was anything but discrete.

And thus, after the big reveal ten years ago, there was relatively little paperwork needed to hand the naval base back into Japanese hands, since the Americans had already been brought up to speed three years into the war when it was clear that the ship girls needed an industrial giant to power the Japanese war machine while keeping everything a secret from the world.

Going off on a tangent, she described that the Americans had relatively little success in summoning their ship girls unlike the Germans and Italians, until three years of hard work with a few Fairies sent over to them produced the first American ship girl to be shown off to other countries via mass teleconference with almost every ship girl base at the time, as well as several ambassadors from participating countries eager to see what they had been investing in.

Old grudges and bad memories were being brought up, and the Japanese ship girls weren't too happy about this development, but ultimately attended the teleconference out of respect for the Americans' dedication to the cause by supplying resources and performing aerial bombardment when necessary.

The summoned USN ship?

William D. Porter.

Akashi said that even though the teleconference itself was purged from the internet by the powerful and influential Americans, the tale would forever be passed on by word-of-mouth, memory sharing via wireless torrenting between ship girls or by accessing the deep web.

During the teleconference, William D. Porter tried to prove the might of the USN despite her apparent nervousness by attempting to twirl her handheld ship girl cannon in a style reminiscent of cowboys in old Westerns.

Key word being _attempted._

The unlucky destroyer promptly shot herself in the foot.

By accident.

On a global live teleconference.

The high-pitched scream that came from the White House coupled with a resounding bout of laughter that rocked the coast of Eastern Japan and the ports of Europe formed one gigantic mystery that plagued the internet's conspiracy theorists for another four years before the big reveal.

The fact that Willie D. Porter tried to salvage the situation by posing with two peace hand signs held beside her teary-eyed smile as she was carted off by six muscular medics before the teleconference ended helped her subsequent clones earn the nickname of 'LOLboat' to this day.

Despite that hiccup, the USN dedicated their resources into mass-producing ship girls to help hold the fort against the Abyssals, who had already begun to _really_ pile on the pressure with their mass-produced Elite Abyssals in the second quarter of the war.

And that wasn't accounting for how much they helped in the third quarter of the war, where major changes rocked their world with the establishment of rights, something the Americans learnt well from their own history, and garnering major support from the public.

And that was around when the Princesses came…

Akashi explained to Shigure that any wartime grievances between the ship girls had to be slowly resolved over time because they had to work together to effectively combat the Abyssals, this being an undeniable fact that all ship girls learnt to accept sooner or later.

So despite the fact that a few fights were going to break out between ship girls who bore major grudges against each other, a few ship girls in the naval war have reconciled and befriended each other despite their violent history together.

And the unspoken rule of survival amongst them was that their grudge matches should be kept to backyard fights and _never_ be allowed to influence the battlefield where each ship girl watched each other's backs, this ironclad rule transcending nationality, history, and ship class.

Shigure was brought back to reality by the line of go-karts stopping atop some sort of hill overlooking the base, the voice of Kousuke chirping in Shigure's ear as she shook her head to focus on the present.

"Alright, we're here.

I'll uncouple the cables that tie your cars together, and you can ride around the car-park until Akio finishes setting up the track."

Right as Shigure saw the engineer walk out and start uncoupling the cars, observing that the cables had some sort of mechanism on them that hooked the cable to the underside of the go-karts via the steel frames.

As Shigure waited for the cars to all be uncoupled before they started to drive off, Shigure pressed the 'talk' button just as Kousuke returned to the car, asking.

"Kousuke-san, I was just just wondering.

Do the carriers and battleships go-kart often, or do they have actual cars of their own?"

Kousuke's voice answered,

"The current setup is good for carrying anything up to a heavy cruiser.

It's not as if a lot of older ship girls come here to race, it's mostly destroyers and light cruisers since y'all _technically_ aren't old enough to buy cars, and will likely never be.

But if a battleship or a carrier were to ask to ride on our go-karts, we'd have to do a quick swap out for stronger and more long-lasting brakes to compensate for their weight and use heavy-duty tires which doesn't allow them to drift.

The chassis however, and that's the body of the car, is capable of supporting anyone."

Murasame voiced a simple question,

"How do you know?"

She got a simple answer.

"We got the Yamato and Nagato-Class battleships to drive it downhill.

 _Several times._

It works."

Kousuke left them with a final piece of advice.

"You can play 'bumper cars' with each other right now, but incur any damages and y'all are paying for it, you hear me, kids?"

Followed by a chorus of "YES, SIR!" from the destroyers, Kousuke waving with a smug grin as he replied,

"Nah, just kidding.

We'll rope you in for repairs, but you don't have to pay a single yen for the repairs since y'all do so much for us already.

We'd feel bad if we tax you 'Saviors of Mankind' for all the lill' things, eh?"

They pulled out their wallets to pay the fee that the destroyers made sure to withdraw from the cash machines around the base in advance, Akashi sharing the fee beforehand to prevent any complications.

For the next fifteen minutes, Shigure learnt the basics of driving, following Kousuke's advice and shifting gears when the speedometer notified her, while Yuudachi experimented with the controls by pulling on the emergency brakes and spinning out, only to laugh heartily upon stopping as Shimakaze did her own thing and maneuvered her go-kart fluidly.

Shigure observed the Shimakaze-Class destroyer every so often and noted her movements, theorizing that Shimakaze wasn't a stranger to driving as she did everything with only a slight uncertainty as if running through everything again to check if her memory served her well.

Samidare was more reserved, pressing down on the pedal for a burst of speed, only to ease up on the accelerator with a frightened squeak and losing her momentum while Murasame was swerving and trying to master maneuvering her go-kart through the imaginary corners in her mind, Shigure's HUD displaying.

'2.37 p.m.'

Kousuke's voice chirped again on the helmet speakers.

"Hey, Akio, you finish setting up the track, or did you crash the golf cart _again?"_

And Akio's irritated voice responded wearily, as though having heard this joke too many times.

"It was that one time, and the road was wet from the rain…"

"Yeah, why don't I get you one of those baby walkers, where you can sit down on it and crash _that_ as you run it down the course?"

"Yeah, fuck you too."

Kousuke got the destroyers' attention via the speaker, getting into the booth with several monitors overlooking a few corners on the course and changing every few seconds, the Rensouhou-Chan trio chirping animatedly inside the booth.

The booth was flanked by a road marked out 'Exit', and on the other side was some sort of escalator with the same hooks used to connect and transport the go-karts, Kousuke announcing when they maneuvered their go-karts to the exit of the car-park.

"Alright, after you go down the course, Akio will be down there making sure you all reach the end of the course.

He'll be manning the machine to take you back up, so follow his instructions, alright?"

He jerked his thumb at the sheltered escalator made out of steel poles and folded metal sheets, the windows perhaps made out of transparent acrylic or Plexiglas.

But Shigure and the rest of the destroyers were focused on the Exit path ahead of them, an oft-traversed path that was evidenced by the skid marks on the floor.

It led down the hill and vanished behind a corner, Shigure's foot resting on the accelerator as her other foot held down the brake pedal.

The installed traffic light displayed red, but as the lights changed to green, Shigure released the brake pedal and pushed down on the accelerator to gain a burst of speed.

The exit of the car-park was relatively narrow, only allowing only two go-karts to enter the course at a time.

Yuudachi and Shimakaze went first, Murasame and Shigure entering second and Samidare starting out last as she offered to take up the rear.

Shigure changed gears, the loud engine changing in pitch as Shigure released the clutch to press down on the accelerator, the resulting burst of speed pushing her back into her seat.

The incline was gentle and the corners weren't too sharp, allowing for high-speed cornering as Shigure noted the speedometer reminding her that she had to change gears again.

In front of her, she could see Shimakaze and Yuudachi duking it out while Murasame was struggling to control the go-kart while driving on this unexpectedly fast section of the course.

She couldn't divert her attention to look back at Samidare when she didn't know the course well enough.

Besides, she knew Samidare wasn't the type to take things to the extreme, likely preferring to take the course especially slow on the first run.

The trees that lined the road were trimmed such that they wouldn't pose a hazard to the drivers, and Shigure appreciated the view of the lush flora, the green and light grey-brown 'walls' guiding them and blocking out most of the elements as sunlight broke through the cover of the leaves to illuminate the road.

The road and the go-karts in front of Shigure disappeared to the right as Shigure's heart stopped.

But amidst her pounding heart, sweating forehead and white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, she calmly reminded herself that this was a mountain road, and there would eventually be corners.

And being on the left of the road, she swerved to the edge of the road before turning gently to cut in front of Murasame, who decided to play it safe by braking earlier, Shigure coming up on the inside of the turn and exiting swiftly, her mind whirling at how fast she was going.

' _Whew, I have to be careful not to sound too much like Shimakaze._

 _But I have to admit, this is a rush!'_

Shigure shifted up, seeing the brake lights of the two go-karts in front of her blink on and left red streaks as they approached the corner.

Yuudachi took the lead as they exited the corner, Shigure estimating the braking distance before cornering.

And as she came out of the corner, she noticed something about the Shimakaze-Class destroyer.

She was taking in _everything._

From the gutters barely covered by the weeds and the blades of grass to the minute cracks on the asphalt, Shimakaze's helmet twitched constantly in different directions as she took in the details of the course, Shigure looking on in amazement.

' _Is she using this run to learn the ins and outs out the course so that she can crush us in the later runs?'_

Shigure looked to her right, and as she matched Shimakaze's speed for an instant, she could see that the destroyer's eyes were watchful.

Almost calculating, if Shigure wasn't trying to focus on driving at the same time and had more time to analyze her at that moment.

But Shimakaze's eyes softened as she broke out into a soft smile, taking her hand off the steering wheel and pointing right in front of her as she stepped on a pedal.

Shigure looked back in front of her to find herself speeding into a left hairpin turn, black-and-yellow arrows surrounding the outside of the corner.

Shigure's heart stopped as she hit the brake pedal, hands jerking to the left as she used her foot to press on the clutch for an instant as she changed gears mid-turn, rustling the bushes as she exited the corner.

The road swerved to the right and Shigure sporadically pressed on the brakes as she entered the corner, wondering if the seat belt holding her down was really going to protect her despite being made out of steel and could easily recover from most wounds.

But just because you could recover quickly, didn't mean that you couldn't feel the pain.

Sometimes, Shigure lamented, it didn't pay to be a ship girl.

When she was _absolutely_ sure that she was figuratively out of the woods, Shigure took a deep breath and recalled Shimakaze's observant look.

Shimakaze was taking a step back to observe the situation instead of rushing in, before concentrating her efforts on where it really mattered to annihilate her enemies.

But then, Shigure thought, what changed her so much, to make her be capable of such a thing?

Akashi explained that Shimakaze was rather outgoing and brash during her younger days, so something had to _really_ affect her on a personal level to change her this much.

She had now become extremely guarded about her past, and everyone avoided that particular topic out of 'tact'.

But she temporarily shelved those thoughts, seeing Yuudachi spin her steering wheel to the right and pulling the emergency brake.

And as the rear of Yuudachi's go-kart swung out, Shigure's heart leapt into her throat, wondering why her sister was sabotaging her own lead.

But Yuudachi immediately counter-steered as she spun her steering wheel to the left, working the pedals and causing the go-kart to kick up smoke and debris as she drifted.

Shigure was suddenly thankful for the helmet visor as she mimicked her sister's movements as best she could, snapping the steering wheel to the left to counter-steer and hope for the best.

The resulting drift wasn't too shabby, working the pedals and gear paddles and eventually learning to maintain the drift throughout the corner, learning on the fly as she kept up with her sister ship.

The incline was starting to become a little steeper, this section of the course filled with turns and unexpected rises in the road where the ground rose to temporarily become an uphill climb before dropping like a meandering roller-coaster ride.

Throughout the course, Shigure had noticed several exits that had been closed off by Akio beforehand with the use of traffic cones and erected signs, and Shigure could get a bird's eye view of the base as she came across an opening in the forest to her left.

What she saw next took her breath away.

The base looked so massive from above, the larger buildings of the hospital and the Administration Office standing tall while the same cranes that were inactive when she arrived were now moving cargo about and doing their duties sluggishly yet efficiently.

The ocean was a brilliant sapphire blue as the afternoon sun was reflected off the ocean surface, the wake of several ship girls barely visible as she strained her bionic eyes, the trees parting to allow her this glimpse of what was essentially Paradise to a ship girl like her.

She was brought back to reality by a crowd of trees slamming by and blocking the view, Shigure barely braking in time to avoid crashing into a tree that was standing a little too close to the next hairpin corner and saving herself from having to spend a few days in the docks with a broken neck or limb.

Shigure could see Yuudachi drifting into another corner, but Shigure now knew that although drifting was a good way to enter the corners faster, she didn't want to rip her tires apart so soon into the race.

She braked prematurely, shifting down as she entered the corner at a decent speed while easing up on the brakes.

She was slowly catching up to Yuudachi, and amidst the pounding of her heart and the sweat on her sailor uniform, the shrill scream of the engine right behind her, the ground vanishing underneath her front bumper at an exhilarating speed, and her trembling palms on the steering wheel, she could _see._

She could see life flashing past her like the trees lining the road, each of them a passing thought as she raced down the mountain, the adrenaline coursing through her body as her mechanical heart pulsed.

And for an instant, she could feel as if she could see the world as Shimakaze saw it, the adrenaline rush overwhelming and addictive as all her concerns, burdens and responsibilities were left behind as she focused on the path ahead of her.

As she approached another sharp corner, she went with the flow and pulled the emergency brake for an instant to initiate a drift as she worked the pedals, smoothly exiting the corner while on Yuudachi's tail.

The go-kart was simple enough for a ship girl to pick up and learn, and drifting was a technique Shigure wanted to experiment with to see how fast she could go despite the second section being full of low-speed corners.

The incline steepened after the next corner, the winding 'S' road that curved to the left led to a wide right corner that was at least seven meters wide, but Shigure wasn't going to take any chances as she drove on the right side of the road and cut in sharply while braking, in contrast to her sister who entered the corner by drifting into it.

And as Shigure expected, just barely out of view of the two corners were the distinct yellow-black arrow signs near the exit to indicate a sharp turn as the incline of the wide road became gentler yet narrower at the exit.

Shigure could almost hear Yuudachi squeak as she kept to the outside lane, hastily engaging the brakes to slow down her go-kart in order not to miss the narrow exit and fly off the road.

Shigure easily passed her sister, having reduced her speed earlier and was able to maneuver freely while cornering.

And after that, Shigure only had to contend with a few more high speed corners, the last section of the course after that infamous corner having dangerously narrow roads.

She knew she was no longer on the main road and was now on one of the less often used roads that the higher-ups likely saw no need to widen due to its isolated location and lack of use.

Shigure found herself braking more often on the final section of the course, Shigure doing her best to navigate the high-speed corners while trying not to crash on a dangerously narrow road.

At the end of the course, a 'FINISH' banner was raised to signal the end of the course, a high-speed camera strapped to the erected steel pole to capture the winner of the race.

Akio was there, the golf cart parked at a small plain which doubled as a makeshift car-park.

Akio gestured for Shigure to get off the road, the destroyer turning to the left at the T-section where Akio was stationed, spotting the other end of the heavy-duty escalator that could be seen at the top of the hill.

Akio motioned for her to stop, and as Shigure unbuckled her helmet to air her hair, Akio mentioned,

"Well, that was quite the lap record you clocked in at.

You interested in breaking the fastest destroyer time record?"

And Shigure smirked cheekily, welcoming a challenge.

"If that's possible.

But I think I know who set that record in the first place…"

Akio smirked, and pointed behind her at another go-kart entering the car-park.

"Speak of the devil…"

Shigure turned her head to follow the direction of Akio's finger, already certain of the destroyer's identity.

"...And the devil appears."

The rider of the go-kart wore a blue helmet with conspicuous strands of blonde hair peeking out, wearing her blue-white sleeveless sailor uniform and had a gloved hand on the steering wheel.

* * *

They had to wait for everyone to arrive, Shimakaze coming in second, Yuudachi third and Murasame a close fourth.

Samidare took the time to enjoy the view and thus came in last.

Akio explained that the escalator was used for transporting goods and cargo, the engineer duo 'putting the damn thing to good use' and used the escalator to transport the go-karts back up the hill, the escalator sheltered by the metal sheets and window panels.

The ride back up the hill had quite a view of the forest as the windows were kept relatively clean, if only marred by the dried marks of the wipers used to clean the windows in neat arcs.

The five of them chatted the entire time, Yuudachi loudly proclaiming that she was going to finish first this time and tried to out-proclaim Shimakaze, who was more confident in her boasts.

Samidare tried to diffuse the situation between the duo, Murasame enjoying the conversation and Shigure taking the time to enjoy the view of the forest.

The individual leaves that hung from the trees were a lively green, and along with the sun shining down at an angle upon them, the whole escalator was illuminated in a soft neon green glow and created a picturesque scene, the lights fixed to the ceiling currently turned off and connected by wires bolted to the ceiling.

Finally, they reached the top of the hill after a 20 minute climb, the conveyor belt moving surprisingly fast for a machine located so far out into the woods.

Along with the fact that the whole course took about 5 minutes to complete, it was a little more than half an hour after the start of the race, the clock now reading

'3.32 p.m.'

Again, the five of them lined up in two rows to begin the downhill race, and this time, Shimakaze and Shigure went first while Murasame and Yuudachi were behind them, Samidare naturally positioned last.

Kousuke announced that the first run was more for them to familiarize themselves with the course.

Now, Eurobeat music was available for them to listen to as they raced down the track and could be played by fiddling with the buttons on the steering wheel.

Shigure looked down and noticed the music player buttons on the steering wheel reading.

'Play/Pause',

'Next',

'Previous',

And a plus and minus button beside a sticker named 'Volume'.

Shigure tore her eyes away from the steering wheel and looked to Shimakaze, asking.

"So, how was today?"

Shimakaze looked back at her, replying.

"I had a lot of fun today, thanks!"

Before her eyes narrowed, and her smile widened.

"But I think this afternoon's going to be even more fun, now that I'm with you."

The Shimakaze-Class destroyer looked back at the road, adding on.

"I've never had anyone race with me like this in a long while, so for what it's worth, thank you."

Shigure was a bit touched by the genuine show of affection from the destroyer, but she looked closer into her eyes, and discerned something.

Yes, something did happen to her.

But what?

Shigure shook her head, remembering Akashi's words.

' _Shimakaze isn't the kind of person to properly express herself when it comes to anything that isn't related to speed or racing._

 _And with her lack of sister ships, she's probably more closed off and reserved than the average destroyer._

 _This is the easiest way to bond with her and get her to slowly open up, because let's face it._

 _If you competed with Shimakaze in any other kind of race, you'd already been left in the dust long ago._

 _But I know you, and I trust you to be smart and skilled enough to keep up with her if it's a race of pure skill.'_

And as the traffic light changed to green, the two of them bolted from the starting line, gaining speed as they sped down the winding road.

* * *

Shigure allowed Shimakaze to overtake her, having already run this course once and already knew the layout of the course, allowing her some brainpower to think as she kept up with Shimakaze in the first section of the course.

' _So fast!'_

Shigure exclaimed as Shimakaze vanished behind a corner, Shigure struggling to keep up with her.

' _Why is she so fast?_

 _It isn't because of the go-karts, they're all the same._

 _The tires aren't a major factor yet since they're still mostly intact, which means…"_

Shigure gulped as she braked to enter another turn at what she deemed to be the appropriate speed, noticing the widening gap between her and the leading go-kart.

' _It's my fault that I'm falling behind.'_

She looked down to the music player options, having never noticed them until now as she was focusing all her attention on not getting into an accident.

She pressed down on the 'Play' button and heard the comfortable volume of the track,

'Dejo & Bon - Wheelpower & Go!'

Sounding in her ears, shifting gears to catch up with Shimakaze as she continued to theorize.

' _Alright, so it's established that she doesn't like others knowing her on a personal level, but I don't like asking others for what happened to her, not without people saying I'm becoming like Aoba-san._

 _But since she's giving her all in this race, I guess I'll have to do the same and hope for the best!'_

Pulling the emergency brake to drift into a hairpin left, Shigure watched Shimakaze slowly pull away, Shimakaze's precise movements to guide her go-kart into the corners a result of her earlier observations which likely allowed her to correctly deduce the best line for the go-kart to follow.

'S _himakaze's had lost someone close to her, likely resulting in her reluctance to form close bonds with anyone to prevent herself from being hurt again in the same manner._ _'_

As she changed the music track with the 'Next' button to play,

'Ken Blast - The Top'

She observed the roads and how the destroyer before her was able to blitz through them without much effort, pressing the pedal to the metal in hopes of keeping up with her.

' _I can easily detect the signs because I look in the mirror everyday and sometimes see that same look of pain and loss_ _._

 _It's not hard to see through that smile of yours, Shimakaze-san._

 _But who was it?_

 _Was it someone whom you looked up to, or loved so much that you couldn't bear to see them go?'_

The second section of the course was coming up, and Shigure could feel herself catching up to the fastest Japanese destroyer, who thankfully had her physical advantage negated by being placed on equally fast go-karts.

She couldn't hear or even feel anyone behind her anymore, her world now only consisting of the two of them rushing down the course at breakneck speed, the speedometer now reading 96 km/h.

Shigure shifted her gears and aligned her go-kart upon approaching the wide corner with the narrow exit, initiating the drift two and a half seconds after Shimakaze initiated hers.

The two go-karts drifted into the corner, Shigure counter-steering as she saw Shimakaze barely doing the same and working the pedals effortlessly as she arrived at the narrow exit.

Shimakaze's bumper kissed the grass blades sticking out of the gutter on the outside of the corner as she exited the corner at breakneck speed with her brake lights on and entered the final section of the course, Shigure allowing Shimakaze to pull ahead as she trailed behind the destroyer, thinking.

' _It would be a sortie, obviously._

 _If I understand her correctly, her initial loneliness would be exacerbated after the loss, but since she's a prideful destroyer, she would want to project a facade of normalcy and strength, especially since she harps on about being number one in speed._

 _And the 'Fastest Destroyer' wouldn't want to show any signs of weakness, or, God forbid, slowing down, right?'_

Shigure approached the 'FINISH' banner, letting Shimakaze win this round. She decelerated, braked and shifted down as she approached the T-section, Akio whistling as he looked away from the monitors overlooking the course, Shigure's three sisters captured on several of the cameras as Akio announced.

"Yo, you girls cut, like, four seconds off of your previous time.

Shimakaze, you ready to break your previous lap record?"

As Shimakaze gave him a thumbs up, Akio chuckling and starting up the escalator.

"Well, no point holding you two here, not when your fastest sister isn't even three-quarters of the way down the course, so you girls go first."

Shigure nodded at him, barely trying her best to calm her heart down and think about the third run against a seemingly unstoppable Shimakaze.

* * *

The ride back up the hill was spent in silence, Shigure not having anything to say to Shimakaze at this point in time.

The sweat was starting to drench her uniform, and she had to try to find a patch of cloth that she could use to wipe her forehead and face without looking indecent.

She was reconsidering her hypothesis as the motor and rollers underneath the escalator whirred monotonously.

' _B_ _ut wait._

 _Could it be t_ _hat she's running from something?_

 _It'd still make sense._

 _If someone sank because of her, her inexperience in dealing with such matters, along with the guilt weighing down on her and her love for speed would mean she'd likely run away from her problems and not face them.'_

Shigure thought, resting her cheek on her left fist and remembering Shimakaze looking exceptionally distraught when she saw the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers enjoying each other's company.

' _The fact that everyone wouldn't want to ask about your problems would also make sense, because they'd want to 'tactfully' leave you alone.'_

The escalator ride ended there, the two destroyers got driving away from the escalator and maneuvering onto the car-park.

Shigure concluded,

' _I could be wrong, but I'm quite certain that I'm right._

 _You've lost somebody close to you in the past, and that's why you don't form close bonds so that you'd never be hurt like that again._

 _If the ship girl in question is a destroyer, there's also a possibility of Shimakaze seeing her as a pseudo-sister ship, making the loss even more devastating along with loneliness of being one-of-a-kind._

 _I guess there's only one way to find out.'_

Shigure pulled up beside Shimakaze at the starting line, and held down her brake pedal.

The Shimakaze-Class destroyer asked Shigure, who hadn't yet put on her helmet.

"Aren't you going to put on your helmet?"

To which Shigure responded,

"It isn't your fault she sank.

But no matter how fast you run, you can't run from your ghosts forever."

Causing Shimakaze to freeze up and her muscles to tense as her knuckles coiled around the steering wheel.

Shigure's ears picked up Shimakaze's breath stopping, as simply thought,

' _I see_ _.'_

Shigure buckled her helmet, the audio system in the helmet now playing,

'Chris Stanton - A Perfect Hero'

As she saw Shimakaze come back to her senses, jabbing the 'Talk' button to speak in her microphone, silently furious as she sneered,

" _We talkin', or we racin'?"_

Shigure simply stared at the road ahead of her, concentrating on going even faster than before and tuning everything else out.

The green light came on and the two destroyers started the race for the third time, their brake lights coming on as they approached the corner and left four brilliant red streaks as the two destroyers disappeared behind a corner.

* * *

K: "Akio, did you get a good look at those two destroyers, Shigure and Shimakaze?"

A: "..."

K: "Akio?"

A: "...One sec, I'm calling the police to report a pedophile in the area, _HAH!"_

K: "... This is serious, dude."

A: "..."

K: "Did you see their _eyes,_ dude?"

A: "...yeah."

K: "Like, I know they're ship girls, but, like, they're still _kids_ , man.

Not even teenagers, and they're capable of those ferocious and completely focused looks."

A: "..."

K: "..."

A: "... Kousuke?"

K: "Yeah?"

A: "Remember the good ol' days?"

K: "What good ol' days?"

A: "When Man made war with Man."

K: "...those days are over, man."

A: "Yeah, but when did we become so comfortable with sending little girls out to fight wars?"

K: "Kid soldiers ain't new man."

A: " _You get the point."_

K: "Yeah, well, so did the rest of humanity, and you know what the terrifying thing is?"

A: "What?"

K: "How quickly almost everyone got used to it."

A: "Amen to that."

* * *

Shigure was struggling here.

Somehow, Shimakaze was now going even faster, reducing the braking distance and using the resistance of the moving parts in the go-kart, her heavy weight and the expert handling of the steering wheel to engine brake upon entering a corner and accelerating when exiting the corner.

This gave her the impression of blurring when exiting a high-speed corner and vanishing from Shigure's sight, even if for a moment before Shigure caught up with her.

Shigure thought to herself.

' _Alright, so it's pretty much confirmed that_ _rather than dealing with her, she runs away from everything and hopes that it'll go away._

 _Not a good idea, but then, seeing that I haven't been in her shoes and lost a sister of mine, who am I to judge?'_

Her helmet was playing,

'M.o.v.e. - Dogfight'

Shigure was secretly pleased about the choice of music stirring her fighting spirit, excitedly shifting up as she exited another corner as the gap between her and Shimakaze only gradually widened.

' _I'm already hitting 100 km/h and I'm getting scared!_

 _How is she going even faster than I am and not breaking a sweat?_

 _Alright, alright, she's going to dominate the high-speed corners with her engine braking._

 _But at the second section of the course, I can catch up with her before the large corner, and then hope that I can somehow maintain the lead throughout the final section.'_

A small funnel of flames burst out from Shimakaze's exhaust pipe before she disappeared behind another corner, Shigure desperately trying to keep up with the go-kart before her, who was almost three go-kart lengths before her.

Throughout the second section of the course, Shigure concentrated on hugging every corner whenever possible, looking at Shimakaze and thinking,

' _I want to help her, but if things go on like this race, she'll distance herself from me, and I'll have lost my chance._

 _I can't let that happen!_

 _I'll do ANYTHING in my power to prevent that from happening!_ _'_

Shigure's eyes never wavered from the tail lights of Shimakaze's go-kart.

And that's when Shimakaze decided enough was enough.

About two-thirds into the second section, when Shigure was about half a go-kart's length from Shimakaze, she suddenly saw Shimakaze's brake lights flash.

Shigure's fear of crashing instantly kicked in and she released the accelerator out of self-preservation instincts.

But as Shigure slowed down, Shimakaze's brake lights instantly turned off, being turned on for barely a tenth of a second with a gentle press of the brake pedal to psyche her pursuer out.

Shigure cursed herself mentally and shifted gears to compensate for her lower speed, noting that the second section of the map was coming to an end, and she mentally sighed as she prepared herself for a second loss.

Shimakaze left Shigure in the dust as the distance between them now equaled three and a half car lengths, the song,

'Manuel - Gas Gas Gas'

Playing in her ears.

She estimated that Shimakaze was going about 120 km/h, and Shigure could only watch in despair as Shimakaze pulled ahead of her with no hints of even pressing down on her brakes as she disappeared behind another corner in a flash of blue, white and silver, blonde trails following the blitzing comet down it's unstoppable downhill descent.

* * *

Shigure was speechless at Shimakaze's timing, the destroyer already leaving her in the dust and was still hadn't broken her fastest record?

It boggled her mind how fast Shimakaze could go when she got serious.

And she was lost on how to approach the final lap as she rode the escalator, sitting in her go-kart and looking at the scenery while appreciating the break as she calmed her heart down.

Shimakaze sat before her and didn't look back, already writing the final lap off as a win. Her three sisters would be waiting at the top of the hill when the destroyer duo finished the fourth lap.

Her sisters didn't feel the need to waste their hard-earned money on a fourth lap, and Kousuke agreed to refund them the appropriate amount when they regrouped after the third run.

And Shimakaze…

Honestly, she got _really_ lucky by getting this chance to race with Shimakaze on more or less equal ground, where the natural advantage of Shimakaze's speed and their stats were irrelevant here.

But Shimakaze had her extraordinary racing skills which Shigure saw as a significant factor in the downhill battle.

Now what did Shigure have?

Shigure was undoubtedly lighter than the Shimakaze-Class destroyer despite both of them being destroyers.

Of course.

Shigure came to a conclusion after brainstorming.

Shigure was fighting a battle which Shimakaze was undoubtedly familiar with, but just how far had she been pushed while in her comfort zone?

If she always won, then Shigure wondered how would she hold up mentally should she face the possibility of losing while being pushed to the brink.

' _Well,'_ Shigure thought,

' _It isn't as if my chances of winning and taking it to a round five is absolutely zero._

 _I just need a way to beat her…'_

And looking at Shimakaze, she tried to think like Shimakaze.

To leave everything behind in pursuit of speed.

Fear.

Pain.

Sadness.

To leave these burdens behind, and go faster.

* * *

The fourth run down the course was about to begin.

But now, Shigure wasn't thinking about anything except going faster.

Much like Shimakaze, she now possessed a cold, steely look in her eyes, muscles coiled and ready to burst down the road as soon as the lights turned green.

But not before Shimakaze accidentally pulled ahead in a burst of speed a quarter of a second before the green light flashed, perhaps out of jittery nerves or an explicit intent to cheat.

But Shigure waited for the green light before accelerating from rest, Shimakaze leading by about a second.

They both looked like they were about to fight to the death, and Kousuke was already certain that the first-aid kit, stretcher and fire extinguisher he stored in the mini-jeep was going to come in handy, seeing how likely this dogfight between the two hardened destroyers was probably going to end in a fiery crash.

But he also saw that the two destroyers were waging some sort of war between them, the tension between them suffocating as they mentally forbade anyone from interfering.

And he did the only thing he could do in such a situation.

Sit by the sidelines to do his job, wave them on and hopefully be there for them when they were in trouble.

What a time to be alive.

* * *

Shigure wasn't furious at the attempt to cheat.

After all, someone had to take the lead.

And besides, Shigure need to observe Shimakaze's movements, and she couldn't do that while in the lead.

She observed Shimakaze's movements as she entered the corner and replicated them as best she could when she reached Shimakaze's position, remembering her impromptu preparatory lesson on the way up.

* * *

' _You will feel fear as you copy Shimakaze's movements,'_

 _Shigure closed her eyes, partially meditating as she imagined Akashi coaching her in order to prepare her for the fourth run._

' _This fear you feel is an illusion._

 _You are modeled after the human mind, and that's why human fears such as heights and spiders are passed onto you without taking into account the fact that you're a ship girl, and thus nigh-invulnerable to these things.'_

 _She tuned out everything in the environment and allowed Akashi to talk her into letting go of these irrational fears._

' _You will feel fear as you enter the corners at high speeds because you fear death, or at least fatal accidents that would kill a human._

 _But you are a SHIP GIRL, and you can survive these impacts._

 _And fear, in this scenario, will only serve to slow you down and make you lose focus.'_

 _Shigure raised her hand politely to address her imaginary coach, asking,_

' _Can you_ _guarantee I'm not going to die from the impact?_

 _I was wondering if I were to crash head-first into the tree and my head were to be pulverized like a watermelon underneath a falling anvil, and…'_

' _SILENCE!'_

 _Akashi raised her voice, before calmly reassuring her._

' _Y_ _ou wear a helmet for a reason, dear._

 _And besides, if you crash into a tree, you'll likely be going in leg-first, crashing through the trees and spending some time in the docks._

 _But it's alright, because you're a ship girl.'_

' _B-But,'_

 _Shigure sputtered quietly,_

 _'That doesn't make me feel any safer…'_

 _Coach Akashi asked obnoxiously as she leaned in and pointed at her ear,_

' _Who's the coach?'_

 _And Shigure could only look away as she muttered,_

' _You are.'_

' _Who's the coach?'_

' _You are.'_

 _Shigure hesitated, before adding,_

' _Ma'am.'_

' _Excellent!' Coach Akashi pulled back up and nodded, finally looking down at Shigure and leaving her with one last piece of advice._

' _Listen, if you want to show Shimakaze that you're serious, you've got to think like her, and RIDE like her._

 _Leave your fears at the starting line, and keep pushing forward despite what you may feel._

 _But remember._

 _She may not be perfect, but you can't just sit around and wait for the circumstances to align in your favor._

 _Pressure her into making mistakes, create opportunities and seize them when you can.'_

 _Shigure nodded, stating._

' _I got it.'_

 _Closing her eyes and concentrating in an attempt to convince herself that there was nothing to fear._

 _If Shimakaze could do it, so could she._

* * *

' _I can't hesitate or waver._

 _If Shimakaze can do it, so can I!'_

Barreling down the course, she observed Shimakaze's reduced braking distance, theorizing.

' _Since she weighs more than I do, she naturally needs to brake more to slow her car down._

 _But since this is a high-speed section, her momentum carries her into the corner while the car slows down by itself, allowing her to brake less.'_

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest upon seeing the trees fly past so quickly and the ground become a blur of grey-black asphalt beneath her, all of it irrelevant in her mind.

She observed Shimakaze blitzing through a corner that Shigure previously had to tap the brakes to even dare to enter.

But now, she mimicked Shimakaze's movements and felt the go-kart start to slide dangerously, Shigure immediately tapping the brakes to bring herself back on course and regain some traction, thinking to herself.

' _Shit._

 _I hate to admit, but I also expected Shimakaze's weight to keep the go-kart on the road, while I can't say the same for myself._

 _If I try to mimic her moves to the letter, I'd fly off the course the second my go-kart starts to slide to the point where I feel my tires are barely kissing the ground..._

 _For the fourth lap, it's alright if I fail to overtake her in the first and second sections._

 _The only thing that matters is that I keep up with her until that corner…'_

Several times, Shigure had to counter-steer to compensate for the sliding, and had a few close shaves which she learnt to brush off eventually.

The high-speed section ended where the second section began as the corners became sharper, Shigure stepping on the gas pedal to pull up to Shimakaze's rear bumper as they approached a right hand corner, the audio speaker now playing,

'Max Coveri - Golden Age'

She piled on the pressure now that Shimakaze's no-braking method of driving couldn't be applied here in the low-speed section.

She initiated the drift beside Shimakaze, almost spotting her panicked look as Shimakaze was forced to brake earlier to hug the inside of the corner.

Shigure controlled her drift with almost machine-like precision, knowing full well that you couldn't pass from the outside.

But she could pressurize Shimakaze into making a mistake and allowing this battle to stretch to a fifth round.

Admittedly, she knew that if Shimakaze recovered fast enough, she could pass Shigure in the last section of the course as it was also a high-speed section.

But she kept on pressuring Shimakaze, forcing her to brake more often and hug the inside of the corner, thinking to herself.

' _I knew it._

 _In the slow-speed section, her speed complex compels her to go fast and she has to brake more often before cornering, while I need to brake less as I maintain my velocity throughout the section._

 _Keep forcing her to brake more often and keep to the inside, and she'll be thrown off her rhythm.'_

The gutters loomed ominously as they flanked the road, ready to ensnare Shigure and cause her to spin out in case she lost control.

But Shigure was more than human, her enhanced learning senses as a sharp destroyer coupled with her eidetic memory as a ship girl and her training-enhanced reflexes working in harmony to keep the go-kart on the road and right on Shimakaze's tail.

The same clearing in the trees presented itself to Shigure, but she wasn't going to get distracted and spare it another glance, having nearly crashed because of it.

She instead focused her attention on braking and deciding when she was going to pull on the emergency brake to initiate the drift, executing it flawlessly and coming up behind Shimakaze.

' _This is it!_

 _The second section is coming to an end, and after the wide corner, it'll be another high-speed section where the roads will be even narrower._

 _I need to make my move soon!'_

Reading Shimakaze's movements correctly, she cut in to occupy the inside of the left corner as Shimakaze tried her best to body-block her while staying in the middle of the road.

Shigure drifted in tandem with her opponent, barely hearing the music player about to play the chorus of the current song,

'Nuage- Crazy Little Love'

As she snapped her car back to the right, entering the wide corner right behind Shimakaze go-kart.

The Shimakaze-Class destroyer's go-kart occupied the middle line marker and was pulling ahead of Shigure, who was still valiantly keeping up as she took the outside lane and reminded herself.

' _Everything's going according to plan._

 _Shimakaze is taking the fastest line through the corner, just as I predicted she would._

 _I'm sorry to say, Shimakaze, but on this corner, the line that allows you to go around it at the highest velocity… i_ _s not the best line!'_

Shigure closed her eyes, and pressed down on the accelerator.

In her mind, Shimakaze, upon exiting the corner, was about to push down on the brakes to slow herself down to fit into the narrow exit and would come up on the outside lane to maintain speed.

She kept her eyes closed and referred to her photographic memory of the exit as she put the pedal to the metal.

Her go-kart regained traction as the drift ended smoothly, gaining a burst of speed as Shigure shifted gears and slingshotted past the still-drifting Shimakaze on the outside lane of the exit.

She felt the wheels of the go-kart slowly losing touch with the asphalt as she exited the corner as she almost entered the gutter upon overtaking Shimakaze.

Her eyes flew open, her hands trembling and her face pale and sweaty from the near-death experience as the go-kart shifted its weight back onto all four wheels.

She brought her go-kart under control, exhaling sharply as she thought,

' _I can't believe that worked!_

 _Shimakaze-san likely blitzed through that corner, but that meant she had to use the brakes to slow the car down upon exiting._

 _I closed my eyes so as not to see the narrowing corner and instinctively press down on the brakes, allowing myself to slingshot past Shimakaze-san!_

 _I was so sure I would end up as a heap of burning metal on the side of the road, but now that I pulled it off, I have to pull ahead while Shimakaze-san is likely still shaken up!'_

And with the song,

'Mega NRG Man - Express Love'

Pounding inside of her helmet, Shigure traversed the fast-speed section, several brushes with death a reasonable price to pay for speeding down the final section of the course while using her improved handling and engine braking skills to achieve an unbelievable timing.

And at the finish line, Shigure took off her helmet and heard Akio's amazed whistle as she waited for Shimakaze, who wasn't far behind.

They rode up the escalator in silence as they mentally prepared themselves for the fifth and final round, both destroyers too occupied with their own thoughts to talk to each other.

* * *

Up the hill, Shigure and Shimakaze were greeted by the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers who had gotten off their go-karts and placed their helmets on the go-kart seats, approaching them with towels provided by Kousuke and cold drinks from nearby vending machines.

Shigure was now noting how thirsty she was as she took off her helmet to hungrily gulp down the contents of the can, Shimakaze doing the same as Murasame and Yuudachi flanked her, although Samidare was hanging back a little from the duo.

Wiping her sweat, Shigure called over to Shimakaze,

"Shimakaze, what say we bet on the outcome of the last round?"

This got Shimakaze's attention she proposed,

"If you win, I keep my nose of your affairs and leave you alone.

I win, and you confide in me your past and your woes.

How about it?"

Shimakaze smirked and replied,

"You're saying that as if you have a chance of winning."

Shigure retorted with a smirk of her own,

"You say that as if I didn't beat you just now, despite the fact that you cheated."

Shimakaze's left eye twitched violently at that as she crushed the plastic bottle in her hand, Murasame and Yuudachi leaning back and exclaiming.

" _OHHHH!"_

But Shimakaze composed herself and calmly replied,

"I accept.

See you at the finish line."

They both put on their helmets and slammed down their visors, already tuning everything out to focus on the decisive round.

* * *

Samidare didn't like the look on their faces.

She knew that her sisters would eventually become more powerful than her and become powerhouses of the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers while she accepted her limits.

But the cold look in Shigure and Shimakaze's eyes secretly shook her to the core, wondering if Shigure was going to be alright in the final lap where they apparently developed a fierce rivalry and wanted to win, no matter what.

She had already notified the two of them that they had agreed to use the money that Kousuke refunded to them to pay for Shigure and Shimakaze's fifth round.

And despite their protests, she assured them that the race that they paid for was going to be worth the price they paid.

She hoped.

She knew that Shigure had been through a lot in her past life, and despite seeing Shigure trying to make friends and learn more about the world, she accepted the fact that her sister was becoming stronger and tried to be there for her as often as she could.

But, when she looked at some of the destroyers, Shimakaze, Shigure, and even Hatsushimo, whom she talked to on quite a few occasions, she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.

They were maturing a little too quickly, accepting the burdens of war as an everyday part of life and wanted to become stronger at any cost.

Samidare noted that before putting on their helmets, Shimakaze and Shigure had on a look of absolute focus, a dangerous air surrounding them as they mentally prepared themselves for the final race.

She was more spiritually attuned to others, being an unofficial elder sister to everyone due to her calm and caring personality.

So it came as no surprise that she was absolutely _terrified_ by the two destroyers' intense auras.

Their strength, determination, pain, losses and growth formed an unstoppable and laser-focused air around them that made it almost suffocating to be in their presence when they were in the zone.

She was afraid that more of the destroyers would lose their innocence and eventually adopt this mindset when it came to anything, slowly poisoning their lives if they weren't careful in their pursuit of victory and strength at all costs.

She prayed that she didn't just pay to see her sister and her new friend crash and burn, vowing to never forgive herself if either one of them were sent to the docks because she paid for one last round.

* * *

Shigure allowed Shimakaze to take the lead.

The destroyer had an obsession with speed, after all, and it wouldn't feel right to have Shimakaze chasing her for the first half of the race.

Despite Shimakaze's growth, some habits were still hard to break and Shigure wasn't going to stop her anytime soon.

Shimakaze was now driving extremely dangerously, no longer allowing any margin for error as Shimakaze used her fastest lines to try and pull ahead, Shigure never letting up on the pressure.

She wanted to get to know the destroyer better, she really did.

But for thickheaded girls like Shimakaze, words often failed to persuade them of one's sincerity.

They were more about action, and somehow this made the problem worse when they had one-track minds and were easily bored when not dealing with anything relating to their favorite topics, Shimakaze's topic being speed.

And thus, to truly drive the point home, Akashi had told Shigure that this was the fastest way, albeit also being the riskiest.

' _But I believe in you, Shigure._ _'_

Shigure remembered Akashi's words yesterday.

' _I know that you hate seeing someone suffer, and I'm going to tell you right now._

 _Shimakaze is suffering._

 _What makes it worse is that she's suffering alone by running away from everything and everyone, and somehow thinks it's the best way to cope with things._

 _I know you can understand her and prove her wrong.'_

The track,

'M.o.v.e. - Outsoar the Rainbow'

Played in her mind as she entered another corner, wondering about this heart-to-heart session that required no words as she thought to herself.

' _Words truly fail us when we try to describe our losses, especially when someone's lost someone dear for the first time._

 _But we eventually learn to confide in others, and learn to live with the pain._

 _But what you're doing right now isn't that._

 _You're simply running from your problems, and eventually you'll hit a wall with nowhere to go.'_

Shigure gripped the steering wheel as she continued,

 _'You think that this way is the best way, indulging in your passion for speed._

 _And I understand_ _that speed is truly a wonderful thing._

 _With it, all of your troubles seem to melt away._

 _All the trauma, pain, issues, the War, all of it all fails to matter when you're running down a course at 147 km/h._

 _But you've perverted that love of speed, Shimakaze-san!_

 _You use it as a means to escape and forget your pain and grief, using it like a drug to escape your problems._

 _Along with a superficial smile and a guarded heart, you've become addicted to this means of escape!_

 _And because no one can catch up to you, you assume that this is the best way to deal with everything since no one can prove you wrong._

 _But I'm here now._

 _I'm going to beat you and show you that running away from your pain won't work forever!'_

A powerful ultramarine-blue aura that slowly shifted into a cerulean blue trail began to flow out of Shigure, her concentration starting to shift the air around her as she ran down the course while listening to.

'David Dima - Dancin' on the Street'

She was performing perfectly under pressure, patiently biding her time as she tried to pass Shimakaze at every corner and kept pressuring her into making a mistake.

Shigure knew that it was going to be difficult, seeing that the Shimakaze-Class destroyer was used to going this fast and was in her comfort zone as she ran down the course in the go-kart.

So Shigure drove as aggressively as she could to force Shimakaze's hand, being spurred on by her competitive spirit and desire to win that morphed her kind and quiet personality into a fierce spirit fueled by her competitive drive and the desire to be closer to Shimakaze.

She observed Shimakaze vanishing behind another corner, the insane speed leaving behind a white aura that almost formed a pair of wings that spread like a bird taking flight, almost symbolic of her fast nature before speeding away as Shigure admired Shimakaze's skill.

' _You are indeed skilled, Shimakaze-san._

 _Even on land, you never fail to pull out all the stops and leave everyone in the dust._

 _But you're up against me, who's also a stubborn little ship girl who secretly, absolutely hates to lose!'_

Shigure followed suit and entered the corner without hesitation, barely affected by the threat of death and only interested in going faster than ever before as she vanished in a burst of speed, utilizing Shimakaze's 'Moderate speed In, Fast Exit' to leave a trail of her blue aura in her wake.

As she felt the go-kart slide, she was reminded that she had to account for the grip in the tires as she exited the fast-speed section of the course and entered the low-speed section, where Shigure had the advantage.

But she wasn't going to pass her.

She kept up her pace and pressed down on the accelerator, the struggling Shimakaze trying to body-block her by occupying the inside.

Several times, Shigure was close to overtaking the destroyer, but Shimakaze desperately protected her lead, never having been pushed this far by anyone.

And that was the point that Shigure was secretly trying to make.

Seeing Shimakaze desperately trying to protect her lead attempting to pull ahead, Shigure thought to herself solemnly.

' _Shimakaze, you feel safe when you're outrunning everyone at a speed that only you can achieve, and that's what I'm going to undo._

 _First of all, your decision to take the lead every lap was your first mistake._

 _The one in front has to deal with the stress of the chasing car potentially passing them the entire time._

 _Your obsession with speed and finishing fast likely means that you dislike endurance and siege battles._

 _And with your personality, you will want to defeat anyone as quickly as possible._

 _But I've been putting the pressure on you ever since the last run, constantly trying to pass you._

 _Your memories are undoubtedly wearing you down despite your best efforts._

 _Add that to the intense pressure to win while trying to pull away from me to convince yourself of your own superiority along with the fact that I beat you once and made you seriously doubt your abilities._

 _It all weighs down on you and encroaches onto your safe haven that is anywhere above 120 km/h on the speedometer_ _._

 _This is the first time you've been pushed this far in your own comfort zone._

 _And this time, everything you usually do to escape isn't working, not when I'm following so close behind you and steadily piling the pressure on you._

 _You can't run forever, Shimakaze!_

 _The question is, how long can you last before you break?!'_

True to her word, she saw Shimakaze entering corners at speeds that almost seemed suicidal, constantly correcting herself as she kept her lead.

Shigure was now pushing Shimakaze to the limit as she hounded the destroyer before her and attempted to pass from the inside and outside, now keeping her front bumper no more than 10 centimeters behind Shimakaze's rear bumper and never letting up.

And by the end of the second section, Shigure could see Shimakaze mentally falling apart, trying to compensate for everything and trying everything in her book to pull away, entering the wide corner at a higher speed than Shigure did.

' _You're going in too fast!_

 _Shimakaze-san, your ship girl skills can save you, but can your will and mind hold out under the strain?'_

Shimakaze struggled with the steering wheel, working the gear paddles, pedals and the steering wheel in order to correct the go-kart as it slid dangerously around the corner, the wide road allowing her room to maneuver before the narrow exit.

In the end, Shimakaze decided to slam down on the brakes as she exited the corner, Shigure keeping her eyes open this time.

She knew that her previous trick likely wouldn't work this time due to the condition of her tires that had worn down over time.

She no longer possessed the element of surprise, and the mental wreck that was Shimakaze might attempt something suicidal in order to protect her lead.

Shigure tried to use the intuitive controls of the go-kart to try not to crash into Shimakaze's go-kart as they entered the third section, still riding behind Shimakaze as Shigure eased up on the accelerator, quickly but calmly swerving her steering wheel to the left and right as the go-kart's momentum carried her forward.

The go-kart's deceleration barely slowed her down enough to carry her through the corner without crashing, Shigure pressing down on the accelerator gently to push the go-kart forward and accelerating out of the turn.

Shimakaze's aura of concentration was already gone as she entered the corners too quickly and, as Shigure predicted, her frayed nerves that were not mentally used to or prepared for an extended psychological endurance battle was forced to brake out of the all-too-real fear of crashing as she exited the corner.

She failed to pull ahead as a result and this allowed Shigure to attack her from behind, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer poking holes at her defense while calmly assessing and sizing her up from behind.

Shimakaze was already mentally breaking down from the stress, making more and more mistakes while being thrown off her game even when she had the advantage in this section of the course as she was pushed further to her mental limit.

In the battle between two stubborn and competitive destroyers who refused to give up and kept pushing themselves and each other to the limit, something had to give.

And eventually, something did.

Shimakaze was accelerating into another corner, but made another mistake as her tires finally gave out and lost traction, threatening to send her flying off the road and into the docks as Shimakaze visibly struggled to recover from her mistake, shifting gears and counter-steering as Shigure approached.

Shigure mentally debated whether she should pass Shimakaze now, but eventually came to a conclusion and blitzed past Shimakaze.

As the devastated destroyer tried to recover from her fatal mistake and attempted to maintain her speed, her heart dropped upon witnessing Shigure's flawless maneuvering as she exited the corner, the starting of the song,

'Leo River - Runaway'

Resounding in her shaken mind.

Her trembling arms, pounding heart, sweaty clothes and rapid breathing were all ignored by her as she observed Shigure's go-kart pull ahead in front of her for a third time.

Shigure's ultramarine aura was pushing forward like an unstoppable storm cloud, changing in tone as it ran down her go-kart to leave a cerulean blue trail with azure blue raindrops streaking out horizontally behind her, almost akin to tears as Shigure perfectly and calmly controlled her go-kart to vanish behind another corner, accelerating without any hesitation and leaving the defeated Shimakaze behind.

* * *

The ride back up was deathly silent.

Shigure didn't want to look back for fear of what she would see, quietly taking off her helmet and hair net to ruffle and air her hair.

She was covered in sweat due to the exertion and the immense stress she was under, although she performed wonderfully.

Although she was a mature destroyer who could maintain her focus for extended periods of time, she still had a mind of a child and was prone to eventual burnout and fatigue.

Akio came of the booth as she crossed the finish line, congratulating Shigure on setting a new record on the course before spotting the tired expression on the winning destroyer and the defeated look on the other.

Shigure simply asked him to take them up, Akio nodding and smiling weakly at the both of them as the hooks of the conveyor belt caught their go-karts and carried them up.

Shigure finally looked to the engineer and thanked him for the race, and also for setting and packing up the track, Akio simply nodding in acknowledgement.

But the only thing she was worried about now was the fact that Shimakaze didn't make a sound behind her.

No cries of a rematch or even whining about the loss, things she mentally prepared herself for as she reached the finish line and waited for Shimakaze.

She tried to listen for _anything_ that would indicate any signs of life behind her, and heard some shuffling as she assumed Shimakaze was taking off her helmet.

She finally plucked up the courage to peek behind her, extremely worried that she would do something foolish.

What she saw slightly unnerved her.

Shimakaze looked almost comatose with the blank expression on her face as she likely tried to comprehend her loss at the hands of the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, blankly looking down at her steering wheel and her expression unreadable as her sweat-drenched uniform and disheveled hair were both ignored by her.

Shigure was panicking on the inside, but she reminded herself to keep calm as she tried to determine the best course of action to comfort the destroyer.

And after she reached the top of the escalator and silenced her cheering sisters, she spent the entire ride back to the engineering block in silent contemplation and finally came up with a simple plan.

Shimakaze was a girl of action.

Having lost at her own game for the first time was going to have major repercussions on her self-confidence and psyche, and she couldn't predict and account for all of them no matter how hard she tried.

But in these situations, maybe it was the right words that would truly resonate with her and help her understand...

Her sisters and the engineer duo had left them alone, feeling the tension between them and understanding Shigure's pleading look as they left for dinner.

She got off her go-kart, noting that the engines and tires were still smoking a little from the race as she narrowed her eyes and turned to face Shimakaze, who still had the same blank look from before.

Shigure addressed her.

"You may think that someone told me about it, but I'll say this right now.

I only figured things out during the race, when noticed how you didn't want anyone to bring up your past.

It would obviously be a sortie, where ship girls sink and don't come back.

You don't have any sister ships, so it should be someone whom you deeply loved or saw as a pseudo-sibling that sank on a sortie, although I admit that the finer details elude me."

Shigure scratched the back of her head and looked away as she explained herself.

"And when shit hit the fan, you ran from your problems.

I don't blame you for doing that, since no one can catch up to you and prove you wrong.

And just like that, you've become conceited and believed that this was the best way to handle things.

I've been through enough in my past life to know what you're feeling right now, and let's not lie to ourselves anymore.

No matter how fast you run, your past, and the ghosts that haunt you will always be waiting for you at the finish line when you slow down.

And we all need to slow down, sooner or later."

Shimakaze looked away upon hearing that, but she didn't get up and leave the one-sided conversation, which Shigure took as a sign that Shimakaze was at least partially interested in what she had to say, Shigure starting to ask the heavy questions as her expression darkened.

"You know that we destroyers utilize our extreme speed to outrun everyone.

But I'm truly curious.

Since when did you start running like a coward?"

That last line was what got a reaction from Shimakaze, her blonde brow twitching as she slowly raised her head to return Shigure's gaze as she continued.

"I genuinely want to help you, Shimakaze-san.

And when I learnt of go-karting, I knew it was likely the only way I could get through to you and show you that running away doesn't resolve anything, contrary to what you may believe.

Shigure cracked a small tired smile, Shimakaze's eyes widening at the expression.

"And I think understand you a little more now, Shimakaze-san.

That's why I want to know you even better.

So that I can be there to lend you a shoulder to cry on, to watch your back and also be someone who can keep up with you.

But I don't want to force anything on you.

About the bet…"

Shimakaze's shoulders locked up at the mention of that, her brows creased as she was visibly worried about the impending pseudo-interrogation.

But Shigure surprised her by saying,

"...I left a loophole in it.

I said that you have to share everything with me, but I never specified when."

Shigure put her hands in the pockets of her skirt as she regarded Shimakaze warmly.

"You can take your time and tell me everything at your own pace after you've sorted out your thoughts.

You can share them with me a week, a month, maybe even a year from now.

I'll be here for you whenever you're ready."

Shigure turned away and coolly walked away, pulling one hand out of her pockets to wave to a silent Shimakaze behind her as she exited the engineering block without looking back.


	11. Chapter 11 - Skirmish

The skies were clear on the 6th of April as the weather forecast predicted, the morning sun shining down on the 1st Fleet as they convened at the harbor to meet up with the Admiral and listen to her mission briefing before they sortied.

The Admiral brought along quite the crowd with her, the revered battleship Yamato sitting on the granite bench beside her and giving them her million-dollar smile as she held her folded umbrella.

Kongou was enthusiastically embracing the nonchalant Admiral from behind while Nagato sat on the Admiral's right with folded arms and seemingly meditating with closed eyes as she ignored the ruckus that was Kongou's Burning Love beside her and focusing on the situation at hand.

Akashi stood beside Yamato, keeping her distance from everyone as she looked away distractedly, looking as though she wanted to be somewhere else.

The 1st Fleet witnessed the Admiral being smothered by Kongou's hug as everyone noticed Hiei trembling, trying her best not to let her jealousy show upon witnessing her Onee-sama be so affectionate with someone that wasn't her, and it took a while before the Admiral patted Kongou's head to get her to stop and addressed the fleet gathered in front of her.

"Alright, your objective today is to sail along the route that will be sent by Yamato via wireless transmission and patrol the seas.

If you encounter an Abyssal Fleet, you are to determine your odds of winning and reach a consensus as to whether you should engage them or not."

Yamato nodded at that, raising her hand as she announced,

"Please prepare for the file transfer."

The fleet was distracted by something that popped up on their HUD before addressing it and nodding to the battleship to signal the successful file transfer, Yamato smiling warmly as Admiral Mako continued.

"Like I tell every one of my fleets, the Abyssals can't always seem to outmatch us, so they often try to outnumber us.

If you find that you can't outmatch them and they outnumber you, the last option is to outrun them.

I ask of you to be brave, not stupid.

The 'Honor-before-Reason' shit is best left in the past, and I'd rather you girls use every trick in the book to bring everyone back alive rather than fight by some code of honor and sink."

Everyone nodded at that, understanding that they were fighting to protect both mankind and ship girl-kind.

And if fighting by a code of honor meant that they'd lose more often, they had to prioritize victory before honor to keep everyone alive at the end of the day.

Admiral Mako asked the 1st Fleet.

"So, who should be flagship?"

Causing everyone to look up upon hearing that, all of them contemplating whether they should nominate themselves without seeming too conceited.

Kongou brightened up, announcing,

"There's no question about that!

Hiei should be flagship, desu!"

While Yamato expressed her opinion politely.

"Um, perhaps Ayanami should be the flagship?"

This caused the Ayanami-Class destroyer to blush a little as she puffed her chest out, secretly proud that someone as heavily worshiped as Yamato would elect her for the position of flagship.

Nagato opened her eyes to give her opinion.

"I nominate Shigure for the position of flagship."

Admiral Mako looked to Akashi for assurance that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was indeed capable of leading the fleet, Akashi noticing the Admiral's glance before turning to regard Shigure.

Shigure bristled as she met Akashi's cold gaze with her determined stare, making herself look as dependable as possible before Akashi relented and returned the Admiral's unspoken question with a wordless gaze, Admiral Mako nodding and announcing,

"Alright, Shigure will be the flagship and the senior ship girls will guide her along the way."

Causing Tenryuu to retort with a raised fist,

"Hey, come on!

What are two of us Tenryuu-Class light cruisers then?

Chopped liver?"

Tatsuta giggled at Tenryuu's annoyance, Junyou looking visibly relieved at the fact that she wasn't going to have to handle the responsibility of being the flag ship.

The surprise nomination caused Shigure to blink in surprise, Kongou popping out from above the Admiral's left shoulder and shrieking in her ear,

"EEHHHH?!

Shouldn't Hiei be the flagship since she's the older ship girl, desu?!"

Causing Admiral Mako to draw away from the hysterical battleship, announcing,

"I know that Hiei is more experienced.

But this is an easy sortie, and I'd like to have everyone to be flagship at least once on an easy sortie and learn the ropes, rather than circumstances down the road forcing them to take up leadership while on harder sorties and screw up due to inexperience with more consequences behind their failures.

Hiei will lead the more difficult sorties, no question about that."

Kongou nodded silently, now understanding her Admiral's reasoning behind her decision.

Hiei looked a little down upon hearing Admiral Mako's reasoning, but was far from dispirited as she nodded towards Shigure in acknowledgement, understanding the Admiral's reasons behind electing her as flagship.

Admiral Mako reiterated her personal 'Zero Casualties' Policy.

"Listen, I don't care if you have to retreat or cut your losses.

Short of a major naval battle, I don't care what happens, you will do your best to bring everyone back alive, got it?"

And the 1st Fleet shouted unanimously,

"YES, MA'AM!"

Admiral Mako waved her left hand to dismiss the Fast Response Fleet, the 1st Fleet heading towards the harbor to suit up and officially sortie as a fleet for the first time.

* * *

Shigure stepped out on the blue sea, taking in the salty ocean air as she mentally prepared herself for her first official sortie with her fleet while assuming responsibility as the flagship.

Her teammates approached her whilst stretching their muscles to prepare themselves for the journey, Junyou stating,

"God damn, looking at the ocean reminds me of who I really am.

No matter how much I love to live without the responsibility of sortieing, it just doesn't feel right for a ship girl to live like a complete landlubber."

Hiei nodded at that, noting that battleships had it the worst.

"If you think that's bad, spare a thought for us battleships.

We can't sortie as often as you can, despite being engineered to be stronger than everyone else."

The Kongou-Class battleship continued, although she lowered her volume to address Junyou personally and thus made Shigure feel somewhat ashamed as she heard Hiei personally express her feelings.

"It almost hurts for us to see you all get injured out there and know that we're too much of a burden to do anything about it, despite all the talent and strength we were imbued with."

Junyou nodded solemnly, this private exchange lost on the ship girls who were ahead of them as Shigure tried to pretend as if she hadn't heard that as she sailed on.

Tenryuu pointed to herself with her thumb as she turned back and encouraged Shigure,

"Don't worry, Shigure.

If the enemy comes, put me in front of the fleet.

I'll cut them all down!"

Tatsuta commented,

"Ara, Shigure-chan, don't worry about the enemy.

Just give us the command and we'll take care of them for you, alright?"

And Ayanami cheered everyone on by clapping merrily in order to encourage everyone, finally turning back to address Shigure,

"Shigure, shall we?"

And Shigure nodded in reply, temporarily hit with a wave of nostalgia as she regarded her fleet and experienced the same feeling of camaraderie that she once felt with the Nishimura Fleet.

But she shook her head, focusing on the here and now as she accelerated her boat slippers in order to catch up with her teammates.

She wasn't going to get over her guilt easily, perhaps taking a month, a year, even a decade if it necessary.

But she knew that she'd come to terms with this misplaced feeling of guilt over the Nishimura Fleet's demise with the help of her newfound friends.

And one day, she could face them all without feeling guilty over having survived when they all perished in her wake, and would eventually be strong enough to protect them in this life with the help of her teammates.

That was what friends were for, right?

* * *

The day passed by rather uneventfully, the team distracting themselves with small talk but ultimately keeping a watchful eye on the calm sea, checking their radar and sonar quite often to ensure that no Abyssals were going to sneak up from beneath them as if they were in a _Jaws_ movie.

The excitement of going on a sortie for the first time might cause them to make simple errors that a seasoned fleet wouldn't, Junyou and Hiei both utilizing one Type 0 Reconnaissance Seaplane each to expand the scope of their surveillance to give them more time to prepare should they encounter an Abyssal Fleet.

And as the sun was nearing the end of its journey and cast an orange glow upon the skies and clouds, the clock on Shigure's HUD read,

'5.32 p.m.'

As Junyou's eyes narrowed, announcing.

"We've got company!"

The fleet tensed up, mentally preparing themselves for combat as Hiei and Junyou, possessing the strongest radar in the team, concentrated in the direction of the Reconnaissance Plane while the Fairies that manned their riggings detected and interpreted the incoming red dots on the radar, finally concluding.

"We've got 2 Ru-Class battleships, a Wo-Class carrier and 2 Ho-Class light cruisers headed our way!"

Everyone looked to Shigure, who tensed up at the focus being shifted to her as Hiei asked.

"What do you think we should do, Shigure?

Engage, or run?"

Shigure took a few deep breaths, closing her eyes and mentally running through their odds and a battle strategy, asking,

"How long do we have to plan?"

And Junyou replied,

"3 and a half minutes, max."

"Hiei, what are our odds of winning?"

"None of them are Elites.

And if we play our cards right with the right strategy, we can beat them."

Tatsuta leaned in, losing her smile and addressing the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer seriously as she advised.

"Shigure-chan, you don't have to prove yourself to anyone by forcing an engagement that goes against your your better judgement.

This enemy fleet is stronger than usual, and there's no shame in choosing to retreat…"

"I know."

Shigure finished the sentence, thinking about how to engage the superior enemy fleet.

The Abyssals had two battleships and a standard carrier, unlike the 1st Fleet, which had only one fast battleship and light carrier.

But the upside was that the enemies only had a small protection detail that consisted of two light cruisers.

If the four of them could take down the two light cruisers while Junyou and Hiei tried their best to heavily damage, or outright sink one of the three remaining Abyssals, they could force a power play to convince the remaining Abyssals to retreat.

Not that they couldn't sink them all if they endeavored to do so, but Shigure knew that a prolonged battle would only incur fatal injuries as the cannon rounds of the slow battleships and the payload of the enemy planes would eventually hurt someone.

She relayed this to the 1st Fleet as Shigure's eyes finally opened, announcing to the expectant 1st Fleet as they stood around her to receive their instructions before the battle.

"I have a plan."

* * *

The incoming Abyssal Fleet consisted of two Ho-Class light cruisers that guarded the Ru-Class battleships, monochrome ladies with jet black hair and unusually pale skin with emerald-green eyes that reflected their determination to wipe out every ship girl who got in their way.

They were wearing black costumes that consisted of a black sleeveless vest, undershirt and pants, armored shoulder-plates not bothering to hide the two pipes sticking out from behind each shoulder to function as exhaust pipes.

In each hand was a tall column of cannons being held from behind, each column containing two large-caliber twin-barreled turrets with a single-barreled turret sandwiched in between them.

The carrier Wo-Class took up the rear and had already scouted out the 1st Fleet with her own reconnaissance planes.

And it was perhaps luck or arrogance on the Abyssals' part that they were out on the ocean surface as the two fleets sailed towards each other rather than the Abyssals using their ability to submerge to stealthily swim the ocean and getting the jump on them, which they occasionally chose to pull off with varying degrees of success.

The Abyssals approached from beyond the horizon while the evening sun illuminated them, making it simpler for the 1st Fleet to identify where they coming from.

And upon closing in, the orange sunset cast a shadow upon the incoming Abyssals, the glares of the Abyssal battleships apparent as they approached cautiously in a Diamond formation with their cannons loaded and ready to fire upon entering effective range.

The 1st Fleet was also ready for combat in the line-ahead formation with Tenryuu leading the formation, followed by Ayanami, Tatsuta, Shigure and Hiei while Junyou took up the rear in order to minimize her chances of getting hurt.

Shigure breathed in, somewhat convinced that her improvised plan was going to fall apart the moment they engaged the Abyssals and that somebody was going to get seriously hurt, Shigure really wanting to avoid the two unfavorable outcomes.

But she cleared her mind, choosing to believe in the plan she laid out for the 1st Fleet where everyone had an active role to play in this battle.

The two fleets were now barely out of bombing range, Junyou and the Wo-Class having summoned their bomber planes beforehand and passed by each other on their respective bombing runs.

And as the Abyssal planes made themselves seen and swooped down like Death on swift wings before dropping their payload and pulling back up, Shigure could practically feel the excitement of the 1st Fleet as they got ready to perform evasive maneuvers.

The three torpedoes that were released by the bombers hit the ocean with the barest hints of a splash and timed themselves to meet the torpedo salvo of the Abyssal light cruisers as they headed towards Tenryuu, who smiled and braced herself for the incoming torpedo salvo, calling out behind her.

"Guys, get ready to move!"

And as the salvo of torpedoes approached them, Tenryuu was tasked with finding a gap between them that they could all safely sail through, the entire queue of ship girls following suit and believing in Tenryuu's judgement.

Shigure was following Tatsuta's lead, the members of the formation spaced out far enough to be able to see the incoming torpedo salvo as Shigure saw an Abyssal torpedo harmlessly passing by her boat slippers.

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer released a bated breath upon witnessing the lack of deadly explosions that the Abyssal torpedoes were programmed to unleash if their proximity sensors were activated upon coming into close contact with a ship girl to inflict splash damage.

They could see that Junyou's bombers dropped their payload and were retreating as the Abyssals unleashed their Anti-Air cannons to shoot them down as Hiei and Junyou tried their best to evade the torpedoes.

But the two senior ship girls weren't in too much danger as they stood at the rear of the formation, where most of the torpedoes went wide by the time they reached that far and missed them by a large margin.

Shigure sighed with relief upon seeing that her teammates were now out of the woods, and they weren't going to lose anyone before the battle had even started.

* * *

" _Put me in front, Shigure!_

 _I'm not afraid to face them head-on with my sword and cannons!"_

 _Tenryuu roared, feeling the thrill of battle coming on and Shigure could see that it invigorated her, but she tried to keep a clear head and think this through rationally as she asked,_

" _What will be their opening move, anyone?"_

 _Junyou raised her hand, answering,_

" _Well, the first move will be for the Abyssal light cruisers to send out torpedoes to greet us._

 _They got a Wo-Class in their fleet, so they may also try to send out bombers to destroy us with a devastating opening strike."_

 _Shigure sighed, and finally compromised,_

" _Tenryuu, I'll put you in front, and you'll be in charge of leading us through the torpedo salvo._ _"_

 _Tenryuu pumped her fist in the air, shouting,_

 _"YYEEEAAAHHHH!"_

 _Shigure looked to Hiei and Junyou, notifying._

 _"You two, I need you to stand further behind in case the torpedoes start flying, where Tenryuu will spot the torpedoes and help us navigate through them safely._

 _We need you two for the battle that is to come."_

 _The two ship girls nodded, seeing her point of view and understanding the fact that they were the most influential participants in the upcoming firefight, although Shigure did note the not-so-subtle glances the Kongou-Class battleship and Hiyou-Class light carrier gave towards Tenryuu, slightly uncertain about entrusting their lives in the hands of the light cruiser._

 _But Shigure ignored the looks of uncertainty as she knew that there was a certain amount of trust that each teammate needed to place in each other, especially in actual sorties where there was an element of actual danger and the possibility of sinking that practice sessions could never recreate._

 _This was their first sortie, and this was where they had to learn to depend on each other during the moments that really mattered, this being one of the make-or-break factors that determined victory and defeat._

* * *

The Abyssal battleships got into range as their powerful cannon muzzles produced a blinding eruption of flames, leaving a mini mushroom-cloud that ballooned from the cannon muzzles and sounding like the thunderous roar of a gargantuan beast as the cannon rounds flew forward, Shigure announcing,

" _NOW!"_

And as the incoming projectiles were mostly headed for the four fleet members of the 1st Fleet, the Abyssals currently more concerned with taking out as many members of the fleet as possible with their salvo of cannon fire, the destroyers and light cruisers jumped out of the way at the last second as the large-caliber cannon rounds hit the water and threw up large pillars of seawater upon impact.

Shigure could see an explosion of smoke as something happened to two shells headed towards Hiei's head and abdomen, Shigure's heart stopping and was already expecting the worst as she maintained her course and sailed with Ayanami in a counter-clockwise direction around the Abyssal fleet that was sailing closer towards the last two members of the 1st Fleet.

She spotted the light cruisers breaking out in a run in a clockwise direction as the smoke cleared around Hiei, Junyou clearly looking concerned as she focused on preparing her scroll and lighting her hand to retrieve her planes and summon the next batch of bombers.

Hiei held the two Abyssal cannon rounds in each hand, her palms smoking as she had a shit-eating grin on her face.

Her eyes were fierce as she glared at the Abyssal battleships, who looked a little shocked but maintained their poker faces, Shigure overhearing Hiei calling out to the Abyssals as she crushed the shells that failed to hold up against the full might of the fast battleship's grip.

"Let's play a game.

You play, 'Shoot', and I'll play 'Catch'.

 _I'll show you the might of a Kongou-Class battleship."_

And as Shigure sailed, she could see her plan being realized as she approached the Abyssals' 10 o'clock, Tenryuu and Tatsuta reaching their position at the Abyssals' 2 o'clock while Hiei and Junyou were still right in front of them at the 12 o'clock position.

As Hiei's cannons finished loading up, Junyou's planes were materialized as everyone performed their part synchronously, Shigure, Ayanami, Tenryuu and Tatsuta all releasing a salvo of torpedoes in the direction of the Abyssal fleet.

Hiei's cannon muzzle blew out a flash of smoke and fire as her face contorted, the majestic and devastating roar of four Kongou-Class cannons echoing across the battlefield as the Abyssal light cruisers attempted to use themselves as shields to protect the more important ships and carriers, instantly sinking upon contact with torpedoes from two directions.

The cannon fire from Hiei did significant damage to one Ru-Class battleship, blowing out two turrets on the cannon column in her right hand and effectively halving her firepower, the Wo-Class's hastily summoned fighters barely managing to stop Junyou's bombers from releasing their payload and missing the Wo-Class by a hair.

Shigure grimaced upon noting that their opening move destroyed the two Ho-Class light cruisers and damaged one Ru-Class battleship, but wasn't lucky enough to sink any one of the three major Abyssals in the enemy fleet.

But then, she really hated depending on luck to carry her through missions, instead preferring to rely on reliable information and a sound battle plan to win the battle.

Shigure was now approaching their 8 o'clock position and never let up on her speed, although she instructed her teammates to regulate their speed in order to perform evasive maneuvers if the Abyssals caught wind of their plan.

The healthy Ru-Class was now seeing that the light cruisers and destroyers of the ship girl fleet were rendezvousing at their 6 o'clock as the ship girl light cruisers were mirroring the destroyers' progress and zooming in at 4 o'clock while making sure not get hit by the cover fire provided by the cannons stuck to the sides of the black pod atop the head of the Wo-Class.

Tenryuu and Tatsuta performed evasive maneuvers, Tenryuu swerving to avoid the shells as Tatsuta performed cartwheels to weave in between the bullets.

And in front of them, the Ru-Class battleships were ready to fire upon the now-split up Hiei and Junyou, both attempting to shift themselves away from the focus fire of the two battleships, heading towards the Abyssal Fleet's 10 and 2 o'clock while moving into the positions of the light cruisers and destroyers before them.

Junyou moved clockwise and Hiei counterclockwise as the light cruisers and destroyers of the 1st Fleet met up behind the Abyssal Fleet to engage in the second three-pronged attack.

All according to Shigure's plan.

* * *

" _Look, if we split up, they'll be forced to divert their firepower._

 _And if we take out the light cruisers instantly, they will only have the large-caliber cannons of the battleships with their long reload times, and the Wo-Class will be their last line of defense against us."_

 _Shigure explained calmly as there was still one and a half minutes left till they had to engage the enemy Abyssals._

 _Everyone was listening intently, focusing on their roles in the upcoming battle._

 _Shigure decided that taking out the two Abyssal light cruisers wasn't the problem, especially after the first three-pronged assault where they would no doubt try to body-block the incoming torpedo salvo to selflessly protect the rest of the fleet._

 _The problem was the other three Abyssals._

 _When the light cruisers and the destroyers of the 1st Fleet met up behind the Abyssal Fleet, Junyou would be to the right of the Abyssals and Hiei to their left, preventing any sort of accidental friendly-fire due to standing in opposing directions._

 _However, by the time they had gotten into position for the second three-way assault, the Abyssal battleships would have already finished reloading their cannons._

 _They would either be aiming for Junyou or Hiei, likely focusing on severely injuring one or the other rather than try to turn around to aim for the more elusive members of the fleet._

 _And that wasn't even going into the bombers that the Wo-Class was likely to summon._

 _But when she relayed her thoughts to the elder duo, Junyou and Hiei only smirked in return, the light carrier boasting:_

" _I'd like to see them try to sink me!"_

 _And Hiei puffed her chest out, proclaiming,_

" _They'd never be able to sink this Kongou-Class Battleship, even if they tried!"_

" _B-But, what if they hit Tatsuta, Tenryuu, or anyone of us?"_

 _Ayanami squeaked, not liking the chances that one of them was going to go back in pieces._

 _Hiei's expression darkened, but she still maintained her confident smile as she replied._

" _Then we make them pay for hurting one of us."_

* * *

The Abyssals now knew that this was their last chance.

And as the 1st Fleet lined up their sights to fire upon the Abyssals that were stuck in the middle of the encirclement, the two Ru-Class Battleships looked to each other, before readjusting themselves and aiming their cannons to point at the most vulnerable member of the 1st Fleet.

Junyou.

Shigure's heart stopped, the world around her ceasing to function as the cannons of the Abyssal battleships stopped whirring and Junyou's eyes widened in fear at what was sure to be her doom, not expecting the two battleships to focus solely on her.

Hiei's face contorted in fury, mentally urging the Fairies within her rigging to hurry up with reloading her cannons to prevent her teammate from getting hit.

Shigure's breath caught in her throat, but deep down, she knew what she had to do in order to defeat the Abyssals before they could fire upon her teammate.

And even when her muscles tensed up upon taking in the haunting possibility that her teammate could die if they screwed this up, she ordered,

" _OPEN FIRE!"_

And the 1st Fleet emptied their ammunition clips into the Abyssals, who managed to open fire on the light carrier an instant quicker than they did.

Everyone's attention focused on Junyou, who disappeared behind an explosion of black smoke billowing into the sky as the same happened to the Abyssals, having been shot at by five ship girls with cannons of different calibers.

As the black smoke slowly dissipated and revealed the situation before them, the Fast Response Fleet first saw the signature white uniform of the light carrier peeking out from the smoke shielding her body, which was a good thing as that meant the light carrier hadn't sunk despite the fact that the uniform was tattered and exposed parts of Junyou's torso and ample chest.

Blood was gushing out of several wounds, and the dissipating smoke revealed the uncomfortable fact that anything else beyond Junyou's left elbow was conspicuously missing, causing her to lose copious amounts of blood thatdyed the ocean beneath her crimson.

But it was also revealed amidst the smoke that one of the Ru-Class battleships had a good chunk of her body torn off trying to protect the Wo-Class carrier with her formidable armor.

Her right shoulder was blown off, small scraps of metal sticking out of what remained of her arm socket as liquid fuel and body coolant leaked out and stained her black uniform.

Her left eye was closed as a streak of red fluid, likely Abyssal blood, ran down her grimacing cheek as she had already dropped a cannon column into the ocean due to her arm and shoulder being unceremoniously blown off by the ship girls.

The other Ru-Class battleship wasn't faring any better, holding a broken gun column in one hand that had smoking holes riddling its armored plates after being used as a makeshift shield against the fast battleship.

She too, had her left shoulder plate blown clean off while protecting the Wo-Class, the Ru-Class taking advantage of the confusion to point her only working gun column at Hiei, ready to move on to her next target.

The Wo-Class carrier finally readied her planes and sent them out via the monstrous jaw that doubled as a hangar exit for the black pod atop her head to finish off Junyou, looking towards the light carrier with her emotionless turquoise eyes to confirm her target.

Now, two white spheres that had misaligned teeth lining the proportionately enlarged mouth flew across the skies, several cracks that ran down its exoskeleton splitting open as the bombers opened their jaws to emit a metallic screech of a beast that had its prey cornered as its bizarre features were topped off with a pair of white horns sticking out from its crown.

Their red apertures attained a visual lock-on on the injured Junyou, the Abyssal Cat Fighters performing their bombing runs to inflict damage on the enemy and terminate them with extreme prejudice.

And as the injured Ru-Class turned to her left to face the destroyers and light cruisers, she was too late to notice what was going on behind her as she cried out at what was going on in her blind spot, alerting the Wo-Class carrier as she was too heavily damaged to try to move herself into a better position to body-block whatever came next.

The Abyssal carrier heard the splashing of water behind her, but was too engaged in ensuring a proper takeoff for the Cat Fighters to notice the commotion behind her, finally spinning around to confront whatever was a cause for alarm for the damaged battleship.

What she felt next barely registered in the Abyssal's mind.

Tenryuu and Tatsuta flew forward, a shadow clouding over both their faces as their expressions clouded with anger.

Tenryuu's expression was enraged, Tatsuta's face devoid of emotions and only promising the sweet deliverance of death to the horde of enemies before her.

Tenryuu achieved air time by pushing herself up with a powerful jump, propelled forward by her running start.

Tatsuta dipped the sharp end of her glaive into the ocean in front of her, her lithe body bending down to shift her weight onto her weapon and transitioned from a run to a pole vault while pushing herself off her weapon to drop kick the Abyssal carrier in the side.

The carrier folded from the surprise physical attack, attempting to use her black conducting cane to block the incoming second attack that was the glint of sunlight reflected off of the metallic edge headed towards her neck.

A clean cut was made by Tenryuu, the sheer speed of the incoming sword cleanly decapitating the Wo-Class and cutting through her forearm as her head fell back onto the ocean.

The cable connecting the nape of the Wo-Class's neck to the black pod resting atop her head was uselessly flailing about as the black pod slipped off of the Wo-Class's head and hit the ocean, a geyser of red blood being unleashed from the headless neck like an broken fire hydrant.

The corpse crumpled like a rag doll, the Abyssal blood engulfing Tatsuta in blood and tainted her uniform before hitting the ocean surface and started sinking back into the abyss, the limp body barely twitching as the majority of her body was covered by her black cape in a manner not unlike a funereal robe.

The Wo-Class's two Abyssal Cat Fighters dropped out of the sky at the exact same moment she died, the mental connection between the carrier and the fighters severed and the fighters no longer receiving signals to direct them anymore, thus dropping back into the ocean with two harmless _plop_.

Tenryuu and Tatsuta both pointed their weapons at the two remaining Abyssals and glowered at them, and when the Abyssal battleships saw the carrier drop before them due to the combined efforts of the two light cruisers, they reevaluated the situation and their odds of winning.

Two damaged battleships facing off against two destroyers and light cruisers, one fast battleship and one heavily damaged light carrier.

Tenryuu slowly approached the Abyssal battleships and issued an ultimatum to the remaining Abyssal duo.

"Both of you can run and live, or fight and die."

Tatsuta lifted her head to smile devilishly at the two remaining Abyssals, commenting,

"Ara, just know that we _can_ kill the both of you.

It's just that we're feeling generous today, and it'll just be _a waste of our time_."

The fact that Tatsuta was covered almost head to toe in Abyssal blood as she stared at them with hollow eyes that reflected the blood-thirst within her, causing the Abyssals to reconsider engaging in a suicidal battle by fighting to the death.

The incoming fast battleship Hiei had a death glare that expressed her unbridled fury through her seething expression as the destroyers surrounding them readied their torpedoes to fire in case the Abyssals do decide to fight to the end.

The light carrier they shot at wasn't even on her knees despite bleeding out.

In the end, as the Ru-Class battleships looked to each other, they both had a look in their eyes (or eye, in the case of the severely-damaged Ru-Class) and the 1st Fleet could see that even though the Abyssals were dedicated to their cause, they knew better than to throw their lives away pointlessly, and were able to make the decision to wisely retreat when necessary.

The Abyssals slowly started submerging in unison, teh 1st Fleet's cannons trailing behind them as they retreated, making sure that they weren't going to try anything funny.

Finally, as the black hair of the Abyssal Ru-Class battleships disappeared beneath the ocean surface, the 1st Fleet kept their cannons and torpedo launchers trained at the last known location of the Abyssal Fleet before relaxing a little to head over to the light carrier, who finally collapsed on the ocean floor with a dull splash.

* * *

" _If they heavily damage one of us, we must NOT collapse._

 _They mustn't see our weakness for the final part of our plan to work."_

 _Shigure explained carefully, now quite anxious at the possibility that the Abyssals could arrive before she finished relaying her plan._

" _We must convince them that they are going to lose no matter what they do._

 _If everything goes according to plan, they'll be concerned with cutting their losses by the time they lose most of their members._

 _If we take out another Abyssal with the second or third attack, they'll likely retreat when we offer the chance for them to do so as throwing themselves at us by then would serve no purpose except wasting our time and their lives."_

 _Shigure wanted to portray the image of invincibility to intimidate the Abyssals, as she knew that convincingly faking the image of invincibility was important in certain scenarios to cause the enemies' resolve to waver in the face of overwhelming losses._

 _Casually wiping out the light cruisers and taking out one of the three relatively powerful Abyssals in the Abyssal fleet would certainly make them reevaluate the 1st Fleet's combat potential and cause them to hesitate when considering the possibility of a prolonged battle._

 _This was their first sortie, but she didn't want to risk anymore lives in a battle against a superior fleet._

 _Indeed, they could take down every single Abyssal in the enemy fleet if they really tried, but there was no need to waste their ammunition and strength to punish an enemy that had already lost, lest the Abyssal become desperate and fight back with twice the vigor to take the 1st Fleet down with them._

" _But who's going to pull off the third attack?"_

 _Junyou asked, raising her hand and looking rather concerned, not because of the plan itself, but the fact that any one of them, still relatively green when it came to naval battles, could come out of the battle injured, or worse…_

 _Shigure smiled tiredly, understanding Junyou's concerns and trying to allay her fears by replying,_

" _Our light cruiser duo, of course."_

 _Tenryuu smiled upon hearing that, excited that they were able to participate in this battle extensively._

* * *

Shigure reached the damaged light carrier first, her heart dropping upon considering the possibility that her teammate was hurt because of her unorthodox plan.

Despite the fact that they could recover easily from injuries like these so long as their brains were preserved and recovered, it still hurt to see her friends so brutally injured, especially when she had to see her friends suffer potentially agonizing deaths before being thrown into the equivalent of the Lazarus Pit, reviving them so that they could suffer all over again so long as they were never sunk in battle.

It hurt to see their lives so entwined with Death and never able to truly die from anything that killed them so long as certain body parts were intact.

Shigure knelt down beside Junyou while the Tenryuu-Class light cruisers kept watch as they shot glances towards the wounded light carrier, watching out in case Abyssal reinforcements arrived or the two Ru-Class battleships decided to turn back and sneak up on them to inflict more casualties.

Shigure noted the injuries on Junyou, her left arm being blown clean off below the elbow as Shigure immediately ripped off the sleeve of the light carrier's uninjured arm to tie a tourniquet around what remained of her upper arm to prevent her from losing too much coolant, oil or blood, all vital components in maintaining a ship girl's body.

The bottom half of her white uniform blouse was torn as there was major discoloring of the skin, blue-black marks forming together to mix into some sort of hideous purple that covered a good portion of her abdomen.

These were signs of internal bleeding, evident by the impact of the Abyssal shells hitting the light carrier's stomach and causing her to vomit blood, if the blood that stained her lower jaw and was leaking out of her mouth in a small waterfall was any indication.

Her breath breathing was ragged and she was sweating profusely, visibly forcing herself to take in deep breaths to try and increase the amount of air that flowed through her steel body, air being an integral component in not only acting as a coolant to redirect heat and cool down their bodies in times of stress, but also as a catalyst to break down fuel to keep their ship girl modes active.

She desperately clutched at her missing arm and was lying prone on the ocean surface as she closed her eyes and tried to bring her breathing and heartbeat under control.

Shigure couldn't bear to see her teammate go, and was almost frantic as she shook Junyou lightly, trying to wake her friend.

"Junyou-san? _Junyou-san?_

 _PLEASE WAKE UP!_

 _DON'T DIE, PLEASE!"_

She was almost on the verge of tears as she witnessed her injured friend seemingly fall conscious, but as she shook Junyou with increasing intensity, she almost missed the tic in Junyou's eyebrows, Junyou's eyes finally flying open as she announced with an annoyed tone, trying to get the shaking to stop.

" _I'M NOT DYING, ALRIGHT?!_

 _SO STOP SHAKING ME!"_

And Shigure started, a little shocked at the outburst as her eyes watered, smiling wanly at the light carrier as she apologized,

"I'm sorry, Junyou-san.

But I've lost friends before.

And since this was our first fight and anything could happen, I was worried that my worst fears came true…"

Junyou looked as if she was about to retort, but she coughed up some more blood upon agitating her wounds, leaning to her left as she likely felt pain shooting up the stump that was her left arm while Shigure leaned in closer as she tried to alleviate the light carrier's injuries.

Tenryuu stood to Shigure's left, swinging her sword diagonally downwards in a swift motion, the dripping Abyssal blood flying off the bloody sword and hitting the ocean surface as Tenryuu sheathed Ezekiel, all while keeping her eye on her surrounding as she guarded the fleet, leaning in to occasionally check on Junyou's condition.

Tatsuta was standing further away from them, grimacing as she tried to clean the Abyssal blood off of her uniform and wiping the blade of her glaive on her skirt.

Hiei knelt down to the light carrier's left, her expression sullen as she regarded Junyou with a tone of regret that reflected the thoughts in her head on whether she could have done something different to change the outcome, uttering with her lowered head,

"I'm sorry, Junyou.

I should have been there to cover you, as I could have easily tanked those shots..."

And Junyou finally sighed, reaching up with her uninjured right arm as Hiei drew back, both Hiei and Shigure's expressions morphing into one of surprise.

But upon witnessing Ayanami's insistent gaze, the Kongou-Class battleship slowly allowed Junyou's slightly trembling hand to meet her left cheek.

Shigure was wondering what possessed the light carrier to make this intimate move, Hiei likely wondering the same as they looked into each other's eyes, and everyone could see that she was struggling to maintain some facade of normalcy as she caressed Hiei's cheek.

Before Junyou straightened her palm out and softly slapped Hiei on the cheek, snapping both Hiei and Shigure out of their trance as Junyou announced,

"You're not a time traveler or an oracle, so don't blame yourself for something you couldn't see coming."

Junyou visibly winced as she turned to Shigure and patted her on the head whilst closing her right eye, a streak of blood flowing down her temple and risked getting into Junyou's eye as she chided, Shigure unable to deny the truth in Junyou's words.

"And you.

You did great, changing up the usual formations and coming up with a strategy that helped us sink two light cruisers instantly, and eventually allowed Tenryuu and Tatsuta kill a Wo-Class because they were too busy shooting at me.

I'd say that was a win."

Hiei sputtered as she tried to take responsibility for Junyou's mistake, her face wrought with pain as she exclaimed with concern in her voice.

"B-But, I could have blocked it for you!"

And Junyou replied, turning to her and admonishing the fast battleship, though not too sternly as she still possessed a caring tone that was trying to convince Hiei to quit it with the self-blame.

"And then what?

My planes weren't ready to launch yet, and I'm alive since the Abyssals thankfully didn't aim for my head.

If they hit you, Hiei, you'd fire later as your Fairies would be reeling from the impact, allowing the Wo-Class to send out enough planes to injure at least one of us."

Ayanami nodded, adding as she placed a comforting hand on Hiei's shoulder,

"No one can know the outcome of any battle, Hiei-san.

Let's just accept the win and get Junyou-san back to the docks."

Junyou's face was now utterly exhausted, her body now slack as she leaned on Hiei's firm body.

The light carrier now wheezed, shifting her bandaged left arm as she recommended the next cause of action.

"Maa, let's go home.

Can one you radio in for them to prepare three bottles of Burgundy, at least 1995, and ten packets of snacks next to my repair dock?

I really need a drink when we get back home."

Hiei sighed as she lifted Junyou up by her uninjured arm and made sure not to exacerbate the injuries on her belly, delicately lifting her up in a bridal carry and easily hoisted her up thanks to her superhuman battleship strength.

Tenryuu sighed and radioed in that the 1st Fleet was done with their sortie and was coming in with one casualty while relaying Junyou's order, Shigure's face relaxing as she followed in the battleship's footsteps to get up, starting up her boat slippers to prepare herself for the hike home.

Her heart had almost broken, the responsibility of the flagship position weighing down on her as she kept trying to remind herself that things could have turned out worse, and that everyone had survived their first sortie.

Unfortunately, it didn't help when it was _her_ strategy that got Junyou in trouble in the first place, and it was only a matter of time before her mistakes got someone killed.

But she knew that mistakes were inevitable, this being her first time out on the field and actively commanding her fleet in the heat of battle.

Like her Admiral said, mistakes were tolerated in these low-level sorties where losses were recoverable and injured could easily be healed, unlike later on in the war where the stakes were higher and more lives were on the line.

But Junyou coughed as she tried to say something, Hiei spinning around as she announced warily.

"We've got company."

Everyone went into their combats stances upon hearing that, Shigure whirling around as she scanned the perimeter for any Abyssals that they may have missed.

And true enough, about 100 meters away stood an Abyssal, barely illuminated by the evening sun as Shigure raised her cannons to engage the enemy, but an observation made her hesitate as she ordered.

"Wait."

Everyone froze at that, Shigure suddenly remembering that she was the flagship as Tenryuu complained, holding up her sword Ezekiel in a striking stance.

"Maa, what's the matter, Shigure?!

She's an Abyssal, and we've got to sink her!"

But the she finally noted the raised hands of the Abyssal standing before them, Hiei pointing out the obvious as she trained her cannons on the Abyssal who was now slowly sailing towards them.

"You dolt.

It's a Wo-Class, because of the obvious black cape.

But she doesn't have her cane and black pod atop her head, and she's raising her hands in surrender."

Tatsuta commented, warily curious about this unique situation.

"Hmm, I'm interested in what this Abyssal has to say, seeing that she's heading towards us without her rigging and equipment.

But don't worry, Tenryuu-Chan."

Tatsuta's eyes darkened as she brandished her glaive, dual-wielding her Anti-Abyssal weapon.

"I'll make a pincushion out of her if she dares to try anything funny."

Shigure lowered her weapon, although she still kept a tight grip on her handheld 12 cm Single Gun Cannon as the Wo-Class came into view, Shigure giving Ayanami an aside glance as she simply instructed.

"Cover me."

Ayanami nodded wordlessly in reply as the Wo-Class was only about 30 meters away from them, the entire fleet tensely waiting for any excuse to rip into the approaching Wo-Class as Shigure cautiously called out.

"Wo-Class!

We have you surrounded!

State your business or we will sink you!"

But the Wo-Class simply sailed forward, closing the distance until she was within 10 meters of the 1st Fleet, Hiei shouting fiercely as she carried Junyou.

"Stop right there, or we will fire!

State your business, Abyssal!"

The Abyssal complied as she stopped, now standing within striking distance of the two light cruisers as she slowly brought her hands together so as not to make any sudden movements.

And she clapped.

The 1st Fleet hadn't expected this, watching the Abyssal stand so close to them without her equipment yet looking nonplussed as she slow-clapped for the 1st Fleet, Shigure gripping her handheld cannon to prepare for a surprise attack that never came.

Instead, the Wo-Class congratulated them on their hard-earned victory as she stopped, Shigure trying her best to note down every detail about the mysterious Abyssal and trying to ascertain her objective in meeting up with the 1st Fleet.

[Congratulations on your victory, 1st Fleet of Yokosuka.

You used an interesting strategy that utilized the agility of the weaker ship classes to encircle and trap our fleet, as well as striking from three directions to ensure that at least one attack hit home.]

The Wo-Class held both ends of her cape as she moved her left foot back to curtsy, bending her knees and spreading her cape with both her hands while lowering her head and introducing herself.

[I am Woxanne, a portmanteau of 'Wo' in 'Wo-Class' and the name Roxanne.

Pleased to make your acquaintance.]

Woxanne raised her head, Shigure spotting the one ship girl who didn't share the sentiment as a dark figure advanced.

Tatsuta's glaive blurred as the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser attempted to impale the Abyssal carrier through her face, but Woxanne was quicker on the draw as she caught Tatsuta's glaive by the shaft and immediately brought her glaive to a halt, the entire 1st Fleet bristling in retaliation should the Abyssal attempt a counterattack.

Tenryuu brought up her sword and prepared to strike, Shigure and Ayanami both holding up their cannons to cover Tatsuta as Shigure made a note to try and shoot out Woxanne's powerful carrier eyes that allowed her to spectate the battle from afar, thereby negating her greatest strength.

But Woxanne never gave them a reason to attack, the arms of both parties trembling as a surprised Tatsuta tried to overcome Woxanne's death grip on her halted glaive to no avail as Woxanne continued on.

[We, the Abyssals, have taken an interest in you, the 1st Fleet of Yokosuka.

We would like to inform you and your superiors that any preparations you make at this point in time will only delay the inevitable.]

Hiei leaned forward, her cannons ready to fire into Woxanne's torso at point blank range as she asked darkly.

"What would that inevitability be?

And why the sudden interest in us?!"

Woxanne released Tatsuta's glaive, the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser gripping the shaft of her glaive tighter as she retreated slightly while Woxanne lowered her hands as she nonchalantly replied.

[Your fleet has the potential to go far, and being a fleet that hails from the Yokosuka Naval Base only serves to heighten our interest in your fleet.

And that means we are also interested in what it will take to break your fleet in both body and spirit to make sure you never achieve that potential and become a genuine threat to us.]

Tenryuu scowled, uncoupling her 14 cm Cannon as she held it to Woxanne's head, exclaiming.

"Not if we kill you first, bitch."

But Junyou was the one to talk some sense into the light cruiser, predicting Woxanne's reason for her near-suicidal confidence.

"Cut it out, Tenryuu.

If she came here unarmed, then she's likely accomplished her main objective.

Killing her with a cannon round does nothing but waste our ammo at this point..."

Before she coughed up blood, trying her best to prevent her blood from staining Hiei's miko uniform by covering her mouth with her right sleeve, Woxanne glancing at the light carrier of the 1st Fleet and remarking.

[An astute observation.

I have no reservations about dying for my cause when I've accomplished my objective of transmitting the live feed of your battle to my masters.

And in case you wanted to ask, the Abyssal Fleet that you engaged in battle with was uninformed of my presence.

I was sent here on a classified mission, and I have served my masters well by observing your battle as a spectator.

I have no qualms about being killed or self-destructing now that my main objective is complete.]

The entire fleet looked rather uncomfortable upon hearing that, wondering why the Abyssal commanders would want to send out an Abyssal to spectate their battle and watch them in action.

Ayanami asked Woxanne a question, feeling brave enough to test the waters by extending a question to the enigmatic Abyssal carrier.

"You know that we're one of the strongest naval bases in the world, and we can sortie with the stronger 3rd or 4th Fleet to protect us while on sorties, right?"

Woxanne turned to regard her icily, causing the Ayanami-Class destroyer to warily take one step back as she readied her cannons, Woxanne replying nonchalantly as she paraphrased her superior's words.

[Your fleets are being recalled from the Eastern Hemisphere from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea to convalescence at the Yokosuka Naval Base, and we determined that you were going to assault the Pacific Ocean again.

The fact that the frequency of American fleet encounters on the other side of the globe has decreased substantially only helps to mount the evidence in favor of a large scale assault on the Abyssals stationed in the Pacific Ocean.]

Woxanne's gaze panned over the various members of the 1st Fleet as she explained their need to sortie more often in the near future and gain experience quickly or risk falling behind in terms of progress.

[Your fleet has potential, but you all need to clock in the hours on the ocean to gain experience quickly for the upcoming naval battles that your Admiral has no doubt predicted.

Tell me this.

Despite the heap of undeniable evidence that Admiral Mako genuinely cares about your well-being, does your Admiral strike you as the type of person to wastefully sortie their most powerful fleets to babysit their most inexperienced fleet should something should happen to them in the Safety Zone, of all places?]

Shigure countered quickly.

"We can sortie with the 2nd Fleet to ensure our safety in numbers.

No matter what you intend to throw at us, be it a new Abyssal or weapon, it will certainly struggle against the combined might of two Fast Response Fleets."

[An interesting suggestion, but unsustainable in the long run.

Sortieing both your Fast Response Fleets to participate in the same sortie will mean leaving your territories and fleet-mates from other bases vulnerable.

A large number of your fleets either possess slow speed or cannot be readily deployed like you can, making this an unwise course of action.]

Tenryuu shouted, barely restraining the urge to simply cut down the opponent before them and calling it a day as she exclaimed.

"Do you think we'll simply sit around and dwindle our thumbs to wait for our impending doom after your fatalistic declaration?!"

Woxanne shook her head gently, as though gently advising a stubborn child of the available alternatives as she explained to them.

[My masters have predicted this outburst, and has thought up of a way to prepare yourselves for the upcoming massacre.

Pray.

Pray that it won't hurt too much as you sink.]

Woxanne slowly retreated upon noting Tenryuu's clenched teeth and her white-knuckled grip on Ezekiel, Tatsuta's murderous stare along with Hiei's unbridled fury that was expressed through her uncharacteristically dark expression, simply wanting to get back in time before Junyou passed out from her wounds.

Woxanne backtracked as she maintained her gaze with her petrifying, luminescent turquoise eyes that contrasted with the shadow that the twilight sun cast upon her as she left them with a few haunting last words.

[You should feel honored upon being the first to witness the dawn of a new age of warfare.

We are interested in your potential, and an area of particular interest is how far you can progress should we leave you alone.

However, at the level you ship girls are at right now, you will be crushed beneath our heels without a second thought.]

Woxanne slowly turned away to leave, but remembered something as she looked right into Hiei's eyes, but looked as if she were regarding someone else as she stated.

[To the Yokosuka high command who will watch this later, my masters have a message for you.

Learning about the our plans at this point in time will not force us to change our schedule, and you will not stop us as we engulf this world in a sea of fire.

Tell the Infiltration Fleet I said hi.]

All cannons and weapons were trained on the Wo-Class carrier as she left, noting that she had an unusual symbol imprinted on the back of her cape, taking the form of a capital 'A' in a white font and was stylized to look like a shark that was swimming up towards the surface.

Only later would they learn from a worried Admiral that this was the rarely-seen Abyssal symbol that was used to mark Abyssal property and was never seen on an Abyssal's clothes.

The fact that Woxanne had the symbol inscribed on her cape likely meant that she was a messenger of the Abyssal high command and thus acted on their behalf, spectating and relaying the live feed to her superiors and contacted the 1st Fleet when the battle was over.

No one in the 1st Fleet could truly understand Woxanne's words as they kept their cannons trained on the submerging Abyssal, Shigure finally deciding to call it a day and let her Admiral do the thinking as the Abyssal Wo-Class was now beyond the range of their sonar, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer lowering her cannons as she turned to her teammates and ordered.

"Let's go home."


	12. Chapter 12 - The Powers That Be

Akashi and Admiral Mako were loitering about in a hallway, the Admiral and Akashi both standing in the adequately-lit corridor as Akashi held a folder in her left hand while chatting with her commanding officer.

They were waiting for the right time to enter the Coordinator Room to start the meeting as Admiral Mako delayed the meeting a little to wait for Aoba, taking the time to discuss some matters with the repair ship to get a few things out of the way.

"So Junyou's in the docks, right?

She okay?"

Akashi nodded, having checked the light carrier's injuries before meeting up with the Admiral.

Junyou had been merrily sipping on her wine as she feasted on the snacks that were provided before her arrival at the docks to help facilitate her recovery, Akashi noting.

"Don't worry.

She's recovering quickly and the color's coming back into her cheeks, although I think that might be a result of the wine that she's sipping on while recovering..."

Upon being admitted into the docks, her teammates were very reluctant to leave Junyou alone, should the light carrier's condition take a turn for the worse despite the near-miraculous properties of the bathwater in the docks.

However, they eventually relented as Akashi personally reassured them that Junyou's injuries weren't that severe compared to what the ship girls of other fleets had to go through, the girls of the 1st Fleet wincing at the repair ship's blunt admission.

Akashi also notified the Admiral about Hiei's condition.

"Hiei's also in the docks to make sure that her arms recover properly after that cannon shell-catching stunt on the off-chance that her bones or muscles were injured in any way.

Even with her tremendous strength as a fast battleship, I shut her up by saying that those were large-caliber cannon shells that she caught with her bare hands, and she's no Nagato or Yamato-Class battleship.

She hasn't been remodeled, and I was afraid that she suffered minute cracks in her steel bones due to the overwhelming force behind the Ru-Class's large-caliber cannons, this being something that must _not_ be left untreated."

Admiral Mako nodded in agreement, marveling at Hiei's successful attempt to catch a cannon shell fired from a slow battleship's cannons, this move being even more impressive in hindsight when one took into account the fact that she was a battle-cruiser, and thus possessed less armor to protect herself should she fail to pull off the move.

She asked the repair ship,

"So what about the others?

Anything else worth noting about their conditions?"

Akashi shook her head reassuringly, although she did explain the situation to Admiral Mako to clarify things a little, leaning back on the cool concrete wall and tucking the file underneath her armpit as she elaborated.

"Well, the Tenryuu-Class sisters, Shigure and Ayanami weren't injured in the sortie, although I must note that they strangely want to go on even more sorties to get stronger.

I've talked to them, and even though they all express varying degrees of enthusiasm about the future, they all pretty much said that becoming stronger is the only way to progress."

Admiral Mako rubbed her chin while contemplating the situation, wondering out loud to make sure that the repair ship could hear her.

"Well, I'm simply worried that they might not be able to handle what the Abyssals might throw at them, especially since the Abyssals haven't revealed any new technological advancements for nearly a decade now."

Akashi took out a hand from her skirt pocket to gesture questioningly, somewhat interested in the Admiral's thought patterns as she responded.

"So you really believe that the Abyssals have been cooking up something for the last ten years, and have been hiding it so well that we haven't found out anything despite all the intelligence networks of the world working to solve the Abyssal problem?

What else else _could_ they come up with now that they've created the Princesses, which most people assume to be the epitome of Abyssal-kind?"

Admiral Mako shrugged as she turned away, shoulders hunched in thought as she speculated, dead serious about trying to predict what the Abyssals could be building underneath the ocean.

"Well, ever since World War 2 ended, there was the tension between the Americans and Soviets as they pushed technological advancements to the limit, and look at where we are now.

You never know..."

And after about ten seconds of awkward silence as Admiral held up her chin with her left fist whilst supporting her left elbow with her right hand, she snapped her fingers as she had a flash of inspiration.

"Say...

You ever wonder what's better than a nuke that operates on nuclear fission?"

She could hear Akashi's breath stopping behind her, but she could hear the repair ship trying her best to answer the question as Akashi clarified with a suspicious tone.

"I do believe the answer to that is 'a nuke that operates on nuclear fusion'.

But are you really sure that the Abyssals are that desperate to try and wipe us from the face of this earth?"

Admiral Mako shrugged her shoulders yet again as she considered all possibilities, citing the Abyssal attack on the American East Coast.

"I mean, the Abyssals invaded the American East Coast in, like, 2007, right?

They hid their true objective of stealing the American nukes behind the large-scale land invasion, which they successfully pulled off despite heavy casualties.

I'm a little worried that what us humans have created, the Abyssals can do better given enough time, and the lack of nukes flying around with each passing year does nothing to alleviate that concern."

She turned around to see Akashi nodding and conceding the point, simplifying her Admiral's concerns by summarizing.

"So you're worried about the possibility that the longer it takes for the Abyssals to introduce nukes into the equation, the harsher the fallout will be when they do, right?"

Admiral Mako nodded, although she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow as she tried to rein in her own imagination as she remembered another point that the Wo-Class made during the interrogation.

"Well, like the Wo-Class explained, they don't want to inherit a nuclear wasteland full of radioactive rubble and dirt, but I don't know..."

Admiral Mako took off her Admiral cap and scratched her head, wishing she had the answers to the various questions about their enigmatic adversaries, like how they were able to summon a never-ending horde of Abyssals and where they all spawned from, since the consensus was that they came into this world via some sort of portal deep beneath the ocean.

She wanted to know their ultimate objective and the primary driving force behind their deep-seated desire to eliminate all humans, and whether they had any chance of winning in the long run seeing that the Abyssals were likely going to introduce new technological weapons into the war.

"I don't have the answers.

I want to to solve the Abyssal question, but the first thing about a puzzle as complicated as this is having enough pieces on hand to even begin..."

"I believe I can help with that."

Both women looked at the approaching heavy cruiser, the LED light tubes that lined the ceiling of the corridor illuminating her silhouette and the dull copper helmet that shielded her mind from the radio waves in the environment.

The copper helmet was designed to protect her head, looking something like Magneto's helmet from 'X-men' as the front had an 'M' shaped design, the metal edge going up the sides of her face and followed the contours of her eyebrows to form an arch over her eyes and joined at the bridge of her nose.

Admiral Mako had looked through the design plans to confirm its construction with the human engineers of the Yokosuka Naval Base, and she knew that Aoba likely had to let down her hair before wearing the helmet to ensure maximum protection from any ambient radio waves, and her ponytail would only get in the way.

Aoba walked towards them, the short corridor allowing her to somehow overhear their conversation despite the helmet covering her ears, Admiral Mako's expression brightening upon seeing the Aoba-Class heavy cruiser attending this meeting and slowly coming out of her shell, Akashi remarking concernedly.

"Well, seems like our little hikikomori is finally breaking out of her little shell.

How're you feeling?"

Aoba nodded uncertainly in response, looking as though she was somewhat uncomfortable with stepping out of her 'comfort zone' that was the confines of her bedroom.

But the copper-shielded room was no different from a prison cell in Admiral Mako's eyes, and she was simply glad to see Aoba trying to get out more and socialize as she took a step towards the now-stationary Aoba-Class heavy cruiser and slapped her heartily on the back, merrily exclaiming with a genuine smile.

"Yo, Aoba!

Welcome back!"

Instead of the intended encouraging effect she wanted the action to have on the shy Aoba-Class heavy cruiser, Aoba instead shied away from the touch and looked visibly scared of the Admiral as she flinched at the intimate contact.

Akashi raised an eyebrow in surprise upon witnessing the heavy cruiser react so adversely to another being coming into contact with her, Aoba blinking quickly before recovering somewhat and looking down at her shoes, hanging her head and not looking anyone in the eye as she fidgeted on the spot.

Admiral Mako's smile faltered upon witnessing the consequences of a ship girl being cooped up in her bedroom with little to no contact with the outside world for years due to her condition, but recovered enough to mask her disappointment at her own crass behavior as she nodded towards the other end of the corridor, suggesting.

"Come on.

The meeting's about to start, and I don't want to be late."

* * *

"So, according to the movements of the enemy, we can safely assume that they're trying to slowly encroach on our territory."

The meeting was in full swing, the Coordinators of the Yokosuka Naval Base present and seated around the 'conference table' as Admiral Mako sat at the end of the occupied table, Akashi and Aoba distancing themselves from the Coordinators and sitting in a corner of the room behind their Admiral.

Kirishima took out an erasable marker and uncapped it to slowly draw a red arrow that stretched in from the Pacific, going around Southwest Chiba while headed for Southern Kanagawa and ended at the Sagami-nada Sea.

The Coordinators of the Yokosuka Naval Base looked down at a large map that was spread out on the table in the center of the room, updated after every sortie and information gathering session in order to keep track of the amount of Abyssals that they encountered within and beyond the Safety Zone.

Kirishima continued,

"They'll likely try to box us in, seeing the amount of Abyssals that were sent to try to keep us from advancing along this line..."

And another line originated from the spot of ocean roughly around where Choshi City was in the Chiba prefecture, drawn straight down on the map with a slight curve along the coast of Chiba to indicate Abyssal territory as she commented.

"Any other attempts to push out beyond this line has been met with resistance as evidenced by the 1st Fleet's sortie two days ago as well as the 6th Fleet's sortie even earlier than that, in which the 6th Fleet had to retreat due to the increasingly heavy firepower that the Abyssals brought to the fight.

We've also received several reports from fishermen along the Japanese coast and other bases in Chiba reporting a drastic spike in Abyssal sightings as further proof."

"I knew it, they were moving an entire armada deep beneath the ocean to try and engage several naval bases at once."

Admiral Mako grimaced as she leaned back and rested her left cheek on her left fist as she had her legs crossed, but her mind was racing with possible counter-moves to deal with this seemingly inevitable large-scale battle.

Musashi leaned as she pushed up her glasses, her expression of consternation also evident as she simply asked.

"How many?"

Kirishima pushed up her glasses as she made an educated guess as to how many Abyssals were going to participate in this battle, gravely responding.

"Too many for us to handle alone, even if we were to sortie every single ship girl in this base.

With the size of this Abyssal armada, they'll probably move in from the Pacific and try to push inland in a brute-force attack, trapping us in as they catch us in a wide net stretching to Oshima Island and overwhelming us with sheer numbers."

"Is there any way to fight back?

Maybe a frontal assault to meet them halfway?"

Musashi seemed somewhat agitated upon hearing this, trying to come up with a plan of sorts to try and respond to this upcoming Abyssal assault that threatened to bury them underneath the Abyssal version of a human wave attack, Yahagi politely noting,

"But they're coming in from quite a wide front.

If we try to push them out, it may cause us to stretch our forces out too thin, although it would be far easier for us to evacuate casualties this time due to the proximity to our base."

And Ooyodo recommended,

"Since this concerns most of the bases in the Chiba and Kanagawa prefecture, they'll have to help out if they don't want the Abyssals to succeed in their invasion."

Admiral Mako nodded, looking to Ooyodo as she revealed the few calls that she had made prior to this meeting to ensure the cooperation of as many naval bases as possible to maximize their chances of winning as she took the spotlight.

"Alright, I kinda anticipated this and I've already discussed things with Ooyodo to make some preparations before this meeting.

I've already called and discussed things with the Admirals of neighboring naval bases to prepare all the naval mines that they have.

We're going to utilize the Great Wall Defense for this one."

Nagato raised a solitary eyebrow and asked,

"We're going to use this formation to defend the coast?

I expect some sort of explanation for this, Admiral."

Admiral Mako shrugged and gave her explanation, already contemplating other matters at hand as she rocked her chair distractedly.

"We're going to build the wall of naval mines as a deterrent to stop the Abyssals from launching an underwater assault.

We'll do our best to coordinate our efforts to lay these mines such that they would never even consider trying to sail through them."

The chair plopped back onto all fours, Admiral Mako standing up from her metal chair and pushing it back, the legs of the chair scrapping against the floor as she picked up a blue marker to draw their defensive line.

"From here…"

From the Southwest Chiba prefecture, she estimated the distance and drew an unbroken horizontal line towards a position North of Oshima Island, the populated island that was to the far South of the Kanagawa prefecture to indicate the wall of naval mines.

"...to here."

Musashi asked, now lifting her regal exterior to express her curiosity about this strategy.

"How are we going to utilize this passive form of defense?

I know the basics, that the Anti-Abyssal naval mines serve as a passive form of defense or deterrence.

The Abyssals trigger the naval mine's Anti-Abyssal proximity sensors while underwater and cause it to detonate, forcing them to go around the line of defense to prevent loss of life."

Admiral Mako nodded, placing the capped marker on the table and leaning as she explained.

"We'll be using this defense formation as a means to force them to fight on the surface of the ocean, since things might get rough should they be allowed to attack on the ocean surface and from deep beneath the ocean.

We'll try to line these mines up in several rows to try and create a no-man's land, where the Abyssals will be forced to surface and sail over the mines if they want to continue with their invasion.

This is to force their hand, since they can't stay submerged when a wall of mines block their way, and they'll be forced to surface and go _over_ the wall of mines."

Nagato seemed to follow her Admiral's line of thought as she anticipated the next move that the ship girls would make after the Abyssals tried to sail over the wall of naval mines.

"And is that where we will strike?

The moment when they surface is when they are most vulnerable, since the Abyssals need time for their riggings to transform from inactive, submersible riggings into active riggings for combat use.

We'll have an advantage in terms of position as they rise up from beneath the ocean, and we have the 'high ground', so to speak, as we sail on the surface of the ocean and can fire at the surfacing Abyssals."

Admiral Mako nodded at that, leaning in to note the positions of the Abyssals relative to the island of Japan as Musashi piped up with a question.

"And seeing they would be most vulnerable when surfacing, is it safe to assume that you'll be heavily utilizing carriers and battleships to try and destroy as many of them as possible in an opening strike?"

Admiral Mako looked slightly surprised at how the Yamato-Class battleship was able to arrive at a startlingly accurate conclusion, nodding with a slight smirk on her face as she agreed.

"Yes.

However, it's too much to hope that this opening strike will wipe them all out, which is why I'm still in the process of drafting up a strategy for the battle to come.

But the one thing I know is that things are going to go south the second they manage to get past the wall of mines to get up close and personal.

And that brings me to my next point."

Admiral Mako looked at the four battleships in the room, her gaze never wavering as she declared with a tone of finality.

"The training session that I told you battleships to keep a lookout for while I tried to reserve a spot on the training ground that was large enough to accommodate all of you?

It's done, and the training session will occur on the 10th of April."

The battleships in the room exhaled in unison, finally relieved that they were going to start training in order to improve on their skills which would undoubtedly come in useful in the upcoming large-scale battle.

But Musashi wondered out loud.

"Not that I'm ungrateful for this training session, but what else would we need to learn other than learning to accurately aim and fire our cannons?"

But Nagato was the one to answer the Yamato-Class battleship's question as she leaned in and explained.

"Well, despite us battleships possessing immense firepower to be used for shelling missions, it's not out of the question for us battleships to be engaged in close-quarters combat with Abyssal battleships or even Princesses.

In this large-scale assault, it's quite possible for more than one Princess to be recruited to increase their chances of success, and it is likely that they'll send out the strongest Princesses for something as important as this."

Musashi nodded as she leaned down to observe the map, looking as though she was trying to visualize how the battle would play out, and if the combined efforts of several naval bases could take them all out.

Admiral Mako nodded at Nagato's reasoning, explaining how close-quarters combat was a newly-revived aspect of warfare that had received its fair share of attention ever since warships were reincarnated into humanoid bodies.

"Oftentimes, fighting with the Abyssals who have unlimited resources means that we have to fight in close-quarters in order to conserve ammo.

It might seem dangerous, but no battle is risk-free, and at least when you engage the Abyssals in close-quarters combat, they'd hesitate to use their bombers and cannons for fear of friendly fire.

Coupled with the sheer amount of Abyssals that they're bringing to the table along with a couple of Princesses, and it'd actually be stranger if it didn't devolve into a physical brawl between you battleships and the Princesses."

Musashi nodded to signal her acceptance of Admiral Mako's reasoning, Kirishima raising her hand to try and get the Admiral's attention as she notified.

"Admiral Mako, I appreciate you trying to train us, but I'm afraid I might not be able to attend this particular training session because of _that._ "

Several heads turned upon hearing Kirishima's grave tone, Admiral Mako nodding solemnly as she accepted Kirishima's reason for being unable to attend the training session as she muttered understandingly.

"I get it.

I suppose I can come up with a make-up session for you and Haruna, whom I also believe would be unable to attend this training session..."

Yahagi raised her hand upon hearing this, trying to clarify Kirishima's words as she finally stopped typing on the laptop that was open before her.

"I'd like to ask this question so that I can type this in the minutes of this meeting, but what do you mean by 'that'?"

Admiral Mako's expression shifted as she looked down at the table, her hair casting a slight shadow over her eyes as she elaborated.

"Yes, I suppose we can move onto the next topic of conversation by elaborating more on the 1st Fleet's encounter with the mysterious Abyssal Wo-Class that acted as a messenger of sorts for the Abyssal high-command."

Kirishima pulled out a file from her large white miko sleeves as she pushed up her glasses, opening the file to pull out pictures that were screenshots of the 1st Fleet's sortie and the Wo-Class, or 'Woxanne' as she called herself, Kirishima explaining the situation.

"The 1st Fleet had a successful sortie two days ago, but they encountered an Abyssal which had previously been in contact with the Infiltration Fleet on their recent mission to uncover a hidden Abyssal base on an island situated in Abyssal waters.

She wore the Abyssal symbol on her cape to indicate a neutral party of sorts, something that hasn't been seen before in this war as the Abyssals didn't see any use for ... diplomacy."

Mutsu looked rather intrigued, leaning in to look at the photos and casting a large shadow on the table as she was the only ship girl in the room that was standing, tucking her brown hair behind her left ear as she noted.

"Well, it's a good thing that Shigure stopped the 1st Fleet from firing at her to hear what she had to say, hmm?"

Nagato noted as she, too, leaned in with her hands entwined and before her face in a Gendo Pose as she remarked.

"Hmm, I'm interested in what the Abyssals had to say to the 1st Fleet.

You probably have some sort of transcript to record down what this Abyssal 'Woxanne' had to say, right?"

Kirishima spread out the printed screenshots of the 1st Fleet's memories for the Coordinators to pick up and scrutinize for details about the lone Abyssal, and a stapled sheath of papers was passed to the stoic battleship as the bespectacled fast battleship replied.

"For a chance encounter this rare, it goes without saying that we'd note down every detail about 'Woxanne' and every word uttered from her lips."

Nagato nodded thankfully as she picked up the transcript, flipping through and slowly scanning through the sentences as Admiral Mako explained the situation to the ship girls present in the room, now becoming slightly perturbed as she used her right hand to shield her mouth while leaning forward.

"We sent out the Infiltration Fleet to find a secret Abyssal base and interrogate a Wo-Class that was in an Abyssal fleet sent to patrol that area.

They accomplished their mission as the Wo-Class coughed up information about what the Abyssals might be up to, and the Infiltration Fleet let her go.

But now that the 1st Fleet has completed their sortie, it seems that the same Wo-Class had the Abyssal symbol imprinted on her cape, and she was sent out to observe the 1st Fleet in combat to determine their potential."

"And you believe this is a cause for concern because...?"

Musashi prompted, although it was clear from her tone that she understood that this was a grave matter and was something to be worried about, she simply didn't know what the exact cause of concern was.

Admiral Mako nodded as she elaborated for Musashi's sake, as well as for Yahagi's sake as she was typing the minutes to the meeting for future reference, where readers might need some context as to what they were talking about.

"Well, the Abyssal who introduced herself as 'Woxanne' contacted the 1st Fleet and told them that the Abyssal high-command have taken an interest in them, even more so when they hailed from Yokosuka.

And the interest in their potential is why Woxanne said that they'll be the first to fall at the hands of whatever the Abyssals have created."

Admiral Mako's expression darkened as she considered the risks of sortieing the 1st Fleet again when faced with the haunting risk of sending them to their deaths, continuing.

"They predicted the fact that I want to sortie the 1st Fleet more often in the upcoming weeks in order to help them gain more experience in a short amount of time, and they'll likely be lying in wait.

And when they encounter the 1st Fleet again, they'll likely try to destroy the 1st Fleet to make sure they never achieve their full potential."

Ooyodo looked down at the notes and the screenshots of the Abyssal symbol on Woxanne's back, noting.

"I heard the conversation between them, and what Woxanne said is disturbingly accurate.

The Abyssals are still piling on the pressure despite their attempts to consolidate their forces right underneath our noses, and it's not exactly viable for us to sortie other fleets to cover them for a possible threat that might never materialize.

But I suppose we can work something out."

Mutsu nodded as she suggested, trying her best to help their Admiral out in coming up with ideas and plans to deal with what the Abyssals might throw at them.

"We could do that thing we do to improve the response time of our fleets by allowing the backup fleet to sail at a distance behind them.

That means that if a problem arises, the fleet only has to cover half the distance instead of sortieing all the way from the base.

And should the situation not deteriorate to the point where the backup fleet needs to intervene, we can save on fuel anyway since the backup fleet would only cover half the distance."

Admiral Mako nodded upon hearing that, giving Mutsu a tired smile as she accepted the battleship's suggestion.

"Alright, I suppose we can sortie the 3rd Fleet using this tactic to improve our response time should the Abyssals actually try something, and I suppose that's the end of that.

We won't cower in fear just because the Abyssals threaten us like this, but I can't in good conscience allow the 1st Fleet to sortie without some form of protection after the Abyssals have taken an interest in orchestrating their demise.

And I think the next thing that's on the agenda is the stuff that the Infiltration Fleet discovered while infiltrating the abandoned Abyssal base, and the various schematics to unknown weapons."

Kirishima pulled out another file from her large sleeve as she spread out its contents for all to see, Akashi and Aoba standing up behind Admiral Mako to see what remained of the notes that the Abyssals had failed to eradicate, and thus allowed them a glimpse of their activities that occurred in the depths.

Kirishima explained the contents, having tried her best to decipher its contents with Ooyodo and relaying her findings to the women in the room.

"This file called 'Apocalypse' is something of vital importance, as it partially details an abnormally large amount of resources being transported deep beneath the ocean, where it's difficult for us to detect and keep track of.

And there seems to be scraps of what we assume to be the blueprint of a certain ship."

All heads in the room turned upon hearing that, Yahagi raising her hand politely as she clarified.

"I'd like to clarify that sentence for future reference, did you say 'ship' instead of 'ship girl'?"

Kirishima nodded as she laid her hand down on a photo of the ship's rudder and the name of the blueprint in question, the Coordinators only able discern two English alphabets.

'Fl...'

Kirishima noted with a concerned tone,

"The remnants of this blueprint somewhat matches those of the Nagato-Class battleships, despite the fact that a different title was used."

Nagato and Mutsu's eyes both widened, although Nagato was able to hide her surprise better compared to her expressive sister who leaned in to pick up the recovered photo, Musashi now fully invested in the recent discovery as she inquired.

"Why would they need Nagato-san's blueprints?

And should a blueprint be required for construction, should it not be a blueprint of her as a ship girl instead of a warship?"

Kirishima shrugged as she admitted the limits of her intelligence network while replying with a regretful tone, unable to truly answer Musashi's question.

"I'm sorry, Musashi-san.

It's been made abundantly clear that warships have been rendered almost obsolete in this war ever since our inception, so it stumps me as to why the Abyssals would want blueprints to a weapon that's already behind the times.

No offense, Nagato-Class."

Kirishima nodded slightly towards the two warships, Nagato nodding gruffly as Mutsu was silently contemplating the photo, hand-waving Kirishima's apology as a form of acknowledgement.

Admiral Mako was already considering the possibilities as she asked one question,

"That previous matter about them transporting mass amounts of resources deep beneath the ocean.

Have you tried crunching the numbers to see how much they had to use in order to create a life-size Nagato-Class battleship?"

Ooyodo stepped in upon hearing her Admiral touch on the topic of calculations, explaining the confusing anomaly.

"Well, Admiral.

It wouldn't be out of the question for you to believe that the transported resources were used to construct something resembling a Nagato-Class battleship, as we initially believed.

But even after accounting for possible modifications to a Nagato-Class's hull, we found that it never even came close to the amount of resources described in the partially destroyed receipts."

Admiral Mako grimaced at that, looking even more worried than before about the Abyssals' hidden activities in the depths as she roughly pushed aside the file to indicate the end of that topic, exhaling loudly as she huffed.

"Alright, no point worrying about this now.

Kirishima, Ooyodo, I'll meet up with you tomorrow outside this room to discuss the possibilities.

Let's not hold everyone up by fretting over this one topic, and address the last item on today's itinerary."

Kirishima and Ooyodo nodded resignedly as the Kongou-Class battleship collected the sheath of papers, Mutsu reaching across and placing her free hand on the table to support her body as she passed the photo to Kirishima, still somewhat occupied by the thought of the Abyssals possessing blueprints of their ship class.

Akashi was the one to lean forward, lightly tossing the file that was in her possession the entire time onto the conference table as its contents scattered onto the table, allowing a somewhat miffed group of Coordinators to peer down and examine the blueprints, notes and sketches.

Aoba leaned in, pressing down on her copper helmet as she stood over everyone and explained.

"Um, Akashi and I have been working on another project..."

A good number of ship girls either sighed upon hearing that or became slightly more alert as they remembered what happened to Aoba, the most glaring reminder being the metal helmet that she was forced to wear almost every time she stepped out of her room.

Aoba's expression darkened as her spirits dropped, but the fact that the Admiral gave the Coordinators the stink-eye to try to get them to at least hear the heavy cruiser out as well as Akashi's comforting hand placed on her shoulder did help her try to continue her explanation.

Aoba was looking down at her shoes and playing with her fingernails, unable to face any of the ship girls after having something so traumatizing happen to her and forcing her to isolate herself from the world, having no one to blame but herself for the onset of her own condition.

She was now speaking before a crowd that consisted of some of the most important warships in Japan, and she was almost unable get out a word out due the nervousness and hesitation within her, unsure of how she was to react should any one of them reject her ideas on account of her greatest failure.

But feeling another hand on hers caused her to flinch again, jumping slightly upon registering the human contact before looking down and realizing that it was her Admiral who held her hand reassuringly as she looked up and into Aoba's eyes before looking to the expectant group of ship girls and explained the situation.

"I've already given Akashi and Aoba the go-ahead to tinker with a ship girl soul to try and communicate with it.

And before you ask..."

Admiral Mako raised her hand to try and pacify the ship girls who started rising from their chairs as they sat up to question the Aoba-Class and Akashi-Class ship girls as well as their commanding officer, Aoba exhaling in disappointment as she withdrew and shrank back to stand behind her Admiral and treated her as a protective barrier between her and the Coordinators.

"The difference between this research project and Aoba's previous project is that she now has Akashi by her side, working with her and helping her out.

Akashi will do her best to predict and prevent any potential pitfalls that may crop up, but if we require any of your help, we'll immediately notify you."

Musashi was the one to ask the first question as she leaned forward with a dark expression on her face to regard her Admiral warily, questioning in an interrogative tone.

"Admiral, who's going to be the test subject for this project?

Aoba-san?

Akashi-san?"

The silent heavy cruiser shivered upon hearing the hard questions being thrown out so soon, looking away shyly as she refused to answer the question and forcing Akashi to pipe up defiantly with an honest answer.

"Aoba and I aren't going to be the first users as we're both too damaged psychologically to be viable candidates for test subjects.

Besides, after the machine's built, it will require the both of us to operate until we plan and implement future upgrades.

We'll need to convince another ship girl who's of sound mind to get in the machine voluntarily."

Mutsu narrowed her eyes, now losing whatever traces of cheerfulness that she previously had and now took on a grave expression that could rival her sister ship in her colder moments as she questioned in a no-nonsense tone.

"Akashi-san, is there a chance of permanent death should this 'machine' fail?

After all, we're talking about experimenting with a ship girl's soul, which is a topic of mystery and unanswered questions, and is a whole different ball game when compared to a ship girl's mind."

Mutsu now squared off with Akashi as they both turned to face each other, the repair ship unfazed by the taller Nagato-Class battleship's piercing gaze as Mutsu towered over her as a member of the Big Seven and looked dead serious about the undetermined test subject's prospects of survival.

Akashi finally answered as Aoba cowered behind her, the both of them determined to see this project benefit all of ship girl-kind in combating the Abyssals in their own way as she coolly looked into Mutsu's eyes and answered.

"We haven't started construction on the actual machine, but our best estimates currently range from 30 to 43 percent in terms of survivability, which will improve with each test subject."

A screeching sound could be heard as Nagato stood up abruptly, causing the legs of her chair to scrap across the floor as she, much like her sister ship, towered over the standing Akashi and a seated Admiral Mako.

Her gloved fists were clenched tightly, and her expression was a mix of disappointment, anger and hurt upon seeing her Admiral giving two damaged ship girls the go-ahead to develop a machine that could potentially kill a fellow ship girl, her dark hair casting a shadow over her empty eyes.

Her toned muscles were coiled and ready to strike, and she was visibly trying her best to rein in her temper, Mutsu's expression morphing to express concern as she looked ready to hold her sister back should Nagato's admirable self-restraint somehow fail her.

Aoba squeaked as she hid behind Akashi and her Admiral, attempting to hide behind them as Admiral Mako looked into her lover's eyes and heard Nagato speak in a voice that was far too even when compared to her pained expression, although the edge in her voice was notable as she spoke.

 _"Admiral._

 _I love you, and I do my best to try and stand by every decision you make._

 _But when you approve of a research project that might not only create another scarred ship girl like Aoba, or even kill them outright..."_

Nagato raised an eyebrow in Aoba's direction, still looking into her Admiral's unwavering eyes as she continued.

 _"I, Nagato, have a duty to ensure the safety and well-being of the ship girls under my command to ensure that no one suffers because of my negligence and ends up like Aoba, or worse._

 _I want you to clearly explain to me what is it you intend to achieve by gambling with the life of a fellow ship girl in this research project."_

Admiral Mako sat in her chair, crossing her legs and resting her left cheek on her fist as she met Nagato's fierce gaze with her steely eyes and responded coolly.

"Have you ever thought about why this war has to be fought?

The relationship of the ship girls and Abyssals, the origin of your souls and what allows them to power your bodies.

There are too many variables and unanswered questions about the very nature of this war, and I think that the one thing that can help us understand just what we're dealing with..."

Admiral Mako raised her free hand to point at Nagato's chest, making her point without any hesitation as she explained herself.

"Is the soul of the ship girl."

Admiral Mako looked to Akashi, who had her hands in her pockets as she took this as her cue to step up and explain everything, blinking aloofly even as Nagato's intense gaze focused on her, the repair ship explaining.

"It's been established that Abyssals, much like ship girls, possess souls that power their bodies from within.

Souls aren't created by the Fairies, as even they aren't that advanced to break the First Law of Thermodynamics and create a source of everlasting power.

So the question remains.

If the Fairies didn't create these souls, who did, what did they make it out of and where did it come from?"

Akashi looked into Nagato's eyes, the two of them now facing off as the entire room became dead silent, its occupants morbidly curious about the Admiral's ultimate goal in trying to dig further into the primary cause of this war, instead of fumbling around in darkness like they always did with the Abyssals being one step ahead of them.

"We're afraid that if we don't uncover this before the Abyssals strike again with whatever unholy weapons that they've built..."

Jutting out her chin towards Kirishima and Ooyodo, who were standing at the other end of the room with files in hand to indicate the obscene amount of resources that the Abyssals had been transporting deep beneath the ocean, Akashi continuing.

"We're just going to get overwhelmed eventually and not know what hit us.

We believe that the first step in trying to end this war is to understand the one constant that survives the cycle of reincarnation."

Akashi lifted a hand from her pocket to jerk her thumb towards her heart to indicate the miraculous source of power within them, Nagato huffing and interrogating.

"How are we to communicate with a ship girl soul?

To our knowledge, they don't possess sentience and lack any sort of valuable knowledge for us to learn.

They simply function as power sources-"

"Not true."

Aoba surprised everyone by speaking up all of a sudden as she still stood behind her seated Admiral, but was now speaking up and trying to get her point across as she refuted Nagato's argument.

"Studies have noted that this 'soul' provides a source of mechanical and electrical power for a ship girl to function.

T-This might mean that whatever's inside may operate much like a machine would in order to act like a step-down transformer to regulate this power output pertaining to the ship class it is installed in."

Aoba gulped, now moving into the realm of purely theoretical science that she couldn't easily explain when all eyes were on her, sweating a little under her copper helmet as she did her best to simplify the entire subject.

"Um...

A- And much like a power pack we don't possess the manual to and only use in order to power a ship girl, p-perhaps we can learn to 'communicate' with the soul via technological means.

This way, we can learn to draw on extra power to be harnessed i-in order to create new Anti-Abyssal weapons."

Everyone gawked at that, wondering about the seemingly-absurd goals of this research project.

Sure, it was mostly accepted by everyone that ship girls died and reincarnated as Abyssals and vice versa, but this was stepping into uncharted waters with only theories and assumptions to guide them forward, and the consequences of failure were dire.

But Aoba held her hands up as she tried to convince them of the project's viability and its future prospects as she stuttered.

"U-U-Um, it's not as useless as one might think.

T-Think about it.

The soul discharges seemingly limitless energy to fuel our ship girl modes and keep us alive.

And if we craft specially created Anti-Abyssal weapons, w-we may be able to bring about a new age of Anti-Abyssal weapons to push back the Abyssals.

P-Please give us a chance, Nagato-san!"

Aoba placed her arms beside her torso and gave the Nagato-Class battleship a respectful 45 degree bow to earn her blessing, everyone's attention now shifting onto the slow battleship as Nagato considered Aoba's words for a moment.

Finally, when it seemed as though the silence had stretched on long enough to make everyone feel rather uncomfortable at Nagato's lack of a response, the name-ship of the Nagato-Class nodding as she simply answered.

"Fine."

She sat back down without a word, although her taut jaw and dark expression was not lost on everyone as she glanced at Admiral Mako and added ominously.

"We'll talk about this later."

Admiral Mako nodded in relief as she exhaled sharply, looking extremely weary after the Coordinator meeting that was a roller-coaster ride of mystery, frustration and tension as she ended the meeting with a simple,

"Dismissed."

* * *

[...And that's the end of my report, Ma'am.]

Woxanne was kneeling down on her right knee and had her right fist on the steel floor, taking a knee as she lowered her head reverently when reporting to her superiors in the medium-sized room.

The room was about the size of a briefing hall, with several stylized tables and blocks of machinery standing at attention to the sides of the room, wires and tubes sticking out of each and everyone of them as they barely illuminated the bridge with the several LED monitors and light bulbs, the latter blinking on and off in the darkness like fireflies in the night.

Woxanne had her head down and could see the grooves in the floor that were to be used to move these control panels back into place to pilot the gargantuan vessel that she was currently on.

At the end of the room was a heavily reinforced window that was supported by a large grid of steel strips that allowed for a viewer to witness the sight of the deep ocean, but currently had a metal shutter drawn to act as a projector screen for the projector above Woxanne's head.

The six members of the 1st Fleet were projected on the screen, each photo looking as though they were posing for a passport photo along with their respective stats being displayed beside them, a few pentagon and bar graphs extrapolating and predicting how the 1st Fleet would grow and develop.

Two figures stood before the bright screen, enveloped in darkness due to the amount of light fixtures left inactivated on the bridge as well as the primary source of light that was the projector screen being situated behind them and failed to illuminate their frontal features.

One of them moved forward, Woxanne clearly hearing the metal boots softly making contact with the hard floor as her master slowly approached her with slow yet regal steps, Woxanne reverently closing her eyes as she saw the dark boots of the Abyssal leader stop before her, her dark cape stretching out the pitch-black shadow at her feet.

She felt her master's gloved hand reach down and affectionately ruffle her hair, Woxanne squeezing her eyes a little harder as she felt her ghostly hair tickle her eyelids and cheekbones, her master congratulating her with a satisfied tone.

[Well done.

You've accomplished both your objectives with flying colors.

You've contacted the Infiltration Fleet, observed the 1st Fleet in action and conveyed our message.]

Woxanne was humble about her accomplishments, citing the part that her master played by placing her in an advantageous position to pull off her mission successfully.

[It was nothing, Ma'am.

I followed your instructions to the letter, and that was it.]

[Ahh, don't belittle your own achievements, Woxanne-chan!

The symbol you carry on your back is proof that you're someone worthy of delivering the message of all Abyssal-kind, no?]

Woxanne nodded upon lifting her head slightly to witness the second shadow stepping forth with a spring in her step, almost skipping across the platform as an energetic and bubbly voice resounded across the bridge, Woxanne peeking up and noting the signature bluish-white circle in the center of her chest, visible through her uniform as it rested slightly above her cleavage.

Woxanne accepted the compliment as she simply declared.

[I have accomplished my mission.

I shall retreat to my quarters until you find another use for me, my masters.]

Woxanne rose wordlessly, her cape fluttering and revealing the capital 'A' on the back of her dark cape as she kept her head lowered dutifully as she bowed slightly whilst backpedaling, Woxanne finally turning as the sliding door hissed open to allow her to exit the command bridge as she heard the Abyssal secretary pout behind her.

[Oh, come on!

Stay here and chat a little more, please?]

The two figures stood in the middle of the room as the automatic doors closed behind the exiting Woxanne as a signal of sorts was sent through the entire bridge, causing the machinery that stood on the sidelines to slide along the grooves installed on the floor as the entire room buzzed with energy.

They reached the end of their predetermined paths on the floor and cleanly unfolded to form control panels that consisted of touchscreens, levers and countless buttons of unknown functions, even more LED screens gently lowering themselves from the ceiling as they powered up to display even more numbers, graphs and meters that were currently in the green.

But this was all ignored by the two figures as they moved towards the command chair in the center of the room, the seat unfolding from a pod-like module that was summoned from the depths of the platform, smoothly unfolding to form something resembling a massage chair.

The Abyssal secretary looked a little upset after seeing the Wo-Class leave so quickly and in such an abrupt manner, puckering up her lips as she waved her gloved hands about in in a circular fashion as she complained.

[Ahh, the Abyssals are good soldiers, but they're all like dead fishes in terms of personality!

What's it take for a girl to get some company around here~?]

The Abyssal commander noted in a droll tone as she glided over to the command chair, cape hovering above the floor as she remarked,

[Aww, do I not count as an Abyssal you'd like to be with?

You wound my heart, Sa-chan.]

[Moouuu, it's not that~!

But you're so smart that I sometimes can't keep up with what you're thinking, Yuu-chan!]

The caped commander chuckled a little upon hearing that, pushing her cape in as she sat herself down on the steel throne, the command chair coming to life as neon blue stripes lit up the chair, electricity starting to course through the circuitry within as the dark figure made herself comfortable, looking like a queen seated upon her rightful throne as she commented.

[I suppose, but being able to stay as my secretary ship for so long means that you should listen to your own advice and believe in your own intellect.

Now, shall we take care of what's on the memo before dealing with the 1st Fleet?]

Her secretary nodded eagerly as she moved over to a touchscreen panel, pressing the screen with her gloved hands before bringing up a few computer windows to indicate the amount of reports to handle, the first issue being the Princesses submitting even more complaints as her exuberant voice narrated.

[The Princesses submitted even more death threats and challenges to contest your rule over them, despite your little stunt the last time you met them all in a large-scale meeting.

But I think you are capable of, and I quote, 'choking a bitch' whenever you feel like it, right?]

The commander shrugged as she noted, already writing off these complaints as disgruntled subordinates who ultimately had to follow her instructions, no matter what.

[Let them grumble all they want.

I was the one who was chosen by the Abyssal overlords to lead the Abyssals, and I have delivered.

They may be discontent with the fact that a light cruiser's leading them, but they cannot deny that everything we've designed and built was only possible through my efforts.]

Secretary Voice nodded enthusiastically as she closed the computer window, bringing up the next issue to be addressed by the light cruiser duo.

[The preparations for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea are well-underway as we're still recruiting and training up our fleets to improve our odds of victory.

And much like we expected, the Admirals of the naval bases in the Chiba and Kanagawa prefecture are already preparing themselves by fortifying their defenses for the upcoming large-scale battle.]

The caped commander nodded as she rested her cheek on her left fist, remarking on the situation at hand.

[Very well.

Continue on, and get the Abyssals to engage them at the chosen location as we discussed.]

But the Abyssal secretary sounded a little worried as she scratched her head, her ahoge forming something resembling a question mark as she wondered out loud.

[But Yuu-chan, won't the neighboring naval bases band together to fight and likely win, no matter how many Abyssals we send?]

[It matters not at this point, my dear.

'Apocalypse' has already been completed, and whatever scraps of information they scrounge up at this point likely won't help them as we've been mass-producing new units for more than half a decade to prepare for the main event.

Think of this as the appetizer, where we'll allow them to celebrate this little victory before we show them the overwhelming might of the Abyssals, and deliver unto them a taste of the despair that is to come when they witness our true capabilities.]

The Abyssal nodded as she hummed approvingly, closing more browser windows as the tone of her hum shifted from approving to distractedly whimsical as she settled a few of the issues that popped up on the screen, finally coming up on the last item on the itinerary that was the 1st Fleet's battle, combined stats and their calculated potential, the Abyssal commander commenting.

[The 1st Fleet of Yokosuka.

Woxanne has warned them of their impending demise, so I predict that Admiral Mako's going to sortie multiple fleets at once.

She can't leave the 1st Fleet as inexperienced ship girls when tough battles are coming up, but she won't leave them alone now that we've got them in our sights.]

Silence reigned in the room as the two Abyssals contemplated the situation, machinery buzzing and beeping behind them as background noise before the Abyssal leader questioned.

[Bring up the weather forecast.

When will it rain again near the Izu Islands?]

Her Secretary was actively typing on the keyboard as she obtained the desired information, the project screen now displaying a map of the Izu Islands.

They were small islands that were left alone by the Abyssals as they lay on the edge of the Safety Zone, populated by a handful of humans and sailors.

The next estimated date for precipitation around the area was around 12th of April.

And it was shaping up to be quite the torrential downpour, the commander nodding knowingly as she ordered.

[Since the ship girls will have likely found what remained of the secret documents before their encounter with Woxanne, I suppose it's only fair for us to reveal a few of our secrets to the world, starting with this.]

The commander rested both hands on the arm rest, sapphire-blue orbs that rested on the end of the arm rests lighting up and engulfing her pale hands in a cerulean blue glow, the luminescent wires trailing down the seat intensifying in their incandescent glow as the commander gripped the two power transmitters.

The room came alive upon receiving its master's powers as the entire vessel that lay beyond the bridge came to life with ominous and dull creaks sounding out in the distance along with the whirring of hidden generators increasing in pitch, the Abyssal secretary looking around in astonishment as she exclaimed excitedly.

[W-Woah!

Are we really going to use _this?!]_

Her leader simply grinned as she explained her thought process.

[Gather a fleet of Abyssals to launch a medium-scale surprise assault in the area.

The rain and turbulent weather will mask our presence as we approach, and we'll force the ship girls to sortie their Fast Response Fleet along with the fleets of other naval bases.

They'll be convinced that there's safety in numbers, and we shall shatter that illusion by slaughtering them all.

If the 1st Fleet is wiped out by us, then they weren't much to begin with, and we'll be rid of a potential threat.

If not, well...]

Her grin widened as she took on a interested, slightly sadistic tone as she finished her sentence.

[I suppose we'll have to get a little more ... _creative ..._ in finding ways to break them.]

Her secretary ship was a little concerned as her ahoge was still in the shape of a question mark to indication confusion as she inquired.

[But what happens if Yokosuka decides to sortie its 2nd Fleet instead of the 1st Fleet to the scene?]

[Well, we'll crush them anyway and cripple them such that they won't be able to recover in time for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, hmm?]

The Abyssal secretary pondered her commanding officer's answer, before her body shot up in understanding as her ahoge straightened up to form an antenna as she exclaimed, her mouth forming an 'O' as she inhaled sharply.

[Wow, Yuu-chan!

You're so smart, Pyon!]

The Abyssal secretary slapped her gloved hands onto her mouth to try and hide her faux pas, cheekily commenting.

[Oops!

I did it again, Yuu-chan!]

Her commander only smirked as she acknowledged the activation of the titanic vessel that now pulsed with energy, commenting offhandedly.

[It's alright, dear.

There's no need for us to hide in the shadows anymore, not with 'Apocalypse' now completed.]

Staring at the portraits of the 1st Fleet to look into their blank eyes, the Abyssal commander grinned upon feeling the hype of revealing what she personally saw as her favorite weapon to the world, announcing through the PA system.

[All hands on deck.

Sortie _The Flying Dutchman_.]


	13. Chapter 13 - Deep Cuts, Cold Hearts

Tatsuta was standing in the naval base's kitchen while in the presence of the food supply ship Mamiya as she thought about her various teammates.

Hiei was training with the major battleships on the 10th of April after coming out of the docks, by which time she would have recovered from whatever injuries she may have unknowingly sustained during the sortie.

The Nagato, Kongou, Yamato, Ise-Class battleships and even Bismarck, the German transfer that was brought in from abroad to improve the base's firepower, were going out on the training grounds on that day to keep their skills sharp.

This was going to be a major step forward for Hiei, who was naturally nervous about being in the big leagues and was going to be learning alongside two of the most heralded battleships of their time.

She had to be comforted as the 1st Fleet reminded her that not only was she going to be representing the Kongou Sisters, but she was also going to represent the 1st Fleet itself and had to keep her cool.

She had to calm herself down in order to learn from the more experienced battleships that were Nagato, Ise and Hyuga, all of them the pillars of strength that she, Yamato, and Musashi were going to have to strive towards.

Ayanami was being coached by Tone, the heavy cruiser possessing a lot of experience from her previous base where she had been on countless sorties, and was more than willing to help the Ayanami-Class destroyer out in improving herself.

Tenryuu and Shigure were off doing their own thing as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer tried to know other ship girls better and learn more about this world, doing her best to improve herself in her own way by learning from the experiences of the older ship girls to avoid making the same mistakes.

As for Tenryuu, Tatsuta knew that her sister ship would be trying her best to learn from the strong and respectable ship girls of this base, understanding her sister well enough to know that she was entirely capable of swallowing her pride to ask them for advice or mentor-ship should she see a desired trait or skill in a senior ship girl.

But back to the present.

Mamiya was busy fixing lunch for the entire ship girl population of Yokosuka as she skilfully slid the sharp edge of the kitchen knife beneath the skin of the salmon meat that was mounted on a milky-white cutting board before her that had been scarred with diagonal knife marks and was slightly discolored due to constant use over the years.

Besides Mamiya, Tatsuta could see several sailors and ship girls at the end of the kitchen who were also preparing the afternoon meals, using anything from a wok over a mild fire to using chopsticks to beat eggs that were cracked and poured into a bowl.

The kitchen was a place of bustling activity because unlike the _Shinsengumi_ , Houshou's quiet establishment which was run almost entirely by herself, the kitchen was a place where they had to try and feed more than eighty ship girls, a good number of them being carriers and battleships who required tonnes of food and resources in order to fuel their superhuman bodies.

This meant that the cooks in the kitchen had to prepare for the next meal almost immediately after the previous one was served, the kitchen also possessing dozens of electronic food warmers to make sure that the food didn't become cold before the stipulated serving time.

And considering the fact that there were several dozen ship girls and hundreds of sailors in the base, it wouldn't be surprising that Mamiya would have several ship girls and human sailors to help her out in the task of trying to feed everyone on time, Tatsuta now stepping into the kitchen in order to offer her services and to seek the food supply ship's mentor-ship.

"You want to help me out in the kitchen?"

Mamiya's surprised voice was soft as Tatsuta stood before her with the proposition of lightening her workload by offering a hand.

"Yes."

Tatsuta confirmed.

She wanted to make herself useful, and Akashi recommended her to try and learn how to wield knives from the elder food supply ship, as dissecting and cutting up slabs of meat might help as a form of catharsis.

She also explained that kitchen was a place of activity, something which could help take her mind off of things by focusing on preparing meals for the ship girls of the base, thereby keeping herself busy instead of sitting around idly and brooding over dark topics.

Besides, Anti-Abyssal knives were available as weapons of self-defense to be used out on the ocean, and Akashi had revealed a few interesting things about the hospitable food supply ship...

She repeated the notion of wanting to help the supply ship before her, making sure that she understood the underlying reason why she wanted to learn from her.

"I've developed an interest in knives, but I want to learn from someone who can teach me to use them to their fullest potential in and outside of combat."

Mamiya tilted her head, and reminded her with the gentle tone of a senior ship girl.

"But I'm not a combat ship, and I wouldn't be able to teach you any combat uses."

Tatsuta shook her head in response as she tried to clarify her intentions while dropping the name of the ship girl who sent her, slightly regretting having to play the next card.

"Not according to Akashi."

As expected, Mamiya's knife halted in its movements and hovered over what remained of the piece of salmon, Tatsuta unable to discern the food supply ship's current state due to her hair covering her eyes, continuing on as she observed the senior ship girl.

"Akashi-san recommended that I help you out, because not only are you arguably the best wielder of Anti-Abyssal knives in this naval base, you're also the backup surgeon in this base, Akashi-san being the chief surgeon.

I understand that you know how to wield knives to create meals, heal wounded ship girls and kill Abyssals.

And I wish to learn those skills to not only help you out by fixing meals for the ship girls of this base and also utilize them in combat against the Abyssals, but I'm also taking lessons from Akashi-san to be a surgeon-in-training."

Mamiya nodded at that, silently accepting Tatsuta's words as the food supply ship turned to look at the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser.

Tatsuta was somewhat taken aback by what she saw next, Mamiya now allowing her killing intent to seep into her mild demeanor as she still held the kitchen knife.

Her eyes narrowed and her smile was tight as she exuded a bit of killing aura that only Tatsuta could detect, suppressing it with an admirable amount of control so as not to unnerve the other occupants in the kitchen who were too occupied with their cooking to notice.

She simply commented,

 _"So..._

 _Was that all Akashi-san had to say about me?"_

Tatsuta nodded with a slightly uncomfortable smile, herself being no stranger to ship girls who possessed intense killing intent, yet feeling understandably wary in their presence when they focused that intent into a suffocating aura that was exuded from their very being.

What made it even worse was the ship girls who lived long enough to hone their skills and attacks to take down Abyssals in the most efficient manner possible, this being heavily reflected in the way they carried themselves on and off the battlefield.

She knew that the food supply ship had sortied many times over the course of her life, having been created and stationed at Yokosuka ever since it was renovated to be a base for ship girls ten years ago.

She had an entire decade to learn to protect herself and train herself up in other ways since her stats were considered pathetic, even when compared to some of the higher-tier destroyers.

For auxiliary ships, fighting conventionally was out of the question since that meant that they'd be sunk almost instantly due to the disparity in stats, often resorting to Anti-Abyssal weapons and fighting using extremely pragmatic and sometimes even underhanded tactics to achieve victory at all costs.

The 8th Fleet of Yokosuka was the epitome of this concept, and Mamiya being a closely affiliated backup member of that fleet was all that needed to be said about her unorthodox combat techniques.

It wasn't exactly accurate to say that Tatsuta was scared of the food supply ship when she dropped her friendly persona to become laser-focused, but the closest term that would most accurately describe her current mood was,

 _Unnerved_.

Mamiya sighed as she finally relaxed and finally saw all that she needed to see in Tatsuta, her aura dissipating as she reverted back to the motherly and affectionate food supply ship that everyone knew, bemoaning the light cruiser's enthusiasm and keen interest about such sharp and dangerous tools.

"You aren't going to give up on this, are you?"

Tatsuta smiled warmly, her her half-lidded eyes regarding the supply ship with immense respect as she rested her palms together on her thighs and bowed towards her, explaining herself.

"I just want to learn from you and help everyone out in my own way."

"I'm not teaching you just to have you hurt another ship girl."

Tatsuta pulled herself back up, shaking her head again as she tried to dispel that notion that she suspected was causing Mamiya to hesitate as the elder ship girl considered taking her in.

"I may be rather bloodthirsty, but that only applies to Abyssals.

I'd never hurt one of my own comrades."

Mamiya shot her a glance, now professionally cutting the salmon meat into thin slices without even looking down at what she was doing, her ship girl functions coming in very handy to ensure that she never hurt herself with the kitchen knife and doing her job as a background activity in her mind.

Tatsuta gave her a look that implied her confidence and self control, Mamiya genuinely curious about her decision to inquire if she could help out with a chore as mundane as cooking, asking curiously.

"It seems rather interesting that a ship girl like you would want to learn how to cook.

Would you mind sharing with me the exact reason why you would want to learn how to cook, Tatsuta-san?"

The Tenryuu-Class light cruiser nodded, not finding much of a reason to keep secrets from the ship girl that was to become her mentor, taking on a slightly wistful look as she explained herself.

"Well, I understand everything has a start and end, and that the food we cook as chefs will ultimately be devoured by our comrades, lest they be left out to be admired and ultimately spoil.

But I think that it's actually something that we have to accept as par for the course, for nothing lasts forever, and food is meant to be fed to our comrades in order to nourish them.

Should the food that I created with my two hands be able to sate the hunger of a starving ship girl, I won't regret having cooked these delicacies for my comrades and having helped them in some way off the battlefield."

Tatsuta smiled, feeling a little more confident about her own newfound resolve and her desire to dissociate herself from the bloodshed that she loved to partake in, giving Mamiya a genuine smile as she admitted.

"And besides, it's not healthy for a ship girl to be without hobbies and spend all her time out on the field mindlessly killing Abyssals, yes?

Strangely enough, I'm a little different from other Tatsutas in that I actually _don't_ want to indulge in my sadistic, bloodthirsty persona all the time, and I'd like to dabble in the crafts to apply myself in ways other than combat.

After all, sauce and flour are easier to clean off your hands than blood."

She stood there for a while as she waited for Mamiya to come to a decision after having dropped that last line as a heavy ending to her request, finally hearing the food supply ship speak up after a while.

"Alright, I'm a big softie at heart, so I suppose I can trust you not to do anything foolish, dear.

Now why don't you come here…"

Nodding beside her as she worked on the next piece of salmon, inviting Tatsuta to stand beside her.

"... where we can get you started on your learning journey and teach you how to correctly and safely wield a knife?"

Tatsuta bowed again, grateful for the supply ship for believing in her as she made her way to stand beside and observe Mamiya while picking up a kitchen knife for the first time, the food supply ship starting her commentary and lesson.

* * *

Shigure wasn't sure how to approach the name-ship of the Unryuu-Class carriers.

Amagi, who had introduced herself to her, was unsure of how to approach her sister ship and finally decided to ask Shigure for help, seeing that she knew Unryuu from the time in the war where she was an escort ship for Unryuu's first and last mission.

And when Amagi described her situation, she was honestly dumbfounded at the situation, and was actually rather interested in the mysterious carrier's thought patterns.

Amagi described that Unryuu had been in the Yokosuka Naval Base for far longer than she did, and unlike the lovable air-headed sister she was expecting, Unryuu was silent, contemplative and brooding, although not to the point of cutting all ties with her.

She often watched the clouds and the birds flying in the sky during her free time, but when Amagi questioned her about what she was thinking, no matter how often she tried, Unryuu would just brush her off, saying that she'd never understand whatever it was that she thought about.

And that was before Amagi discovered the internet, and the thesis paper that her sister shockingly wrote.

Unryuu had matured quickly, and had developed a theory of the true nature of the ship girl that evolved into a doctrine for ship girls of various nationalities to follow to become the ideal ship girl, having posted the paper online.

When Shigure heard about it, she wasn't sure what to make of it, but she knew Unryuu from their history together, and when she read through the paper on the computer in the library, she had a rough idea of what Unryuu was thinking about as she developed this doctrine.

And from the comments that followed the first publication, this was a popular, yet controversial way of looking at the life of a ship girl, yet many ship girls around the world have embraced and adopted it, improving their sortie performance significantly at a cost that seemed insignificant to some, yet meant the world to others.

And although variants of this belief were adopted unknowingly by ship girls in the past, Unryuu was discovered relatively early by the ship girls of Yokosuka at the cost of Taihou, and thus had more time to think and develop and refine the doctrine.

Shigure made her way to the Unryu-Class Carrier room shared by Unryuu and Amagi, standing before the door that had the label ' **雲龍** ' and raising her clenched fist to knock on the door, after which Shigure heard a young and soft voice responding.

"Come in."

And pressing down on the door handle with a _click_ , she opened the door to reveal the Unryu-Class bedroom, the two beds in the room not occupying the entirety of the room as it seemed as if there was room for one more.

The well-sized room had a tatami mat with a classic Japanese tea table on it, and a tea set sitting atop the table with the cups flipped over to show that it currently wasn't with its supposed contents.

One bed that was neatly made had white bolsters, pillows and cushions arranged on the white bed-sheet. There were several jars of sweets and snacks atop the drawer at the head of the bed frame, the bottom of the bed possessing several storage drawers.

A large surreal poster was hung up beside it, depicting a beautiful formation of well-drawn clouds and was overlooking the ocean beneath.

It had a ship girl sailing over the clouds and looking out at the bright orange point at its center, representing a twilight sun that cast its orange glow on the airborne clouds, and by extension, the ship girl that was bizarrely walking on air as she looked at the scenery laid out before her.

The left side of the room was painted a bamboo green with a single _bonsai_ tree on the single drawer present on this side of the room, contrasting with the right of the room which had a pure white color scheme.

There was a neatly arranged green bed here, the tea table positioned closer to this side of the room with a minimalist, yet homely feel to it.

Shigure deduced that the left belonged to Amagi as she wore a green kimono.

In front of her was Unryuu, who likely had the white side of the room to herself as evidenced by her white hair, partially white uniform, and cloud motif that was evident from her clothes.

Unryuu's white hair was wispy and shaped like a cloud while possessing a bejeweled hair ornament that held up her braided white ponytail. Her heart-shaped face was fine, and her yellow and silver tinted eyes were focused on the view beyond the window in the room as she observed the sunset outside.

Her uniform had an ornate design, the chest area designed to look like white clouds and was revealing a bit of cleavage as it was stretched to its limits, held at the collar by a yellow string tie.

Her short sleeves were a dark green that likely reflected her real life paint-job, her midriff exposed to show a healthy abdomen and shapely hips that were barely hidden behind a white mini skirt.

She had army-green thigh-highs that also had white clouds on them to drive home the point that her name meant 'cloud dragon', with emphasis on the 'cloud' part.

Unryuu looked to Shigure, who bowed politely towards her in greeting, and Unryuu barely nodded in acknowledgement as she looked back out the window which had a stunning view of the ocean and the setting sun.

The room was warmly lit by the circular halo that was the fluorescent light on the ceiling of the room, and Unryuu stated.

"So, you're the one that Amagi-nee sent, hmm?

I figured, since you and I know each other from the war."

Shigure nodded, understanding the fact that she escorted her on an ultimately futile attempt to try to reinforce the front lines and was sunk by a submarine, Shigure rescuing some of her crew as she sank.

Unryuu continued.

"I assume you've read about my thesis paper?"

Shigure responded, although thinking back on it, Shigure was certain that Unryuu, at the time of writing the paper, was more of the scatterbrained sister that Amagi believed her to be as the paper was rather childishly and simply written in its first edition, although her points were clear and the arguments valid.

The subsequent editions revised certain points, clarified others, and addressed the various questions and criticism that arose.

"It was rather… enlightening.

The 'Nirvana' Theory, was it?

The cessation of humanity within a ship girl, which is part of the Five Illusions to perform at our absolute best."

Unryuu now glanced towards Shigure, her eyes now interested in the thoughtful and insightful ship girl who sounded as if she wanted to learn more.

"Interesting.

Unlike everyone, who calls my paper either a bunch of bull, or a heartless and cruel ideal that seems too utilitarian in nature, you seem to understand that this is a doctrine that I personally follow, and I don't force it on anyone."

Shigure motioned to Unryuu's bed, the carrier nodding as Shigure bowed again, adjusting her dress as she sat on the comfy and puffy bed.

"Yes, but I'd like you to explain the Five Illusions, in case I missed out something, or you have something to clarify or add."

Unryuu looked back out towards the window, mentally preparing herself for an in-depth explanation as she started.

"I came up with this theory as the base was going through a rough patch with the loss of Taihou in the very battle where they found me.

I suppose Amagi-nee has already explained to you that Admiral Mako wanted to find me, but lost Taihou as a result, right?"

Shigure grimaced as she nodded firmly, hearing from a worried Amagi that she had heard others witnessing Unryuu expressing various stages of guilt and grief.

Many of them theorized that she felt some sort of overwhelming need to make it up to everyone and pushing aside everything she deemed unnecessary as a form of penance and to perform at her best all the time, eventually coming up with the Nirvana Theory.

"As I looked to the clouds and the birds flying freely, I wondered,

'Why do we suffer, and the birds and clouds don't seem to be affected by them?'

And I slowly came to the realization that they didn't seem chained down by loss like we were, and that we had to let go of everything that held us back in battle.

I came up with and wrote down this idea of how a ship girl should truly behave in battle to minimize pain and suffering while achieving the best results.

To be a 'human' weapon would mean that our 'human' selves would hinder us in battle, this being something that has no place on a battlefield and should be suppressed."

Shigure narrowed her eyes at that, agreeing with both parties that while Unryuu's view of how a ship girl should behave in battle was an extremist's way of thinking, it was also generally accepted that to be a soldier, something within you had to be suppressed on the battlefield in order to easily perform gut-wrenching deeds like taking the life of your enemy before you hesitated and died as a result.

And to see it from Unryuu's point of view, as a standard carrier who was far weaker than the esteemed carriers like Kaga and Akagi, she had to resort to far more drastic measures to ensure that she could fight on par with the rest of the ship girl population.

She couldn't judge a ship girl who had neither talent or potential, yet possessed the drive to fight and win at all costs for the right reasons.

"The Five Illusions are what clouds a ship girl's judgement in sorties, but they are necessary to a ship girl's life outside of battle.

These Five Illusions must be suppressed or thrown away in battle to achieve the greatest results in sorties with the least amount of losses.

The first illusion is Emotion.

In battle, we must not be swayed by emotions, both positive and negative, for if we allow ourselves to be negatively influenced by these events, our hearts will waver and cause us to perform underwhelmingly.

Whatever benefits these feelings may bring in pushing us forward is offset by the fact that is often causes us to act without prior consideration of the situation.

The second illusion is Humanity.

As we sortie, we must throw away or suppress our humanity, lest we fail to perform what is necessary to succeed.

If it is necessary for you to put a ship girl out of her misery, you must do so cleanly and efficiently so as not to let her suffer unnecessarily.

This is very a utilitarian view of things, but it helps us focus only on the objective and helps us choose the right thing to do, and that is whatever helps us complete the objective in the most efficient way possible.

The third illusion is Bonds.

We must understand that just as a weapon must not falter, we must not feel too attached to this material realm and always be ready to cast away our bonds with our sisters and seniors should they sink in battle, lest our spirits sink along with them.

It is imperative that we do not cling on too tightly too these bonds to our friends, sisters, and even our material bodies, for they may entangle us and trip us up in the most inopportune of moments.

The fourth illusion is Morals.

We must understand that war is a place where is is difficult to apply human morals. The victors write history, so if we were ever to lose, we would be vilified in the Abyssal history books, and the same would happen to them were we ever to win.

Added to the fact that we know nothing about their motives, we must not believe that what we are doing is correct just because we fight for the sake of others, and feel justified in killing Abyssals.

Another thing that would no longer affect us as we let go of the illusion of morals is guilt over killing the Abyssals, something that may contradict the moral righteousness of others.

The gun does not feel guilt over killing someone as it expels a bullet, and on that note, the ship girl, who is a weapon first and foremost, must not concern herself with what is right or wrong, and exists only to do her job in war.

The final illusion is Desire.

We must not feel the desire to harm our enemies, as the act of killing itself, even in war, is already a sinful act. We must do our duty efficiently and not seek to unnecessarily hurt or torture Abyssals, lest they repay the deed tenfold.

The desire to win when taken to extremes, especially when we're losing will lead to desperation that will lead to our downfall via mistakes made, as evidenced in the last World War.

The thirst for revenge is also another blunder that threatens to drive us insane with our own hatred and grief, and we must learn to let it go.

Desires are all about gratifying the self, and we must give up the self in favor of the mission, as the weapon must have no desire of its own."

Shigure nodded, thinking about these 'Illusions' that surround a ship girl's life.

They were part of being human, but in sorties and battles, they did nothing but hinder them, especially when they were essentially human weapons, and the human nature and psyche was fallible and thus very unreliable.

If they were to let go of these illusions in sorties, they would essentially be embracing the side of themselves that were created to be weapons and ultimately machines, making hard decisions and fighting without any hesitation no matter what happened.

Shigure contemplated the Five Illusions for a moment, before bringing something up that she read at the end of the paper to address those that read the paper.

"You said something about things that should be noted about the Five Illusions and that they were almost as important as the doctrine itself.

What were they, exactly?"

Unryuu, now in full lecturer mode, was into educating Shigure as she started the final part of her lecture.

"The first thing to note, is that you _must_ _not_ force this doctrine upon anyone, as everyone is entitled to their own personal beliefs.

The Nirvana Theory is also _not_ a standard for you to judge everyone by, as we are all different.

The second thing is that this theory and doctrine is _not_ perfect, and are _not_ the equivalent of The Ten Commandments.

There are bound to be loopholes and exceptions, and there exists moments in the war where it is advisable to do what may not be in the best interests of everyone, but instead do what you personally feel is correct.

The third thing to note is that the acceptance the Nirvana Theory and 'letting go of the material self' is _not_ a sign to disregard one's own worth as an asset to humanity and accept a suicide mission if a better alternative exists.

Each and every ship girl vessel is sacred and should never be thrown away with such inconsideration."

Shigure nodded, gravely understanding that this doctrine was never meant to be applied to the innumerable situations where countless factors, amongst them being the circumstances of a situation, had to be taken into account.

This war was a losing fight, so to speak, seeing that the enemy had seemingly limitless reserves and had no shortage of resources to wage a long-term war on humanity and all of ship girl-kind.

It was folly to think that anyone, from a lowly destroyer to a prominent battleship, should consider themselves expandable and pointlessly throw their lives away instead of retreating in order to cut their losses and fight another day.

Unryuu continued on, now not even pretending to look out the window as she thought about the various counter-arguments and valid points that were brought to light and were already addressed long before this discussion.

"The rejection of Morals should also mean that one is _amoral,_ to carry out her duties faithfully without being hindered by moral issues, such as killing of Abyssals unflinchingly like how a gun shoots a bullet regardless of who is at the other end of the barrel.

But this is not an excuse to do what is _immoral_ , where you know right from wrong but aspire to do wrong anyway, such as torture as a form of self-gratification.

The final thing to note, and perhaps the most important note, is the fact that the Five Illusions are not necessarily bad for us, and is accepted outside of sorties and battles.

Even when we are ultimately weapons, there exists a part of us that is human, and acceptance of the humanity within us is required to live a normal life.

Grieving over a lost friend, loving an Admiral, enjoying life, accepting the desire to improve oneself and essentially, being human.

Those are acceptable as we live our daily lives.

It is however, unacceptable to have them interfere and influence us in our sorties and cost us dearly in terms of injuries, net losses and fatalities."

Shigure nodded, finally and truly understanding what Unryuu was aiming for.

A perfect split between the human and machine, embracing one and rejecting the other whenever appropriate.

This was an unusual, yet strangely enough, very powerful way of looking at life when being a ship girl.

The doctrine contradicted what she assumed was the 'conventional' ship girl way of looking at life, as most ship girls saw their human selves becoming increasingly intertwined and eventually fused with their ship selves that were designed to be weapons of humanity.

But what the Nirvana Theory stated was that the human part of ship girl was weak, and was too volatile to be of any use to ship girls in a world as violent as theirs.

So they had to suppress and snuff out all humanity and emotion within them as they sortied, cutting off all ties with this world and solely focus on carrying out their duty, which would allow them to achieve a heightened awareness in battle and do what others would not in order to achieve victory.

Paradoxically, by accepting this theory into their lives, it would be theoretically simpler to distinguish the complexities of life from the burdens of war and how to handle them separately, unlike those who had them intertwined and allowed to weigh down on them constantly, something the human mind was likely never meant to handle in the long-term while using their unreliable moral compass to guide them.

But one thing was bothering her.

"Unryuu-san, I would like to ask. You said that it was inappropriate of us to feel desire in sorties. What about the desire to live?"

Unryuu looked to Shigure, not even batting an eye as she answered without hesitation in her voice.

"Desire breeds desperation, especially when we are not getting what we want.

The desire to live can be counted as an exception, when you decide to cut your losses and retreat wisely to fight another day, and to avoid needlessly sacrificing the lives of ship girls.

But allowing it to cloud our judgement is wrong, and we must accept death as an eventuality of life, and not retreat too often, resulting in a net loss."

Shigure thought about it.

Truly, it was a powerful doctrine, allowing the ship girl to block out all unnecessary thoughts to assess the situation coldly, to momentarily disregard tune out all pain and fight on without hesitation.

Any mistake is attributed to the human self.

The machine half of the ship girl is never wrong, and only human error exists within the ship girl.

But she asked one last question.

"But, to fight our battles in such a machine-like way, is that not being almost the same as the Abyssals, who also seem emotionally dead as we meet them on the battlefield?"

Unryuu nodded, apparently looking as if she had answered variants of this question over the course of time.

"Of course, you must know of the saying,

'Fight fire with fire'.

I personally believe that our humanity is holding us back from achieving our full potential in battle, and if we were to suppress our human selves to fight like the Abyssals, who utilize overwhelming quantity over quality to hold the line, we would be able to easily wipe out entire armadas with but a handful of our fleets.

I believe that we should be able to, at any time, become a machine to fight enemies who _behave_ like machines.

And the primary difference between us and them is that we are able to switch between these two selves, the ship and the girl if we trained ourselves.

But so far, there has been no evidence that Abyssals, aside from Princesses, possess anything resembling what we could call 'humanity', although we must remember to keep our minds open and not judge them for who they are."

Shigure looked away, already fearing the carrier that she once knew and saw sink to the bottom of the ocean in a burning wreck, now returning as a meek, silent and brooding carrier who looked and behaved in an air-headed fashion, yet possessing a far more dangerous outlook on life than any other carrier in terms of mindset.

If there was ever a more fitting comparison, Unryuu would be like the eye of the storm, where the calm of the carrier belied her true deadliness in terms of her mindset and way of thinking.

"And regarding those who say that fighting while being like the Abyssals is something undesirable?"

"Nonsense.

We're barely holding the line as it is, and this war will force us to betray the expectations we set for ourselves and commit morally questionable deeds sooner or later.

Our job is to win this war as quickly and as efficiently as possible, and if that means doing throwing away our humanity, which, might I remind you that we weren't even supposed to possess as weapons of war, and accept what others deem 'undesirable' to improve our odds of survival and victory, it would almost be an insult not to accept it.

Their desire to remain untainted by the horrors of war and come out unsullied is beyond my comprehension.

We can discuss about this so-called 'honor' when we're either victorious or dead."

* * *

"... So, that's what she said?"

Amagi looked crestfallen as she reviewed Shigure's memory, several of the ship girl carriers surrounding the destroyer as they sat in the Bird's Nest.

Kaga was there, also contemplating the situation seriously as she, too, finished listening to Unryuu's lecture in her mind and had on a look of disquiet and disapproval as she looked at the floor.

Zuikaku and Shoukaku were there, and the ones absent were Hiryu, Soryu and Akagi, both of them escorted out of the room by Akagi whom Kaga promised to review the meeting with later when she came back from chaperoning the two carriers to dinner.

Zuikaku was livid, stamping around as she thought back about the doctrine as a whole, before exploding,

"This whole theory is _bullshit!_

What's the point of fighting for humanity when you don't feel anything for humanity?!"

But Shoukaku was quick to point out to her fuming sister.

"But it's been proven to be an effective doctrine, and it has improved the sortieing results of the ship girls who adopted this doctrine, Zuikaku-nee."

And Zuikaku retorted.

"But what's the point of being reincarnated as ship _girls_ when we aren't driven to win, or be more humane than our enemies?"

Kaga finally gave her input, shifting her head to look in the general direction of the Shoukaku-Class carriers as she answered.

"And what good is that, if it hinders us in combat?"

Zuikaku froze up at that, but she respectfully listened to Kaga's take on the situation, Kaga calmly assessing the situation as they all sat on the bed while Shigure sat in a respectful _seiza_ position in the middle of the room.

"I have always been mystified as to how Unryuu was capable of being so efficient in her sorties and achieve the best possible results despite being worse than us in terms of stats and being generally weaker than most carriers, although I would like to point out that I respect her as a comrade despite the gap in ability.

But after hearing this, I feel that she has divided herself into two halves of herself, the human and the weapon.

While I understand myself enough to know that I am not a very emotional person and personally strive for emotional balance within myself, I personally believe that this doctrine, however effective, will only cause more despair within Unryuu.

Discarding and suppressing her humanity when it suits the situation will inevitably create a conflict within herself whenever her machine and human half contradict each other over an issue on the battlefield, something that could cost her dearly."

She looked to Shigure to indirectly ask her on her opinion on the matter, and Amagi followed her gaze, finally resting her eyes on the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer and leaning in to plead as she went on her knees, eyes watering as she begged.

"Please, convince Unryuu-nee that this doctrine is detrimental to her mental health, and she needs to _stop!"_

But Shigure shook her head, looking Amagi in the eyes and regarding her with utmost seriousness.

"You can't control your sister like that, Amagi-san.

The more you try to dissuade her, the more she will distance herself from you as you encroach on her personal space.

You must instead be there for her whenever you can and help her without being intrusive, and even if you can't understand her, you must accept her."

Shigure's expression darkened as she predicted the thought patterns of the Unryuu-Class carrier and tried her best to help Amagi get closer to her sister ship without pushing her away and destroying their relationship.

"She already knows in her mind that you won't accept her way of thinking, this being one of the main reasons why she didn't want to share her thoughts with you in the first place.

Things will only take a turn for the worse should you try to convince her otherwise and only serve to prove her right.

Prove her wrong by respecting her right to think for herself, but convince her of its shortcomings, slowly convincing her with points that make sense and being there for her whenever she needs support.

Eventually, she will experience an internal conflict where her Theory will conflict with her humanity, and you _must_ be there for her when this happens."

Amagi looked away and considered Shigure's words before looking back and nodding, still upset at her sister coming up with and adopting such an extreme doctrine.

Zuikaku knelt down to look down at Shigure and asked inquisitively, Shigure taking the time to note several hints of hope, fear, and desperation by her facial appearance, the stance she adopted and the tone of her voice as she asked her question.

"...But there _is_ a loophole in this theory, right?

It can't be perfect, _right?"_

Shigure nodded at that, looking thoughtful as she reviewed the Nirvana Theory in its entirety in her mind.

"The first thing to note, is that she advocates only _suppression_ of emotions whenever we sortie, not the complete expunging of a ship girl's humanity to make a ship girl truly emotionless, so that isn't something we have to worry about.

Even Unryuu herself has stated that this theory is not perfect."

Shigure looked away, thinking about her personal outlook of life and how it somewhat differed from Unryuu's extreme doctrine, the Nirvana Theory being an extreme version of how Shigure personally felt a ship girl should behave in battle.

"I personally believe in something similar to this, that your should clear your mind of all worries, fear and hubris, amongst other things, before we even fire off the first shot.

But where we differ is that while I understand the pitfalls of allowing my emotions to fuel my action and push me forward, to risk the possibility of letting them run rampant within my heart and losing control of them, I still allow myself to feel emotions in the midst of battle.

The Nirvana Theory does not tolerate this.

The first thing is the fact that ship girls can exceed their limits for a short period of time is due to the fact that we are driven to do better.

But if we are to be machine-like, we are bound to hit the mechanical limit and have no desire to do better than what our material body allow us to.

Eventually, when she is required to go past her physical limits, she may be forced to call upon her emotions to drive her in battle, an experience that would be foreign to her.

Either that, or she would determine that the fight is lost and cut her losses."

Zuikaku piped up, now interested in the direction this conversation was going.

"B-But, we'll be there for her when that happens, to show her that emotions _do_ have a place in battle, where they can push us on no matter how fallible they may be!"

Shigure smiled at that along with Shoukaku and Amagi, Shigure thankful that Unryuu had such understanding family and friends to help her on her path to becoming stronger.

"The second thing is that the believes in a _perfect_ split between the human and the machine self, and that the human self can be _absolutely_ suppressed whenever we want it to be.

I personally do not agree that we can snuff out _all_ traces of humanity within us when we fight, for we are created to be like humans.

We will always have emotions.

And eventually, she will experience a conflict between her humanity and her doctrine whenever a morally tough choice comes along, and she has to make a choice between which half to listen to, either the human or the machine."

Shigure noted something about the name-ship of the Unryuu-Class carrier, citing.

"However, even when it seems as if she may be acting heartlessly by making an unpopular decision in battle, I think we should try to understand the struggles that she may face.

She tries to detach herself from the situation to be able to think logically and not allow familial bias, peer pressure and what others may see as the 'right' thing to do cloud her judgement in order to act in the best interests of the mission objective.

But there may be times where following her doctrine may actually work against her, and we need to help correct her whenever we know for certain that what she's doing is wrong.

After all, she did account for the fact that there would always be exceptions where her doctrine was inapplicable."

Kaga nodded, accepting Shigure's explanation and opinion on how to handle things as she looked to Amagi and respectfully addressed her.

"Amagi-san, rest assured that we will be on the lookout for anything wrong with Unryuu-san.

I understand the concern that you would show for a sister ship.

Unryuu-san is a valued comrade and also a fellow carrier, and we will do everything in our power to be there for her, no matter what she may go through while following her personal beliefs.

The path she has chosen to attain strength is cold and unforgiving, but we must, and will be there for her no matter what."

Zuikaku nodded vigorously, adding.

"Yeah!

We may not be able to change her mind because we respect her right to think what she wants, but if she ever feels lonely or miserable as she follows this doctrine, we'll be there to see what we can do!"

Shoukaku was more level-headed as she reassured Amagi.

"Unryuu-san is the type of girl to let her mind wander, but when it comes down to it, she can be really insightful and serious when she tries.

She just doesn't want others to suffer and grieve in a manner that everyone did after the loss of Taihou.

Taihou was lost in the pursuit to find Unryuu, and seeing us all grieve for her immensely might have caused her to feel extremely guilty about Taihou giving her life to find her, and wished to do something about it.

Thus, she developed this extremely utilitarian, and somewhat nihilistic doctrine to avoid feeling like this ever again and to make it up to us in her own way.

Although it is not the best path she could have chosen, we will be there for her all the way, not just as carriers, but as comrades-in-arms and ultimately, friends."

Shigure was holding Amagi's hands now, leaning now to reassure a now crying Amagi, softly comforting her.

"It'll be alright.

By our combined might and will, we will do _everything_ we can to make sure she never has to suffer alone."

And Amagi nodded slowly, sniffling as the tears streaked down her cheeks, thanking everyone for their dedication to such weak carriers.

"Thank you… thank you, all of you…"

* * *

The sea was dark, and the port was almost uninhabited save for the few spotlight stands lighting up the storage containers, standing tall over the shipyard as silent and watchful guardians to illuminate the night.

But at the edge of the port, where the poorly-lit pavement of the base was only guarded by a steel fence, the harbor platform ended as it let to a sheer drop into the now pitch-black waters, where a large ship was waiting.

When compared to other container ships, this ship was relatively unimpressive in size, built to serve its purpose than to impress others, with the anchor lowered into the water and several thick ropes secured to mooring cleats in order to moor the vessel.

And judging by the lack of activity of the cranes in the loading bay and the base that was next to the port, it was very safe to assume that this was in the middle of the night, or at least very late into the night for _almost_ everyone to be resting.

The small container ship by the port, a modest-looking ship that had a superstructure about 17 meters tall that was jutting upwards while positioned at the rear to overlook the whole ship, immediately followed by what was supposed to be a relatively large area meant to fit dozens of steel containers in front of the superstructure, followed by a small elevation of the platform and ending with the sharp bow.

It was designed to carry containers larger than an average human, but now, the container platform was refitted with a mammoth-sized steel box that was more than half the height of the rear superstructure.

The large steel box had several large steel tubes either coming out of one part of the wall and going back into the massive steel box on another side, or into the lower deck of the container ship and marked out by the heavy-duty bolts holding it in place.

There were several exhaust vents and funnels jutting up from the steel box, and several cooling units attached to its sides in order to maintain the temperature of the environment within the enormous metal crate.

And at the hull, above the waterline, were a few holes easily large enough for a human to crawl in and out of to access the ship to allow for easy dispensing of the explosive contents stored within the steel box that was installed on the container-carrying platform of the container ship.

The bow of the ship had several almost human-sized giant metallic spheres resting on them, with metallic rods sticking out of them at certain angles around them, almost invisible in the darkness that engulfed the deck of the ship.

The searchlight stands installed on the deck of the container ship were currently inactive and the only source of light was from small light sources on the deck and from within the superstructure as its occupants didn't want to attract any attention and strove to sortie in the dead of night to that end.

The ship itself was outfitted with dark and mild colors, nothing that would help it stand out in the dark to maintain stealth.

The name of the boat was cancelled out with paint, and beside the crossed out name was the sloppily written, but still legible,

' **爆発** '

To stand for 'Explosion'.

The platform itself had several dozen barrels of fuel and naval mines strapped onto it wherever space was available, and had several ladders as access points to which the submarines that piloted this ship could board the ship whenever they wished.

There were also a few motor-powered, smaller boats strapped to the sides of the ship, ready to be used in times of emergency as lifeboats for the few sailors that helped man the gigantic mine-laying ship.

There were three submarines currently gathered around a person who wore a familiar white blazer and officer cap as Admiral Mako looked down at her girls fondly.

Around her, her submarines were awaiting orders, and almost all of them were wearing the signature blue swimsuit that would help others identify them as submarines.

The exception to this rule of fashion was one white colored, one-piece school swimsuit-wearing ship girl that was amongst the rest of the submarines tending to the ship that was designed to run with a small crew despite its relatively large size.

Goya was one of the main trio that stood in front of her, her peach-pink colored hair reflecting her default mood as she seemed eager to sortie, shifting her weight from one feet to another excitedly.

The second of the trio was Imuya, her long red hair in a ponytail and a hair ribbon adorning one side of her hair to the side of her face.

She had an ahoge atop her crown and her school swimsuit was like Goya, also possessing the same blue and white school uniform top to reach down to her waist and cover her school swimsuit.

She had her arms crossed, looking ready to take part in the new mission that they were given, and she was trying and failing to hide the giant smirk on her face, her reddish-pink eyes twinkling.

The last of the main trio literally had twinkling red eyes, her eyes designed to have stars in them as she hopped around impatiently and caused her massive 'fuel tanks' to giggle about wantonly.

Her light-blue hair, with pinkish hues at its edges and end as they were tied into triple tails, and pinkish-white ribbons holding them at their root.

And it was almost unnoticeable, but there a hair piece that somewhat resembled an antenna on her left temple, and her school swimsuit had no school uniform top, but instead had an imprinted black letters on a white name tag that read 'I-19', writing her name Iku out loud.

Admiral Mako pacified them with a half-raised hand, and the trio immediately stopped their movements to hear Admiral Mako out.

"Alright, like I told you subs. What is the objective here again?"

Goya raised her hand, exclaiming enthusiastically.

"Do everything the way you want it to, including this and that, right?"

Imuya lightly smacked her on the head, exclaiming.

"What do you mean, 'this and that', did you sleep through the briefing again?!"

Goya answered truthfully and without hesitation.

"Yes, I did!"

Earning her another light smack on the back of the head.

Iku raised her hand next, her chest giggling from the exertion as she answered.

"Mine the location determined by the Coordinators with our Anti-Abyssal naval mines, and also help the subs of other bases to mine the entire location and sail back without provoking or engaging the enemy, right?"

"Yep, that's about it."

"Yay!

Iku's right yet again!"

As the submarine rejoiced, she deliberately hopped around, treating Admiral Mako to a view of two melons flailing around, attempting to escape the tight confines of her school swimsuit that was modified to be a size smaller and emphasizing her curves, all for the Admiral.

Admiral looked away with a small smirk and blush, and asked the trio.

"Did you account for everyone on the ship?"

Imuya nodded, counting on her left hand.

"We've got Hachi, Ro, Maru-yu and Shioi to all help us out, so that's a resounding yes!"

Admiral ruffled the trio's hair, muttering to them.

"You girls have been working hard ever since the renovations and carrying out my secret plans.

So tell you what.

When you girls come back, I'll treat you all to Mamiya's best food.

Remember to tell the rest of the subs, alright?"

The submarines all cheered and bowed as they turned away to walk up the plank to board the ship while the Admiral waltzed away to attend to other matters.

The submarines were getting into the mood, muttering conspiratorially to each other as their eyes slowly became crazed while they boarded the heavily modified mine-laying ship, Goya starting.

"So, we plant the naval mines, and as we detonate them, we go 'Yay' …"

Goya continued.

" … the mine goes ' _BOOM!'_ …"

Iku trailed off.

" …and the Abyssals go…"

The three submarines, primary members of the Specialized Mining Fleet, hid their mouths as they snickered, too engrossed in the in-joke as they answered unanimously.

" … _everywhere!"_

And broke out into fits of giggles as they hoisted up the plank and cut the ropes, the anchor slowly pulling itself up via an internal motor as the boat sluggishly moved out into the darkness in order to plant its specially created explosive contents in the depths.


	14. Chapter 14 - Titanomachy

The day was clear as today's weather was cloudless, the light blue sky indicative of warmer than average weather today.

On the harbor, there were several tall females surrounding the Admiral, who had her signature white Admiral blazer draped over her shoulders as her Admiral's cap was being twirled around her right index finger.

She had a folded umbrella in her left hand held like like a cane to shield herself against the afternoon sun as she talked to her ship girls.

Now, the Admiral herself wasn't exactly short as she was a respectable 1.79 meters tall.

But she was surrounded by the tallest ship girls in her base, and even Hiei, one of the relatively shorter battleships present, was already taller than her as she stood at 1.85 meters while Nagato and Mutsu stood at 2.03 meters, and Yamato was a whopping 2.35 meters tall.

But Admiral Mako wasn't exactly concerned with height, not when she was without question the most powerful person on the base.

She could order anyone to kneel before her if she ordered them to. (not that she'd do that to her girls) Right now, she was rather relaxed as she looked around her to take in the collective might of the battleships.

Kongou and Hiei were there, Haruna and Kirishima pursuing different career paths to help out the base in ways other than just fighting battles.

The two Kongou Sisters that were present were fired up for the practice session, fueled on even further by the powerful allies that surrounded them.

Yamato and Musashi were there, eager for what was essentially their introductory lesson to naval warfare and despite their calm demeanors, they were fidgeting about, eager to hit the ocean and fire off a few practice rounds in a sparring session.

Yamato was calmly looking down at Hiei, smiling serenely as she listened to whatever it was that Hiei was talking about, the superstructure of the Kongou-Class battleship having been constructed somewhat similar to the Yamato-Class, and that caused a bond to form between them.

Musashi was discussing something with Nagato and Mutsu, her high heel occasionally clacking in impatience as the Yamato-Class battleship tried not to draw any attention to her impatience.

Kongou was trying to out-boast the German battleship Bismarck, the German wearing a bottomless gray, black and red uniform along with a chest plate held up by an anchor between her collarbone and a metal collar around her neck.

Bismarck had black thigh-highs that led to steel high-heels that were the default footwear of most battleships, detached sleeves primarily black in color and doubled as brown-black gloves for her hands.

Her shoulders were bare, and her silky blonde hair flowed down her back as she stood proudly. Her cerulean blue eyes were prideful, yet respectful towards the battleship whom she was debating with.

She was shielded from the elements by her peaked cap, and her black underwear barely peeked out from underneath her uniform as she didn't wear pants or even a skirt.

Admiral Mako was standing in their midst, appreciating the moment.

The base often went through calamitous times, Admiral Mako quietly observing one of the turret pods that lined the base to shoot at Abyssals should they ever attempt a land assault, which they pulled off once on a national scale and cost the world dearly.

She wanted to protect her ship girls despite her impotence and inability to join them on the battlefield.

And as she had discussed often with Kiyoshimo, she wanted nothing more than to sail the seas with them and be out there on the field to participate in battles and give out orders.

But she sometimes felt as powerless as the king in a game of chess, being the most valuable piece that needed to be protected by her own girls, but not possessing the potential of the destroyers like pawns who could be promoted or the raw power of the battleships like the queens on the chessboard.

But she finally looked away from the turret pod, reminding herself of the responsibility that came with being an Admiral, being able to command and sortie the fleet en masse, not being held down by too much bureaucratic bullshit that she despised dealing with, and she had the potential to see the big picture.

She would send her ship girls on sorties that would best utilize their abilities while planning for the future, where extensive training with senior ship girls, fleet drills, practice matches and field experience would prepare them to fight this war indefinitely.

She had the clearance and power to obtain almost anything she needed and could account for everything on the battlefield to either influence, take advantage of or avoid completely.

From allies that would join them and improve their odds of winning to the weather conditions that were impartial to their suffering and influenced the battle whenever and however they wanted, like heavy rain and bad weather that would cause the ship girls to miss more often.

She hated depending on things that were beyond her control, like waiting for the Abyssals to make their move before she could make adjustments to her plans, often considering many plausible scenarios and preparing accordingly.

And even then, she wasn't able to even _promise_ , much less guarantee that they would win every battle that they fought.

She raised her hand to get their attention, and the battleships all stopped their conversations to listen to her.

She began.

"Alright, so your objective today is to learn from each other.

There are several things that you all can either learn or train up on, and I want you all to try and spar with each other in order to learn something today and to keep yourselves combat-ready."

Admiral Mako could see the battleships nodding in response.

The battleships were outclassed only by the Abyssal Princesses, requiring the might of one or more fleets to take down and were abundant in types with new models being churned out every year ever since their debut in the latter half of the war.

Ammo shortage was a legitimate concern out on the battlefield, where the ship girls and Abyssals sometimes had to resort to fighting tooth and nail just to survive.

It wouldn't hurt to learn about some defensive close-quarters combat maneuvers to make sure that they'd survive in such situations.

Admiral Mako reassured them with a wave of her hand, making sure they got the point that this wasn't going to be the last lesson for them.

"This isn't going to be the last lesson for you all.

Instead, this is more like a introductory lesson for some of you, and a lesson for others to keep their skills sharp.

We're planning to have another training session for you girls a week later, since the upcoming Pacific Assault requires massive firepower from you all to soften up anything that gets in our way.

You all need the training required to fight them in close-quarters combat should our naval battles stretch into prolonged fistfights.

So Yamato and Musashi, you two don't need to worry about our resources, we got a stockpile to invest in your lessons, so learn as much as you can from everyone."

Yamato and Musashi both nodded in acknowledgement, before Admiral Mako waved and signaled for them to disperse and suit up for battle while she stood alone on the harbor, overlooking the ocean as she saw the fast Kongou battleships already strolling towards the harbor.

She couldn't fight like the ship girls could, but she was going to do everything that was possible to maximize their chances of winning.

From the introduction of submarines to mine-laying, a once-illegal practice that was now widely accepted as a way to deter the Abyssals from attacking certain locations, to being the most selfish Admiral in Japan, bullying bureaucrats and corporate heads with Yamato behind her to barter for extra resources and watched as they caved in from the innocent demands of the revered battleship.

She used their 'donations' to fuel the war effort, and was building up her base to become one of the largest and strongest armadas in the world.

And if the 'Reincarnation' theory was true, and that sunken ship girls were 'Abyssalized' to be turned them into Abyssals, then she was going to starve them of ship girls as best she could as she brought her ship girls up to be the best of the best and had relatively low losses despite their enormous fleet roster.

She valued every single member of her base and was going to pull out all the stops to win this war, although she wasn't going to fall into the trap into believing that all the ship girls were going to be alive at the end.

She knew that losses were inevitable.

But even then, she wasn't going to give them any more ship girls than they already did if she could help it.

And right now, she had done everything in her power to prepare to greet the Abyssals at their doorstep with a barrage of cannon fire and a hail of explosions.

She understood the risks of micromanagement, history proving that being too controlling of your troops and logistics would lead to the whole command structure breaking down.

That was why she delegated the issue of management of ship girl fleets and logistics to the Coordinators, as they, being ship girls, would understand what was needed to best help the ship girls under her command.

She wanted her ship girls to be independent should she ever die, and she wasn't under any sort of illusion that she was safe on land and was protected by her ship girls like a king was behind his soldiers and subjects.

The Abyssals have attempted land assaults in the past, the most successful one being in the United States of America in 2007, where they invaded from the Atlantic Ocean onto the Eastern front, pushing far inland due to the element of surprise and countless reserves as they occupied the eastern seaboard from New York to Florida.

The Americans had to resort to using everything short of a tactical nuclear strike to flatten the Eastern front and drive them back.

And even then, the Abyssals made off with almost all of the nukes on the eastern coast of the United States that were placed there in the past to launch at the Soviets as the ship girls entered and secured the nuclear bases that were thankfully spared from the aerial bombardment, and found that _all_ of the warheads were stolen by the oceanic invaders as they retreated.

At that time, the United States Ship Girl Navy was nothing to sneeze at since being the industrial war machine that they were, they had already summoned powerful ship girls like Enterprise and Iowa several times and had hundreds of bases lining both coasts.

But even then, the Eastern bases were devastated, being overrun by the sheer amount of Abyssals that spawned from the depths that numbered in the tens of _millions_ after a long lull in their movements.

And that wasn't even accounting for the sheer firepower they brought.

As the Abyssals assaulted the Eastern front with astounding speed to overwhelm the American bases in a manner reminiscent of the German _B_ _litzkrieg_ by bombarding the coast with carriers, battleships and Princesses stationed off the coast to soften everything up for the admittedly ill-equipped ground troops, where ship girls and civilians alike were forced into an exodus as the Abyssals stepped ashore.

The ship girls were overwhelmed by the sheer manpower and firepower that the Abyssals brought, with wave after wave of Abyssals throwing themselves at the ship girls while being harassed by Abyssal bombers and Abyssal battleships taking pot shots at them.

They were unprepared for land-based combat, and were eventually forced to abandon their unwieldy ship girl weapons that couldn't be reloaded or maintained without the tools and resources in the bases that they left.

Their heavy sea-based weapons only served to slow them down on land, heading inland while evacuating the entire Eastern seaboard at the cost of their lives.

Whatever survivors were left after the inland push barely held the line while only armed with ineffective human firearms until the Western front airdropped the other half of the American Ship Girl Navy with extremely expensive and hastily-crafted Anti-Abyssal weapons made from scratch.

And along with a few tanks to turn the tables, they turned the tide of the war with a few B2 Spirit Stealth Bombers performing bombing runs that thankfully didn't destroy _too_ much of the infrastructure as the ship girls took back the Eastern coast.

They finally pushed the Abyssals back into the ocean, although the unspoken consensus was that it was more as if the Abyssals themselves decided to retreat like a receding wave, having already done extensive damage to America's naval bases and not wishing to hold onto territory that they knew they couldn't occupy for long.

The assault was infamously named the 'American _Blitzkrieg_ ' after the Nazi invasion into France, the invasion carried out with deadly efficiency and with blinding speed to take the ship girls by surprise, the enemies retreating just as quickly and taking their nukes with them.

After that fiasco, the world decided that Anti-Abyssal weapons be made readily available to be crafted at a heavy cost of resources, creating weapons that could be wielded whatever the situation.

Most of their naval maneuvers were carried out by their powerful boat slippers, hence why ship girl weapons were created to be heavy as they didn't need to run while carrying them.

Even for destroyers, their weapons would only slow them down as they brought their sea-based weapons onto land, the reduced speed a result of their ship girl armor, battle backpacks and weapons weighing them down.

The worst offenders of this were battleships who could essentially bring down entire buildings at the cost of moving at a pace of a snail.

Thus, an alternative was to use resources to create an Anti-Abyssal weapon that could naturally be used on land by creating a weapon based off of an existing human weapon design.

The most common kind were knives or swords that could be carried around easily by ship girls to be used in times of emergency, and when the option of using ship girl weapons were unavailable, for example, due to ammo shortage.

They were either crafted by the Fairies and human engineers or was a weapon that was crafted to accompany the construction of certain ship girls, Tenryuu, Tatsuta and Murakumo being a part of that group.

One thing that users were warned about was that an Anti-Abyssal weapon was perfectly capable of killing a ship girl just as they could kill an Abyssal, as both parties were created from the same steel and thus could be hurt just as easily.

Strangely enough, Admiral Mako thought, the Anti Abyssal weapons required a certain level of skill to be wielded effectively as they were based off of weapon designs not meant for conventional ship girl warfare, but was absolutely devastating in the hands of a veteran who knew what she was doing.

Admiral Mako sighed and looked towards the ocean, the wake of the last few battleships barely visible over the horizon.

She loved all of her ship girls, she really did.

And if dumping all her resources into creating the best weapons meant that they would all survive this war, she'd do so in a heartbeat and haggle every single corporate head out there to do the same to end this horrid war once and for all.

She never wanted to lose another ship girl in her life, for it felt as though she lost another daughter to this neverending conflict, and there was nothing she could do to stop it for good.

But like she said, she wasn't so naive to believe that there would be no casualties in war.

She simply didn't want them to be the girls that she had fallen in love with, and whom she treated like family in lieu of her real one.

* * *

Hiei was waiting for the Ise-Class battleships as she conversed with the taller Yamato-Class battleship, describing her sortieing experiences and the lessons she learnt from the ship girls of this base.

Being constructed earlier than the revered Yamato meant that she somehow felt a need to look out for the more inexperienced battleship.

And unlike her Onee-sama who was exuberant, dependable and experienced enough to hold her own in a battle, she saw Yamato as the kind to be strong in battle as she faced off against her enemies, yet somehow delicate as a flower when it came to collateral damage as the battle raged on around her, likely getting distracted by the injuries of her comrades.

So here she was, teaching Yamato that even though she was a battleship, she couldn't be distracted by her injured comrades.

It was alright for her to tank a shot for another ship girl if she knew she could withstand it, but she wasn't a repair ship, and it wasn't her job to worry about her comrades.

"And that's why, we must harden our hearts and accomplish our objective before we can worry about our injured comrades."

"B-But isn't that too heartless, not to spare a thought for them as they fall, Hiei-san?"

Hiei's face hardened, looking away as she remembered Junyou getting injured on the battlefield.

And yet, all she could do was keep pushing on, forcing herself to ignore her injured comrade lest another one of her fleet members got hurt.

"It's not about what we want to do, when it comes to anything that happens out on the battlefield.

It's a matter of doing what we were created to do.

And for us, our duty is to annihilate our enemies, no matter who they are."

She looked back up to Yamato, looking into her despondent face that revealed the conflict within.

Between her kind heart that simultaneously wanted to help everyone and her duty to be the most powerful battleship in existence without any prior experience, having previously being kept as a 'trump card' throughout the war and ultimately being sacrificed in a desperate and ultimately pointless battle.

Hiei smiled sadly at the battleship, truly touched by the battleship's kindness, and wondered why a _Yamato Nadeshiko_ like her had to be burdened with such responsibility.

If she were someone like Musashi, she could understand, the dark-skinned ' _ganguro'_ being a blood knight that wanted to participate in a battle, if only to protect her comrades in her own way.

But Yamato was the incarnation of a perfect wife, something that had no place on the battlefield, much less being essentially the most powerful ship girl in existence.

"Well,"

Hiei tried approaching it from another perspective to help her friend out.

"You can think of it this way.

If you wipe out all your enemies as quickly as possible, you all can go back to the base sooner and your fleet mates won't have suffered in vain, right?"

Yamato looked away, still conflicted about having to fight in a battle while being so heartless and suppressing her concern for her fleet mates, but she finally looked back towards Hiei, her eyes hardening as she accepted the grim reality of war, responding.

"I understand.

I can't do anything about my injured comrades other than towing them back to the port.

But I can do the one thing I do best and defeat my enemies with my overwhelming firepower to end my battles quickly."

Looking over the horizon wistfully, Yamato described her feelings about her desire to fight conflicting with her desire to help.

"You know, like my sister, I often dreamed of sortieing with my fellow ship girls.

So when I heard that the Admiral was organizing lessons for us and was planning to sortie us in the upcoming Pacific assault, I was so happy that I protect everyone on the battlefield.

But now that I'm here, I can't help but also think about the safety of my comrades, and how I can't hope to protect every one of them as it's not within my power to do so.

The best I can do is protect those around me with my armor whenever I can, and focus on destroying the enemy in front of me.

But it feels a little sad, doesn't it?

It feels almost pointless to be created to be bulletproof, and to be the 'ultimate' ship girl, if we can't protect everyone around us…"

Hiei shook her head, correcting Yamato's thinking by trying to change the way the situation was viewed.

"Just as the Ultimate Spear should not feel guilty for not being able to function like a basic shield, we should not feel guilty for not being able to protect everyone we way you wish for us to.

When you think about it, we're considerably slower, which means if everyone were forced to cluster around us for us to shield them like you intend to, it instead makes it even easier for the Abyssals to concentrate their cannon-fire, torpedoes and bombers to kill us all in one fell swoop.

Instead, like the Ultimate Spear, we should instead focus on an overwhelming offense and strive to destroy our enemies in one strike to ensure no one else gets hurt.

When you think about it, to erase the source of the threat is also a form of protection, no?"

Yamato looked back to Hiei, smiling radiantly now that her worries were assuaged, thanking the Kongou-Class battleship that never failed to brighten up her day and helped her feel better about herself.

"Thank you, Hiei, for lifting my spirits whenever I feel down."

She scratched her cheek sheepishly, wondering out loud.

"Although I feel that being the more powerful and older-looking battleship, I should be the more mature and caring ship girl here…"

Hiei waved her arms in faux-pissed off manner, puffing her cheeks out as she moved her clenched fists in a cyclic manner, softly hitting on the thick armor of Yamato's 46 cm Triple Cannons while exclaiming,

"I'm older than you, just so you know!

I participated in World War 1 and 2, so I'm _your_ senior!"

Yamato giggled at Hiei's false outburst, and bowed meekly in apology.

But Yamato asked a question about their two remaining battleships, causing Hiei to stop her action.

"What are the Ise-Class battleships like, if they're sent out so often despite Admiral Mako possessing stronger battleships?"

Hiei reviewed her memory files, trying to discern the true nature of the Ise-Class battleships as they had never found a reason to interact with each other outside of shelling missions.

Their personalities, however…

"They both know that they can't compare to most of us when it comes to a straight up fight, so I heard that they fight using unconventional methods to throw the opponent off.

And even though we can all easily wipe everything out with our cannons, in this base, we are more concerned with teaching ship girls what to do when the conventional methods fail us in times of combat.

Hyuga's pretty ripped and lean as she prioritizes close-quarters combat while using her katana and cannons up close, contradicting our usual doctrine of staying further back to soften up the enemy with our overwhelming firepower and using our strength to defeat anyone foolish enough to fight us in close quarters.

And Ise is… just Ise."

Hiei's furrowed, trying to describe the name-ship of the Ise-Class battleship, and failing to find any words in the dictionary to describe her personality.

She shrugged as she saw the two Ise-Class battleships approaching them, letting Yamato know.

"Just don't expect them to fight in a manner that conforms to any specific fighting style."

The two Ise-Class battleships had short brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a miko uniform of sorts with the skirts colored in their signature brown color.

Underneath the uniform was some sort of black skin tight suit that peeked out from her elbow-length sleeves and their brown dresses, and they wore knee-high socks and sandals.

Their riggings had four 35.6 cm Twin Gun Mounts, and they both had a handheld triangular flight deck in one hand, with one hand resting on the katanas they carried on their left hip.

A radar array was poking from the top of their riggings, and two rings around their thighs were holding some sort of metal plate that doubled as secondary turrets for extra protection.

The few things that distinguished them from one and another, is that Ise had her hair tied up in a ponytail and held together by a red ribbon, while Hyuga had her short hair down.

Hyuga had a serious expression on her face and strode forward diligently, while Ise was bubbly and was practically hopping forward, painfully enthusiastic about the training session.

Everyone greeted the two approaching battleships, Nagato starting off the session by opening up with a suggestion.

"Alright, let's start this session.

I think it's best if we split up to try and spar with each other and try to learn a few techniques from each other.

Does anyone have suggestions on whom they wish to spar with?"

Musashi was the one to raise her hand first, her open palm forming a fist in the air and leaving her right index finger out as she lowered her hand to point at Nagato, stating her desire.

"I challenge Nagato-san."

Hyuga looked to Yamato with an aside glance, receiving a few surprised looks due to her audacious challenge towards the gentle battleship.

"I shall do battle with Yamato-san."

Yamato's eyes widened in surprise, but she nodded in acceptance as she held her umbrella a little tighter upon shifting her gaze onto Hyuga's katana.

Ise giddily raised her hand as she ecstatically chirped.

"I'll fight Hiei, Kongou and Bismarck all at once!"

Everyone went dead silent at that, staring blankly at the name-ship of the Ise-Class battleship as she smiled radiantly, her eyes narrowing to form curves as she stood behind her claim and rested her left hand on the handle of her katana.

Kongou waved her clenched fists around as she exclaimed indignantly, Hiei and Bismarck also looking rather insulted at Ise's bold claim but allowed the name-ship of the Kongou-Class to be their unofficial spokesperson.

"Who do you think you are to think that you can fight the three of us at once, desu?!"

Ise tilted her head, completely unfazed by the glares that she received as she coolly responded.

"Well, why don't you follow me and find out, hmm?"

Ise boosted away, her muscular legs propelling her forward and allowing her to get a decent head start before an affronted Kongou followed in her tracks, Hiei and Bismarck looking to each other before they shrugged and followed suit.

The four of them zoomed across the ocean as fast as battleships could go, leaving a messy wake behind them as the five slow battleships were left in the middle of the ocean, Nagato awkwardly coughing into her right fist as she commanded.

"So, now that we've gotten that out of the way, everyone...

Battle stations."

The four participants steeled their expressions as Mutsu retreated to a safe distance, being there to use her heavy-duty steel cable to tow back any injured battleships, Musashi and Hyuga looking to each other and wordlessly coming to an agreement as they shuffled and stood closer to each other.

Musashi cracked her knuckles and Hyuga drew her katana, somewhat mirroring Nagato's clenching of her fists in anticipation and Yamato worriedly brandishing her steel umbrella in response to Hyuga drawing her Anti-Abyssal weapon.

Hyuga kept her eyes on Yamato as she distanced herself from Musashi and Nagato, slowly strolling as she chatted with Yamato in her emotionally flat voice.

"The days where we fought as warships are over.

We are now also girls who can walk on water, we must change the way we fight our battles.

It would be easy for us to fight like a conventional battleship as we always have, but eventually, we will encounter situations where the Abyssals will somehow survive our barrage of cannon fire.

They'll fight up close and personal, where our cannons won't be as effective due to their slow rotational speed and long reload times.

And in this case, we need to make sure that every strike counts."

Hyuga noted, now doing her part to educate the battleships on the benefits of fighting the way they did.

"We, the Ise-Class battleships, don't fight like most battleships since we know that doing this will only limit our effectiveness.

So, we instead fight as ship girls, something that forces us to think out of the box and use whatever's on hand to do whatever it takes to take as many enemies down as possible."

Hyuga then bolted forward, katana in hand as she crossed the distance quickly by running the whole way, but Yamato's folded umbrella was already moving to intercept the incoming blade.

A loud screech rang out as the two weapons impacted, Hyuga pulling her blade back and her eyes narrowing in suspicion, before shifting the position of her feet and her weight to strike again.

This time, Yamato swung her umbrella out, cleanly and easily deflecting Hyuga's blade as she stepped back, her concentration never wavering for a second.

Hyuga easily dodged the umbrella that was swung down hard by the slower battleship, and was able to put some distance between them to reassess the situation.

Yamato chafed a little upon seeing Hyuga being so willing to strike her opponent down in the midst of her own speech, pointing out.

"Don't you find it dishonorable to try and surprise your opponent with a sneak attack, Hyuga-san?"

Hyuga's eyes darkened a little upon that, lazily swinging her katana while expertly hiding the fact that she constantly shifted her weight from foot to foot to keep herself limber and ready to evade a potential attack as she snarked.

"Honor?

Pride?

These things have no place in a battlefield, where ship girls can die if they don't constantly adapt to an enemy that has seemingly infinite resources and reserves.

Let me tell you something, Yamato."

Hyuga firmly clasped her katana, pointing it at Yamato as she continued dryly.

"When you face a situation that's so heavily stacked against you with so much on the line, you may see that sometimes, things like honor and dignity are paltry things to forsake to win, and sometimes to even _survive_.

Do you understand me?"

The Yamato-Class battleship seemed rather taken aback at this statement, her doey eyes widening and blatantly expressing how deeply that statement had cut into her heart, not surprising considering her suicide mission against the Americans in World War 2, and suddenly realizing where Hyuga was coming from.

She shut her eyes for an instant, visibly trying to shut out the hurtful memories of abandonment before opening them to reveal steely eyes that exuded a shaky but unyielding will to win.

Yamato's rigging groaned and screeched as all her 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Turrets rotated, all of them aimed right at Hyuga as Yamato looked on, not wanting to immediately resort to her most powerful cannons for fear of outright killing Hyuga with them, even if she was using training rounds.

She was carrying the most the world's most powerful ship cannons on her rigging, and her shells could potentially kill anyone given close enough distance and sheer bad luck.

Hyuga let out a _tsk,_ and being an aviation battleship, she had her boost gauge installed after her remodel to help improve her mobility as she emptied the boost gauge in one boat slipper to dive to the right.

Balloons of smoke erupted from the barrels of Yamato's smaller cannons with the accompanying chorus of explosions, flames licking out of the barrel and the barrage of projectiles replacing the position of Hyuga's torso where she previously stood, Hyuga correcting her stumble and aimed one of her cannons in Yamato's direction while her other cannons whirled to face in other directions.

Yamato flinched and strafed to throw off her aim, only to find that it was a feint as Hyuga pulled out an empty Type 0 Recon plane to hurl in Yamato's direction, using the boost gauge in her other boat slipper to propel herself towards the Yamato-Class battleship.

Yamato reflexively caught the Recon plane with her hand, but Hyuga had already shortened the distance between them, Yamato dropping the plane in her hand and using the secret weapon that she carried around 24/7.

Unfolding her umbrella's handle to pull out a gun handle and trigger, Yamato held up the barrel of the Anti-Abyssal Rifle hidden in her steel umbrella and fired without thinking, finally remembering the warning that her Admiral gave her, that her powerful Anti-Abyssal Rifle, as per its name, was only to be used on _Abyssals_ , as it was also fully capable of killing a ship girl.

She watched with dread as the bullet flew toward towards Hyuga, hoping that despite her precise android aiming skills, she'd somehow miss the advancing battleship, who had built up too much momentum and couldn't stop to evade.

But she was both shocked and surprised as Hyuga dropped down to slide on her knees, using the flight deck that was on her left arm to deflect the bullet as she held it up to her face.

She angled it in such a way that the bullet wouldn't simply punch through the makeshift shield, but the bullet's trajectory would be thrown off by the shield's resistance, throwing up sparks as the bullet was deflected successfully by the more experienced battleship.

Two of Hyuga's four cannons were pointed backwards and downwards towards the ocean, the recoil of their combined firepower providing the push needed to propel Hyuga back up.

Yamato was now panicking, not having expected the aviation battleship to deflect the bullet, Hyuga charging forward and regaining the lost momentum from her initial charge to put her weight behind her steel flight deck like a battering ram, Yamato bracing for the imminent impact.

Yamato's left forearm collided with Hyuga's flight deck, causing a shock-wave to reverberate through the surrounding air and even disturbing the seawater around them by causing waves to form.

But Yamato was made painfully aware of a sudden pain in her stomach, looking down to see the glint of a katana as the steel buried itself into her uniform.

Yamato's heart froze as she tore herself away, the blade thankfully not piercing through her body.

Blood was flowing from the wound as she struggled to get away while Hyuga was swinging her stained katana around lazily, not intending to chase after her.

Yamato struggled to stay up, the Fairies trying to close up the wound as she gasped, sweating from the very real fear of being hurt.

Being a ship girl that hadn't seen too much combat, Yamato knew that she, like all ship girls, could be injured, killed and ultimately sunk.

But the wound on her stomach was something that she couldn't comprehend.

Despite Hyuga's katana being a Anti-Abyssal weapon that was likely created along with Hyuga herself and hence having the potential to cut through steel, she was _Yamato._

How was Hyuga able to wield her katana so effectively to be able to pierce through the armor of the strongest battleship in the world?

The Ise-Class battleship looked as if she was able to read Yamato's mind, looking into her wincing eyes as she flatly pointed out.

"Don't look so surprised.

Just like how we can get extremely nasty, you'll be surprised what tricks the Abyssals have in store to take down us capital ships.

If the Abyssals did what I did in battle, you'd be suffering from more than a stab wound, seeing as they are our mortal enemies and truly have no qualms in doing what it takes to sink you and deal a mortal blow to our morale."

Hyuga lowered her katana and relaxed her stance as she allowed Yamato's Fairies to patch her up.

Yamato still looked wary but exhaled as she took the chance to wipe her sweat while listening to Hyuga's lecture.

"Honestly, I was glad that I voted to spar with you before Ise did.

You may think that I'm 'dishonorable' or whatever, but I truly feel bad for Kongou, Hiei and Bismarck for fighting against my sister ship."

Yamato breathed in, thankful that Hyuga wasn't pressing her attack anymore as she exclaimed.

"Aren't you the least bit worried about your sister, Hyuga-san?

She's going up against three battleships at once..."

Hyuga shook her head at that, jutting her chin towards Yamato as she pointed out the battleship's wounds.

"Worry about yourself, for in a real battle, I would have struck you even if you were down.

Ise can handle herself, although it's her mental health I'm worried about.

She's..."

* * *

 _A minute earlier…_

"Alright, girls! We're now far enough from the main group, now let's party!"

Ise cheered, allowing the battleship trio to surround her as they slowed down.

The fast battleship duo weren't exactly tired to the point of exhaustion, but they were indeed sweating, although Bismarck had suffered the most from the small marathon.

She was carrying more armor than the two Kongou sisters, and she had to resort to physical running in order to keep up, the sweating exacerbated by the chest-plate that she wore, her primarily dark and thick uniform that was all designed for a colder climate and not suited for summer weather as it passively absorbed the ambient heat.

She was starting to sweat buckets, and her chest was heaving as she paused to catch her breath as she tried to look as dignified as a disheveled ship girl could when breathing heavily and wiping away beads of sweat.

But Ise never broke a sweat as she inhaled, loudly and cheerily announcing.

"Alright, boys and girls!

We're here today to celebrate the advent of our resident hero ship girl!

And you know who she is and her ship class, so say it with me now!"

Ise then physically formed out the alphabet as she exclaimed maniacally.

" _B!_

 _B!_

 _V!_

 _I!_

 _S!_

 _E!_

 _Aviation Battleship Ise, on the scene!"_

All of the battleships were frozen upon witnessing her mania, and could only watch with morbid curiosity as Ise took out a bandanna to tie around her forehead, Ise losing her mania completely upon tightening the bandanna behind her head as her expression hardened.

She drew her katana, only to shove it in her mouth and place her two hands on the cannons opposite to form an 'X' right in front of her with her flight deck still on her left forearm, as the Fairies, knowing the Ise-Class battleship fighting style all too well, scrambled to leave the cannons.

As they left, Ise 'unsheathed' the cannons to physically wield the dual cannons while the remaining bottom two cannons slowly whirred, pointing downwards so as not to interfere with Ise's movements.

Ise now announced seriously, her voice muffled by the handle of the katana between her teeth, but her words could still be understood by the three battleships before her.

"I introduce you to my preferred fighting style, the 'Three-Sword Style'!"

Everyone simply stared at her incredulously, before mentally agreeing,

' _No matter what, we ABSOLUTELY cannot let this idiot of a battleship win!'_

But while they were lost amidst their thoughts, no one noticed the subtle brown aura of strength flowing out of Ise's back, barely hinting at the dormant powers that were stirring inside the eccentric veteran…

* * *

" …She has seen better days."

Yamato could only sweat-drop at the crude hint regarding the mental state of the name-ship of the Ise-Class battleships.

But Hyuga was quick to recover, her indifferent demeanor returning as she spoke up in her sister's defense.

"But do not underestimate her.

Anyone who does is in for a world of pain.

I strive to find a harmony in all the weapons I carry, believing that all our weapons can be used no matter what the situation, and that no weapon can be truly rendered ineffective by circumstance.

It's all about what you can think up of to improvise with what weapons you have, and I strive to utilize all of them as best I can, whenever I can.

Ise, however, breaks the meta by completely disregarding everything and doing whatever she wants as she fights."

But she heard Hyuga continue, a tone of sobriety in her serious, deadpan voice.

"I can't dispute the fact that we are weak battleships.

But the age of warships is over."

Hyuga's eyes clouded over as she drove her next point home and met Yamato's gaze.

"This is the age of the ship girl.

Pride.

Honor.

Convention.

When the situation deteriorates, don't be afraid to cast off these shackles to expand all your effort into protecting your comrades."

The Ise-Class battleship then shook her head sadly, seeing Yamato's sullen expression, adding solemnly.

"Either way, I'm in no way under the illusion that I can beat you alone.

The gap in power between us is too great, though I fully understand that it's not your fault.

But as a result of this gap, I don't think we can understand each other no matter how much we try."

Hyuga glanced at the Yamato-Class battleship as she calmly explained the vast gap that existed in between them in terms of talent and stats.

"Amongst the three paths to strength are talent, potential and experience.

Those who are built to be naturally strong likely wouldn't understand the struggles of those who had to develop their strengths through experience or had to train tirelessly to unlock the power hidden within them, but it is not anybody's fault for being created the way they are.

You may be able to fight like a conventional battleship even under adverse conditions and still win, and that is something that I can never understand as I am not, and will never be as powerful as you.

So with that said, let's get back to the fight."

Hyuga raised her katana, but Yamato raised her hand in a ninety degree angle to get Hyuga's attention, requesting.

"Just as you've said your piece, I'd like to say something, too."

Hyuga considered it for a short while before nodding and lowering her katana, while Yamato gathered her thoughts as she inhaled and began.

"I respectfully disagree with your statement that I cannot understand you at all.

Even when I am called the 'strongest battleship', I can't sortie at all due to my high consumption rate.

Even the Admiral, who wants to give everyone a chance to sortie, had to stockpile resources just to give me and my sister a chance to even come out here to practice."

Yamato's face darkened as it seemed as though she were subconsciously dredging up bad memories as she continued, eyes lowered and focusing on the spot of ocean between them as she continued.

"You have no idea how it feels, when everyone keeps praising you as the 'ultimate battleship' and you can't even step out on the ocean to protect your comrades.

What's the point of being called the 'ultimate weapon' if no one is even willing to send you out into combat?"

Yamato looked down, now looking very exposed as she shared her secrets and inner thoughts with the Ise-Class battleship, but she seemed determined to clear this misconception that Hyuga had about her, reluctantly continuing.

"And even when I'm sent out, it's more for support shelling missions where it's basically 'stand at designated spot, shoot my cannons, and go home.'

Even my service career in my last life was short and my death was laughably pathetic.

So much for the 'ultimate weapon'.

I want to protect everyone, but even as you called me talented, I am nothing without experience!

I want to learn how to fight to the best of my abilities, and I don't care if I have to throw away my pride to learn from you, Hyuuga-san!

So please!"

Yamato held out her Anti-Abyssal umbrella to point towards a slightly surprised Hyuga, steeling her gaze and visibly hardening her resolve to try her best to win at all costs, to protect not just her fleet-mates but all the ship girls of Yokosuka as she requested.

"Don't hold back."

Hyuga blinked, suddenly hearing another earth-shattering punch sounding off beside her as Nagato and Musashi were engaged in a no-holds-barred fisticuffs match, Nagato maintaining the upper hand through skill and experience when going up against a stronger Musashi.

Both of them were trying to one up one another by trying to catch the other in the sights of their large-caliber cannons whilst fighting, knowing that a battleship's shell was going to hurt at this range even if training ammo was used.

The thing was that the both of them knew that they were both in their element, the two battleships grinning ecstatically as the ocean beneath them quaked with every blow connecting, displacing small craters where they stood.

No choice then.

She would have to bring her A-game if she was to even hope to beat the legendary Yamato despite the stronger battleship's inexperience.

Hyuga sighed as she put her unoccupied, flight-deck carrying hand on the barrel of one of the cannons to her right with the Fairies already evacuating the cannon turret itself and retreating into Hyuga's rigging.

She waited for the cannon to safely disconnect before uncoupling the cannon, now wielding the katana in her right hand, the flight-deck/shield and the cannon-sword on the left.

And a brown, intimidating aura of strength began flowing out of Hyuga, her expression hardening and her muscles tensing up as she warned the battleship before her.

"Maintain your hold on your weapon.

Don't drop your guard for a second.

Keep your eyes on me at all times.

Because if you don't..."

Hyuga's light-brown aura flared up, her air of intense concentration refined through years of sorties and training sessions as she saw Yamato starting to sweat, Hyuga finishing her morbid warning.

 _"...You'll be dead before you know it."_

* * *

Kongou dodged another swipe from Ise's cannon-sword that was swung diagonally up to the left and prepared her cannons to empty their shells into Ise.

But a sharp pain in her gut sent her reeling, throwing off her aim as Ise pushed her leg into Kongou's lower torso while emptying her boost gauge to make Kongou miss, and to simultaneously push herself away to dodge Kongou's messed-up shots fluidly and retreat from the struggling Kongou, who was clutching her stomach in pain and staggering.

But Hiei came in hard, swinging her fists at Ise.

The two battleships tussled as Ise swung her cannon-swords around while Hiei blocked them with her bare hands and threw some hits of her own to keep Ise on edge as Ise blocked with her flight deck, Ise's cannons that were on her rigging already in position.

Ise then put her foot down, bending her knees and holding her two cannon-swords tightly as she shouted.

" _Twin Steel Dragon's Ascent!"_

And used her boost gauge as well as her powerful leg muscles to propel herself upwards, swinging her cannon-swords in an upwards slicing motion as the two cannons blurred from the sheer speed of the move.

Hiei barely dodged the dual cannon-swords, clearly seeing the rivets and seams on the surface of the cannon as the cannon narrowly missed taking Hiei's face off.

But Ise wasn't done yet.

Swinging the cannon-swords around her head, she brought down one cannon-sword as it was swung down at Hiei's head, the Ise-Class battleship shouting.

" _Lone Steel Dragon's Descent!"_

Hiei was barely able to catch the side of the 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannon as it was stopped with her two hands just centimeters from her face, the downward impact causing Hiei to bend her legs reflexively and sink a little into the ocean while roughly displacing large waves around her and causing an immense shock wave around them.

Her hands were trembling from having to catch Ise's cannon-sword that was swung down like a baseball bat, Hiei sweating and panting as Ise's boat slippers finally hit the ocean floor,

' _I thought she'd be tired from having to swing those heavy cannons around all the time._

 _But not only is she less tired than I am, but she can still swing these heavy-ass cannons around like chopsticks!_

 _Just how strong is she physically?'_

But as she prepared to fire all her cannons at Ise like her sister planned to while still holding Ise's cannon-sword, she saw a blur swing up and approach her from below.

Her preoccupied hands were unable to block the incoming boosted boat slipper that connected with her chin, causing her to fall backwards as she released the cannon-sword, Ise backing away as she commented.

"Whew, thought I had to resort to using my cannons to get her to let go…"

But an explosion behind her rigging threw her forward, Ise crying out as she kicked up water upon hitting the floor, plumes of smoke wafting out from the back of her rigging.

Bismarck's smoking cannons betrayed her presence as she cautiously approached the fallen Ise-Class battleship, keeping a distance while her cannon reloaded.

The Bismarck-Class battleship knew that it was 'dishonorable' to shoot someone else in the back, but she knew from experience that holding on too tightly to such ideals in the face of danger was akin to signing your own death warrant.

And besides, this ship girl was far too unpredictable to be fought with the conventional tactics that most battleships often relied on.

This time, she saw a way to take down the seemingly unstoppable ship girl and had taken the shot, the practice round doing its job while doing minimal damage.

She was slowly approaching the downed battleship while trying to scoot around to try and cover the recovering Hiei as she pointed her smoking cannons at a groaning Ise.

But she heard the prone battleship trying to mutter something, which she finally made out as,

" … good job…"

Before one of Ise's cannons whirred slightly to point right at Bismarck, the German battleship's eyes widening before taking a step back and raising her arms instinctively.

But she was too late in trying to perform any evasive maneuvers as Ise fired off two shells, one into the left breast of her chest-plate and the second into her abdomen and striking the flesh underneath, causing her to fall back on her rigging.

She was barely paying attention to Ise, who had pushed herself up with her fists and was a few steps behind in trying to respond to Ise who was standing over her and was waving her cannon-sword around, obviously going easy on the three less-experienced battleships as she lightly mocked.

" … _But not good enough."_

Ise then seemed to notice something before boosting to evade the barrage of cannon-fire from the two Kongou Sisters, who approached the fallen Bismarck to help her up as Hiei addressed them both.

"We can't seem to beat her when we go in one at a time, so I propose that we all work together to take Ise down, Onee-sama!"

Kongou nodded, already trying to change her mindset to go against a better and more experienced opponent while Bismarck was trying to catch her breath as the last move had hurt her physically.

And Ise could be heard in front of them, nodding as she swung her cannon-swords around to warm up while she still had her katana in her mouth.

"That's right!

Your cannons aren't guaranteed to hit all your enemies all the time, and your enemies sometimes try to close the distance in order to reduce the effectiveness of your cannons due to the slow turn rate and long reload times of our cannons.

But this isn't a one-ship-girl show, and we aren't alone on the battlefield!

There are enemies stronger than us out there, amongst them being the Princesses.

And to fight them, you battleships had better learn to get your team spirit on!"

Hiei roared and charged in, Kongou and Bismarck right behind her as Ise readied herself for the triple threat.

Hiei and Kongou used several martial arts moves to block and attack Ise while Ise used her boost gauge sparingly to maintain her distance whilst swinging her cannon-swords around menacingly.

But when she successfully pulled away from the duo, she was assaulted by a barrage of cannon fire from Bismarck who kept up the pressure in long-range combat.

But Ise, being a veteran and a seasoned ship girl, wasn't fazed in the slightest as she struck out unpredictably with her knees and shoulders in a manner somewhat reminiscent of _muay thai_ to keep the Kongou Sisters on their toes as well as keeping her swings of her cannon-swords to a minimum to prevent herself from revealing a moment of weakness and using her flight deck primarily as a shield, all while using the cannons on her rigging to shoot back at Bismarck, who seemed to be the designated long-range support.

She put her cannon-swords back onto her rigging and discarded her bandanna once she had some space to breathe, now resorting to the 'one-sword style' as she took the sword from her mouth with her right hand to swing at Kongou, Kongou swiftly dodging by ducking.

But she was almost unprepared for Ise's rising right knee, catching Ise's knee at the last possible second before she felt a sharp cracking pain on the back of her head as her head was forced down into Ise's knee by Ise's descending left shoulder.

Hiei moved in to help her sister, but had to strafe to dodge a round fired from one of the cannons on Ise's rigging, Bismarck _tsk_ ing at the moving target that made sure to keep herself mobile the entire time, trying to get a clear shot at Ise without hitting Kongou.

Ise then took the chance to use the disoriented Kongou, who was dazed from the facial impact with Ise's knee and had a bleeding nose, awkwardly spinning the confused battleship and positioning herself behind Kongou while holding Kongou's chin up with her left hand that had her flight deck shielding her left forearm, and her right hand held her katana very close to Kongou's exposed neck.

Hiei's face darkened almost instantaneously, seething,

" … _Ise…"_

Bismarck grimaced, trying to find a spot where she could snipe Ise in order to break her hold.

This proved to be difficult as Ise was positioned behind Kongou and her rigging, the aviation battleship having a flight deck to protect her grabbing arm.

There was almost no way to shoot at Ise without hurting Kongou, Bismarck understanding that Hiei wouldn't appreciate it if she ever shot at her sister, no matter how justified the situation.

Ise was moving erratically while using the reflective property of the katana's blade to reflect the sunlight at the duo to throw off their aim, proving to be quite the veteran as she used everything she had to bring everyone down.

But Ise could feel Kongou feebly trying to disarm Ise's grip around her chin, understanding that she was starting to regain her bearings in order to escape her hold.

Ise sighed, raising her boat slipper while moving the katana away from Kongou's neck and releasing her hold as she kicked Kongou in the bum with a shot of her boost gauge to throw off Kongou's sense of balance, the fast battleship stumbling forward towards Hiei as the younger Kongou Sister's face softened.

And Ise dived to the left as Bismarck fired all her cannons, one round impacting the roof of Ise's cannon and causing sparks to fly as Ise used her flight deck to block another two rounds at the expense of dents being formed in the flight deck, her cannons whirring.

But as Bismarck rushed towards Ise with headstrong determination, she suddenly found the distance between them increasing as Ise used the entirety of her boost gauge to push herself away from the Bismarck-Class battleship as she pointed all her cannons at Bismarck, chiding.

"Rushing at me when all your cannons are reloading, and mine are all loaded?

Foolishness.

 _Cataclysmic Howl of the Eight Great Cannons!_ "

And fired all her cannons, Bismarck's eyes were open with horrified shock as all eight cannon barrels fired off like a bunch of photograph flash bulbs blinding her as she ran straight into her doom.

* * *

Hyuga swung her cannon-sword around while her katana was poised to intercept any ship girl foolish enough to get closer to her.

Yamato caught her cannon-sword with her hand, standing in front of her and facing her directly as she readied her umbrella to swing down at Hyuga.

But Hyuga was quick to respond by quickly lifting her boat slipper to place on Yamato's unsuspecting face, falling backwards and dragging a surprised Yamato down with her until Hyuga's rigging hit the ocean floor.

She emptied her boost right into Yamato's face, Yamato reeling back from the Inverted Stomp Face-breaker as her head ricocheted off of Hyuga's boat slipper and let go of her cannon-sword.

But Hyuga wasn't out of the woods yet, as Nagato joined their fight while her thunderous footsteps threw up water beneath her feet, Hyuga rotating her legs and hips to flip herself up.

She steadied herself, sheathed her cannon-sword and swung her katana at the approaching Nagato.

The thing that surprised Hyuga was that instead of hitting 'soft' flesh underneath her black elbow gloves, she instead heard an unyielding and sharp ' _CLANG!',_ instantly recovering from her look of surprise by retreating and blocking with her flight deck as Nagato threw a punch, impacting the makeshift shield with a dull impact that was only achieved by two metal objects impacting each other.

Hyuga commented as she put some distance between them,

"Wearing metal plates inside your gloves, hmm?

Not bad."

To which Nagato said nothing and simply pointed at her, cannons now at the ready and fired in Hyuga's direction.

Hyuuga could only react reflexively and empty the boost gauge in her right leg to dive to the left as Nagato's cannons fired, resounding throughout the ocean with a mighty roar.

But Hyuga found that Nagato didn't fire all her cannons in one go, instead firing two of them while waiting for Hyuga to steady herself as she came out of the dive, Nagato grinning in response to Hyuga's grimace as her last two cannons sounded off majestically, forcing Hyuga to empty the boost gauge in her left leg to evade the incoming bullet.

What Hyuuga didn't expect was the Yamato-Class battleship standing a distance behind Nagato and out of sight due to Nagato blocking Hyuuga's view, and what Hyuuga saw made her heart stop.

Yamato usually had _three_ main cannons, two at her shoulders and pointed forward, one right behind her and flipped back.

Yamato's rigging was now transformed to point all three 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannons and all four of her 15.5 Triple Gun Mounts at Hyuga, causing Hyuga to wonder if this was where she was going to meet her maker before being revived at the docks.

But this wasn't the first predicament that she found herself in.

She did the unthinkable and put her weight on her left feet, pushing off of it to charge at Yamato.

This went against every survival instinct that screamed at her to simply dive to the floor, as her boost gauges were both empty.

If she dived, at least she could survive somewhat with a damaged rigging and two battleships to face off against, although the fact that she was in a tag-team with Musashi did help even the playing field.

But if her next move succeeded, she could fight on as per usual.

Now somewhat closer, she noticed that Nagato was tackled by Musashi whom Hyuga had teamed up with, both of them pausing their battle to gawk at her fearless move to charge into certain doom.

She could see that Yamato also looked rather shocked, but was still focused on arming all her cannons, a streak of blood streaking down a superficial gash running vertically down the side of her face, and even had some burn marks surrounding the wound.

Yamato had the cannon behind her fold out in front of her to act as a makeshift chest cannon and the transformed part of the rigging serving as a pseudo-tank with forward sloped armor, Yamato holding the third cannon with the help of two folded-out handles.

Her umbrella was being stored behind her in some sort of holder that allowed for the quick draw of the umbrella as the handle was pointed up towards the sky.

But the thing that got Hyuga's attention were her exposed legs.

A rigging, no matter how powerful, couldn't protect every part of a battleships's body, and Hyuga focused with all her might to run towards Yamato while banking on the fact that Yamato would hesitate to fire at a ship girl at point blank range.

True enough, she could almost see the sweat on Yamato's brow with her enhanced eyes, the battleship's head exposed as she looked down at the approaching Hyuga in trepidation, finally stepping back as Hyuga ran towards her.

She could hear Yamato announcing,

" … all systems, ready…"

And knew that she had seconds left before her impending doom as she flipped her body backwards so that her feet would face forward, Yamato surprised by the sudden development but pointing her rigging a little downward, the rigging transformation further hindering her ability to move as it surrounded her like a tank as she slowly shuffled back.

Hyuga used her momentum and her hips to propel her forward as she quickly pulled off a variation of the French _savate_ move, the _chasse bas._

She raised her right leg and held it close to her, bent and ready to strike, with Yamato announcing,

"… All cannons… "

And she shoved her right heel into Yamato's left knee with the intent of throwing off her balance, emptying whatever boost she had recovered in her right boat slipper into the battleship's knee as she put all of her weight on her right foot to propel herself backward.

She put a clockwise spin in to dive to the right, while Yamato's leg crumpled under the surprise force of Hyuga's weight on her kneecap as the whole 'tank' rigging tilted slightly to the side and upwards, Yamato's commanding voice fading as she failed to comprehend what just happened.

" …FIRREEeee?"

As the world exploded in a plume of smoke and fire.

* * *

Everyone watching was spellbound by the aftermath of the previous event, Nagato and Musashi speechless at the fearless charge made by Hyuga and the last-second maneuver to throw off Yamato's aim before the cannon-fire engulfed her.

Even the normally cheery Mutsu was silent, her eyes transfixed by the plume of smoke that shrouded the two battleships, the waves thrown about by the cannon-fire shaking the ocean surface beneath everyone's feet and made them struggle to maintain their balance.

No one missed the fact that the rounds fired from all of Yamato's cannons flew _upwards_ , meaning that Hyuga's last-ditch attempt served its purpose well as the entire salvo of naval artillery shot into the sky, eventually splashing off into the distance or disappearing over the horizon to self-destruct in the air after flying a certain distance.

The smoke eventually cleared to find Hyuga getting up shakily, scrambling away while she supported her body with her trembling hand on the ocean, still trembling from the death-defying stunt she had just succeeded in pulling off.

As for Yamato…

She was on the ocean surface, the third cannon already folded back into position as she clutched at her knee and whimpering in pain.

Musashi rushed over to her injured sister, waving the smoke away to find Yamato softly crying as her relatively large body trembled, the knee in question bending at an unnatural angle as a red line cut into the flesh and bruised the flesh around the wound.

Along with slight burns plaguing the area around the wound as a result of boosting right into a ship girl's flesh, no matter how tough it was, the skeletal structure of a ship girl was inherently weak at the joints.

And it seemed that Hyuga's strike hit the mark as Yamato tried to muffle her sobs, holding up her pride no longer on her mind as she felt true pain for the first time.

The Fairies around her were sitting on canoes as they paddled around her knee while others stood atop Yamato's thigh, all of them chirping worriedly as they pointed at and diagnosed the broken knee, the almost invisible nano-machines that were installed in a ship girl upon creation already being directed by the engineering Fairies towards the most injured areas.

Musashi held her sister's elbow, her eyes threatening to water as she tried to calm her sister down with her words, whispering.

" … It's going to be alright, Yamato.

I promise … "

While Nagato spared a glance behind her to look at Hyuuga, who was trying to dry her clothes and shake off the water gathered on her blade, having dunked herself into the ocean to evade Yamato's barrage and was glancing back at Nagato as the Nagato-Class battleship slowly turned to face Hyuga, simply commenting.

"That was _not_ nice."

Musashi looked up and glared daggers at Hyuga, but a comforting hand on Musashi's elbow distracted her, looking back to see Yamato struggling to tell her something, gasping as she started sweating profusely.

"Don't...

Just... don't."

And Musashi looked right into Yamato's crying eyes that were pleading with her not to hold a grudge against a fellow comrade, Musashi finally closing her own eyes, exhaling slowly and nodding in acceptance while Mutsu approached them with a heavy-duty cable to tow Yamato away.

She sluggishly stood back up to turn back to Hyuga, cracking her knuckles menacingly as she glowered, announcing.

"I shall withdraw from this sparring session, since Yamato is unable to fight anymore."

But Hyuga simply shrugged her off, pulling out her cannon again to serve as a second sword, readying herself as she looked towards Nagato with an unparalleled focus of her own as her deadpan face belied the deadly killing intent within, Nagato returning the hardened gaze in kind.

"Well now, Nagato-san.

It looks as if it's just us two left."

"No, Hyuga-san.

It'll be just me.

You're going down."

* * *

Kongou and Hiei were able to stop the bleeding that escaped the Bismarck's left arm, Bismarck reflexively using her arms to block herself and sustaining significant damage, the German battleship's rigging totaled and no longer functional.

Her uniform was in tatters, stained by the blood seeping out from her wounds and burns, and it was by the Ise-Class battleship's grace that she hadn't simply keeled over and died from the entire barrage of cannon fire hitting her at point blank range.

Practice rounds weren't meant to kill, but that didn't mean they weren't dangerous at extremely close range.

Ise had made sure not to hit any vital spots despite pulling off her move at close quarters without much thought, the Kongou Sisters very relieved that this was simply a training session where mistakes like those were tolerated here, otherwise Bismarck might have found herself dying or even sinking should those cannons empty their shells in the right places.

Meanwhile, Ise was politely standing off to the side, waiting for the trio to settle their business before continuing.

She was slowly leaning from side to side like a blade of grass swaying in the wind, gleefully observing the Kongou Sisters hurriedly apply first aid to the injured Bismarck as the German battleship laid silently on the ocean.

Hiei finally stood up once she made sure that Bismarck wasn't going to die anytime soon as she ripped her bloody sleeves off, the clothing only serving to hinder them in combat.

She didn't say anything, but she simply focused her attention on the distracted battleship in front of her while Kongou stood up behind her, also discarding her miko sleeves.

Finally, Hiei and Kongou both armed their cannons to point at Ise, the aviation battleship simply raising her arms up to welcome the incoming shells as she smiled coyly, almost mocking the two fast battleships as the cannons of the two Kongou Sisters roared, Ise disappearing in an explosion that engulfed her as all the cannon shells hit the aviation battleship.

They both kept their distance in case the unpredictable battleship defied their expectations again, the air around Ise still smoking as she intently weathered all the shells headed her way.

But there was definitely movement from within, meaning that Ise was clearly up to something.

The pillar of smoke was suddenly displaced as Ise roared with the fury of a vengeful wraith as she appeared, her forehead bleeding and her miko uniform stained with splotches of blood as she rushed out with katana and cannon-sword in hand while closing the distance with her powerful legs and sparing use of her boost gauge.

Hiei and Kongou both froze in place, unsure of how to respond to this sudden change in Ise's demeanor.

But the momentary pause was calculated, Ise's bloodthirsty expression hardening as she flipped her body back to raise her right boat slipper up, savagely kicking Hiei in the gut and emptying her boost gauge to cause further damage to the fast battleship, sending her flying back.

Kongou was to Hiei's left, and was already reacting to Ise's aggression, running up to her back to engage in hand-to-hand combat as her cannons were still reloading.

But Ise had already anticipated this, and as Ise's bottom left cannon was no longer functional, she instead positioned her functional cannons while simultaneously spinning on the spot, now holding her katana in a reverse grip as she spun around and hurled her katana at Kongou, forcing her to use her rigging to shield herself and causing a sharp screech to accompany the sparks that were thrown up by the katana hitting the tough cannon armor and lodging itself in there.

But this too, was entirely calculated as Ise positioned herself and used the two functional cannons on her rigging to shoot at Kongou, hitting the fast battleship's shoulder and rigging all at once, Kongou shrieking from the thankfully inert and (mostly) harmless rounds impacting her exposed skin and causing the round to explode harmlessly.

One of Kongou's cannons, set to training mode, was hit by Ise's cannon fire and the barrels drooped, likely indicating that it was out of action.

Ise then heard the wrathful scream of Hiei, a wordless roar announcing her presence and fury as she pulled her fist back to throw a punch, but Ise used the boost in her other boat slipper to easily evade the incoming fast battleship.

Ise had four main cannons, one of them had its status marked as 'damaged' and no longer functional.

The two working cannons she had were already emptied while firing at Kongou, and one of them was used as a cannon-sword while her katana was gone after having being used as a projectile to throw at Kongou.

Ise pulled back her left arm, the machinery that held the flight deck to her left forearm unclicking as Hiei changed course to charge at her again.

Ise suddenly swung her left arm out horizontally and flung her uncoupled flight deck at Hiei as though she were throwing a Frisbee, Hiei just barely catching the incoming projectile due to the unexpected nature of the attack, hearing Ise chide.

"Losing control of yourself just because your sister is hurt?

 _HOW DEPLORABLE!_

 _MJOLNIR IMPACT!"_

She failed to stop the incoming cannon-sword, held perpendicular to the ocean floor and hitting Hiei like a gigantic pseudo-frying pan as Ise held the cannon-sword with both hands on the same barrel and swung like a Major League hitter.

The cannon-sword hit Hiei in the upper torso and face like a bag of bricks, causing a shock wave at the moment of impact.

This was partly due to Hiei literally running into the mighty swing of the cannon and doing part of Ise's job, instantly knocking her out as her body, rigging and all, flew back from the impact.

She hit the ocean surface skidding and threw up large waves as a result, lying limp on the ocean surface as she hemorrhaged blood and her bruised skin darkening as she became motionless save for the twitching of her fingers.

Ise bent down to retrieve her flight deck, placing it back on the machinery on her left forearm as small clicks and whirred secured the flight deck to her arm.

She was a veteran who knew the importance of situational awareness, keeping Kongou in mind as she looked around and saw the name-ship of the Kongou-Class battleships pointing her cannons at Ise, with an expression that was bordering somewhere between pain and desperation.

Her miko uniform was partially in tatters from where the practice rounds hit her hardest along with a few splotches of skin that suffered first degree burns from the rounds hitting her bare skin and causing a mini-explosion of contained flames.

Her three working cannons were pointed at Ise, Ise's katana stuck in the side of one of them as Ise responded by throwing her cannon-sword that was unoccupied by Fairies at Kongou at the last second to block some of the cannon rounds, Kongou's cannons shattering the air with a deafening blast.

The cannon-sword did what Ise intended, blocking some of the incoming cannon rounds as the 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannon exploded in a burst of flames and metal shards as Ise circled the explosion, Kongou fumbling a she reached for the katana stuck to her cannon as Ise boosted forth.

Kongou finally gave up on that idea and simply held up her arms up to block Ise's advance as the aviation battleship's boost gauge and powerful legs pushed her forward at an unbelievable speed in order to close the distance quickly.

Ise threw a high speed punch which Kongou caught with her left palm, causing a minor shock wave to form from the impact as the same was repeated for the other arm, Kongou wincing from having to exert her burnt arm to such an extent as they both struggled to overpower the other through sheer strength.

But Ise still had a few more tricks left to play, raising her left leg as she intended to stomp on Kongou's feet, but Kongou anticipated this as she moved her feet away and started to look down.

And Ise suddenly pulled Kongou in, holding her hands tightly as she headbutted Kongou with the crown of her head, hitting Kongou again on the face for the second time, the first being Ise's knee hitting Kongou's face earlier.

As Kongou stumbled from the move, releasing her hold on Ise's hands as she bent over to clutch at her broken and bleeding nose that bore the brunt of the impact while stumbling back, Ise held the handle of her katana and pulled it out with a heave, throwing up some shards of metal and sparks upon pulling the katana out.

Taking her time to sheathe the katana back in her scabbard, she looked back to the trembling Kongou and skipped over to her merrily, in full control of the situation.

Standing diagonally to Kongou's right while facing Kongou's left, she firmly put one feet in between Kongou's legs and slapped a palm on the back of Kongou's head.

She made a sweeping gesture with her feet to cause Kongou to lose her footing while simultaneously pushing Kongou's face down towards the ocean surface to perform a savage face plant, causing waves to form from the force of the impact and effectively knocking out the fast battleship with her combat skills.

Kongou didn't move anymore, although Ise could see that she was still gasping for air, trying not to gulp in seawater as she lay motionless on the floor.

Ise radioed in for the retrieval team to try to retrieve the fallen 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannon that she threw at Kongou, not wanting to waste the base's equipment and incur a loss simply because of practice, exclaiming excitedly.

"I win!"

* * *

Hyuga noted a signal in the air, announcing,

"The Kongou and Bismarck-Class battleships have been defeated by Ise.

I suppose I should finish up my end of the business here as well."

Looking back at the bleeding Nagato before her, the Nagato-Class battleship commenting.

"That goes for the two of us, Hyuga.

I won't be settling for anything less than a win when going against you."

Nagato grimaced as she took the time to take stock of her situation and the wounds she had sustained, courtesy of the Ise-Class battleship.

Small cuts and slashes permeated her fair skin as she held her left forearm, the blood from all the small cuts on the covered skin flowing down to create a steady stream of blood dripping off of her fingers onto the ocean.

Nagato could feel the nano-machines in her own body trying to repair her injuries, the nano-machines installed in a ship girl's body to help a ship girl heal her injuries at a significantly slower pace than the specialized nano-machines in the docks, acting as a natural form of regeneration.

It wasn't something everyone knew about as it did its job quietly behind the scenes, but any ship girl could learn about them via textbooks or lessons.

One of the barrels of Nagato's cannon was cleanly cut off, the cannon barrels now misaligned and unusable, and she had a deep gash running down her thigh along with many smaller cuts on her body.

Various parts of her rigging had been pierced by Hyuga's katana, small slits in the armor where the katana punched right through the steel of her rigging.

But Hyuga wasn't doing too well either.

Fighting one of the strongest battleships in Japan had taken its toll, with one cannon being crushed by Nagato's overpowered punches which served to keep Hyuga on the defensive, being forced to use the cannon to block the Nagato-Class battleship's punch out of desperation.

Hyuga was panting heavily with several bruises on her skin, a few red splotches on her miko uniform, and two of her cannons were already taken out of action by the esteemed battleship.

The Fairies that were manning the now-defunct cannons had evacuated the rigging, standing on its various balconies to get some fresh air.

Some of them were covered in soot and coughed, while others carried little tools to try and patch up the cannon interior.

Hyuga cracked her neck, a trail of blood running down her forehead as she swung both her katana and her cannon-sword around, preparing herself for the final round as she maintained her focus, ready to intercept anything.

Hyuga placed her cannon-sword back on her rigging, only relying on her katana for the final burst.

She placed her left palm behind the handle of her raised katana that was pointed at the battleship, announcing,

"2nd Symphony: Chorus of a Thousand Birds."

Before she used her left boost gauge and her leg to accelerate forward, her last working cannon firing at Nagato as Hyuga approached Nagato at breakneck speed that didn't allow her cannons to get a good aim at her, Nagato raising her armored gloves to protect herself as she shrugged off the shells.

Hyuga used her katana to stab at Nagato's forearms in rapid succession, the Nagato-Class battleship feeling the katana scratch the armor in her gloves with a screech before Hyuga pulled back the blade to stab again, several of the strikes cutting into her glove and flesh in small cuts that wouldn't have bothered her individually.

But when a battleship was cutting you up in rapid succession with a series of consecutive strikes, it was hard to simply shrug off the injuries on her shredded and bleeding arms.

Hyuga then felt another presence sneak up behind her, and she used all of the strength in her legs to push herself to the side as a Japanese straight sword was brought down with extreme force, barely registering as a blur in Hyuga's eyes.

The resulting strike that Hyuga barely evaded took off the damaged barrels of one of her damaged cannons and the corner of the cannon itself, cutting through the armor like a hot knife through butter.

The cut made by the name-ship of the Yamato-Class battleship managed to compress the air along the way, causing the ocean beneath the sword to be split from the sheer power of the wielder, throwing up huge volumes of water and causing waves to form on the disturbed surface of the ocean.

Hyuga pivoted around and retreated to regard Yamato, who was hunched over as she limped feebly, breathing irregularly as she held her sword and her skin glistened with sweat.

Hyuga noticed that the umbrella stored on the back of Yamato's rigging was transformed, hypothesizing that the umbrella unfolded to allow Yamato to draw a sword by the handle and had an Anti-Abyssal rifle ad umbrella installed on its sheath, commenting.

"An umbrella which serves as a rifle for a long range assault, and unfolds to reveal a sword for close-range combat.

Truly nothing but the best for the Yamato-Class."

But Yamato wasn't listening to any of that, focusing on destroying the opponent before her as a crude white-red aura flowed out of the battleship's skin, Yamato pulling back her arm for another strike, her arm swinging forward at a surprisingly swift speed for someone her size.

The next strike was a horizontal slash, Yamato putting her weight on her uninjured leg before swinging out without a word, the aviation battleship ducking to avoid getting cut and noticing that another section of the ocean was split by the sheer strength behind the swing of the sword.

But Yamato was visibly weakening as she was starting to sweat more and more, wincing as she placed her weight on her broken leg as she hobbled shakily towards the aviation battleship.

Hyuga looked over to see an ashen Musashi and dead-serious Mutsu at attention with heavy-duty cable hooks in hand, allowing Yamato to fight on despite her condition as Nagato tried to hold the limping battleship back out of genuine concern.

Hyuga saw Yamato shaking off the Nagato-Class's arm as she dodged another swing from Yamato's sword, the battleship now no longer thinking straight as she simply wanted to cut Hyuga down, and was not using her cannons to shoot at Hyuga when she clearly had the chance.

Hyuga shifted her weight in order to prepare to evade another potential strike, asking.

"Stand down.

I don't know how you convinced your sister ship allow you back into the battle, but you are no longer in any condition to fight."

But Yamato shook her head feebly, bringing up her sword again to strike Hyuga down as the Ise-Class battleship parried this strike, feeling that she could now match the weakening battleship's strength.

Yamato gasped tiredly as she was sweating buckets, the pain of her knee barely held at bay by the makeshift repair job achieved by the combined effort of Mutsu and Yamato's Fairies, and Yamato visibly suppressing her pain as she replied.

"No...

I fight on...because I _choose_ to!

No one will hold me back.

Not the Japanese government or the Japanese Navy, who used me as a hotel when they felt like it, and discarded me like a used tissue paper when I proved to be a burden."

Hyuga could see the battleship was starting to talk herself into a fervor, her dormant fighting spirit awakening at the most inopportune of times since fighting on in such a injured state would only serve to exacerbate her injuries.

"No, I wish to fight to protect them, not as authority figures of Japan, but as part of _the people of Japan._

I swore when I came back, that I would never stop improving, and never stop learning in order to achieve what others would deem to be a lofty goal.

And the Admiral was my idol and the backbone of my strength, always encouraging me to do my best, no matter what I did!

I'll do right by Admiral Mako by reciprocating her kindness with my strength, and to be the best battleship that the world has ever known!"

Hyuga considered Yamato's words for a moment, watching the 'greatest battleship' persist tirelessly to achieve victory regardless of her physical condition, Yamato raising her trembling arm for one last strike.

But it was this last point that drove Hyuga to retort by holding up and putting her weight behind her flight deck, which was already a wreck and barely able to block another hit, Yamato's katana skidding and throwing up showers of sparks upon impact.

Yamato's sword smashing into the flight deck caused the makeshift shield to crack ominously, but Hyuga's makeshift shield served its final purpose as Yamato's sword was deflected to the side, Yamato's strength working against her as she failed to stop the momentum of her own sword as she spotted Hyuga raising her right leg and boat slipper.

Hyuga's intimidating aura was flowing menacingly out of her before it focused onto the sharp edge of her boat slipper, the intense concentration frightening Yamato and freezing her in place as she helplessly watched Hyuga's boat slipper slam into Yamato's gut to end this match, thankfully not using her boost gauge to increase the lethality of her move.

Blood immediately flew out of Yamato's mouth, Yamato struggling to use her sword to shield herself and using her free hand to apply pressure to the bruise as she stumbled away from the menacing aviation battleship.

Hyuga spoke as she slowly walked towards the stumbling battleship, the aviation battleship noting that the spectating Nagato was standing within striking distance to discourage her from attacking a downed Yamato as they both watched Musashi move in quickly tend to an injured Yamato, who was clutching at the reddening streak on her uniform that was staining her skirt with blood.

"You strive to improve yourself for the sake of others, and that is a very noble goal that suits someone like you.

But you don't seem to understand just how valuable your own life is.

Being the incarnation of Japan itself and carrying the weight and pride of the country of your shoulders, you are without a doubt the most valuable ship girl that Japan possesses.

If you fall, the ship girls of Yokosuka will slowly fall into despair, as the 'ultimate ship girl' and by extension, the incarnation of Japan itself has fallen in the line of duty."

Yamato's eyes widened as she slowly started to realize the weight of her own existence upon stepping onto the battlefield for the first time and realizing just what was at stake should she ever fall in battle.

She looked away ashamedly as Hyuga continued upon seeing the understanding look in Yamato's eyes.

"You aren't just any rank-and-file ship girl that wouldn't hurt the base too much if you sank.

You are _the_ Yamato, a ship girl whom the Admiral has dedicated time and tons of resources to construct.

If you sank, not only would you single-handedly break the spirit of the Japanese Navy, but you would also waste Admiral Mako's unrelenting efforts to obtain you and break her maiden heart, being one of her ship girl lovers.

And besides, what is the point of throwing your life away so pointlessly by fighting and dying?"

It was here that Hyuga tried to talk some sense into Yamato to get her to drop her pride-ridden ways of approaching combat.

"We, as capital ships who are the pillars of strength to everyone else, must strive to fight and live so that we may fight another day,

And if that means retreating wisely instead of advancing foolishly, I'd take the former over the latter any day.

Your attempt to try and defeat me is commendable, but serves no purpose except to throw you back into the frying pan.

So as much as you would love to fight to your dying breath in service of our country and people, you simply _must not_ sink in battle."

Hyuga shook her head, her breath shaky as she was feeling rather fatigued from the prolonged battle, acknowledging Yamato's efforts to do right by everyone in the base and the country as a whole.

"Well, I suppose different people have different ways of doing things, and your indefatigable efforts to strive for victory is commendable."

Hyuga's intimidating brown aura dissipated as she relaxed her stance, her expression softening as she exhaled tiredly, a tremble in her arms and legs as she moved.

She sheathed her sword as she slowly sailed towards Yamato, who was now on one knee and trembling from the shock as sweat ran down her pale skin and dripped from her chin, having sheathed her straight sword.

Musashi was trying to find a way to sling her sister's arm over her shoulder despite their clunky riggings prohibiting this course of action as Yamato clutched her blood-stained uniform, Hyuga commenting.

"I suppose that in a war as bleak as this, it's refreshing to see someone as compassionate and as driven as you strive for a goal that would seem impossible to anyone else.

You need all the help you can get to achieve that goal, and I suppose it's only fair that I lend you my strength and expertise as your senior.

Your growth will exceed everyone's expectations as your strength is arguably unmatched by anyone else in the world except your sister."

Hyuga was now feeling her arms and legs giving out, having exerted her legs too much whenever her boost gauge wasn't available to accelerate and her arms in trying to swing her weapons around.

Despite being relatively muscular for a ship girl, the amount of force she had to produce to move her battleship rigging and steel body took a heavy toll on her leg muscles.

And she didn't pay too much attention to it in the heat of battle, but she underestimated the amount of energy she had to use to either cut into the skin of a battleship or to defend herself from the blows of the physically gifted battleships.

The armor of a battleship was created to be exceptionally tough, causing her to steadily deplete her stamina and strength throughout the entirety of the match as she did her best to pierce their armor to hurt them without the intent to kill, further weakening her throughout the match.

"No matter how experienced I am, the fact remains that you are a talented ship girl.

And no matter how hard I try to compensate with skill and experience, the cold hard fact remains that you possess superior armor, firepower and strength in spades to withstand my attacks.

My hands are trembling, my katana is chipped, and my rigging is destroyed.

I don't suppose we can consider this a draw now, hmm?"

Before collapsing in front of everyone, Yamato trying to reach out to help the aviation battleship up only to fall forward as she slipped, her rigging making movement for the injured battleship nigh-impossible without Musashi's help.

Nagato leaped in to lend Hyuga a hand, Nagato helping Hyuga up as Musashi gently lifted her sister, Musashi trying her best not to disturb Yamato's knee wound by shifting her sister's weight onto her.

And upon seeing Ise heading towards them while towing three unconscious battleships, the group of battleships began sailing home while supporting each other, the overhead sun reaching the height of its journey as it began its downwards descent back into obscurity after witnessing a clash of titans.

* * *

Back at the docks, Ise was overlooking the rest of the battleships that were getting out of the docks.

Admiral Mako had already prepared several quick-repair buckets filled with nano-machines that were designed to be more powerful than the specialized nano-machines in the docks, repairing their injuries and bruises in a matter of hours as well as resources that consisted of fuel and shaved steel that was required to repair a ship girl's damaged body.

And if the natural nano-machines in a ship girl could heal their injuries in a month, the nano-machines in the docks could repair their wounds in a week at most, the quick repair buckets healing them in hours no matter what their injuries.

Ise met Hyuga outside the docks, the rest of the battleships requiring a few minutes more to ensure that they made a complete recovery as Ise cheerily greeted her sister ship.

"So, Ise-nee!

How're the others doing?"

Hyuga shrugged her shoulders, still feeling a little sore after battling with a physically stronger opponent, although she did feel better since this was a good sparring session to keep her skills sharp and teach Yamato a lesson about modern warfare.

Ise, being her sister, understood this little gesture to be akin to a nod as she idly commented, ship girls that were entering the docks for recreational purposes giving the eccentric battleship a wide berth.

"Yes, y'see.

The fact that you can fight Nagato-san and Yamato-san to a draw and I can defeat three battleships on my own means that the age of aviation battleships is upon us!"

Hyuga gave her sister a small but genuine smile as she agreed wholeheartedly, proud of them both for being able to go up against the best battleships in Japan and actually stood a chance of beating them.

"Yes, it truly is."

"Not if we can help it."

Kirishima and Haruna popped up behind the two of them, Kirishima's glasses reflecting light at an angle and hid her eyes entirely while Haruna's fringe cast a shadow over her closed eyes as she wore a saccharine smile on her face.


	15. Chapter 15 - One Small Step

Junyou laughed heartily upon watching Hiei's memory of the beat-down that occurred yesterday, the fast battleship at her side and sulking while holding a _ramune_ bottle, Houshou consoling the fast battleship over her humiliating loss at the hands of the Ise-Class battleship.

The bar was empty at this time of night, with the duo being the only ones still up to enjoy each other's company while Houshou kept the bar running for as long as she could to accommodate anyone who needed a quick snack or drink.

Junyou asked Hiei whilst wiping away the tears that were starting to form at the edge of her eyes.

"Sheesh, did that cannon really knock you out in one hit?

How did you not see that coming?"

Hiei huffed, taking a sip out of her _ramune_ bottle while speaking up in her defense.

"To be fair, I was fighting against the crazed sister of the Ise-Class.

She's more unpredictable than her sister in combat.

I made the mistake of underestimating her big-time just because she goofed around more than Hyuga and made us think they weren't anything special.

And I think that her obfuscating silliness is by far the most dangerous aspect about her, seeing how she defeated me, my Onee-sama and Bismarck by fooling us all."

Houshou nodded, empathizing with the sulking battleship as she consoled Hiei.

"I understand where you're coming from.

Ise is also a battleship, and therefore a respectably powerful opponent in her own right.

But she did her best to make herself look incompetent, leading you all to think that she was weak, which eventually turns out, she wasn't.

Her fighting style is unorthodox and wild, which may have contributed to your downfall."

Junyou drawled as she took another sip of her wine bottle, offhandedly asking about the motherly light carrier's abilities.

"Maa, since the seniors of this base are so damn powerful, what 'bout you, Houshou-san?"

Houshou's eyes widened a fraction before settling down to smile at the two ship girls, revealing cryptically.

"Well, all I can say is that I at least know how to hold my own in combat."

Hiei nodded as she asked Junyou about her day, to which Junyou cheerily replied.

"Oh, it was a blast!

I hung out with Ryuujou after coming out of the docks, and we had quite the talk over lunch!

Ryuujou taught me that our flames were basically like an unofficial 'super power' that we have!

Apparently, it was less like magic, and a lot of science-y stuff that boiled down to the paper cut-outs that we carry being s _hikigami_ and somehow containing the soul of the plane.

Our planes consist of a body and soul, but has no mind of its own as it is piloted by a Fairy pilot.

The scroll that we carry deconstructs the body of the plane and breaks it down into easily-stored resources that's hidden within a layer of the scroll."

Junyou then pulled out a paper cut-out styled in a way that was reminiscent of a plane, with the basic hull of the plane and two squarish wing designs sticking out on its sides.

"The soul of that particular plane is then stored in a _shikigami_ , a method of physically storing the plane's soul and acts as a foundation for the plane to build itself on.

And with my flame…"

Junyou produced a small pinkish-purple fireball on the tip of her index finger, the flame flickering about softly and had two Kanji characters inside that spelled ' **勅令** ', or 'Imperial Edict'.

"I run the paper _shikigami_ along the deck _,_ and the flame basically calls forth the specified plane to assemble itself back together on the _shikigami_ as it leaves the scroll and takes off.

Isn't that amazing?!"

Houshou nodded sagely, commenting as she cleaned a glass cup with a wet towel, Junyou shaking her hand to extinguish the flame.

"Thus, it is a very advanced technological process of sorts, and not magic as you initially believed?"

Junyou nodded, but Hiei had a 'Thinker' pose, looking up to ask Houshou about carriers and how they used their equipment in battle.

"But how do the carriers summon planes?

I know that they practice archery at the shooting range, but how exactly do they summon their planes if there is no plane mounted at the tip and the arrows themselves look rather ordinary?"

Houshou nodded and answered in a way that a senior ship girl who perfectly understood her own equipment was able to.

"The fins of our arrows are colored in a way that it corresponds to certain bomber planes, and there are small buttons that we can press on our long bow to order our mechanical arrow quivers to extrude a certain type of arrow for easy access instead of simply fishing around for the right arrow to arm.

The plane is deconstructed and forms the shaft of the arrow, while a variant of the paper _shikigami_ forms its fins.

The arrow turns back into a plane when the arrow is fired far enough to transform safely in a small burst of fire much like the flame that you can form, Junyou-san."

Looking down at the two of them sagely, Houshou continued on as Hiei and Junyou listened silently.

"All of this is accomplished through cutting-edge technology that the Fairies introduced to the humans.

One thing to note is that the Fairies that pilot the planes are _summoned_ through the paper _shikigami_.

This is merely speculation that I heard, but they are summoned from the realm where the Fairies come from into this world via technological means with a seal stored in the paper _shikigami_ , and the pilot lives and dies by the plane."

Both members of the 1st Fleet were surprised to hear this, thinking about how the Fairies themselves couldn't actually be stored in the scrolls or arrows.

And the bombers were unlike the Reconnaissance Planes, general-use planes that were available to a light cruiser and above and could be stored in the battle backpacks and riggings of most ship girls.

Hiei raised a hand to ask Houshou a question about the technological prowess of the Fairies, the ones who had appeared from nowhere and introduced futuristic technology into this world to fight the Abyssals.

"Just how powerful are the Fairies to be able to accomplish such advanced engineering feats like summoning and the creation of ship girls, amongst others?"

But Houshou simply shook her head in resignation, explaining.

"No one, not even the Fairies themselves, know.

All they know is that they were dropped into this world with all this knowledge but no memories of where they came from, and they knew that they had to help out humanity in their time of need."

Junyou mulled over that interesting and slightly horrifying thought about their unknown origins, and how their creators literally appeared from thin air with knowledge of advanced technology to build the ship girls.

It made her wonder what what secrets the Abyssals kept close to their chest, to be able to retaliate with entire armadas of their own with seemingly limitless resources to combat the ship girls on a global scale.

She also thought about what would have happened to mankind had the Fairies not appeared to introduce ship girls into this world.

All this was before Junyou took a hearty swig of her beer can, determined to forget about these morbid thoughts and made a resolution to do better the next time she sortied.

After she got wasted tonight.

* * *

A slight earthquake shook Junyou out of her inebriated state, experiencing the touch of soft hands on her warm shoulders as the world slowly came into focus in her mind.

Peeking out with barely-opened eyes, she could barely make a pair of greenish twin-tails flowing down her assailant's hair, and Junyou eventually woke up from the gentle shaking that she was subjected to at the hands of the Shoukaku-Class carrier, Junyou drunkenly waving her hands at her in order to get her to stop.

Craning her neck to take in her surroundings, she could make out the distinct golden winged headdress and _miko_ uniform of the Kongou-Class battleship who was seated beside her, head tucked in, eyes closed and arms crossed as Hiei slept soundly.

Zuikaku softly whispered while looking down at the hungover light carrier, who was lying on her bed and half naked from last night's drinking session.

"Good afternoon, Junyou-san.

Time to wake up."

Junyou stirred, wondering what was up with the polite and soft tone that Zuikaku used to address her.

Not that Zuikaku was exactly _im_ polite, but she was known to be somewhat lax with the way she treated people she knew.

She gently shook the carrier's hands off of her shoulder while feeling a breeze down her unbuttoned red shirt and her non-existent _hakama_ (she still had her underwear on; It'd be a disaster if she didn't), and groggily got up as she breathed in the humid afternoon air inside her room, thankfully aired by the open door that led outside despite the air conditioner being turned on, Junyou looking at her own room as Zuikaku gave her some space to move.

Her room was relatively neat compared to the dump that she lived in before she was drafted into the 1st Fleet as almost everything was now in its proper place.

She could make out her alcohol-stained white blouse and _hakama_ on the floor as Zuikaku picked the former up with the tip of her index fingers and thumbs, folding it delicately as she placed it on a nearby drawer.

A few beer bottles littered her bed as some of the liquor had seeped into the bedsheets, pillow covers and even into her hair.

She shook her head slowly, accepting Zuikaku's extended arm as the light carrier tried to remember what happened yesterday.

The last thing she remembered was Hiei trying to convince her not to drink who-knows how-many bottles before everything became a mix of sweat, liquor and joyous shouting in her memory bank, all of it from her.

She guessed that it was Hiei who carried her back into her room, undressed her so that she wouldn't sleep with wet and sticky clothes that were drenched in her own sweat and covered her with a blanket so that she wouldn't catch a cold.

She even went so far as to accompany her in her sleep instead of leaving her be and returning to her room and back into the company her sisters.

She mentally thanked Hiei for looking out for her before she caught a whiff of her own body odor and dry heaved, exclaiming.

"Jeez, how much did I drink last night in order to smell this bad?"

Zuikaku shrugged, nonchalantly remarking.

"I dunno.

I manually overrode and turned off my sense of smell before coming in here, because I predicted that the room would smell pretty bad because of you."

To which Junyou cringed and commented about the extreme move that Zuikaku made in order to avoid breathing in her body odor and the stench of alcohol, already undressing as she turned on the toilet light and stumbled drunkenly into the toilet to relieve herself and take a shower.

"Wow man, rub in some more about how much much I reek, why don't you.

And while you're at it, grab some salt and pour it in, you little brat."

The water started running, and Junyou's muffled voice could be heard through the door, causing Hiei's sleep to be disturbed as she breathed in softly and jerked her head in response to Junyou's voice, before her body relaxed and she resumed her beauty sleep.

"So, I suppose this visit isn't simply a courtesy call just to make lill' ol' auntie Junyou feel loved, right?"

Zuikaku made a noise in agreement, helping the light carrier make her bed as a show of courtesy by trying to free the crumpled blanket in order to fold it up neatly.

She called out to Junyou in a way that wouldn't immediately wake the sleeping battleship in the room.

"Well, I have a favor to ask of you, and it's about my relationship with Kaga-san."

Junyou then asked.

"Well, why ask me for advice?

There're more than enough dependable ship girls and carriers in the Yokosuka Naval Base to listen to your problems."

Zuikaku, after airing and folding the blanket, moved on to lightly beating and fluffing Junyou's pillow without taking a whiff of the odor that permeated the pillow, looking away as she justified her decision to confide in the drunkard of a light carrier.

"Well, this is something that I'd like to keep contained amongst us bird-carriers.

I want to take the next step in establishing the possibility of a relationship with Kaga-san.

But if it blows up in my face, I'd like to keep the fallout contained, if that made any sense.

But at the same time, I'd also like to recruit as many people as possible to improve my chances of success."

Zuikaku heard the running water from the shower head stop, but her enhanced sense of hearing picked up slight squeaks, which meant that Junyou was likely using the shampoo dispenser.

So Zuikaku made herself comfortable on Junyou's bed, waiting for Junyou to prepare herself to face the second half of the day.

"No, no, I get it.

You don't want everyone to know of a relationship that failed to develop, and result in a mass misunderstanding that might essentially spread throughout the entire base and make things uncomfortable between you and Kaga.

And besides, not a lot of people outside of us bird-carriers know about your crush, which means that you don't have to reveal your crush to anyone who doesn't already know about it.

But then, I really hope that you have someone on our little Team Cupid other than a drunkard of a light carrier that has no experience in love or other related matters."

Zuikaku huffed, revealing the carriers whom she was going to recruit and the reason why she couldn't ask the other carriers for help.

"Akagi-san and Shoukaku-nee are naturally on the planning committee as well as you, Soryu, Hiryu and Chitose-san.

I wanted to get everyone's help to ensure the highest chance of success.

Amagi-san and Houshou-san both admitted to being rather archaic when it comes to matters like love and was unable to help in planning, but expressed interest in helping out in other ways.

Shouhou is out on a sortie while Zuihou and Ryuujou admitted about being rather uninformed about such matters, and Unryuu, no matter how thoughtful she can be, is still rather air-headed and also uninformed about such things, even less so than the light carriers.

Together, I suppose we can form some of planning committee for the 'date' of sorts…"

Junyou resumed her shower, the water running again as the light carrier picked up on the tone of the carrier that belied her seemingly low confidence in her own ability to win over the heart of the Kaga-Class carrier.

"Going by your tone, I'm guessing that you don't have much confidence in yourself and the date despite having an entire team of carriers and light carriers supporting you.

And I'm warning you, that sounds a lot like the attitude of a defeatist, and almost like you're setting yourself up for failure."

Hiei quietly breathed in as she was still sound asleep, Zuikaku shooting her a look and making sure that she was indeed asleep before continuing, looking down at her feet in uncertainty.

"Well, it's just that I can't tell what Kaga-san is thinking, since her expression is almost always set to default 'stone-cold hit-man'.

I can't tell if she's happy, sad, interested in me, or really just views me as a nuisance by her comments.

And if this plan to get into a relationship does work, I can't help but worry if I can understand her well enough to know what she's feeling if she's the kind to always put on a poker face."

But Junyou was quick to rebut with a point of her own, pointing out.

"But Akagi can help you with that, right?

Being the one who spends the most amount of time with Kaga, she'd know how Kaga would behave and can teach you to look out for cues to clue you in on Kaga's emotions.

Add Soryu and Hiryu into the mix, both of them close friends and former students of Kaga, and you've got yourself a pretty solid team that can tell you what you need to know about Kaga, so why worry?"

Zuikaku narrowed her eyes tiredly, exhaling through her slight smile as she took comfort in Junyou's reassuring words, nodding.

"I suppose you're right."

"Well, then.

Where're we going to meet the rest of the gang to plan out your step-by-step relationship plans?"

Zuikaku shifted about, scratching her cheek abashedly.

"Well, about that…"

* * *

Junyou's eye twitched in annoyance, but not at the company of the carriers in her presence.

Oh no.

She was annoyed at their presence in _her_ room.

Her smelly, relatively untidy room which was where she could be truly alone.

Although ever since she was selected by Admiral Mako to be in the 1st Fleet, this was looking to be less and less the case, thinking back on how Shigure and Hiei had barged into her room, the fast battleship dragging her ass to practice.

Beside her, Akagi was munching on some sweets and snacks merrily, the crumbs bouncing off of her flight deck apron to hit the floor, Soryu and Hiryu chatting merrily about something or another while seated on the other side of the room.

Zuikaku was discussing something with Shoukaku and the calm and mature light carrier Chitose, who both had their serene smiles on and were politely listening to Zuikaku's concerns.

Hiei was politely but urgently ushered out of the room by the carriers upon waking up, Junyou promising to make things up to the confused fast battleship over the chatter of the carriers as her room was now made into the impromptu base of operations.

Junyou raised her hands, vein bulging out of her forehead as she shouted in exasperation.

" _THE HELL YOU BITCHES DOING IN MY ROOM, OF ALL PLACES?!"_

Everyone unanimously turned to shush her, Junyou feeling her cheeks coloring because of her outburst and waved her hands about wildly to express her frustration.

Akagi patted her on the back, an air of understanding around her as she offered a cookie to the distraught light carrier.

She opened her mouth to speak, but that only served to make the cookie crumbs spill out of her mouth as she consoled Junyou.

"Ift's Fouhay, fhe phwon't be phere lawung."

But Junyou was quick to retort, chiding with tears at the edge of her eyes.

"Stop spilling crumbs all over my floor!

I'm the one who has to clean that up later!"

Hiryu continued where Akagi left off, explaining their reason for choosing Junyou's room to meet up in secret.

"Well, the Bird Nest is also occupied by Kaga, and we don't want her to walk in on our planning session.

We don't want to inconvenience those who aren't in the planning committee, and you occupy a room all by yourself due to your alcoholism, so it's more convenient than Chitose's room which is shared with Ryuujou and Zuihou."

Junyou had nothing to say to that and resorted to simply putting her face in her palms, accepting the fact that everyone was going to be coming and going from her room to plan, and that her privacy during the day was likely going to be non-existent from now on.

But Zuikaku silenced everyone by raising her hand and took the spotlight as she briefed everyone on the reason for being here, if they didn't already know.

"Everyone, we're gathered here today to discuss how I'm going to…"

Zuikaku blushed, but Shoukaku's reassuring pat on her shoulder bolstered her courage and allowed her to finish her sentence.

" … to form a romantic relationship with Kaga-san."

Hiryu raised her hand, asking innocently.

"Just asking, but aren't you moving a little too fast here?"

But Chitose assuaged such concerns by speaking up for Zuikaku.

"We understand that this isn't something that can't be rushed, since Kaga-san isn't the type of person who likes relationships to develop too quickly.

Akagi-san knows that Kaga-san is also a little old-fashioned in terms of love and interpersonal relations, so for now, we're here to discuss our strategy for the upcoming month, and even longer if need be to ensure the highest chance of success."

Hiryu nodded, Soryu piping up and asking.

"But is a possibility of a relationship even possible?

I mean, most of us are girls, so it wouldn't be surprising if we were attracted to other ship girls, but Kaga-san doesn't seem like the person to be inclined to start a relationship in the midst of fighting a war…"

Zuikaku flinched and looked down in disappointment, but Akagi, now having swallowed her food and wiped her mouth at the cost of further dirtying Junyou's floor and earning her short-lived ire, she raised her hand to get everyone's attention.

"On the contrary, I believe this is exactly what she needs right now.

Despite our best efforts, we are currently unable to craft the name-ship of the Tosa-Class battleship to serve as a sister ship to Kaga, which I feel might be a little unfair to her, as I have Amagi with me…"

Akagi looked a little ashamed at feeling happy that her sister ship Amagi existed and was here in this base while Kaga was alone with no Tosa to be with her.

"I also understand that she isn't the friendliest of ship girls to approach, which means that other than the more powerful ship girls that she associates with often for mission purposes and us carriers, she's actually quite introverted as a person, and unnaturally so for a girl.

I believe that this relationship will do wonders for her, and I'm here to make sure that it succeeds for her sake as well as Zuikaku's."

Soryu seemed satisfied with the explanation, Shoukaku nodding in encouragement as she tried to push her sister on.

"Zuikaku-san, you can do this.

Not just for yourself, but to also be there for Kaga-san whenever Akagi-san can't be there for her.

Despite your rivalry with the 1st Carrier Division, you want to be with her.

And secretly, I also know that you want to surpass Kaga-san so that she'd be proud of you…"

Zuikaku sputtered at that, trying to deny the last allegation, but Shoukaku wasn't backpedaling as she encouraged Zuikaku.

"Don't be ashamed or shy to admit your feelings.

That's one of the most important things to keep in mind, although it's also important to know the right thing to say at the right time.

Kaga-san seems like the person to shoulder the burden by herself, and despite how close Akagi-san is to her, Akagi-san is also her own person and can't be there for her all the time.

You should make it about you two and how you can depend on each other on the battlefield and in life despite your rivalry."

Zuikaku nodded in acknowledgement, but her next question stumped everyone.

"So who has a plan to take the first step?"

The entire room lapsed into uncomfortable silence as none of them had actually thought about just exactly _how_ they were going to get the ball rolling.

Everyone looked at each other, expecting someone to have thought of _something_ to bring to the table and they would give their suggestions.

But Junyou raised her right hand in an almost tired fashion, and not just from the hangover that still made her head buzz and feel that the room was a little too hot despite the air conditioner being turned on, but also from having to deal with simply _thinking_ so soon while being hungover.

If experience had taught her one thing, it was that you should never exert your mind too much during a hangover, lest you get a headache.

But heck, this was a friend that she was talking about.

And not just a friend, this was a fellow carrier and a maiden in distress. She wasn't so much of a douche to turn off her mind and tune everyone out just because of her drinking habits.

"So if this relationship works, will you all stop gathering in my room like it's some kind of secret base?"

Everyone nodded, awaiting Junyou's response which they hoped was a positive one and hopefully contributed to the discussion.

Luckily for them, despite her hangover, Junyou was feeling charitable today as she sighed, holding the index finger of her clenched right fist to her forehead and closing her eyes as she thought about the situation and how they were going to go about their predicament and brainstormed.

She felt the buzz of the hangover threatening to split her mind, but she was a professional drinker, damn it.

She had dealt with many things while being hungover, including sending herself halfway across the world several times, blacklisted by the airport authorities that banned her from boarding any more commercial planes, more than a dozen arrests for disturbance of the peace and was _somehow_ still employed as a ship girl and not simply exiled by being sentenced to a few years of community service.

"Well, I'm not wholly unsympathetic to your plight, so I guess I'll help out a fellow bird-carrier by playing Cupid, although I want this on record that I just want you all out of my room."

After a short while, Junyou's eyes peeked open as she asked Zuikaku.

"Zuikaku, how lucky do you feel right now?"

* * *

The Planning Committee was in the midst of preparing everything for the meeting, and Junyou was wearing a one-eared headset on her left ear with a microphone extension that was wirelessly connected to the almost unnoticeable earpiece in Zuikaku's ear.

They were in the _Shinsengumi,_ and for this plan, they required Akagi to get the ball rolling and Houshou to provide the setting and materials needed.

The reason for choosing Houshou's bar over Mamiya's canteen was due to the aforementioned reason that they didn't want to involve any more people than was necessary.

Junyou was hiding in the kitchen with Chitose and Shoukaku as they sat on the floor, each one of them with an opened Popsicle wrapper on the floor beside them while Zuikaku was standing next to them and ate her own Popsicle.

To Chitose's side, there was an additional pile of snacks and drinks that she had purchased from Houshou beforehand to pass the time should they ever get hungry.

The kitchen itself was brightly lit, and being mostly a one-woman establishment, it was rather cozy without being claustrophobic.

A 2 meter tall steel-layered fridge stood unyielding at the far end of the kitchen, facing perpendicular to the exit of the kitchen which had small banners covering the exit and by extension, hiding the planning committee from anyone who entered the bar.

Pots and pans were stacked neatly on the marble counter to the right of the room, and the cupboards that stored various cooking materials and miscellaneous items were hanging from the roof of the kitchen in order to conserve space in the already-small room.

Along with a rack of knives, utensils and spatulas on the counter along with a few baskets of fruits and various assortment of foods, at the corner of the room and sitting beneath the counter were a few heavy sacks that likely contained rice, and were raised off the floor by being placed on small stools to prevent pests from easily eating into the material of the sack to get to the contents within.

The kitchen was well maintained as there were a few towels hanging off of drilled-in, round-tipped metal hooks at various locations in the kitchen. The maintenance of the kitchen was also accomplished with a well-hidden mop and empty bucket located at the other corner of the room, where a tap was turned off and sat beside a dustbin that was wrapped with a plastic bag for easy disposal of the garbage.

The duo seated before Junyou were using the material that Houshou provided to prepare the items needed to execute the plan, and were going to support and back Zuikaku up in case things didn't go the way they intended.

Hiryu and Soryu were off to complete their part of the plan in another location in case Kaga noticed too many of them together in the same place and suspected that something was up.

Chitose and Shoukaku were writing the words ' **あたり** ' with a black marker on the three Popsicle sticks to indicate a winning stick, with a cross on them to indicate a redeemed free Popsicle.

If you ate a Popsicle and you were lucky enough to have chosen a Popsicle that had ' **あたり** ' on the stick to indicate a winning stick, you could get another Popsicle for free.

The plan here was that Zuikaku, being a lucky carrier while her sister was infamous for being an unlucky carrier, would appear to the approaching 1st Carrier Division to have eaten too many Popsicles due to the fact that she kept choosing a winning Popsicle, and was to offer it to Kaga to get her a Popsicle and possibly allowing her to start a conversation to improve their relationship as best they could for now.

Chitose and Shoukaku were forging the ' **あたり** ' writing to make it appear genuine, each carrier buying one Popsicle from Houshou, who was in on the plan, to make sure that there was no discrepancy in their plan as the Popsicle box that was taken out of the freezer now had four less Popsicles, Junyou receiving the Akagi SMS on her phone to signal that they were making their way from the Bird's Nest towards the _Shinsengumi._

Zuikaku was almost finishing her Popsicle, the words ' **あたり** ' barely visible on the wooden Popsicle stick as Junyou silently motioned for her to hurry up with her food.

Zuikaku nodded, swallowing the remainder of the strawberry-flavored Popsicle while sticking her hand out for Chitose and Shoukaku to pass her the Popsicle sticks.

Chitose and Shoukaku both nodded at their handiwork, handing their Popsicle sticks over as Junyou reminded Zuikaku of the plan, uncharacteristically serious about helping out a fellow ship girl.

"You go out there and do your part.

We'll be here listening in on your conversation while I guide you on depending on how the conversation goes, but it's ultimately down to how you want to approach her."

Zuikaku nodded, looking to her sister and her fellow light carriers as she smiled gratefully.

"Thank you.

All of you."

Chitose smiled back at her with her 'understanding elder sister' smile, Junyou giving her a thumbs up while Shoukaku raised her arm to put a comforting hand on Zuikaku's shoulder and saying.

"We'll be here for you.

Now go."

Zuikaku nodded and turned to exit the kitchen as Chitose looked to Junyou and commented on the plan.

"This is a rather ingenious plan, Junyou-san.

But are we being a little too manipulative in trying to get them together?"

But Junyou shook her head, thinking of several ship girls who would resort to far more underhanded tactics to achieve the same goals.

"We aren't hurting or coercing anybody to do anything they don't want to do.

We're all willing participants, and it's for Kaga's own good."

' _At least, I hope it is, if we don't fudge anything up and everything goes to shit.'_

Junyou thought that last part, but knew tact and didn't say it out loud as she turned on her ship girl mode along with the duo beside her and used her enhanced hearing to listen in on the conversation.

They didn't need to move around too much as they made the kitchen their temporary base of operations with Houshou's consent, and their subdued signatures would be hidden by the material that made up the _Shinsengumi_ to prevent Kaga from noticing their presence.

They hoped.

Along with the rustle of the grass, the whistle of the wind and the chirp of the crickets that the ship girl mind instinctively dismissed as background noise, she could make out Zuikaku pretending to dry-heave as Akagi and Kaga approached her, their footsteps becoming progressively louder.

Zuikaku must be pretending to be sick or at least a little tired as Akagi asked with a touch of concern in her voice despite knowing about the plan.

"Zuikaku-san, are you alright?

You seem a little uncomfortable there, did you eat something bad at Houshou-san's place?"

But Zuikaku reassured her with a slightly raspy voice.

"S'alright, I was just eating too much ice cream.

See these?

I kept drawing the winning Popsicle, and I already finished four of them."

But Kaga huffed, pointing out the obvious.

"You can either save the stick for another day, or give it to another ship girl for them to eat.

There is no need to hog all the Popsicles to yourself, 5th Carrier Division."

Zuikaku started at that, Junyou hearing her increased breathing located just outside the bar as she whispered into the headset.

"Relax, relax…

She's being prickly as usual, but you have to grow a thicker skin if you want to take things further."

She heard Zuikaku's breathing slow down as the carrier of the 5th Carrier Division casually shrugged off the jab.

"Ahaha, I guess you're right.

I guess I shouldn't have been so selfish…"

Shoukaku leaned in to whisper encouragingly into Junyou's microphone,

"Zuikaku! Do your best!"

While Chitose was already helping herself to a chilled fuel can that was previously purchased from Houshou.

Junyou, trying to anticipate the best move to make while trying to get into the head of the Kaga-Class carrier, instructed Zuikaku quietly.

"Offer it to the both of them, but give it to Akagi, since Kaga's likely to refuse the first offer."

Zuikaku did exactly as she was told, piping up with the offer.

"Do you want the free Popsicle?

I can choose from the box to get another free Popsicle if you want."

And Akagi was quick to respond with an enthusiastic,

"Oh!

Me, me, me!"

And the trio could hear the footsteps of the Akagi-Class carrier get progressively louder as Akagi approached Houshou's bar with the ' **あたり** ' Popsicle stick to redeem a free Popsicle as Kaga kept pace with her while taking big yet confident strides.

Zuikaku walked behind them as she accompanied them to pick another winning Popsicle, possessing the highest luck stat amongst the trio.

Houshou, who was told of the plan, welcomed the carriers and allowed the trio to sit at the serving counter while pulling out the box of ice cream to let them observe the selection of flavors.

Zuikaku asked Akagi about her favorite flavor despite being informed about it beforehand so as not to arouse suspicion.

"Akagi-san, what flavor do you like?"

To which Akagi replied merrily, already anticipating the next step of the plan to eat the delicious Popsicle that Zuikaku picked out for her.

"Strawberry!"

Kaga, meanwhile, was deathly silent as Junyou strained her ears to try and pick up _anything_ that would give away her presence.

A bit of rustling was heard, Zuikaku relying on her luck to accomplish the next step of the plan. And it was hard to accept, but even Junyou admitted that the next step of the plan was a calculated risk.

Even when Akagi had told them of both their tastes and helped them predict which flavor Kaga was likely to pick (orange), Junyou didn't like relying on something as unpredictable as luck.

Even on its own, a high luck stat wasn't very reliable despite its inherent power to influence cause and effect on an environmental, and potentially even _global_ scale to allow a chain of events to go your way. It only gave you improved odds of something happening or not happening, and _not_ a guarantee that everything will go the way you want.

For example, if there was even a 75% chance of Zuikaku choosing another winning Popsicle, the 25% chance of Zuikaku choosing the wrong Popsicle was also equally capable of coming true, no matter how lucky Zuikaku was.

They had to hinge the entire plan on the chance that the cosmic dice wouldn't screw them over this one time, no matter how many variables they accounted for.

Add that to the fact that they couldn't rig the Popsicles to be the winning ones without potentially drawing the suspicion of Kaga, the only thing that they could do now was quite literally pray that the goddess of luck would continue to smile down on Zuikaku as she forged on to win Kaga's heart through her stomach.

Junyou noticed out of the corner of her eye that Shoukaku was holding her palms together and her eyes closed in prayer, while Chitose had a hand on her shoulder to reassure her of the outcome.

The crinkling of the Popsicle wrapper could be heard, as Junyou could hear Houshou reminding Akagi not to eat too quickly lest she get indigestion.

But Kaga was quick to reassure Houshou.

"It's alright, Houshou-san. Something so insignificant as indigestion will not affect us, the mighty carriers of the 1st Carrier Division."

And Akagi piped up, her mouth full of what was likely the finished Popsicle.

"Yup, ith's nufhing, fince fhe're the 1st Fharrier Fifishun!"

Houshou audibly flinched, remarking incredulously.

"You've already finished the Popsicle?!"

Junyou could hear the almost unnoticeable sigh of relief that came from Zuikaku, which likely meant that the ice cream had the ' **あたり** ' sign on it.

Junyou turned to see Shoukaku open her eyes in relief, and nodded to Chitose to send a text message to Hiryu, to which the light carrier nodded and turned on her touch phone.

The next part of the plan was to draw Akagi away from the scene with an external event while Kaga would stay to finish the last Popsicle so as not to cause Zuikaku to supposedly throw up from eating too much ice cream.

Hiryu was to be with Soryu, and when Hiryu got the text message from Chitose, she was to notify Soryu to inform Akagi with a message about a random dish that Mamiya was serving today and allow Akagi to excuse herself by expressing interest in said food.

Akagi then suddenly whimpered, clearly no longer acting as she whined.

"Oww, I think I might be suffering from brain freeze…"

Houshou was softly chiding Akagi for her gluttonous appetite, slapping the crown of Akagi's head softly.

"You should eat cold food slowly, because our steel bodies are sensitive to heat and are affected by sudden changes in temperature.

Add that to the fact that the thickness of the armor in the roof of your mouth is but only a fraction that of the armor that is your skin, it's no wonder that you suffered from brain freeze.

Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth for a while, burn up some of the fuel in your body to warm yourself up and redirect the heat to your head.

You'll feel a bit flushed that way, but you'll dispel the brain freeze faster if you do."

Akagi nodded, and right on cue, her phone buzzed silently.

Akagi popped up, whipping out her phone and sounded as if she was going through the motions of turning on a phone.

But as Zuikaku and Kaga both kept quiet in case it was a call, there was a skid of a chair being pushed back by someone standing up really fast, Akagi addressing the duo as she slammed the winning Popsicle stick on the table and dashed out of the bar at a speed that could give Shimakaze a run for her money.

"Mamiya'shavingacurryspecialthatIreallywantoeatinordertowarmmyselfupgottagobye!"

Leaving the two carriers alone in the bar with Houshou, and one could hear a pin drop as everyone had nothing to say about Akagi being attracted to food like moth to a flame. But Junyou had planned for this, and she whispered into the headset for Zuikaku to take the initiative.

"Ask her what flavor she likes, and pick one out for her."

Junyou could hear Zuikaku clear her throat to get Kaga's attention and parrot the question that everyone already knew the answer to.

Beside her, she could see Chitose and Shoukaku crouching and hunched over an already-opened 'Hello Panda' packet that was colored pink to symbolize the flavored cookies within containing strawberry cream, the duo munching on the cookies as best they could without making too much noise.

Junyou held out her hand to quietly ask for some, and she was rewarded with the empty pink packet being placed her her hand, Shoukaku and Chitose shrugging their shoulders in unison while putting on apologetic expressions.

Junyou's dulled eyes stared down at the betrayal of her two fellow carriers, but suddenly snapped to attention as she heard the skid of the steel chairs on the wooden floor.

Junyou could hear Zuikaku exclaiming,

"Hey, where do you think you're going?

You haven't asked me to pick a Popsicle for you yet."

But footsteps that rounded the now-silent chair was heard, Kaga distancing herself from Zuikaku and Houshou as she left, calmly commenting.

"I don't like to eat anything cold before any major meal of the day."

But Zuikaku was also leaving, pushing her chair out loudly to put her feet on the floor as she sounded as if she grabbed the winning Popsicle stick and followed Kaga, accusing.

"Bullshit!

You just don't want to accept anything from 'The 5th Carrier Division' in which if you did, you'd feel as though you owed us something, right?"

Kaga's footsteps stopped, and Junyou, through her sharp hearing, could clearly hear the disinterest in her voice, leading her to wonder if Zuikaku was wasting her time with the cold carrier that was infamous for being stoic and professional all the damn time.

"You might think that, I couldn't possibly comment."

Zuikaku shouted, causing the hiding trio to cover their highly attuned ears to the unexpected sudden rise in volume while Houshou politely sidestepped them as she entered the kitchen with the box of Popsicles to keep in the freezer.

" _BULLSHIT!"_

Using her one good ear that was still listening to the headset, she took off her headset temporarily as she listened in on the conversation between Kaga and Zuikaku, the latter losing her temper and getting carried away due to their rivalry and the resulting tension between them.

"You'd refuse even food simply because I'm the one who's providing it?"

Kaga moved around on the spot, likely turning around to face the approaching Zuikaku as she stated in a matter-of-fact tone that she was known for.

"I refuse the Popsicle that you offered because you took advantage of your luck to get free food at Houshou-san's expense.

How disgraceful, for the 5th Carrier Division to resort to such petty tricks..."

Kaga was now shifting on the spot as she took on the tone of someone who was very good at letting others know of their mistakes, being blunt and direct in her observations as she chided.

"You may rely on your luck right now, but out there on the ocean, there is no telling when your luck will fail you and cause something bad to happen to you.

You have potential and may be trying to get stronger faster by asking me to coach you, but I personally think that you are not ready for the strength that you will unlock and the responsibilities that come with it.

Not that I have any right to tell you what you should and shouldn't do.

I rely on my skills, unlike you from the 5th Carrier Division, who relies on her luck to get by."

Zuikaku scoffed at that, retorting.

"I know that that's the case right now, and I currently can't possibly hope to achieve what you can do, but I'm getting there one step at a time!

I swallowed my pride to learn from you.

I tried not to retort when you coached me and pointed out my flaws.

I even tried to be nice to you by offering you this!"

Junyou could hear a whiff of air and the small crack of something hitting the floor as if something was thrown to the ground quickly.

Junyou surmised that Zuikaku threw the Popsicle stick at the floor, her dislike of Kaga's direct and harsh words outweighing her love for her.

Junyou sighed, talking into the headset and trying to pacify an irate Zuikaku at the other end of the line.

"Chill the fuck out, you're here to try to talk to her, not start another cat-fight.

Take a few deep breaths…

Inhale…

Exhale..."

Junyou could hear Zuikaku audibly trying to calm herself down by following her steps, and Kaga wasn't moving as she didn't think this conversation was over, which was a good thing.

Junyou then spoke to Zuikaku slowly, trying to get her next point across.

"Look, I understand that you want to improve yourself in order to make her proud, but I don't think she's the kind of person to like people who improve themselves for such self-serving reasons.

Don't improve yourself to try and surpass her, that'll make it sound as if you don't care about improving so long as you're better than her.

Don't improve yourself to win her over, she'll likely reject you as it sounds as if you'll be satisfied with your progress after you earn her approval and love.

You have to change your mindset and look at the bigger picture.

Improving yourself to protect everyone may be a difficult goal, but she'll at least respect you for improving yourself for such a selfless reason."

Zuikaku started speaking again after she had contemplated Junyou's advice, trying to adapt her stance and change her goals and mindset not just for her own sake, but also for the sake of the base and her comrades.

She couldn't believe that of all people to tell her this, it was the one carrier that she thought knew nothing about selflessness.

Perhaps it said volumes about how shallow she was on the inside if she was indeed trying to improve herself for such self-centered reasons.

But she communicated these thoughts to Kaga, trying to convince not just Kaga, but also herself of her own sincerity in trying to improve for the good of everyone.

"I was told that trying to improve myself for the sole purpose of surpassing you was a silly goal, as I wouldn't care about improving myself any more so long as I was better than you.

It took me a bit of thinking, but I think that she was right.

In times of war, we can't be so self-centered and get conceited whenever our strength reaches an apparent plateau.

We must try to find ways to further improve ourselves if we are to protect everyone."

Zuikaku sounded morose as she continued on, Kaga silently and respectfully listening to her motive rant.

"I know that it's a big goal following a paradigm shift, but I ultimately want to protect everyone, and not just for the sake of others praising me.

This base is my home, and despite what goes on between us, you're also a part of the Yokosuka family, and I also want to protect you.

You're my senior, and more than that, you're a fellow carrier.

I may not be as skilled as you are right now, but rest assured, I _will_ improve and do the things that you can't do, while you do the things that I can't do."

Kaga huffed, but was sincere as she congratulated Zuikaku for learning to selflessly fight for the greater good of the base, the country and the people, which was what the ship girls were ultimately fighting for.

"It seems that you have the right idea, 5th Carrier Division.

We shouldn't be so self-centered in times of crisis.

We need to look out for one another and learn from each other when we can.

However…"

Kaga stepped forward and a ruffling sound was heard, Zuikaku yelping in surprise as she exclaimed.

"You have a long way to go, 5th Carrier Division.

Don't go thinking that you're ready for the big leagues yet."

As Junyou asked Zuikaku through the microphone about a trend that she was seeing, backed up by her memories of the various heated interactions between the duo.

"Look, alright.

I know you two got history, but you need to ask about why she isn't calling you by your name."

Junyou looked to Chitose and Shoukaku with an 'Are-you-girls-with-me?' expression, exasperatedly commenting on Kaga's seemingly-subconscious behavior to keep referring to Zuikaku as '5th Carrier Division' as though she couldn't remember her name.

"I mean, are you serious?!

Isn't anyone weirded out by this?

Does she have selective Alzheimer's when it comes to remembering Zuikaku's name, or what?"

Meanwhile, Zuikaku was audibly struggling with as the ruffling continued, squealing in exasperation.

"Don't rub my hair, Kaga-san!

You'll mess it up!"

Kaga stopped on command, seeing no point in continuing something that wasn't going to benefit anyone and commented.

"So long as you get the point, 5th Carrier Division."

But Zuikaku must have heard Junyou's question as she echoed it with a bit of hesitation, suddenly sounding almost fearful of Kaga's potential slew of answers, a lot of them negative.

" … Why do you call me '5th Carrier Division'?"

Kaga didn't get the point of the question, nonchalantly answering.

"Because you're 5th Carrier Division.

Simple."

Zuikaku, now speaking in a tone of consternation, could almost be heard holding back a choking sob as she contemplated the hidden meaning of her senior not even bothering to call her by her name, even in private.

" … I mean, why don't you call me 'Zuikaku'?

 _Why do you keep calling me '5th Carrier Division' instead?_

I can't even remember a time when you called me by my name like a person…"

She could hear Kaga try to respond, a sound escaping the introverted carrier before it was cut off by a pause, and Kaga meant to say something again as she was more convinced of her counter-argument, but she seemed to remember something that made her stop.

Junyou could hear Zuikaku snort softly in resignation, stating solemnly.

"That's just it, hmm?

I reviewed my memory banks just now, and saw that despite knowing each other for quite a while, you've never once called me by my name, and only '5th Carrier Division' or '5thCarDiv girl' or some variant of it.

I know that outside of sorties, you call Shoukaku-nee by her name whenever you feel like it, although you call her 'Shoukaku-san' most of the time.

But you've always called me '5th Carrier Division', something that you do only to me, and it makes me feel like I'm just…

Like I'm just a _thing_ to you instead of a living, breathing person like everyone else, and my name isn't worth remembering.

I suppose I got used to it a long time ago, but it came up as a stray thought, and I can't help but wonder if you look down on me so much that you'd single me out and do this to me and me alone…"

The ground underneath Zuikaku's feet shifted as a rustle could be heard on the ground, meaning that Zuikaku might be moving around as she picked up the fallen Popsicle stick.

And after she was done, Junyou could hear Zuikaku speaking solemnly as she addressed Kaga.

"I respect your strength and your skills, and I'm trying my best not to retort every time you point out a mistake in my shooting form in practice because I know you're looking out for me.

But I just wanted you to know, that part of the reason that I wanted to improve myself was to impress you and so that you'd admit that I'm strong enough."

Zuikaku scoffed at herself, now bitterly reflecting on her past self as she pointed out the flaw in her own thinking with Junyou's previously stated points.

"It's so shallow, simply assuming that being better than you was all that was needed to gain your approval.

Not that you'd ever approve of someone who only strives to be better than others just to show off and gain the seal of approval from others.

But I can say that I was serious in trying to impress you, because ultimately, you are my senior, and one whom I highly respect.

If I can't reach a level of strength where you think that I can adequately protect others, should you ever fall in battle, you'd die with regrets while thinking that I was too weak to protect the rest of the carriers.

And they say that a ship girl who dies with regrets is one who can be Abyssalized to become an Abyssal to haunt the living…"

Zuikaku was now speaking as she remembered painful memories, the loneliness evident in her voice as she reminisced upon the war where someone died and left her more and more alone, trying to maintain a strong front and barely succeeding.

"You, Akagi, Hiryu and Soryu were all gone after Midway.

Then, it was Shoukaku and Taihou in the Philippines Sea...

I understand that no ship can last forever in a war, and due to my high luck, I would theoretically be the last carrier standing simply because I 'got lucky'.

And if I can't protect everyone, I want to make everyone feel that they can at least pass on without regrets, because I'll be there, and I'll be strong enough to protect everyone.

But look at this…

...Perhaps this Popsicle stick is my entire shtick.

Perhaps luck is all I have, and I shouldn't think that I'll ever be able to perform up to your impossibly high standards.

At this point, I really don't care if you address me as '5th Carrier Division', since I've gotten used to you addressing me that way.

And I'm your student, so I have no right to complain about you treating me like shit if I want to learn anything.

So with that, good day."

A sound of the Popsicle stick hitting the floor was heard as Zuikaku walked back to the _Shinsengumi_ to meet up with the trio, and Junyou was already racking her brains to try and think up of anything to help Zuikaku get back in the game.

Chitose and Shoukaku were desperately whispering into Junyou's microphone to tell Zuikaku not to give up, making things very uncomfortable for her as Junyou tried to pull away from the carriers who leaned in a little too close for comfort to speak into the mouthpiece.

But Kaga was moving around the spot where the Popsicle stick was dropped and she finally called out to Zuikaku using her name, something that nobody expected her to do when addressing the more vocal and headstrong member of the 5th Carrier Division.

"Zuikaku."

Zuikaku's footsteps instantly stopped, Junyou shushing Shoukaku and Chitose as she moved the microphone and strained her ears to listen intently to the next exchange, Shoukaku and Chitose following in her footsteps and their faces hardening in concentration to listen in on the duo as Zuikaku moved around on the spot, likely to turn around as Kaga's footsteps approached.

Kaga was trying to console Zuikaku, not just as a fellow carrier who was under her tutelage, but also as someone whom she knew well despite their rivalry.

Even when she was rather dense when it came to interpersonal relationships, Junyou knew that the stoic carrier wasn't so insensitive as to not know when she was in the wrong or when she had committed a _faux pas_ , and this was one of the times where she was trying to correct her subconscious tic and tried to mend the relationship with the 5th Carrier Division.

"I admit that I am at fault for subconsciously calling you by your division, and not by your name even after all this time.

I realize that it was wrong of me to do so, and I apologize for that."

Zuikaku was now reacting to Kaga shifting about, exclaiming in embarrassment.

"Y-You don't need to bow to me in apology, K-Kaga-san!"

But Kaga was adamant, likely straightening up from her apologetic bowing position as she continued on in spite of Zuikaku's protests.

"I will do my best to call you by your name when we're not on sorties from now on as a form of respect and also as a sign of basic courtesy.

And this Popsicle stick…

… I'll be keeping it for next time, despite the fact that it's in poor taste to give away something that they got for free to others…"

Junyou instinctively spoke into her microphone to calm the carrier at the other end of the line down as she heard Zuikaku start a little, but still maintained a cool head in order to hear the Kaga-Class carrier out.

"Chill, chill…

Don't get triggered so easily by her comments.

Just hear her out."

However, Kaga audibly smirked, and she continued her sentence as she turned away.

" … But I appreciate you offering me this when you could have easily hogged it all to yourself.

Thank you, Zuikaku."

Junyou whispered into the microphone, instructing.

"Tell her that you want things to improve between you two despite your rivalry, and that you want to improve yourself so that she can depend on you more."

Zuikaku simply huffed in response, proclaiming embarrassedly as she paraphrased Junyou's words.

"W-Well, I know that you can't do everything by yourself, so I want to get stronger so that you don't have to carry the burden of the war by yourself.

And the way to do that is to improve things between us, not just because we can work better together, but because I really think that you deserve better from me.

I can be better, and I will be better!

You better count on it!"

Junyou could almost imagine Kaga's smirk as she barely heard Kaga whisper to herself as she left.

"I am now."

As Junyou smirked to the grinning Shoukaku and Chitose, all three of them high-fiving each other on a job well done.

Houshou approached them, squatting down to address Junyou as she asked politely, but her tone was one of maternal concern for a junior carrier.

"How did things go?

I hope it went well between them, despite the two of them storming out of the bar…"

Junyou gave her a thumbs up and flashed her winning smile at her senior, exhaling as she reassured the concerned Houshou.

"We hit a few rough patches, but it's alright.

A successful first step for the Zuikaku Romance Team!"

* * *

In the Admiral's office, Admiral Mako was looking through all of the collected information of the Abyssals' recent movements, the opened folder that was 'Apocalypse' showing several blueprints and receipts for materials used to build some sort of new Abyssal weapon to be deployed in battle.

This would likely herald a new age of warfare, and even though Admiral Mako tried her best to put the pieces together and uncover their plans, she didn't have enough puzzle pieces needed to form a credible lead.

Mutsu sat on the couch as she sorted through some of the paperwork and was fielding a call from Central, the Nagato-Class battleship called in to help divide the workload between them to finish the paperwork in half the time.

Admiral Mako looked weary after spending a whole afternoon contemplating possibilities that had gotten her nowhere except giving her a splitting headache that she could use as an excuse to get out of anything if need be.

Several things were set in motion by the Abyssals, and she was hoping that she and the Admirals of neighboring bases were prepared enough to face what was to come.

Mutsu tapped the Admiral's shoulder, urging her to relax with the following argument.

"Admiral, it's time for you to rest.

You can't keep this up forever.

Even if you were a ship girl, I would still give the same advice."

Admiral Mako sighed, nodding slowly as she tried to let go of the documents she held and tried to explain herself.

"I know, but it's just…"

Mako took off her Admiral cap, and tossed it back towards her desk, the officer's cap barely making a ' _plop'_ sound as it landed on her laptop, Mako scratching her head as she considered the well-being of her girls.

"You girls risk your lives out there, and I can't be sitting here cooling my heels.

I have to pull my own weight and figure out the enemy's motives so as to end this war and prevent any more losses.

I won't settle for anything less."

Mutsu's face darkened, leaning in to whisper to her frustrated Admiral.

"Is it about the fallen girls?

Is that why you're pushing yourself so hard?"

Mako, now no longer regarding herself as an Admiral when addressing Mutsu, nodded solemnly, sighing resignedly.

"Look at me.

I ask for you girls to be brave in the face of losses, and here I am, barely able to face the girls that I've sunk, either directly or indirectly."

Mutsu reflected upon that, finally answering the Admiral, who slouched and suddenly looked several years older due to the stress from commanding the fleet.

"You can't protect everyone all the time, Admiral, especially when you're commanding the battle from so far away.

Besides, this is war, and I think everyone has come to terms with their own mortality.

No one can blame you for losing a few ship girls in such turbulent times.

But, if I may ask, why is it that you drive yourself beyond what a normal Admiral would do to ensure the safety of each and every ship girl?"

Mako plopped down on her seat in order to relax, Mutsu standing adjacent to her and listening to her Admiral as she explained.

"You know I was in a gang, back in my youth, right?"

Mutsu nodded, not surprised to find out that the Admiral had been a rebellious teenager, running away from home to join a biker gang.

Mako sighed and continued,

"Well, the reason why I left them to join the Navy and to serve as an Admiral was because I wanted to protect you all.

Bear with me here.

This stemmed from an encounter in my youth, back when I was maybe, like, 5?

I was in a small town, and this was back when we didn't know about you girls, when the government still thought that they could end this war without breaking the news to the world about this alien menace.

I stumbled onto a pair of ship girls in disguise as civilians in the town I lived in, and when I saw you girls, and seeing how you gave off a vibe that was different from any human's, even when you looked human…"

Mako scratched her head sheepishly, and ducked her head in embarrassment at what she was going to say next.

"I went up to you girls and asked if you were angels, seeing how beautiful you were."

Mutsu simply stared for a moment before snickering at her Admiral's revelation, Mako smiling tiredly as she tried to defend herself.

"Hey, man.

That was before I knew I liked girls, and all of you ship girls have perfect looks, so give my five-year old self a break."

She looked away, continuing.

"I remember telling one of the 'Onee-chan's that I liked her, and the other ship girl invited me to talk with them by placing me on her lap and resting her breasts atop of my head.

I used to wonder why my neck ached that particular night, and now, thinking back on it, it wasn't much of a mystery, eh?"

Mutsu gave her a winning smile, happy that her Admiral was finally opening up and relieving her stress by talking about her past.

"The ship girl who had me on her lap told me of their secret powers, like how they could walk on water and how human bullets couldn't hurt them, despite the other ship girl's insistence that such information was classified, although my look of amazement was enough to dissuade her from persisting, and they both made me swear to an oath of silence.

I suppose telling a five-year old girl wasn't much cause for alarm, since no one would believe a child.

Fast forward to when I was in a gang as a teenager, I was there watching my afternoon television when they revealed the existence of the ship girls to the world.

Amidst the uproar of the humans attending the conference, I saw the faces of two ship girls that had almost faded from my memory."

Mako looked to Mutsu, her eyes unreadable, but with hints of slight happiness with a nostalgic smile, Mutsu unsure of how to respond.

"It was you who told me of the superpowers of the ship girls, and it was Nagato whom I confessed my feelings to that day."

Mutsu's eyes widened, but when she thought about it, it wasn't so surprising seeing that she knew herself to be the type of ship girl to indulge in a child's curiosity.

The cute look of shining amazement would likely soften Nagato's heart and allow her to continue amazing Mako with their incredible abilities, since her Admiral was a child back then.

And besides, she thought.

If the Admiral had feelings for Nagato ever since she was a child, then maybe their relationship was always meant to be as it seemed to be a form of love that spanned lifetimes, Mutsu feeling rather glad that her Admiral was able to find Nagato again, even if it was not the one she met in her childhood.

She heard the Admiral continue on.

"Back then, my heart fluttered upon seeing Nagato, and I was a teenager then.

I knew I was into girls then, but I guess on that day, I thought hard about the revelation of the Abyssal threat, and I kinda came to a conclusion, y'know?

Like an epiphany.

That if angels were to exist, surely demons should exist out there in the world, you get me?"

Mutsu looked away at that, no longer sure how to face the Admiral, who sighed and reclined back into her seat and looked defeated.

"And that we were on the brink of being destroyed so many times without even knowing what hit us, it scared me.

But what made it even worse was that they revealed that the only line of defense against complete annihilation was a bunch of teenage girls, some looking barely old enough to graduate from preschool.

It scared me even more, to think that you girls had to shoulder this burden without telling anyone just because you were created by us as instruments of war.

This was a choice that you never had the privilege to choose for yourselves, which really hit me hard back then, thinking of the countless number of girls that had to live short, violent lives before dying and having no one know about and appreciate their contributions and existence, as if they were ghosts…"

Mako shuddered and inhaled sharply, as if afraid of how she would fare as a ship girl before sighing and finishing her story.

"And from then on, I took it upon myself to enlist myself in the Navy to protect you all, and lead a fleet that would end this war so that none of you would have to fight anymore.

I'd marry the girl of my dreams AKA Nagato, my teenage delusion of messiah-hood and being a grand leader pushing me on as I was accepted into the Admiral waiting list."

Mako breathed out from her nose in what was a feeble attempt at a laugh at her younger self, almost looking as if she would break down at any moment.

"Look at me now.

Several dead ship girls that are on me, no idea of our enemy's plans or movements and always having to be on defense…"

Gesturing to the 'Apocalypse' folder on the table in front of her.

"... and no end to this fucking war in sight.

Some messiah, huh?"

Mutsu stood up and walked over to her Admiral, resting her gloved hand on the Admiral's shoulder and taking extra care not to break her relatively frail human body as comforting her with a sad smile on her face.

"Like I said, none of us blame you for the mistakes you made.

You try your best to be there for every single one of us and treat us with the care a mother would forher offspring, something that goes above and beyond the call of duty.

And for that, we are eternally grateful."

Mako looked up to the caring and reflective eyes of her battleship, finally breaking out into a small smile as she nodded.

"I guess so."

Mutsu nodded in response to Admiral Mako's improvement in her attitude and stood back as Admiral Mako pushed herself back up on her Admiral chair, taking in a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself as she chirped up.

"Ahh, this is why I like talking about serious shit with you, Mutsu.

You always know how to cheer me up when I get too emotional."

Mutsu only sighed at that, replying,

"Yes, and you tease Nagato-nee because you want to 'soften her up for the marriage' as you once said, and because you love her.

You hang out with Kongou to relax, flirt with Ashigara in your free time and bring Yamato as your wing-man when going anywhere out of the base."

"Exactly.

I'm glad you know me so well."

"Regrettably so."

Mako smirked, putting on her Admiral cap as she leaned over to reach for her phone to dial the extension number to the engineer block, where Akashi and Aoba were working with the human engineer duo to create a machine that allowed a ship girl to communicate with her soul, the entire project code-named 'Psyche' for future reference.

She waited for someone at the other end of the line to pick up, finally hearing Akashi's voice through the speaker as the repair ship asked.

"Admiral, is that you?"

"Yep, just wanted to check up on the progress of Project Psyche on your end."

She could hear the voices of Akio and Kousuke in the background as Akashi's voice drowned them out, speaking up about the few problems they've encountered.

"Well, Akio and Kousuke say that the interior of a ship girl's mind may be similar to that of a human's, but we've been actively trying to determine what those differences are by checking our records and making calls to Central to confirm.

They've also been trying to simulate how to form and stabilize an 'inner world' for the mind and soul to be transported into with help of the Fairies here, a platform that won't collapse from within and can be maintained as the ship girl is in 'sleep' mode."

Admiral Mako took the time to open her laptop and check up on the weather forecast that was in her favorites tab as she clarified.

"So, like we all know, the soul is summoned and is installed in the ship girl's body as it creates a predetermined personality.

Are you saying that you're trying to draw the soul out safely and allow the ship girl reach a deeper consciousness, thereby finding a middle ground for the two to meet without complications?"

Akashi gave a huff of agreement, Admiral Mako seeing that the weather on the 12th was bad, with a very high probability of extremely heavy rain around the Kanto region and the Izu Islands.

Damn.

The Abyssals always took advantage of adverse weather conditions to utilize guerrilla tactics and strike quickly, since the effectiveness of their detection equipment would be severely limited on the field, which allowed the Abyssals to travel a little more freely beneath the ocean while the ship girls had to battle with the Abyssals as well as the weather.

"Akashi, how long do you need before being able to give me reasonable odds of surviving this procedure?"

"When you say 'reasonable', you mean..."

"I _mean_ , at least a 30% of survival.

And I want that to be your most pessimistic estimate, _not_ your most optimistic."

She could hear an audible sigh on the other line, but there were signs of a discussion being held as she guessed that Akashi covered the mouthpiece of her phone, Admiral Mako waiting for about fifteen seconds before Akashi spoke into the mouthpiece to give their answer.

"About the time when you fight the Abyssal armada in a few weeks."

Admiral Mako exhaled, glad that they were able to make some progress while maintaining reasonable odds of survival.

And to put it in perspective, she'd never have considered 30% remotely close to anything she'd consider 'reasonable odds' 10 or even 5 years ago.

Two things that convinced her that the first test subjects would survive the procedure was the fact that she had pulled a lot of strings to get Central to cough up relevant information pertaining to Project Psyche and anything they had learnt about the ship girl mind throughout the two decades.

The second was that Akashi, a very experienced ship girl who had lived for slightly over 16 years and was pretty much a centenarian in ship girl years, was on the case, and despite the repair ship's shady past with Central, she trusted the repair ship's expertise and knew that she would deliver.

She uttered out a simple yet genuine,

"Thanks, Akashi."

To which the repair ship only huffed in response and hung up on her, Admiral Mako tossing her phone onto her desk, sliding down to slouch in her chair as she closed her eyes and pulled her Admiral cap down to summarize things thus far.

Akashi, Aoba, Akio and Kousuke were working on Project Psyche, and the submarines were out stealthily laying the Anti-Abyssal naval mines for the large-scale battle that was to come in the near future.

She didn't know much about 'Apocalypse', but she couldn't help feel a sense of dread that this upcoming battle was but a distraction for something far more destructive than anything they had faced thus far, seeing the sheer amount of resources poured into it for so long.

This feeling of dread may be dismissed as an unfounded fear by some, but for her, there was too much riding on the line for her to dismiss anything as an unfounded fear out of hand.

This rain, too...

She leaned forward to reach for her touch-phone again, allowing her Admiral cap to fall onto her lap as she planned to call up the Admirals of the neighboring Miura and Tateyama Naval Base through both the casual and official channels, Mutsu raising her head temporarily to regard Admiral Mako before looking back down at her paperwork.

There was something big that was about to go down, and Admiral Mako wanted to make sure that her ship girls had enough strength and numbers to protect each other on the battlefield.

Fujiwara and Konishi would understand her concerns, especially if she let them in on the loop about 'Apocalypse' and had at least one fleet ready to be deployed at the drop of a hat should the Abyssals really try to attack them under the cover of heavy rain on the 12th.


	16. Chapter 16 - Rain Hides the Tears

The 1st Response Fleet was standing right outside the harbor, assembling as soon as they got the message that they needed to reinforce the Izu Islands as soon as possible.

It was 12.35 p.m. and the operation was projected to last the entire day, the 1st Fleet likely returning to base sometime at night.

The official statement from the Admiral was that the Abyssals had sent out a fleet in an attempt to occupy the hotly-contested Izu Islands while taking advantage of the rain to mask their approach.

Fortunately, the Admiral predicted that they'd take advantage of the bad weather to encroach on their territory and had warned the 1st Fleet about a possible sortie on the 12th.

The Abyssal fleet was estimated to have about 40 Abyssals in its roster, requiring more than one fleet to handle.

Hence, it required the combined efforts of three naval bases to try and repel their invasion, lest the Abyssals pick off their fleets as they send them in one by one.

Shigure observed her teammates as they surrounded her, noting the changes that her friends had went through.

Tatsuta was smiling more naturally now, Shigure noticing that the light cruiser had been helping out in the kitchen, keeping herself busy while lightening the workload of others.

This allowed her to apply herself and keep herself busy, so much so that it never allowed her to brood in a corner and be alone with her dark thoughts as she learnt some cooking skills from Mamiya, a senior who had been around since the inception of the base.

Hiei had arrived shortly after confirming her schedule with the other battleships to finalize a date for another training session, Shigure feeling glad to hear that Hiei was determined to train herself up tirelessly in order to earn her Kai Ni.

She knew that the fast battleship would go far if she tried.

Hiei looked driven to do her best to become stronger not just to impress her sisters, but to also protect the 1st Fleet which she was more closely affiliated with nowadays.

Tenryuu was now carrying herself with an air of confidence that wasn't just a product of her self-proclaimed grandiosity before being enlisted in the 1st Fleet, but also looked more like a young warrior waiting to test her limits in battle.

The guidance of her seniors and a bit of maturity on her part had changed her for the better, the light cruiser now trying to use her wits more often to compensate for her less-than-stellar stats and keep herself relevant in battle.

Ayanami hadn't changed too much, but like an anchor for the rest of the fleet, she was probably the one member of the fleet that didn't need to change too much.

Her default personality was amiable and kind to others as she was an elder sister figure to anyone who needed her support due to being a name-ship, a trait that helped her connect with her comrades.

Shigure thought back about the breakfast that she had with Yuudachi before this as the the 1st Fleet approached the harbor to suit up and sortie.

* * *

 _Yuudachi had been trying to make small talk with a quiet Shigure over breakfast, and she had tried to talk about the weather, of all things._

 _But Shigure, despite her best attempts to try and humor her sister ship's attempts, couldn't help but point out a simple observation that she had made upon waking up early in the morning to get some exercise._

 _"I'm sorry, Yuudachi, but I saw that the morning sky was red, which means that there's a storm on the horizon."_

 _Yuudachi's smile drooped upon hearing that, but she did her best to recover as she stretched her smile a little more, gesturing to the breakfast trays on the table before them._

 _"W-Well, Shigure, let's eat now._

 _Doesn't today's meal seem rather delicious, Poi?"_

 _Today's meal was indeed rather extravagant, a generous helping of unagi meat with soy sauce added on it along with a salad bowl filled with lettuce, mayonnaise and corn kernels that were visible as they were identified by their healthy yellow gleam, slices of hard-boiled eggs thrown in to add some variety to the dish._

 _Shigure nodded, humoring her beloved sister as she used her knife to cut into the unagi meat, disturbing the thin layer of soy sauce layered on it as Shigure pierced it with her fork._

 _She used her knife to scrape some of the soy sauce off the slice of meat as Shigure didn't like her food to be lathered in sauces, making it almost inedible to her._

 _She ate the eel meat and felt the fishy taste on her tongue, somewhat salty and soft as it fell apart in her mouth, savoring the taste of the soy sauce on the unagi before turning her attention back to her sister._

 _Yuudachi was now talking about how summer was a time to relax, Shigure smiling at her sister's infectious enthusiasm that was starting to get to her despite the high chance of sortieing today in the rain._

 _"One of these days, we can go to the beach near here with our sisters and some of the destroyers, light cruisers and seniors in our swimsuits!_

 _After all, it wouldn't be summer if we didn't go to the beach at least once, Poi?!_

 _Ah, but we already go the sea when sortieing..."_

 _Shigure let her prattle on as she tuned her words out, instead choosing to appreciate her sister's presence and merry attitude._

 _She had always regarded her sister as one of the major sources of joy in her life, never seeming to lose her enthusiasm and happiness along with her inquisitiveness and curiosity that seemed to be a shared trait between them._

 _But sometimes, Yuudachi was fully capable of taking up an empathetic persona, full of profound wisdom and caring words to console Shigure whenever she needed someone to brighten up her day._

 _Fortunately, she didn't need that side of Yuudachi to console her today, things seemingly going her way for now._

 _And it was at that moment when life decided to prove her wrong as she heard a siren blaring in the distance, along with a message popping up on her HUD as the Coordinators ordered the 1st Fleet to report at the harbor for an emergency sortie like Admiral Mako predicted._

 _Shigure dropped her utensils as she looked away, sighing at how her breakfast with Yuudachi was ruined by the Abyssals trying to attack their territory, forcing the ship girls to sortie in order to repel their invasion and protect their area of influence._

 _Shigure didn't mind sortieing to fight the Abyssals, but_ _she_ _sometimes wondered if the Abyssals ever needed to sleep or eat, often choosing to attack at extremely inopportune times like at night, when the ship girls were forced to forgo sleep and arrive at the battlefield while being sleep-deprived, thus throwing off their aim, dulling their evasive abilities and causing fatigue._

 _Shigure got up from her seat, the chair scraping on the hard canteen floor and skidding back as she straightened up with a look on her face that made it clear that Shigure had resigned to her fate as she prepared to leave._

 _She prepared to dump her mostly untouched breakfast into the bin and place her tray in the tray return shelf, but Yuudachi was quick to stop Shigure by reaching down to pick up a piece of unagi meat from her plate._

 _The soy sauce was dripping off of the skin and hit the plate as Yuudachi playfully teased Shigure with the treat of being fed by her, all while holding the unagi meat over Shigure's plate and slowly making dabbing motions with the chopsticks to shake some of the soy sauce off of the unagi as she knew of Shigure's preference._

 _Shigure could only sigh upon seeing Yuudachi smiling innocently up at her, closing her eyes as she leaned in and opened her mouth to allow Yuudachi to feed her and allow herself to feel pampered in that instant._

* * *

Shigure thought about the storm that was to come, and how it was going to keep most of the ship girls indoors for the rest of the day.

Shigure liked the rain, preferring to observe the multitude of raindrops fall from the sky like tears and hit the windows, feeling as though the rain served to cleanse her of her worldly concerns and pain.

Most of the ship girls she knew didn't share the same sentiment, feeling that its occurrence in battle was something that hindered them in various ways.

This included throwing off their aim, drenching them from head to toe, reducing their field of vision and making it harder to acquire visual confirmation of the Abyssals, even with the help of their radar and made worse by the Abyssals' ability to submerge and surface at will.

All while the ambient temperature dropped several degrees, making things even harder for them as they had to burn more fuel to keep themselves warm, something that the Abyssals weren't subject to as they were created to be capable of existing and fighting in extremely cold environments and climates.

This ability allowed them to sail into and easily occupy territories that were located in extreme environments, which included the ocean floor, most of the ocean surrounding Northern Russia and Greenland and the North and South Poles, the temperature alone making it almost impossible for ship girls to enter.

But back to the present.

The 1st Fleet entered the harbor, standing on the platform that slowly lowered them into the ocean as the steel platform broke up to reveal intricate machinery underneath, securing the ship girl's feet and assembling the boat slippers of the respective ship classes around their feet.

After which the boat slippers tightened themselves snugly around the ship girl's feet like some sort of self-tying shoelace before the harbor walls that were now standing up behind them opened up to reveal their riggings and battle backpacks, weapons already secured on them.

The hanging mechanical claws that had folded up to be stored on the ceiling of the harbor had powered up, drills and claws creaking and whirring as they reached down and assembled their riggings for them.

The additional setup that had to be installed on their riggings and backpacks for them to sail safely into the storm was some sort of lightning rod, calculated to fit certain ship girls as its length was different for their respective ship classes.

A heavily insulated wire was connected to the lightning rod, led down their rigging and was held in place by an extra-insulated ring wrapped around their thigh to prevent the wire from flailing about, before being connected to their boat slippers to allow the deadly current to flow into the ocean safely without hurting the ship girl.

They checked their riggings to make sure they were in working order before the weapons rack was produced, displaying some smaller handheld cannons that the destroyers and cruisers preferred to manually wield, to which Shigure and Ayanami graciously helped themselves to two 12 Cm Single Gun Cannons that were to be wielded like pistols.

The 1st Fleet didn't take long to hit the ocean as Shigure heard the calm yet serious voice of Ooyodo filling her mind over the radio, the Coordinator relaying the situation, its development and the Admiral's instructions.

"The Abyssals have sent out a large fleet to assault the Izu Islands which, if they succeed in conquering, would be a little too close for comfort.

They came from the South, which is why the bases in Eastern Kanto left this invasion to us to handle as it's not within their jurisdiction, although the Shimoda Naval Base has its fleets ready to be sent in at a moment's notice, as per usual with battles surrounding the Izu Islands.

The Admiral predicted this attack, the Japanese Air Force being unable to deploy their planes to provide aerial support within the Safety Zone in the rain and our satellites being thrown off by the incoming storm.

Their last reported location was somewhere near Aogashima Island, and you're to meet up with the 3rd Fleet of the Miura Naval Base along with the 2nd and 4th Fleet of the Tateyama Naval Base.

Our 3rd Fleet will be with you shortly after you've engaged the Abyssals near Mikura Jima Island in the evening, and it'll be pouring by then.

The viewing of the following video is mandatory for ship girls who equip the 'lightning rod' setup to enter a battle in less-than-ideal weather conditions.

Please accept the torrent request."

The 1st Fleet stood outside the harbor and had their attention drawn by their HUD displaying the request to accept a torrent transmission request, Shigure complying as the video filled a portion of her vision in the format of a translucent computer window, allowing her to see where she was going in case she was moving while viewing the video.

An embarrassing collision occurring between ship girls due to the video blocking their vision was something that unfortunately happened in the past, in which the HUD display was quickly modified to allow some vision of where one was heading towards, as well as a choice to either reduce the window's size, minimize or simply close it.

Shigure revved her engines and began to move out as she saw Hiei taking the lead, the designated flagship of this mission as Admiral Mako, true to her word, had chosen Hiei to be the flagship this time.

In this battle where inter-fleet cooperation was important and this being their first major sortie, it was best to defer the leadership role to someone with experience, the video playing right before Shigure's eyes.

In the video, Akashi was standing in front of a projector that projected a blank screen with the words,

'Lightning Rod Tutorial, and What to Do in a Thunderstorm'

In black font as Akashi finished her drink, tipping the tequila shot over as she gulped down whatever was left of the drink, before hunching over quickly and gasping in ecstasy before flinging the glass cup somewhere off-screen, wiping her mouth on her sleeve as the tequila cup shattered somewhere where Shigure couldn't see.

Shigure sweat-dropped as her friend looked as if she wanted to be anywhere but here as Akashi straightened up and pointed back at the projector screen, giving a quick lesson about the anatomy of the ship girl.

"So, an introductory lesson before getting to the relevant part.

The heart is in our rib-cage and pumps not only blood, but also fuel throughout the body which flows through the 'fuel vessel' to deliver it to the body along with the usual artery, vein and capillary blood vessel.

This…"

The projector now changed to show a simplified cross-section of the ship girl body, showcasing the two hearts that they possessed, one to pump blood and fuel throughout their bodies and the other to burn fuel in order to power their ship girl modes.

They were obviously more complicated than the simple circles used to represent them here, but like Akashi said before, this wasn't a medical lecture, and they only needed to know the basics.

The diagram showcased three types of vessels running throughout the body, red for arteries and blue for veins much like human anatomical charts, but also had green lines branching out throughout their bodies to represent fuel vessels.

Akashi pointed and explained.

"As you can see here, you ship girls have four vessels that are the arteries, veins, capillaries and fuel vessels.

Our second hearts are activated upon activating our ship girl modes, and we require various methods of heat regulation to maintain our body temperature."

Shigure nodded, noting the amount of coolant and heat regulation methods required to cool the heart and body down, remembering the advice of others that chilled fuel cans were important in maintaining their body temperature.

Some of the coolants were air intake via breathing, water intake that was mandatory to their survival, heat diffusion accomplished mostly by blood flow while sweat glands allowed them to regulate heat levels via sweat secretion.

Sleep was also essential to them, as it was likely when their bodies could run at minimum capacity to allow for the individual ship girl components to cool down to prevent overheating and inevitable damage.

"One thing to note is that the ship girl is not entirely powered by fuel, because a significant amount of energy that drives us comes from the soul, an intangible yet powerful power source within us all.

The cells in your body, upon being fed oxygen via breathing, are also capable of breaking down fuel to power your ship girl modes in order to share the burden with your second heart.

As to where the fuel is actually stored…"

The next slide showed the anatomy of a ship girl's chest, several cross-section shots revealing a few interesting details about their interiors, but what stood out to Shigure was the thick skin armor that blanketed and protected the highlighted green area that was within some sort of storage container within their chest.

And one called called their breasts 'fuel tanks' in ship girl porn, well, they weren't exactly wrong to call them that…

Akashi didn't even look fazed as she looked back and explained, with the look that non-verbally communicated the promise that it'll all make sense later.

"The fuel is stored within the breasts of the ship girl, protected by a very thick layer of organic armor which we colloquially call the 'breastplate'.

Fuel is also stored in your boat slippers and riggings to power your boat slippers , making torpedoes all the more dangerous.

The breastplate helps protect the fuel containers, most of which is located within the breasts of the larger ship classes, while the fuel of the destroyers are stored within their pectoral muscles at the cost of a smaller body frame and chest size as destroyers require the least amount of fuel to power.

And to dispel a common misconception, even though breast size increases with ship class, an unnaturally large or small chest size has no proven correlation with increased or decreased fuel carrying capacity."

Shigure blushed upon hearing Akashi mention something like that unabashedly, but wrote it off as her being a doctor as she shook her head and continued the video.

The projector flickered as it changed slides again, and a more detailed diagram of the ship girl anatomy was shown as their vessels now possessed shut-off valves at varying intervals.

Light blue lines highlighted the brain, spinal cord and nervous system, Shigure surmising that the blue lines were used to highlight the nervous system and the various electric signals that were sent through them to move their bodies.

Akashi pointed behind her, explaining the diagram.

"There are small valves that regulate and sometimes restrict and redirect flow whenever needed, so when you lose an arm…"

The faceless ship girl was now missing an arm, blood and fuel leaking out of the bleeding stump before the fuel and blood flowing to the limb was restricted, and was instead redirected into some of the smaller side vessels to maintain the closed loop.

Shigure noticed that this was accomplished by said valves on the vessels that were marked out by small circles, the valves redirecting fuel and blood marked out with a 'X' in the middle of the circular symbols to represent activation upon being used for restriction and redirection of fluid flow.

Akashi look self-assured, knowing the anatomy of a ship girl like the back of her hand since she didn't even need to look back as she explained.

"... the ship girl body uses small valves located throughout the body to regulate and restrict much of the flow to the specific limb, and redirects the flow into smaller vessels throughout our body to maintain the 'closed-loop' that our veins, arteries and fuel lines form throughout our body to prevent excessive buildup of pressure."

Shigure paused the video and nodded at Akashi's reasoning, one example being the vessels that flowed throughout their body in a closed loop.

If there was a leak, it had to be sealed to minimize fluid loss.

But doing so incorrectly would mean that pressure would start to build up and would end disastrously for them, while the rest of the body would suffer from the 'open loop' that was the seal due to the lack of oxygenated blood and fuel flowing in.

Indeed, Shigure thought, the ship girl was a technological marvel, since not only did it use steel to recreate the feel of organic skin while retaining its protective capabilities, but was also partially powered by a seemingly intangible soul while being able to comprehend its own existence and make decisions for itself.

The ship girl was able to consume a moderate amount of fuel and steel to perform superhuman feats while adapting to setbacks and circumstances, created by an enigmatic race of engineers at the cost of a manageable amount of resources.

For a moment, Shigure wondered just what exactly were the Fairies, to be capable of accomplishing such insane engineering feats while possessing such small bodies.

Granted, the generally accepted theory was that they were originally humans in some world beyond our current one, and had been 'transmogrified' somewhere along the way to become smaller in order to work with smaller parts and perform maintenance easily as their advanced, World War 2-inspired technology became miniaturized.

Their bodies had likely taken on the properties of ants, where they could lift objects up to thousands of times their weight due to their small size, although this was accomplished with cranes and forklifts to ensure safety.

The transmogrification also altered their vocal chords such that it was hard for them to communicate with humans in anything other than chirps and squeaks that only they could understand, the Fairies likely having programmed the ship girls to understand their seemingly-alien language that likely resembled something human at one point in time.

But as to where they actually came from, no one had an answer to that question.

Not even the Fairies themselves.

Shigure shook her head to clear her thoughts and continue the video, Akashi continuing on in her signature 'bored lecturer' tone as she pointed behind her and explained.

"There's a lot of delicate machinery and fuel lines that transport highly flammable material, and since lightning can produce temperatures hotter than the sun for a fraction of a second, it stands to reason that it hurts.

 _A lot._

If a lightning bolt were to hit you on the head, the fuel in our bodies are mostly protected against spontaneous ship girl combustion."

The slide changed to show a GIF of a lightning bolt hitting the ship girl's head, and the fuel lines near the affected area instantly caught on fire and traveled down the fuel lines leading down the ship girl's head before the various micro-valves on the crown and neck of the ship girl shut off fuel flow to the head and stopped the spread of the fire, crosses appearing on them to indicate activation.

The lightning strike also caused the skull to be lit up as the ship girl was electrocuted, causing the nervous system to be affected as the connection between the spinal cord and brain stem was severed before the lightning bolt lit the spinal cord up like a Christmas tree, Shigure theorizing that this acted like a circuit breaker to prevent raw electricity from flowing directly into the ship girl's brain and causing irreparable damage.

Akashi was now getting serious as she described what could potentially happen to a ship girl should lightning strike them.

"The cerebrospinal fluid, or the liquid that fills the skull and keeps the brain suspended in your little head is designed to be an electrical insulator, so your steel skull getting fried does not equal instant death.

The spinal cord disconnects itself from the brain stem the instant it determines that a lightning strike on the body is imminent to minimize or outright prevent damage to the brain.

And when a lightning strike is imminent, the body shuts off all fuel vessels leading to our second heart and our fuel tanks, because if those goes up in flames and start an internal fire, it's going to get _ugly_.

The major fuel vessels that lead to the rest of our bodies are instantly shut off via major shut-off valves when there is even a hint that a lightning strike is inevitable to prevent the possibility of a full-on internal explosion that sounds a little like…"

Akashi took both hands out of her pockets, both palms forming spheres as she held them up to her respectably-sized chest.

Her fingers ballooned while she brought her arms apart to mimic an explosion, puckering her lips to make a,

"BBWWWWOOOSSSHHHHHH"

Noise to drive the point home, before her expression flat-lined as she resumed her signature bored look while sliding her hands back into her skirt pocket before elaborating.

"Well, if the Lightning Protection System protects you like it should, you'd only be paralyzed as your nervous system's been overloaded, your hair'd be on fire, you can't move or speak, but you'll still be aware of your situation.

You can't feel anything, and you won't be able to move your body because your spinal cord's been forcibly disconnected from your brain stem.

You'll also suffer from lots of harsh burns, so tough luck.

And there'll be a lot of screaming, though all of it'll be from your comrades as they watch you fall and 'die'.

Symptoms include unconsciousness, ruptured vessels and ear drums, electric burns on the skin and _maybe_ a heart attack, and that's just the not-so-bad news."

She hand-waved these issues aside whilst commenting with absolute confidence.

"Well, after your friends bring you back to the docks, you'll be grounded with a week of hospitalization, and that's not counting the next few weeks of physical rehabilitation to treat symptoms that may include tremors, sleep disturbances, jerky movements and potential electrical surges that cause dizziness.

These are amongst a myriad of symptoms that might persist after a lightning strike.

This problem arose back in the day, and to alleviate this problem, we had a simple mechanism installed on your riggings.

The lightning rod provides a safe and insulated path to divert the lightning harmlessly into the ground.

The wires are insulated, and the plastic-ring that you wear around your thigh is also insulated with rubber to protect you, allowing the electricity to run down the wire into the ocean without ever coming into contact with the ship girl."

Shigure could see the projected ship girl's anatomy being reset as the ship girl was now protected by a lightning rod that provided an umbrella-shaped protective area around the ship girl as the lightning was now flowing into the lightning rod, down an insulated wire that was protected from the ship girl's body, and flowed into a rod installed in the ship girl's boat slipper to allow the current to flow into the ocean harmlessly.

"Your bodies…"

Akashi pointed at the camera, and seemingly to Shigure as she continued describing the ship girl's body and the near-miraculous feats it could achieve.

" … are designed to be protected against moderately powerful EMP strikes in case a lightning that strikes somewhere next to you potentially throws up electrostatic interference at a crucial moment, since it it's going to hit the lightning rod above your head.

But don't count on the EMP shielding to offer you protection from the lightning bolt itself.

The lightning rod sticks out like a sore thumb for the Abyssals to shoot, so if it gets shot off, retreat or risk becoming barbecued ship girl.

Finally, if someone does get struck unconscious by lightning, no matter how bad it looks, just dunk her body into the ocean or whatever to extinguish the flames on her body and bring her back to us.

It's almost impossible for a ship girl to sink from a lightning strike, and any symptoms after being struck _can_ be healed."

Akashi looked pretty certain of the claim that she made, and Shigure stopped the video upon hearing that to agree with her.

If the ship girl's body was as powerful as was advertised, then Shigure could understand that something as deadly as lightning likely wasn't going to kill a ship girl permanently, as their bodies were designed with numerous fail safes to prevent that from occurring, some examples being the lightning rod, the shut-off valves, and even the ability to allow the spinal cord to uncouple itself from the brain stem to act as a circuit breaker.

But as Shigure thought about the rain that brought forth the thunderstorm, she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable about the upcoming battle.

Oh, it wasn't her teammates that she was worried about.

But recently, she had felt as if a lot of things had been going on in the base without her knowledge, the Abyssals responding in kind by sending this large fleet of Abyssals to attack them.

Shigure didn't like it when she felt as if she was trapped in a large machination of schemes and sorties, feeling like a life raft in a thunderstorm and being at the mercy of the rain, wind and waves.

This sortie also seemed to be part of a larger plan, as the incoming storm that swept in quickly and threatened to soak them all also seemed to conceal the plans of the Admiral just as well as it did the Abyssals as they moved their pieces on the chessboard that was the Pacific war theater.

She wasn't comfortable with the fact that Admiral Mako sortied the 1st Fleet in lieu of the 2nd Fleet potentially because they were less-experienced and might be seen as expandable compared to the battle-hardened 2nd Fleet.

Shigure didn't like feeling as if she was sent to the slaughter simply because they were a less-experienced fleet, had less valuable members compared to other fleets and might be deemed expandable in the larger scope of things.

And it wasn't Admiral Mako's fault that she had to keep her plans confidential, Shigure surmising that Aoba's recent disappearance that had Shigure riled up for a few days before finding her note saying that she'd be out for a month was obviously related to Akashi's increasingly busy schedule and Admiral Mako planning for something big that loomed on the horizon.

Shigure disliked it when she didn't know about things that were going on around her, and being reincarnated into a humanoid body meant that she was capable of finding things out for herself and couldn't accept ignorance as an excuse.

Her sisters were happy to live in blissful ignorance, Yuudachi and Murasame being very fond of this.

Even though Yuudachi was part of the 2nd Fleet, Shigure learnt from her that she was actually a recent addition to the 2nd Fleet.

Right now, she was rather naive and innocent compared to the more seasoned members of her fleet.

And to Shigure, Yuudachi was something of a bright spot of hope and happiness for her, Shigure hearing good things about her sister like the fact that she got along well with all the members of her fleet.

She got along with Hatsushimo as they were both destroyers with Kai Ni remodels, Ryuujou sharing her exuberant and outgoing personality and often chatted with her.

She liked being around Sendai due to their mutual love for night battles, and she often accepted Shimakaze's challenges wholeheartedly while Furutaka looked after them all as a kind and motherly ship girl.

She liked ship girls like Yuudachi, especially so if they were her sisters.

But it wasn't like her to live in the darkness that was ignorance, especially when said ignorance could put herself and her friends at great risk in battle.

She had read up on mankind's gruesome history of warfare, and had seen how far people would go in order to win a war, in which sending an entire Company to their deaths to serve as nothing but a distraction was nowhere near the top of that list.

She never wanted any of her friends to have to suffer through that and sink, this admittedly irrational fear stemming from her turbulent past and fueling her unquenchable desire to know about everything there was to know about this war.

She thought about Admiral Mako, and how despite being kind and smart enough to lead her ship girls on a crusade against the Abyssals for ten years, she had to become a leader who had to do everything cloak-and-dagger while never revealing her plans to everyone to protect her ship girls and to prevent knowledge from leaking out to the Abyssals.

But it was obvious that her Admiral genuinely cared about them and always had their best interests in mind, and didn't mind pushing people around to get her way so long as it didn't compromise the safety of any ship girls.

She tried her best to accompany and help them whenever she could, and Shigure could see that she hung out with anyone and everyone to try and help them whenever they encountered problems.

She always wanted to try and get to know everyone better, chatting with some of the other ship girls whenever she was on her breaks.

Shigure respected the Admiral and admired how she often went above and beyond the call of duty when it came to anything that involved her girls, and if that meant not telling her ship girls what her full plan was to keep them safe, that was something she could overlook for the sake of the base.

She understood that part of being a soldier was to trust her superiors, and for all the distrust and dislike of the cloak-and-dagger habit that mankind easily slipped back into in wartime, Admiral Mako presented herself as an Admiral who'd rather kill herself than give her ship girls suicidal orders and regard them all as pawns to be sacrificed needlessly.

And even though she couldn't bring herself to fully trust her Admiral, she could at least bring herself to try and act on good faith and sortie without constantly questioning Admiral Mako's orders.

Shigure looked to her teammates and, after thinking about the situation at hand, asked Ayanami about the Abyssals' movement patterns and why they were so conspicuous in their movements despite their ability to submerge to hide their movements.

"Umm, Ayanami, why is it that the Abyssals don't simply submerge and go everywhere while staying underwater, instead of sailing on the ocean surface and allowing us to spot them?"

Ayanami perked up upon finding something to pass the time while sailing towards their AO to meet up with ship girls from other bases, remembering what she had learnt while attending her classes and repeating them as they sailed towards the horizon which now had dark and sinister clouds blotting out the sky, Shigure remembering that the rain was estimated to occur after 4 p.m., by which time they'd be near Mikura Jima Island to engage the Abyssals.

"Well, it's got more to do with their armor getting in the way.

Think of the Ru-Class battleship, and her column of cannons stacked atop each other."

Shigure, having engaged the Abyssal battleship before, listened to the Ayanami-Class destroyer as she imagined the monochrome Abyssal.

"Their form allows them to fight like us on the surface, and we theorize that their armaments can transform into something resembling underwater jet skis to traverse the ocean, but there's no getting around the fact that that's two very clunky steel columns she's carrying.

Most of them are registered as 'Fast', but that only counts when they're on the ocean surface, because the arcane design of their weapons cause a lot of fluid resistance when underwater.

Well, not that it matters, since we can't shoot at them after they've submerged, so their slow speed while underwater is a tolerated weakness.

But if they need to get around quickly, they usually surface and sail normally.

They often dive to either be stealthy and evade most forms of detection, or as a quick means of escape to go where not even submarines can touch them."

Shigure nodded, understanding a little bit more about the enemies that they faced off against.

The Abyssal body was capable of many things, but their armored skin weighed them down a fair bit, and add that to the weapons that they had to carry around to fight the ship girls, it was no wonder that they were so slow underwater.

But they were essentially untouchable after submerging, so it wasn't as if they needed to make a quick getaway even after diving deep enough to escape, which meant that the strange designs of their weapons were tolerated.

Funnily enough, Shigure thought, perhaps underwater, the only ones who were still able to retain their original speed were the destroyers, whose tubular and somewhat streamlined appearance allowed them to navigate through the water like torpedoes, given that their means of propulsion was located near the rear.

Shigure thought about the next question before asking Ayanami again.

"What are the Abyssal Princesses?

I mean, they're stronger than battleships, so I was wondering what they were like, to be capable of engaging entire fleets alone?"

Ayanami deflated as soon as she heard about the Princesses, sadly shrugging as she was too embarrassed to meet Shigure's eyes due to her lack of answers.

"I'm not really sure, sorry.

Some say that they're borne of an accumulation of hatred and regret within fallen ship girls.

Others say that they're the next phase of Abyssal 'evolution', where they use their limitless resources to create a class of Abyssals that far outclass anything we can ever hope to create, even with the help of the Fairies."

Ayanami shrugged as she shot an apologetic look towards the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, Shigure nodding in understanding as she knew that nothing was certain about the Abyssals, the Princesses even more so, who defied the meta by being in a class all of their own.

But Ayanami's look softened, seeing a chance to get to know the destroyer better, not just as a comrade but also as a friend, looking warm and affable as she inquired about how her day went.

"So, how's your day so far, Shigure-san?"

Shigure's face darkened at that, bleakly replying,

"I had a good day so far, but all I know is that it's only going to get worse."

Ayanami had a lone sweat drop roll down the side of her cheek, understanding that she had stepped on a conversational landmine as she tried her best to recover and change the topic of conversation.

"U-Umm, well then, may I ask, what were you thinking about to lead you to ask me those questions?"

Shigure sighed, choosing to indulge in her teammate by answering truthfully.

"I was thinking about the Admiral and how she hides her plans, despite her best attempts to try and be open and transparent with us."

Shigure looked away and inhaled as she prepared to share her thoughts to allow the Ayanami-Class destroyer to give her opinion on things.

"I know that people higher up the chain of command can't always reveal their hand, even to their allies.

And I like Admiral Mako, I really do.

But unless I know everything, I can never truly bring myself to put my life, and the lives of my friends in her hands without second-guessing her.

Right now, I can trust her enough to follow her orders without constantly questioning her true motives."

Shigure pointed to the dark clouds that were almost overhead now, threatening to unleash their wrath later in the afternoon as sunlight failed to penetrate the dark and heavy cloud masses, Shigure explaining herself.

"See this storm?

If it were a less scrupulous Admiral, I'd have been worried if we were just the fleet that was sent into this storm to soften up the enemy, or be used as a mere diversion for her true objectives.

Now I know that Admiral Mako isn't that kind of person…"

Shigure raised a hand to try and placate her fellow destroyer as Ayanami seemed eager to try and speak up in their Admiral's defense, Shigure continuing on without missing a beat.

" … but you never know when Admiral Mako might be forced to resort to such tactics."

Shigure lowered her head as she replied, the dark clouds above them stretching out beyond the horizon, blanketing the sky before them and threatening to engulf the ship girls in a powerful downpour.

"I know that the Admiral means well, and has our best interests in mind.

But I often think that one day, the Admiral is going to have to use some morally ambiguous tactic that's going to have to use some of us as bait.

And despite her love for us, she has to do it in order to ensure a victory for everyone involved.

I know I can't blame her…"

Shigure looked to Ayanami, a gut-wrenching feeling welling up in her chest and threatening to tear her tender heart apart as she tried her best not to choke upon uttering the next line, feeling immensely guilty for even thinking like this.

" … but is it wrong of me to question every choice she makes, if only for the sake of ensuring the safety of my teammates?"

Ayanami looked crestfallen upon hearing that, looking down at her boat slippers as she tried her best to counter Shigure's words, watching the ocean zip by beneath her feet as her boat slippers pushed her on, finally attempting a counter-argument as she calmly expressed herself.

"I know that the Admiral may eventually have to do that.

In fact, she may have been forced to use that tactic that a few times in the past.

But I know that it'll be worth it."

Ayanami looked right into Shigure's eyes, commanding her full attention as she frankly expressed her opinion regarding Shigure's dilemma.

"Being an Admiral is hard.

Being one who strives to win naval engagements while aiming not to lose a single ship, even more so.

Admiral Mako hates the fact that she can't join us out on the field, and to her, it just hurts her even more when she has to leave things up to us despite having done everything in her power to ensure that we have the highest chance of coming home safely."

"But like this sortie, it seems as if we're simply pieces on a board to be used and moved at a whim.

I'm afraid that we may not be deemed as valuable as the 3rd or 2nd Fleet, which may be why we were sent to the front lines first."

"But if we weren't up to the task, would she have even bothered wasting her resources to sortie us?"

Shigure's blinked as she tried to comprehend Ayanami's words while Ayanami slowly looked away and explained herself.

"If she had no faith in our abilities, we wouldn't have been sent out at all.

Besides, if the opponent was too tough for us, she could have easily chosen to sortie the 2nd Fleet or any of the other six fleets in Yokosuka.

You may not have noticed since you were so engrossed in watching the video, but Ooyodo's update on the situation was that the enemy fleets consisted of destroyers, cruisers and only one battleship.

They intend to make up for their lack of firepower with numbers, and Admiral Mako must've decided that we can win this battle with the help of allied fleets from neighboring bases.

The Admiral must've deemed us strong enough to hold our own in battle due to our successful first sortie, but require more field experience.

It doesn't hurt that we're backed up by not just the 3rd Fleet, but also three allied fleets from two neighboring bases.

While it's true that the Admiral may have some ulterior motive or master plan in mind, I don't think it's our business to think too much and tell the Admiral how to do her job, not when we can't see the bigger picture like she can.

And in this war, it's folly, even bordering on insanity to even consider throwing away an entire fleet as easily as you described, even if it's justified."

Ayanami, now fully invested in the conversation, tried her best to convince Shigure of the Admiral's way of doing things.

"I will do my best to understand the choices that Admiral Mako makes, because the Admiral will have considered all options beforehand before making her decisions.

She will sortie the fleet that not only has the greatest odds of surviving, but can stand to learn something in battle.

That's the Admiral Mako I know, and that's the Admiral that I chose to believe in."

Ayanami seemed satisfied with her own answer, and Shigure, having considered the Admiral's behavior and love for them, nodded as she conceded the point, although she still wanted to know what went on behind the scenes.

She wanted to know about Admiral Mako's situation and learn to see the bigger picture, but that was a privilege that she wasn't entitled to simply because she wasn't strong enough.

Even if she learnt of them now, it'd make her an easy intelligence target to capture and interrogate, and all the luck in the world wouldn't save her from being the weakest leak in the intelligence network to be exploited and possibly tortured for information.

She had to become stronger in order to progress.

It didn't matter if she had to expand all her energy to achieve this goal.

She had the potential to become a great and powerful ship girl, and she had a responsibility to fulfill said potential and use it to defend everyone and herself.

And that was why she had to put in all of her effort into improving herself by participating in as many sorties as possible.

Shigure looked back at the stormy clouds that floated above them and covered almost three quarters of the sky above them, the remaining blue sky only visible behind them as it was the only indication that the weather beyond this storm was a fine summer day, the dark clouds threatening to plunge the 1st Fleet into complete darkness as peals of rumbling thunder sounded out, a warning for the foolhardy fleet to stay away.

Junyou and Hiei then looked away, noticing something appear on their powerful radars.

Shigure and Tenryuu, both being quite jumpy from the tension that permeated the air, gripped their weapons a little tighter, but Hiei relaxed and Junyou lost interest as the flagship notified the 1st Fleet about the incoming allied fleets, calling out.

"Our reinforcements from the Miura and Tateyama Naval Base are here."

The entire fleet exhaled a little as they let down their guard somewhat upon seeing the allied fleets arriving and significantly boosting their numbers.

Shigure could now spot them on the peripheral of her radar, noting the amount of reinforcements sent to improve their odds of victory.

According to what she learnt from the Coordinators, they were the 3rd Fleet of the Miura Naval Base and the 2nd and 4th Fleet of the Tateyama Naval Base.

Assuming that each fleet had 6 ship girls in them, that meant that they would be sending in 18 ship girls in total to help them.

Add Yokosuka's 1st and 3rd Fleet to that, and Shigure was looking at 30 ship girls against 40 Abyssals.

Junyou piped up, having received another transmission from what Shigure surmised was the Coordinators again, updating the 1st Fleet about recent developments.

"Mutsu's replaced Nagato in the 3rd Fleet this time, and they're more than an hour behind due to Mutsu's slow speed as a battleship.

They'll be joining us soon enough."

Hiei nodded resolutely, looking back as she commented offhandedly.

"Nagato's training right now.

Didn't surprise me that Mutsu'd take her place."

Shigure looked away and looked in the direction of the island that appeared on her HUD, Miyake Island being represented as a large blue blob on her radar.

As she watched the lightning rod tutorial, time had seemingly passed her by as she saw that it was 3.39 p.m. in the afternoon, having failed to keep track of the time while watching Akashi's educational video.

She might have to work on that in the future.

But upon seeing the fleet of allies approach her, she could see that some of them were familiar, while others were not.

The incoming fleet was split into a smaller and larger group, Shigure surmising that the smaller group had to be from the Miura Naval Base, since they could only afford to send one fleet to assist them.

The flagship was wearing a miko uniform and golden winged headdress that was similar to Hiei's, this battleship possessing a quiet and compassionate air around her compared to Hiei's headstrong and dependable aura.

The only noticeable difference between their uniforms was that Hiei's sister had a red dress while Hiei was wearing a green dress, both barely covering their thighs.

Her eyes were a kind amber color and she had a compassionate shine in her eyes that Shigure found in ship girls like Furutaka, Houshou and Haguro, amongst others.

She had grayish-black hair that flowed down her back and reached her rigging, Shigure wondering if her long hair posed a hazard as it could get entangled in the moving battleship cannons.

Although she was leading the fleet, she seemed to be very heavily attuned to the needs of her comrades, always chatting with them as they approached Shigure's fleet.

Shigure identified her as Haruna, one of the Kongou-Class battleships.

Shigure had heard Hiei talk about her sisters, and she addressed the last two as Haruna and Kirishima, having met Kongou before and had heard Hiei's description of them while taking a break during a training session.

Haruna was talking to Kasumi, Shigure already picking up a few vulgarities being spewed from the destroyer's mouth.

Kasumi also had long grayish-silver hair forming a side-ponytail, her uniform consisting of a white short-sleeved shirt underneath a suspender skirt, wearing black arm warmers despite the summer weather.

Although now that Shigure thought about it, they were headed straight into a storm where the temperature would drop significantly, and it made more sense for her to wear them in this context.

The destroyer's face was contorted in a scowl as her yellowish-brown eyes were harsh and sharp, her face obviously displeased with the very notion of having to sortie when the weather was only going to get worse.

But Haruna didn't seem to be fazed as she shrugged off all the scathing words that flowed from the foul-tempered destroyer's mouth, doing her best to soothe Kasumi's fiery temper as they approached.

The rest of the fleet was made up of cruisers and destroyers, Shigure identifying Hibiki and Naka amongst them.

The two remaining light cruisers stuck close to each other, and judging by the numerous torpedo launchers they were carrying, it was safe to assume that they were torpedo cruisers.

The color of their sailor uniforms were a mix of mild green and beige, with green stripes on them to add variety to the color scheme as it revealed their abdomens.

One of the ship girls had long black hair tied in a braid, blunt bangs and her hair was styled like a princess with the low ends tied up neatly.

She was looking pretty self-assured, Shigure not finding it surprising as she was a member of the powerful torpedo cruiser class and her rigging had been upgraded to carry quintuple torpedo launchers to launch devastating torpedo salvos.

The ship girl list she had in her mental archive identified her as Kitakami, a light cruiser that could be upgraded to torpedo cruiser class.

Her sister ship was no different, Shigure noting the similar uniform and rigging.

The difference was in their looks, as Ooi had brown eyes, long brown hair that was stylized to be smooth and silky, and she had a respectable chest size as she cuddled her headstrong sister, Shigure remembering descriptions of them being a couple, or at least that was how it was in Ooi's head as the brown-haired ship girl was heavily infatuated with her sister ship.

This was especially evident as this Ooi had heart-shaped pupils while in proximity to Kitakami, one of the symptoms of 'lovesickness', according to manga Shigure took the time to read.

But they formed a pretty cohesive fleet, seeing that the 3rd Fleet of the Miura Naval Base had all its bases covered, Haruna's status as a fast battleship allowing her to bring a respectable level of firepower to the table while moving at a respectable pace.

She would be protected by Kasumi, Naka and Hibiki, Ooi and Kitakami rounding out the team by providing torpedo strikes to cripple any Abyssals who got in their way.

Shigure looked away to focus on the two fleets that were from the Tateyama Naval Base.

Shigure heard about them being very close to the neighboring Yokosuka and Miura Naval Base, and the three bases often had its ship girls meet up to sortie together or dock at each other's bases from time to time.

And as they were the closest to the Pacific Ocean and had the support of the mighty Yokosuka Naval Base, they were often considered one of the stronger bases around as they were often called up quite often to help other bases in Eastern Chiba due to their proximity to the ocean, only outmatched by the Yokosuka Naval Base itself.

The flagship of the first fleet was a bubbly-looking heavy cruiser, with a blue beret that looked similar to the one Maya wore while possessing long, silky blonde hair that also came down to the the curve of her back (seriously, weren't all these ship girls afraid of having their hair getting caught in their riggings?).

Her eyes were a bright emerald, reflecting her cheerfulness and passion as Atago gave everyone a warm smile, wearing some sort of long-sleeved uniform resembling a nightgown that reached down to her calves, white lines reaching down its uniform as she wore black gloves and black stockings that reached up her black miniskirt and (somewhat) protecting her modesty.

Her rigging surrounded her waist whilst resembling a ice cream tub, and some of the machinery was stuck on her side while fitting snugly in the space underneath her armpits.

Her collar looked pretty flashy for a heavy cruiser, and Shigure had tried to avert her eyes from the one location that Atago's uniform was struggling to contain.

Her massive breasts.

She didn't think too much about breast envy, seeing that some of the heavy cruisers like Aoba and Atago and most of the battleships (save Hiei; no offense) were older, were well-armored and had a developed body.

But she certainly felt this slight urge to strive to grow up a little faster now and improve on various aspects of her body, muscle mass and height being two of them.

Shigure shook her head to try and get back on track, observing the fleet that was now within range and no longer required the use of her bionic eyes' zoom function to spot them.

Atago was leading a fleet of heavy and light cruisers, herself being one of them.

Next to her was her sister that shared the same uniform, beret, rigging and chest size.

Shigure tore her eyes from her massive breasts and tried to take in the details of the heavy cruiser that she would soon be working with.

Takao had short black hair that, although mostly combed down, still had some split ends and was somewhat disheveled, although it only served to accentuate her beauty.

She had the same uniform top, a long-sleeved ocean blue uniform with white stripes and lapels along with a white napkin of sorts wrapped around her neck and was styled like a tie.

The main difference between Takao's outfit and Atago's was that Takao wore a mini-mini-skirt that barely covered anything, her black stockings held up by a garter belt styled with plane-shaped clips.

She had blood-red pupils that seemed to contrast with her sister, and she had large breasts, being rather reserved compared to Atago and shaping up to be the level-headed one of the duo.

She was conversing with another heavy cruiser that had lite green hair, and had a brown uniform blazer covering her white long-sleeve working shirt underneath.

Suzuya's eyes were a lighter shade of green, colored more like moss as she carried her equipment around either on her back, on slings that were slung around her shoulder and rested on her hips, or stuck on her thighs to be picked up like holstered guns.

She was carrying a flight deck that was shaped a little bit like a flat steel board with a shelled steel bottom, the flight deck wrapped around her left forearm like a shield as she wore shoulder plates for protection.

She wore a pretty monochrome dress, with a dark brown blazer, a pleated dress that was a shade lighter.

And finally, her stockings were, surprise, surprise, an even lighter brown.

Suzuya's hair was one of the few things that helped her stand out amidst the crowd along with her exuberant personality that contrasted with her conversational partner, looking like a good comrade for anyone to befriend.

Shigure could feel the welcoming air around her, something that would have likely drawn in someone as quiet and professional as Takao since her sister was busy coordinating the movements between the bases as she led the fleet.

Suzuya was an aviation cruiser, specializing in carrying and sending out seaplanes and could participate in aerial bombardment attacks.

Shigure noted the few light cruisers in Atago's fleet that were armed to the teeth in order to combat the Abyssal menace.

Isuzu was one of them, carrying two assault rifles made out of steel, one equipped with a 25 Mm Triple Auto-cannon and a Type 3 Depth Charge Projector to act as both an Anti-Air and Anti-Sub assault rifle.

The second rifle had an 12.7 Cm Twin Gun Mount attachment, another Anti-Air handheld weapon that was nested underneath Isuzu's armpit and was slung over her shoulder to secure it around her torso.

Her short skirt was red in color, and she had on a white, sleeveless sailor girl uniform with grey colored arm warmers and a brown ribbon tied around her white sailor collar.

Her hair was styled in long twin tails that was held up by white ribbons, and had a steel hairband holding the hair on her head down.

Her hair was a dusty-blue with perhaps a tinge of green, the bangs on her top left forehead swept to the side, and her eyes were a turquoise green as she had a warm smile on her.

Her chest was also rather large.

She had white colored thigh-highs, and her rigging was well-armed with small Anti-Air machine guns mounted on extended platforms, two torpedo launchers mounted on the sides of the rigging as well as two rows of Anti-Sub depth charges placed on each side of the chimney stack.

Shigure could see the Imperial Chrysanthemum on the bow of Isuzu's boat slipper, and Shigure was notified that Isuzu was a Kai Ni light cruiser.

The last two members of the fleet were also light cruisers, neither one of them having achieved Kai.

Kinu was a teenage girl that had orange eyes and short red hair that flared out at the neck, her reddish eyebrows creased with worry as she carried her two cannons on her arms, designed to be wielded on her forearms and not held by hand.

Her school uniform was dual-colored in white and a strange shade of green or cyan, the light cruiser carrying her comparatively large rigging that had two cannons sticking out its side.

Her rigging was somewhat unique in that her rigging had a steel railing installed, allowing anyone to hold onto her rigging for whatever reason.

And the last light carrier was Junyou's sister ship, seeing that Junyou had her attention on her as the Tateyama naval fleets approached.

Even if they didn't look anything like each other, Shigure knew that looks weren't a reliable way to identify sister ships, thinking about how different she and Yuudachi looked, her sister having blonde hair and green eyes while she had black hair and blue eyes.

But one of the few surefire ways to identify them was through their uniforms, and Hiyou's uniform was identical to Junyou's, what with the same red hakama, white blouse with red trimmings, gold accessories and the magatama, Hiyou holding her flight deck that came in the form of a scroll.

Her black hair was long and was styled in a princess cut with the bangs hanging down her forehead in a uniform length, and two white ribbons behind her head were likely added as a fashion statement and probably didn't serve any practical purpose.

Her rigging was also pretty much non-existent like Junyou's, the light carrier carrying herself with a dignified air as she politely bowed towards 1st Fleet of Yokosuka, her polite and subdued personality contrasting with Junyou's outgoing personality.

The next fleet was the support fleet, but was no less important to the mission as they backed up the main Tateyama fleet.

Tama was leading the support fleet, being created with some sort of cat motif in mind that really showed from her looks and behavior.

She had soft red eyes with short pink hair that curled inwards, and her sailor school uniform was white with a cyan trim, a dull red ribbon tied and hung around her sailor collar like a neck tie.

Her sailor school uniform had shorts on instead of the usual dress, and her boat slippers covered significantly more than what a normal ship girl's boat slipper would, looking more like a shoe instead of a slipper.

She had on a shoulder cannon on her left shoulder that was currently inactivated and pointed upwards for safety reasons, and her seaplane catapult was on her right shoulder.

Shigure noticed Tama's Kanji name ' **多摩** ' inscribed on the side of her rigging in black ink while Tama's fingers twitched as they tried to resist forming claws, Shigure barely making out a sharpened tooth that formed something like a cat's fang and added to her charm as an innocent light cruiser.

But Shigure didn't doubt her ability as a leader if she was chosen to be the flagship on such an important mission.

One of her teammates was a heavy cruiser that had short, messy black hair that had hadn't been combed, as well as an ahoge on the location where her hair whorl was, possessing half-lidded cyan blue eyes that were barely showing underneath her mop of hair.

Kako's rigging was mounted on her shoulder blades, and her cannons were placed on her right arm while cables and steel beams led back up to her shoulder rigging, forming an arm cannon of sorts.

Her left shoulder rigging resembled a steel plate where a twin barreled cannon was located, and her chimney stack was located at the spot on her spine in between her shoulder blades, with two torpedo launchers attached to her hips.

Her sailor school uniform was tailored in such a way that it exposed much of her abdomen as her sailor uniform top was considerably shorter than normal, and her uniform was red, white and blue in color.

She had two hair pins on her left temple in an attempt to tidy up her hair.

She looked rather sleepy and was sleepwalking as she followed in the light cruiser's wake, not bothering to take up leadership as she seemed like the type to be laid-back and follow orders calmly and obediently.

Next to her was a fretting Kinugasa, the Kai heavy cruiser doing her best to guide Kako in the right direction whenever she started drifting off course due to her sleepiness.

Oboro followed behind them, the most prominent thing about her being her golden-colored hair being swept back behind her head like Hiei's was.

Wisps of curled hair protruded from her forehead as she had similarly colored pupils in her wide eyes, a bandage stuck to her right cheek.

Her sailor uniform was a standard navy blue and white, and she was holding a 10 Cm Twin High-Angle Cannon with her left hand, and had two torpedo launchers strapped to her thighs.

Her chimney stack was rather large for a destroyer, and Shigure wasn't sure about the next detail, but there seemed to be a crab that was nesting in one of the observation decks of the rigging, likely her pet or something.

Wakaba was beside her, the destroyer having rich auburn short hair that was parted to show her sharp yellow eyes and dour face.

She had on a black-and-white suit that was similar to Hatsushimo, except that Wakaba had her blazer unbuttoned to reveal the white shirt underneath, a loosened red necktie hanging around her slightly unbuttoned collared shirt.

Her black skirt covered up whatever skin that might have been revealed by her thigh-highs, and while she was comparatively shorter than her comrades, she didn't look any less threatening as her professional expression betrayed no fear or weakness.

The cannons that she carried around seemed to be a little too big for her, but didn't seem to matter to her as she effortlessly hauled around a 12.7 Cm Twin Gun cannon in her right hand, while keeping another stored as it hung from the rigging behind her.

There were also three torpedo warheads jutting out from her left waist, showing that she was pretty well-armed to fight any battle.

Umikaze was the last of the Tateyama ship girls, Shigure's heart dropping upon seeing one of her sisters out on the battlefield with her.

But she kept her mouth shut as she knew that she had no right to force a sister ship who wasn't even from her own base to leave the battlefield, not when Umikaze was a ship girl and could hold her own in a firefight.

She could only hope that she was strong enough to watch her back and protect her in the upcoming battle.

She noted that her sister ship's hair was naturally colored white to distinguish herself from the fleet, and also had ocean-blue eyes to match her name as 'sea wind'.

Her sailor uniform was unconventional as it was designed with an oceanic color scheme in mind, and the sailor uniform itself was black and white with one vertical white stripe down the center.

Her black miniskirt, long gloves and white sailor collar had thin blue stripes on them, and whatever skin that might have been revealed by her black thigh-highs was instead covered up by the thick steel torpedo launcher straps that were snugly wrapped around her thighs.

Shigure could spot a snow-white braid trailing behind her, and she was holding a 12.7 Cm Twin Barreled Cannon in her left hand, leaving her right hand free to act.

One thing she noted about all the ship girls present was that they all had the same lightning rod attached to their rigging, thus protecting them (for the most part) from lightning strikes.

Shigure, along with the 1st Fleet, bowed to the approaching fleets as the flagships stepped out front and introduced themselves to the 1st Fleet.

Atago began the conversation, waving her arms about in a way that only an energetic busty blonde could, causing her bosom to shift in very distracting ways as she started.

"Hi!

I'm Atago, and I'm the flagship of the 2nd Fleet that you see behind me!"

Atago turned to motion to her fleet, and causing her breasts to shift about, thankfully held back by whatever ungodly sized bra that she wore.

Kuma bowed respectfully to the other senior ship girls gathered around, introducing herself as the flagship of the 4th Fleet with a very noticeable verbal tic.

"My name is Kuma, and I'm the leader of the 4th Fleet of the Tateyama Naval Base, nya!"

Haruna bowed as she introduced herself and her fleet.

"Greetings.

I am Haruna, and I lead the 3rd Fleet of the Miura Naval Base."

And as Haruna righted herself, she shot Hiei a glance, to which she acknowledged with a firm nod despite not being sisters from the same base as she introduced her own fleet.

"We're the 1st Fleet of the Yokosuka Naval Base, and I'm the Emperor's battleship, Hiei!"

Hiei turned to point to the distance at Miyake Island, barely visible over the horizon as she looked back to the ship girls that she was to lead as she addressed them all.

"Beyond Miyake Island is Mikura Jima Island, and that's where we're going to engage the Abyssals.

The 3rd Fleet of the Yokosuka Naval Base isn't going to be here until later due to Mutsu's slow speed as a slow battleship.

But we can take them!

As long as we stick together and come up with a strong formation to stick to and endure this storm, we'll repel their invasion and go home soon enough!"

Kitakami raised her hand, eager to get a word in edgewise about her greatness and what she was going to contribute to the battle.

"Don't worry, y'all!

Super Kitakami-sama's here to drop the Abyssals with her devastating torpedo strikes!"

Followed by Ooi's passionate follow-up.

"And I'll torpedo anyone who dares to hurt Kitakami-sama!"

Kako seemed to be awakened by the boisterous duo's boasting as she sleepily mumbled, loud enough for all to hear as she tried to one-up the torpedo cruisers with the next 'boast'.

"Mmh… I'll go 'pew pew'... and the Abyssals will want to go sleep…

Oh wait… that's meee ZZZZZZ…."

Everyone giggled at the heavy cruiser's attempt at a bad-ass boast as Tenryuu exclaimed, eager to speak up for her own fleet as well.

"Hey, don't forget us, the 1st Fleet of the Yokosuka Naval Base!

With us here, we'll cut down any Abyssals that dare poke their heads out of the water!"

Haruna raised her hands in a placating gesture, trying to restore order as Shigure leaned in to ask Ayanami in a hushed tone.

"I know that we have two fast battleships, but isn't this a little too risky since they have more manpower?

For all we know, they may have Abyssal battleships underwater, ready to encircle us and wipe us all out."

Ayanami leaned in to respond.

"Well, you're right in that we currently don't have the technology to reliably track all the Abyssals that are underwater, especially in an ocean as large and deep as the Pacific.

But if they were indeed sailing around in large enough numbers while underwater, rest assured that the trackers stationed on the islands will have picked up hints of an ambush.

These are considered our waters in the Safety Zone, and that reason is exactly why they regularly attack these islands and we have to protect them."

Ayanami craned her neck to look at Shigure directly, reassuring her.

"Rest assured that if anything were to go awry, we can retreat at any moment.

These aren't the worst odds we're going up against, 30 against 40."

Shigure raised an eyebrow at that, and Ayanami's face darkened as she leaned in to let Shigure know of worse odds.

"Both sides have scored some major victories despite facing overwhelming odds, like in the defense campaign of South-East Asia in 2012 and the disastrous Battle of the Indian Ocean in late 2004."

Shigure's other eyebrow raised at that, asking incredulously.

"B-But how?"

Ayanami shook her head, a coy smile on her face as she decided to keep Shigure in suspense, knowing that it'll probably keep her alive as she craved to find out more about the battles and tactics used, only revealing.

"These aren't the worse odds we could have gone up against.

The Abyssals often throw numbers at us, which is not always the deciding factor in a battle.

I know that we can win this, given enough time to formulate a decent strategy."

Motioning towards the flagships of the four fleets that were gathered together and were discussing tactics.

But Shigure was rather pensive, thinking about the situation at hand and wondering out loud.

"But why do I feel so uneasy?

Like…

Like there's going to be some nasty surprise waiting in store for us?

And don't get me wrong…"

Shigure looked towards Ayanami with a look of concern, clarifying something.

"It's not the Admiral's fault.

It's just that the bad weather may be used to hide something from us, and it may just be my pessimistic nature at work again, but I'm still scared."

Ayanami took on a thoughtful look as she looked out towards the turbulent ocean, the dark clouds engulfing the skies and plunging the four fleets into darkness and looked as if the cloud masses could break out into tears and drench them all at any moment.

Some of the clouds above them had peals of thunder jumping from point to point, a warning to the ship girls as the lightning produced a small light show for the ship girls.

Kasumi, Oboro, Hibiki, Umikaze and Wakaba joined them as the foul-mouthed ship girl of the Asashio-Class talked about the Abyssal threat.

"Mahh, the Abyssals aren't even going to be a warm up for the mighty 3rd Fleet of the Miura Naval Base!

The one thing we should worry about is whether we're going to catch a cold after going home, the _kuso_ Admiral!"

Shigure cringed at the language that the destroyer used to address her commanding officer, but one look from Ayanami and a slight shake of her head with her creased eyebrows told Shigure all that she needed to know and was a clear indicator for her to leave things well alone.

But Wakaba had a calm and collected voice as she tried to back up Shigure's concerns, understanding the need for constant vigilance, especially when it was the Abyssals that they were going up against with their unknown means and enigmatic plans.

"It's not always a bad thing to be a little paranoid when thinking about what the Abyssals are going to do next.

Looking at the bad weather, it isn't out of the question to think that they may do something unexpected to catch us off guard."

But Oboro was eager to try and protect the islands that were Japanese territory, what with Japanese citizens and sailors stationed there for civilian and military purposes respectively.

"Nevertheless, we should still protect our territories!

We'll show them that we won't let them take an inch of our land!"

And Umikaze agreed, albeit doing her best to keep things civil as she didn't want the impressionable destroyers to get carried away.

"Yes, but we have to calmly analyze the situation and make the right decision.

Isn't that right, Shigure?"

Shigure twitched upon her sister calling her name, the few destroyers that formed a circle looking to her as Shigure's breath caught in her throat.

She looked at her sister ship Umikaze, and she saw that her sister was doing her best to try and get to know her, her kind eyes wordlessly trying to reach out to her as a sister ship, Shigure understanding the look in her eyes as her sister tried to get her to engage in the conversation instead of being brooding and silent, which she had to admit, she kind of was.

Shigure sighed, thinking about something to add to the conversation as she thought about her bad feeling, finally responding.

"Well, I'm afraid of the Abyssals trying something funny.

Even though I recommend that we proceed with caution, especially in this weather, I don't think that we should be scared off simply because of the incoming storm.

But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't consider retreating if things do go south.

We will protect the Izu Islands."

Hibiki nodded, having silently positioned herself beside the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer to pat Shigure on the shoulder as she did her best to try and bolster Shigure's confidence in her words.

Despite being destroyers that were from different, albeit neighboring, bases, they were likely to meet each other on future sorties, and Shigure appreciated the destroyers smiling in agreement.

Hibiki gave her a small yet encouraging smile, while Wakaba and Oboro were cheering each other on and becoming more and more enthused about the upcoming battle where they could go all out.

Umikaze looked somewhat relieved upon Shigure looking to her and giving her a firm nod to wordlessly display her determination and drive, allowing her sister to lower her head and nod slowly as a small yet relieved smile graced her face.

Kasumi took center stage by reassuring Shigure of the outcome simply due to her presence on the battlefield, raising her voice while still getting the point across that she was to be counted on, exclaiming.

"Ahh, don't worry your pretty little head about such things.

This is nothing compared to some of the things that the 3rd Fleet's been through and won!

If you find things too difficult for you, don't hesitate to stand behind and follow me!"

* * *

The dark clouds broke out into tears almost half an hour after that, Shigure having wondered just how hard it would pour after observing the extraordinarily dark clouds.

Needless to say, it became a torrential downpour.

Shigure reviewed the briefing that the flagships gave to everyone beforehand, Hiei warning them of the Abyssals' tactics and how they were going to work around them.

About 20 or so Abyssals had dived underwater, according to the sailors monitoring the sea from the islands.

The humans on the islands were pretty much immune to the Abyssals' wrath as the Abyssals had no intention of setting foot on the island, content to passively occupy the surrounding ocean and not attack their fishing boats if they didn't attack them first.

The island occupants had their supply of non-perishable food sent to them in bulk in monthly intervals, allowing them to survive for quite a while after taking into account the stockpile of food each island had for its occupants.

There was no threat of the Abyssals taking the food by force as they didn't feed on human food (as far as they knew), and weren't exactly interested in wasting their forces and time to destroy these small islands as they posed no real threat to them save for their strategic locations to be used as vantage points.

But it was understood that the moment that the navy decided to install a base there, use it to stockpile weapons of any kind or do anything suspicious on these island, they would be obliterated by the Abyssals without mercy.

Note that while the islands were immune from attack, that didn't mean that the ocean surrounding them had the same protection.

On the contrary, being the chain of islands that led from Japan into the Pacific Ocean as well as pointing towards the Marianas Trench, which was where everyone had commonly accepted as the spawn location of the Abyssals, the oceans surrounding the Izu Islands, Bonin Islands as well as the smaller islands to the South of Japan that were still populated by Japanese civilians and sailors were popular hot-spots for the Abyssals to attack in order to muscle in on their territory.

Not attacking the islands was seen some sort of mysterious logic that they stuck to, preferring to save their ammo for attacking naval bases and ship girl fleets save for large scale invasions on the mainland (the American _Blitzkrieg_ being one example) that everyone learnt to spot a mile away, what with essentially millions of Abyssals that could be easily detected even if they were travelling underwater, thus allowing for a mass evacuation of the mainland beforehand.

So the islands themselves weren't exactly in danger, and only the ocean surrounding them was.

Hiei explained to the 1st Fleet that they would form a defensive semi-circle around Mikura Jima Island, although they didn't want to stick too close to the island lest it potentially block their retreat.

The destroyers would be positioned at the left and right of the main formation to scout for any underwater Abyssals that might flank and breach the formation, while being within range of the light carriers and battleships so that they could reach each other should trouble arise.

The cruisers would form the vanguard, since their cannons packed more punch and they had more health, armor and stamina to engage the Abyssals safely.

The fast battleships would babysit the light carriers while they sent their planes out for as long as they dared, what with the risk of lightning strikes in the midst of a storm, the light carriers focusing on flying the plane at an unnaturally low altitude to avoid tempting fate before recalling them.

The destroyers, while being in a position to support the cruisers if required, were still within range of the battleships that were stationed at the center of the formation and were thus quite well-protected despite spreading out so as not to provide the Abyssals an easy target, Shigure spotting the battleships and light carriers off in the distance, about fifty meters to their right and could be reached at a moment's notice.

The 3rd Fleet of Yokosuka was to join them later and provide shelling support should they require it and cover their escape with powerful cover fire laid down by one of the Big Seven, Mutsu.

And about five minutes before the world screwed everyone over, the bomber planes returned to the light carriers, both of them warning the left and right flank via radio as Shigure, Umikaze, Kasumi and Wakaba made their way to Mikura Jima Island while guarding the left flank, hearing Junyou's voice over the radio as she felt the first few raindrops escape the clouds and fall towards the ocean, hitting her in the process.

"Seems like the Abyssals aren't trying anything funny other than the whack-a-mole tactic!

In fact, aside from the Abyssals that disappeared under the ocean, they're pretty much comin' at us head on!"

Shigure opened up a private radio channel to talk to Ayanami, the ship girls having established the various channels that were to be used for private conversations and urgent messages, lest the entire radio spectrum become a mess of ship girls all trying to talk to each other.

She whispered in a concerned tone, asking her fellow destroyer in a way that sought her advice and opinion.

"Ayanami, do you still think…"

The rain became heavier as the rain clouds started unloading its contents and soaked the ship girls in rainwater, the name ship of the Ayanami-Class unsure of the Abyssals' intentions and tried to reassure both Shigure and herself.

"I don't know.

Maybe you're right, but they could be playing things straight as well.

I'm starting to like this less and less as well, but there's no turning back now."

Shigure gave a grunt of affirmation, cringing as the rain hit her on the crown and shoulders, some of it dripping down her bangs and causing her hair to stick to her skin.

She could feel the rain water permeating and drenching her uniform and body from head to toe, making things rather uncomfortable underneath her uniform as she felt the raindrops roll down her body.

The rain was now unleashed in full force as she focused on her HUD's radar to try and identify where the Abyssals were coming from, the turbulent weather only serving to provide environmental interference that reduced the range and effectiveness of their radar.

Shigure could see that the Abyssals were approaching the cruisers, the destroyers using their sonar to try and pick out the Abyssals that had submerged underwater to avoid detection.

She knew that Ayanami, Oboro, Hibiki and Isuzu were watching the right flank as she scanned the surrounding ocean, noting that the waves were starting to become rougher and the wave crests became higher, throwing her position off every so often as she tried her best to stay where she was despite the rough waves threatening to throw her off-balance.

She picked up a few enemy signatures with her sonar that was installed in her equipment to help her detect underwater Abyssals, this coming in useful when the Abyssals all had the ability to submerge at will.

She readied her cannons and torpedo launchers, the two cannons that were attached to her battle backpack twitching in excitement as she heard Kasumi call out,

"Alright, bitches, get ready for action!

Here they come!"

One of the Abyssals, a Ro-Class destroyer, was using the usual porpoising motion to maneuver across the ocean, Shigure noting a few destroyers emerging and submerging while timing their leaps according to the crest and troughs of the ocean waves.

But Kasumi had already anticipated the destroyer's approach, muscles coiled as she brought up her arms to catch the destroyer.

And at the last second, Shigure saw Kasumi boost-dodge to the side as the barrel in the Abyssal's mouth flashed, Kasumi circling the airborne destroyer while the Ro-Class fired off a missed shot as it could only fire forward, Kasumi easily dodging the shot and was now facing the destroyer's flank.

She grabbed hold of the Abyssal's body by bear-hugging the Abyssal as the airborne Ro-Class was starting its downwards descent, wrestling with the flailing destroyer as she redirected the Abyssal's momentum and slammed the Abyssal over her shoulder in a Judo throw.

She freed up her right arm that was holding her 12.7 Cm Twin Gun Cannon as the Abyssal was struggling to get free after being flipped over, pale belly exposed as its body was upturned, Kasumi pointing the twin barrels of her handheld cannon down at the exposed weak spot of the trapped Abyssal.

She fired off two shots, causing the belly of the Ro-Class to erupt in blood, ichor and even shards of steel, Kasumi cringing a little to protect her face from the tiny shards of steel flying out in a fireworks motion along with the blood spurting out of the Abyssal's belly.

The Ro-Class Abyssal started crying out in a metallic screech that was heard by the ship girls surrounding Kasumi, causing Shigure to cringe as she heard the painful, weakening cry of the Ro-Class sound eerily similar to a trapped and dying beast sounding desperate in the face of death, before Kasumi put the Abyssal out of its misery by firing again into its hemorrhaging belly.

The Ro-Class was silenced as the next two shots rang out amidst the rain, the Abyssal's cries becoming a sort of gurgling cry as the Ro-Class's jaw flopped about uselessly as the steel barrel that was previously sticking out of the Abyssal's jaw was retracted to allow it to call for help.

That wasn't going to happen now, seeing that the Ro-Class destroyer was most certainly dead due to the blood loss and point-blank shots to its belly.

Kasumi loosened her grip on the Ro-Class, the red blood of the Abyssal being splattered all over Kasumi's right arm and upper right torso, some of it getting on her face and neck and stained her uniform as she had on her classic scowl, although it was now wracked with a fair bit of revulsion as she tried to hide her disgust at her own actions, trying to rally her comrades into action by shouting over the howl of the rain and wind.

"Come on, y'all!

Stop relaxing on the job and get shooting!"

And that was when Shigure saw an I-Class destroyer emerging from the ocean at a distance with the steel barrel within its dislodged jaw exposed, Shigure noticing the splash that the destroyer made upon surfacing.

But this time, instead of firing a shell from its jaw, Shigure could spot the domed surface of a torpedo warhead barely exposed within the steel barrel, the Abyssal about to launch its torpedo at Kasumi while airborne.

Shigure barely had time to think as she raised her handheld 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon and fired almost immediately, drawing on her battle experience from her previous life and her practice sessions that taught her not to think too much about things and simply react.

As she fired off a round into the barrel of the I-Class, the contact between the shell and the warhead created a small sphere of fire that resulted from the premature detonation of the torpedo warhead.

Naturally, this also caused the I-Class destroyer to go everywhere, shreds of steel and fuel being spread around forcefully as the explosion lit the fuel on fire and polluted the ocean surface, small pools of flaming fuel being spilled on the ocean as everyone shielded their eyes from the mini-sun being formed where the I-Class was, temporarily heating up skins that were starting to feel cold from the constant rainfall.

Kasumi, upon lowering her arm and surveying the damage inflicted on the dead I-Class destroyer, looked to Shigure and pumped her fist in Shigure's direction, a thankful smirk on her face as she cried out.

"Hell yeah!

That's what I'm talking about!"

Shigure gave a quick nod, returning the smile as she held up her cannons to prepare for any other Abyssals that might pop out of the water.

Wakaba seemed to get over the shock of the gruesome scene that Kasumi caused and held up her handheld cannons to prepare for an incoming firefight.

Umikaze, already disengaging her safeties, gave Shigure a quick reassuring nod that Shigure reciprocated, despite feeling that such a motion was something of a harbinger of doom if the tragedy stories that she read were any indication.

But she kept a vigilant lookout for enemy Abyssals, seeing some of them lurk on the surface of the ocean like sharks, Wakaba and Kasumi taking pot shots at them while Shigure and Umikaze watched over them and each other whenever anyone needed to reload.

Being the ocean, it was hard to say just how many Abyssals were swarming beneath them, the rain and lightning throwing off their sensors and making conditions sub-optimal for enemy detection.

The cruisers at the vanguard were now engaging in close-quarters combat with the Abyssals, red and blue dots dancing around on her radar while the two battleships that stood at the rear of the formation provided cover fire for everyone.

The light carriers helped keep track of the enemy's movements, getting feedback about the accuracy of the last shot from the cruisers that could see the impact of the large-caliber rounds hitting the ocean or Abyssal before correcting the battleships' aim.

The battle was now in full swing, and Shigure was prepared to fight to the death to accomplish her mission and protect her fellow comrades.

* * *

The destroyers that were warding off the destroyers and light cruisers had been firing off rounds and torpedoes at the Abyssals for about ten minutes, and although things could have been better, all of them were still in one piece as they had sunk a total of five Abyssals so far, two by Shigure, two by Kasumi, and one by the combined efforts of Wakaba and Umikaze.

But their attention shifted as an urgent radio transmission was made by the light carriers that were in charge of communications, Junyou's voice materializing inside Shigure's head.

But this time, it was urgent as Junyou's voice sounded legitimately worried about the strange development that she was about to share with them.

"Yo, we got word from the sailors on the islands!

They thought that it was a mistake, but they've apparently detected an extremely large Unidentified Underwater Object on their sonar.

It just popped up on the bottom of the ocean, and our boys can't for the life of them figure out what it is.

So keep a lookout, yeah?"

Kasumi looking enraged by the seemingly-incompetent sailors that were tasked with monitoring the oceans and the enemies that lurked beneath the surface, a vein popping up on her temple as she barely restrained herself while screaming into the radio.

"And what the fuck is that 'Unidentified' part, huh?!

 _'The fuck we paying them and risking our necks out here for if they can't identify something that big?!"_

Umikaze tried calming the Asashio-Class destroyer down while wiping the rainwater off of her face, all while Shigure and Wakaba watched over the duo as Shigure heard her sister ship plead with Kasumi.

"W-Well, owing to the bad weather and Abyssal presence, it isn't out of the question if they can't identify it.

But Junyou-san, is it enemy reinforcements that are inbound?

If so, then we may have to consider a tactical retreat…"

But Junyou responded, likely carrying over the assurance of the inland sailors that were protected from the weather and the firefight, stating.

"Nah, man.

A fleet is made up of a cluster of dots.

Whatever this thing is, it's a solid mass."

Wakaba shot at another destroyer that flew out of the relative safety of the ocean to shoot at the ship girls, moving across the air like a flying fish until interrupted by Wakaba's cannon fire.

The Ha-Class, looking like a cross between a deformed human skull and a horizontal cone jutting out behind it with its exoskeleton painted jet black, had a lone green-colored eye looking forward and had a deformed smile on its hideous face as the 'skull' was compressed horizontally to allow the jaw to be stretched out vertically in an uncannily creepy manner.

Wakaba's cannon impacted the Ha-Class's right flank as it attempted to leap from wave to wave while trying to spot a good opportunity to fire at them, to which Wakaba thankfully responded quickly, the destroyer making sure that the round hit and injured the screeching Abyssal before turning back to ask.

"Do you think it might be a whale that's passing by?

I mean, it's not out of the question, right?"

Kasumi raised her left hand's index finger to try and shout at her, before Umikaze put a reassuring arm on her shoulder and caused her to hold her tongue as Umikaze shook her head, Junyou replying despondently.

"No, though things would be so much simpler for us if it was indeed a whale.

It had some sort of stealth coating or field to hide its presence until it reached Hachijo Island, which means that it's the Abyssals trying something funny.

Whatever's coming our way…

 _It's got a strong signature and is far larger_ _than any Princess."_

Everyone's breath stopped upon hearing that, the destroyers looking at each other in mild panic.

Even Kasumi was silenced by the news, and her face softened to reveal temporary panic and genuine fear as she asked.

"Well then, what the fuck are we still doing here?

Shouldn't we call for reinforcements?"

Junyou replied, now sounding a little more sure about herself.

"Well, when it was confirmed that this battle wasn't all that it seemed and when this new Abyssal signature popped up out of nowhere, we immediately radioed in for the Shimoda Naval Base to provide reinforcements.

They're sailing towards Mikura Jima Island as we speak, but we need to hold the fort for about thirty minutes before their fastest fleets get here.

But the Unidentified signature's been hugging the ocean floor to evade our sonar, we're sure that it's left Hachijo Island a while ago and may be trying to skirt around our battlefield.

So be careful."

Shigure nodded to no one in particular, disengaging the radio as she heard Kasumi grumble under her breath, Umikaze attempting to pacify her with reassuring words, Shigure thinking about what the Abyssals were up to.

But Wakaba let out a _tch_ and shouted to the destroyers huddled next to each other in the rain, announcing.

"Oi, the Abyssals are grouping up and trying to bum-rush our position!

If you two are done over there, ready up!

They're coming!"

Kasumi, Shigure and Umikaze professionally assumed battle stances as the Abyssals grouped up in an all-or-nothing attack to increase their odds of success.

They didn't take any chances as they swam underwater this time, not allowing them the chance to take pot shots at them.

But Shigure and company were ready to welcome them, Shigure resting their finger on the trigger as she felt herself twitching in anticipation, having already blocked out the waves and the rain in her mind.

All other thoughts, previously welcomed in peacetime, were now shut out as Shigure prepared to pull the trigger.

All that was left in her mind was killing the Abyssals and protecting her comrades.

As two Abyssal I-Class destroyers leapt out of the water, Shigure and Kasumi instinctively shot them down.

But one of the I-Class destroyers managed to weather the round that was emptied into its dark exoskeleton instead of its belly or bionic eye, Shigure turning as she feared that the Abyssal was going to fire at Umikaze, who was standing behind the two destroyers that were positioned at the vanguard and had her guard slightly down.

But she saw the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer moving in, the bottom of her blazer flaring up behind her as Wakaba shoulder-slammed the damaged Abyssal and inadvertently threw off its aim at the last second, the round breezing past Umikaze's hair and causing Shigure's sister to freeze up from her brush with death.

Shigure exhaled upon seeing Wakaba intervening and saving her sister, having felt her heart stop metaphorically for a second as she was distracted by the possibility of losing her sister ship.

But she felt something occur behind her, someone tackling her to the ground as two cannon rounds were fired off at close range above them, the frigid seawater drenching Shigure's uniform and body as she hit the ocean.

She sputtered as she attempted to spit out the salty seawater that went in her mouth, blinking the rainwater out of her eyes as a blurry Kasumi stood above her, smoking barrel in hand as she held Shigure down.

And upon surveying her rainy surroundings, she saw the corpse of a He-Class destroyer quickly sink back into the ocean.

It wasn't moving anymore as she surmised that Kasumi, right before the He-Class destroyer surfaced and tried to shoot at her, tackled Shigure onto the ocean and emptied a shell into the He-Class's soft underside, thereby killing it while protecting Shigure.

Kasumi had her brows creased, and she was now pretty much engulfed in Abyssal blood, cringing as she tried to blink the blood and rainwater out of her eyes as she chided, pushing herself off of the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"Come on!

Don't get distracted now!"

Shigure nodded, pushing herself back up as she turned to see Wakaba shoot at a Ho-Class light cruiser that had been observing the battle, choosing to reveal itself at the last second as it engaged in a fierce firefight with Wakaba while Umikaze provided cover fire.

And that left them both open from the bottom as they were likely too distracted to notice something swimming up beneath them.

Shigure attempted to burst into an all-out sprint, but was easily outpaced by a worried Kasumi who decided to use her boost gauge to reach Wakaba, barreling down the ocean and leaving a wide wake behind her as Shigure struggled to keep up in the rain.

The Asashio-Class destroyer slapped her left palm on Wakaba's rigging, instantly pulling her back while putting her weight on her left boat slipper and causing the both of them to tip over.

Just before an I-Class destroyer burst out of the ocean, throwing up a significant amount of seawater as the Abyssal had its steel barrel protruding out of its jaw and aimed it upwards, exactly where Wakaba's face previously was.

If Kasumi had acted a second later, the I-Class Abyssal likely would have blasted off Wakaba's face and likely killed her for good.

Shigure, seeing that Umikaze was torn between shooting at the Abyssal light cruiser who was more of a credible threat, or the airborne I-Class that had its sneak attack attempt foiled at the last second and was now vulnerable, shouted to her sister ship as she sprinted towards her.

"UMIKAZE!

DISTRACT THE LIGHT CRUISER!"

Just as Shigure put her weight onto her boat slippers and launched herself into the air while flipping her body a little so that her legs, in a squatting position, would meet the I-Class destroyer.

The world slowed down in Shigure's mind due to the adrenaline coursing through her body and temporarily accelerating her perception of time, thereby allowing her to perceive everything faster.

She could see beyond the millions of individual raindrops to spot the Ho-Class light cruiser off in the distance, and the I-Class destroyer that was starting to drop back into the ocean, its steel barrel now retracted as it started orientating itself downwards.

Kasumi and Wakaba were lying on the ocean floor, Wakaba slipping on the mixture of blood and rainwater that soaked the Asashio-Class destroyer, Umikaze readying her dual Quadruple Torpedo launchers as she held up her handheld 12.7 Twin-Gun Cannon and looked down its sights.

She propelled her boat slippers into the exoskeleton of the still-airborne I-Class that was descending into the ocean, earning a metallic screech from the Abyssal destroyer as its armor cracked underneath the force of the dropkick behind the relatively sharp undersides of her boat slipper, being displaced by Shigure's kick as it flew towards the confused Ho-Class.

The Ho-Class caught the I-Class with its pale and muscular arms, but in doing so, had left itself vulnerable as Umikaze unleashed her torpedoes and two cannon rounds in the general direction of the two Abyssals.

Shigure, despite being dunked in seawater that soaked her already-drenched body, didn't allow herself a moment to relax as she swung her legs about in a windmill motion while firing off a few torpedoes and snapped her body to the side such that her body would point in the direction of the Abyssal duo, ending up in a prone position on the ocean surface.

She readied her two backpack cannons, which could be aimed and adjusted to allow Shigure to fire from both shoulders, but were now pointed parallel to her body and was aimed at the Abyssal duo that was starting to move away from each other and away from the incoming salvo, hearing the edge in her voice as she gave an order to the Fairies that manned her backpack cannons.

"FIRE!"

The two cannons roared beside her ears as her view was obstructed by twin fireballs, one erupting from each barrel at close proximity to her face as she saw the salvo of torpedoes and shells hit both its intended targets.

Umikaze's torpedo salvo, primarily aimed at the Abyssal light cruiser, caused an explosion as the torpedoes detonated right underneath the Ho-Class's main body and instantly crippled it, allowing the two cannon shells from Shigure's backpack cannon to impact it on the steel helmet.

This caused its arms to flail about uselessly as the enlarged jaw on its hull started gurgling while making ungodly screeching sounds due to the pain, before it failed to receive any more signals from the brain and its limbs fell lifelessly, fingers still twitching in a vain attempt to defend itself as it was in its death throes.

And as for Shigure's torpedo salvo, she aimed it at the fleeing I-Class, blowing the destroyer up instantly as two of her three torpedoes impacted the injured flank of the I-Class's exoskeleton and instantly killed it in a majestic, explosive fireball.

Shigure laid prone on the ocean surface as she let the adrenaline wear off, feeling the crests of the ocean hit her body and hearing the whisper of the wind that thankfully died down a little compared to the shrieking howls that the winds produced when the storm first started.

She felt the harsh raindrops hit her skin, hair and school uniform as she pushed herself up, feeling a little thankful that the rain was here to wash the blood away, observing as the flaming corpses of the two Abyssals were swallowed by the waves and the rain as they both sank.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, instantly stiffening as her head whirled around to address the perceived threat, but was met with the relieved face of Umikaze, her gloved arm on her shoulder as she addressed Shigure in a spent voice.

"Well done, Shigure.

That last move was probably worthy of an MVP play, since you killed two Abyssals with it."

Shigure shook her head, Kasumi and Wakaba sailing towards them as she corrected her sister in a patient yet equally tired tone.

"No, we won as a result of our combined efforts.

Kasumi and I saved each other's lives, and Wakaba saved yours.

We're still here because of each other, Umikaze."

Kasumi piped up, now fully respecting Shigure's skill as she noted something.

"Maa, Shigure, I know that you were proud of that drop kick, but I gotta say, blue and white stripes suit you pretty well."

Shigure looked confused as Wakaba and Umikaze started coughing into their fists while their cheeks took on a slight red tinge.

It took a good ten seconds for Shigure, standing out in the cold drizzling rain while wondering what the Asashio-Class destroyer meant before she connected the dots in her mind, instinctively pressing down on her skirt and bringing her thighs together, feeling the blood rush to her face and heat her face up despite the chilly ambient temperature, Shigure sputtering.

"Y-Y-You saw?!"

Kasumi blanched at the insinuation, retorting indignantly as a vein popped up on her temple.

"Yeah?!

Hey, I'm not the one who goes around in a skirt and drop-kicks Abyssals left and right, so it's not my fault if I caught a glimpse of what you were wearing underneath, alright?!"

Wakaba tried to defuse the situation by introducing a good solution to Shigure, seeing that ship girls often wore skirts or dresses into battle.

"S-Shigure-san, if you're the kind to go kicking and flipping about, I believe it's best if you wear exercise shorts or spats in the future to prevent such incidents, alright?"

And Umikaze placed a comforting hand on Shigure's shoulder, trying her best to comfort her sister by encouraging.

"Shigure, it's alright.

If it makes you feel any better, I can show you mine as compensation…"

Umikaze, her blushing face contrasting with her snow-white hair, lifted her skirt suggestively as she offered an extremely shady solution, causing Shigure to blush even harder, her face now slightly luminescent as she sputtered incoherently at the risque suggestion, now at a loss for words.

But an incoming transmission came in from Junyou, an anxious tone in her voice as she called out into the wireless radio.

"Hey, girls?!

The thing's here, and whatever it is, it's headed your way!

We don't know what it is since it doesn't match any known Abyssal signatures, and it's travelling underwater, so we can't stop its movements!

Watch out!"

Shigure and the other destroyers snapped to attention, each one of them looking in a different direction while paying extra attention to their sonars, trying to pick up anything that might reveal an unknown presence beneath them.

And after three minutes of focused and tense silence, where the destroyers said nothing to each other for fear of distracting themselves from the underwater threat, Shigure noticed something rising up from the depths.

Shigure's order to her Fairies to try and enhance the blip on her sonar failed as the unknown Abyssal signature was still too deep underwater, and Umikaze was the first one to state the obvious as she asked hesitantly.

"Um…

Are you all getting what I'm getting?

Because it seems that there's something in the depths, and it's large…"

Kasumi uttered under her breath,

"No shit, Sherlock…"

Shigure cringed at the language Kasumi used to address her sister ship, but it didn't take a linguistics expert to hear the worried tone in Kasumi's voice, Shigure chalking it up to frayed nerves and let the whole thing go in favor of focusing on the matter at hand.

Mainly, whatever was on their sonar.

Shigure hadn't met an Abyssal Princess, but unless they were the size of battleships, she had no idea what the hell _that_ was on her sonar.

Wait a second…

The unknown signature wasn't travelling directly beneath them as it was about thirty meters to their left, although that was still a little too close for comfort as Wakaba disbelievingly sputtered, utterly confused as to what was approaching them.

"It's the size of a battleship!

I don't think any Abyssals are that big, right?

 _Right?!"_

Shigure looked to Kasumi, politely asking the Asashio-Class destroyer in a tone that demanded a simple answer.

"Do we hold our position?"

Kasumi looked confused and even a little afraid, but she finally shook her head to clear her thoughts as she turned to her teammates and addressed them seriously.

"We move a little closer to the main formation to tighten our defense, but we defend the left flank, no matter what.

We're not going to get spooked and run away with our tail between our legs, no matter what the Abyssals throw at us."

Shigure nodded along with Wakaba and Umikaze, before they noticed the slightly accelerated pace at which the unidentified signature was rising, clearly harboring an Abyssal signature as it was a red blot on her sonar.

But as Shigure and company started retreating to where the battleships and light carriers were, Shigure piped up and asked something that had been on her mind for a while.

"Umm guys…

If it's the size of a battleship, do you think it might actually _be_ a battleship?"

The other destroyers looked at her with confused expressions, trying their best to wrap their minds around the thought of an actual warship being used against ship girls, but their attention was distracted by the unknown signature moving a little closer to them and was about to surface, Kasumi shouting out,

"Watch out!"

A large volume of seawater was displaced before whatever it was emerged, drenching them all as Shigure and company used both arms to shield themselves from the titanic vessel surfacing like a submarine as well as the extremely rough waves that were caused by its appearance, the choppy waves shifting their balance about like a roller coaster ride.

Shigure couldn't hear Wakaba's scream or Umikaze's surprised shriek, because all she could hear was the extremely loud splash of seawater hitting her like a large tidal wave, and could only focus on keeping her balance as the disturbed waves threw them about and threatened to knock her over, something that could prove to be fatal in battle.

Out of desperation, genuine fear and confusion at what the hell was going on anymore, Shigure tried to shake the seawater out of her eyes and look at what stood before them, barely noting Umikaze falling forward while Kasumi fell on her bum.

Shigure looked at the enemy vessel before them, the colossal structure blocking some of the rain due to its sheer size.

She was greeted by a familiar Abyssal-black steel wall, which confused Shigure as it looked impenetrable and towered over them all as Shigure could spot numerous square-shaped plates spaced out evenly on the steel wall.

But the destroyers all winced as they heard a high-pitched mechanical whirring as though several powerful motors were being fired up from within, and a booming horn was blasted throughout the entire battlefield, causing Shigure and company to cover their ears from being in such close proximity to the ominous moan of death.

Shigure tried to keep her eyes on the threat as she looked up, observing the superstructure as it lit up like a Christmas tree in neon blue stripes across its walls.

This allowed Shigure to spot the many machine guns being illuminated, as in _actual_ machine guns being readied by droves of Abyssals that were scrambling out of the superstructure, pointing their secondary guns and Anti-Air machine guns towards them.

Shigure's eyes had adjusted to the sudden plunge into relative darkness, barely making out big white letters on the hull and identifying the mysterious Abyssal's name before choking on her spit and freezing up from recognizing the name.

 _'Abyssal Aviation Battleship_

 _The Flying Dutchman'_

And with a flash of lightning that streaked across the dark clouds as the wind started picking up again, Shigure, shielding her eyes from the rain, paled and felt her heart stop upon seeing what the square plates were.

They were gun-ports.

They were being winded up like garage doors to reveal life-sized 35.6 Cm and 14 Cm Cannons extruding out of the ship's hull, forming a menacing sight just from their size alone.

And they were all pointed in their direction.


	17. Chapter 17 - The Flying Dutchman

Shigure was frozen by the sight of the large-caliber cannons pointed in their direction, her eyes wide open like saucers and looking much like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, before her mind kicked into high gear as she shouted to the destroyers while diving to the ocean surface.

" _GET DOWN!"_

And the world erupted into a chorus of deafening explosions that shook the atmosphere in a powerful shock-wave, reverberating throughout Shigure's small body as she hit the shuddering ocean.

A few large-sized projectiles flew over Shigure, the destroyer feeling the shock-wave of the shells cutting through the air and the resulting vacuum that was produced that the sizable shells left in their wake, feeling the wind blow her drenched hair about and caused her lightning rod to shudder atop her backpack, not unlike a tuning fork due to the sheer speed of the life-sized cannon shell narrowly missing her.

The sharp and loud whistle of the shells flying over her head temporarily deafened her as she desperately prayed that none of them would hit her, having found friends and teammates to fight for, and a goal to work towards.

She may have felt a little suicidal prior to joining the 1st Fleet, but right now, deep down in her heart, she wanted to live and had too much to lose if she sank.

A few large splashes were heard off in the distance, Shigure finally feeling the rain hit her again as she spat out the salty seawater that got into her mouth, shaking her hair in a vain attempt to shake the water out of her hair as she frantically looked around to try and locate her teammates in the chaos.

She spotted Kasumi, curled up in a fetal position in an attempt to reduce her size in order to minimize the chances of getting hit, Shigure almost missing the slight tremor that was in her body as the cannon fire died down.

Umikaze seemed to be injured by a cannon shell to the right knee, Shigure hearing Umikaze's muffled scream of pain as she clutched at the bleeding stump, Shigure resisting the urge to vomit at the sight of blood and fuel leaking from her sister's bleeding thigh, even seeing a little piece of steel bone jutting out from the center and being stained by the shower of blood as Shigure swallowed an uncomfortable lump in her throat.

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer noted that the cannon shells did a lot of damage, Shigure trying to piece everything together and trying to understand how despite the fact that her sister didn't seem to get hit by the devastating 35.6 cm Single Cannon Shells that would have likely sheared off her entire lower half, Umikaze was instead hit by a 14 cm cannon shell that somehow blew off her entire right leg.

But she was left speechless upon looking around the surrounding ocean and spotting her last teammate Wakaba.

Or to be specific, what was left of her.

Shigure's breath stopped as she laid her eyes on what remained of Wakaba, the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer not reacting fast enough to dodge in time and was caught in the line of fire as the cannons unleashed their wrath in the form of a devastating cannon barrage.

Wakaba no longer possessed an upper torso, head or arms, and Shigure could only identify her via her black skirt and thigh highs, as well as her HUD displaying her name before the system failed to identify her vitals due to half of her body being blown away.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

HATSUHARU-CLASS DESTROYER 077

"WAKABA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Her upper chest was likely where the shell had hit her and had cleanly sheared off her entire torso and head, leaving only the body beneath her diaphragm intact as a fountain of blood and fuel gushed from the affected area like some sort of twisted and powerful fountain of ungodly proportions.

She could feel Kasumi and Umikaze's shocked gaze falling upon the grisly scene of the dead destroyer that was feebly trying its best to hold itself up.

And Shigure, to her horror, could still see Wakaba's legs twitching about, desperately trying its best to hold up whatever was left of its body before crumpling onto the ocean floor and allowing the weakening fountain of blood spill out onto the ocean surface, Shigure morbidly observing Wakaba's organs splattering out onto the ocean, out of the snug confines of her steel body.

She could identify a bloody liver flopping out, and probably a stomach that came next as the unmistakable intestines could be seen within the body, since Shigure unfortunately had the perfect angle to look within the small waterfall that was the bloody mixture of fuel and blood, seeing some of the intestines get stuck as they tried to escape the body at the same time, causing a jam due to the length of the intestine blocking itself.

The organs and the ship girl corpse were made of steel, and after a moment of floating on the ocean surface as the waves and the rain beat down on the prone corpse, it slowly and eventually sank as the ocean claimed what was left of Wakaba, the destroyer trio too shocked and frightened to do anything to stop the process.

Or rather, they didn't know what they could do to save someone who was missing her most vital organ, the brain.

Even if the destroyers brought back Wakaba's lower half, which was missing vital memory banks and processing cores, she didn't know if even the _Fairies_ could bring her back to her original condition.

They were powerful engineers, but even they weren't almighty.

As she kept her wide eyes trained on the corpse of the sinking Wakaba, her HUD changed its notification to update the frozen Shigure about the condition of the destroyer.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL SIGNAL LOST

HATSUHARU-CLASS DESTROYER 077

"WAKABA"

STATUS: SUNK'

And this finally allowed Shigure the chance to finally empty her stomach as she fell to her knees and vomited into the ocean, seeing the gruesome sight of the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer who had her torso, arms and head blown clean off her body in an instant, Wakaba's legs experiencing its death throes before giving out and her guts finally spewing everywhere on the ocean, along with buckets of blood and fuel being spilled everywhere.

It was too much for her to handle, despite her mature outlook on life.

She was prepared for the eventuality of death, but that...

 _That_ was just a gory and pointless death that she was not yet trained to face.

Shigure felt the sting in her throat and the bile that refused to leave it as she dry-heaved, noting some small shreds of undigested _unagi_ meat and corn kernels floating in the ocean amidst the bile, before sinking slowly into the ocean like Wakaba did.

She tried her best not to ingest her vomit, trying to control her cough so as to clear her throat while keeping her shaking hand that held up her shivering body steady on the ocean surface.

But her superhuman hearing picked up the distinct cocking of machine guns as Abyssal activity on the superstructure of the _Flying Dutchman_ increased, Shigure now feeling two trembling palms placed over her shoulders and roughly pulling her back, almost to the point of manhandling her as Kasumi shrieked into her ear,

"Come on!

We're gonna get fucking killed out here, being so close to whatever the fuck that is!"

And Shigure then realized that was a good deal of trembling was from herself, being partly in shock and somewhat dazed as she shakily nodded, trying to blink away the tears that threatened to escape her tear ducts and desperately trying to convince herself that it was the rain hitting her face as she ran towards Umikaze, another threatening flash of lightning flaring up overhead and the booming roar of thunder pushing her on.

And upon running towards her sister ship, she kept an eye on her sonar as the underwater waves bounced off of some sort of swarm that spawned from the hull of the _Flying Dutchman_ , small unknown Abyssal signatures that swam around and numbered in the millions as they formed a defensive underwater perimeter around the _Dutchman_ beneath the ocean.

These details almost escaped Shigure's notice as she was only half paying attention, since she was mainly focused on escaping the point-blank range of the _Flying Dutchman_ with her comrades, trying not to remember the gruesome sight of Wakaba's death.

She failed spectacularly at this as Kasumi had to roughly shove her forward every time she remembered either the gory fate of the late Wakaba, or small flashbacks to Surigao Strait and the familiar feeling of hopeless despair she felt both then and now.

She tried to keep her wits about her, making sure to regulate her breathing and not succumb to hyperventilation at such a critical moment.

Her legs were soft due to fright, and she stumbled a few times as she ran on the rough and shifting ocean surface, but eventually reached her crying sister Umikaze, who was feebly clutching at her bleeding thigh as though simply holding onto it would miraculously bring back her missing leg.

The bleeding was now somewhat stabilized due to the miniature valves in her ship girl vessels attempting to keep the damage and fluid loss to a minimum as the bleeding was now a relatively small, steady stream of blood instead of the previously uncontrollable stream of blood and fuel.

Umikaze's face was considerably paler now, starting to match her hair as she had broken out into a cold sweat due to the cold ambient temperature, harsh rainfall and the significant blood loss.

The surrounding ocean had already been dyed red due to Umikaze's blood being emptied into the ocean, and Shigure had to fight to keep herself under control instead of retching into the ocean again and wasting precious time trying to recover.

Kasumi shouted into Shigure's ear in an attempt to make herself heard over the loud rain and fast winds, Shigure paying attention to every strained word coming out of her mouth

"She's your sister, you've got better luck, and I've got Kai armor!

You'll carry her back to the Combined Fleet battleships, while - "

Kasumi didn't get a chance to finish as the world exploded into a flash of bluish-white light that engulfed them, Shigure's heart stopping as she wondered if this was where she was going to meet her maker.

But surprisingly, no supersonic cannon shells came to end their lives as Shigure, Kasumi and Umikaze shielded their eyes from the harsh, alien glow of five spotlights on the deck of the _Flying Dutchman,_ three of which were trained on the trio as Shigure gulped, frozen in place as the enemies had located their position amidst the darkness while the two other spotlights searched around, likely looking for the sunk Wakaba, not knowing that she had already perished.

Kasumi, with squinted eyes, already had her face contorted with a mixed expression of anger, panic and mostly fear as she faced the Abyssal aviation battleship.

She held up her arms that had a 12.7 Cm Twin Gun Cannon in one hand, and a 61 Cm Quad Torpedo Mount on another as she shouted to Shigure.

" _FUCKING GO!_

 _I GOT YOUR BACK!"_

Shigure snapped to attention, and bent down to cradle her injured sister in a bridal carry that would elevate the bleeding stump and further slow down any bleeding, heaving as she lifted her sister.

And that was when the machine gun fire started.

A symphony of deafening machine gun fire from the deck of the _Dutchman_ resounded throughout the rain-soaked battlefield, and Umikaze shrieked as she buried her head into Shigure's shoulder as Shigure, carrying her sister, had no choice but to listen to the never-ending bark of the machine guns off in the distance, running as best she could while carrying her injured sister ship.

Kasumi screamed at the Abyssals as she retaliated in kind by firing her cannons and torpedoes that sailed towards the battleship, enraged and desperate.

" _COME ON, BITCHES!_

 _THAT ALL YOU GOT?!"_

And that was when the 14 Cm Gun Cannons decided to take pot shots at them as the spotlight was trained on them, Shigure not wanting to look back for fear of what she would see.

Several times, she could feel the machine gun rounds painfully bounce off of her armored skin, causing her to wince in pain due to the caliber of the machine gun rounds being fired from such powerful guns.

They were saved in large part due to their ship girl bodies, the bullets losing some of their stopping power due to the increasing distance between them and Kasumi helping her tank most of the bullets, Shigure unable to imagine what it was like for Kasumi who had to bear the brunt of the gunfire barrage.

Kasumi shouted out to Shigure behind her while sailing in reverse, her tone pissed off and fearful at what this new technological weapon was.

"FUCK!

Shigure, the boat's summoning large swarms of small Abyssal thingies to detonate my torpedoes before they can get anywhere near its fucking hull!"

Shigure nodded, shaking the water out of her hair as she thought about how the Abyssals had developed new technology without their knowledge.

If they developed some sort of underwater swarm that could make torpedoes detonate prematurely, it would serve as a nigh-impenetrable defense against their torpedoes.

A worried voice popped up in her head, Hiei asking Shigure and company about their situation ever since the unidentified Abyssal popped up and disrupted the communication between the left flank and the rest of the Combined Fleet.

"Shigure, what's going on over there?!

We lost you for a second there due to enemy interference, and there were large caliber cannons being fired from your location, is everyone alright?"

Kasumi took the words out of Shigure's mouth as she shouted after spitting out some blood, hoarsely screaming,

" _EVERYTHING'S NOT FUCKING ALRIGHT!_

We're under fire from numerous Abyssals with machine guns, what do you think?!"

Shigure shouted into the wireless radio, trying to make herself heard over the never-ending whistle of the machine gun rounds as she pleaded.

"Please fire at the Abyssal aviation battleship!

The _Flying Dutchman_ 's going to fire her cannons again anytime soon!"

Hiei's voice was now confused as she tried to ask Shigure to clarify herself, only to be interrupted by another barrage of cannon fire.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?

The _Flying Dutch…_ "

Another salvo of 35.6 Cm and 14 Cm cannons made themselves heard throughout the battlefield again, Shigure feeling that the distance between them and the _Flying Dutchman_ helped them out a little as the large-caliber shells didn't hit any of them, but the 14 Cm Cannons were a little more accurate in that regard as the Abyssal aviation battleship had more of them on the side of the aviation battleship's hull and thus had a higher chance of hitting something due to the amount of shells that they unloaded on their port side.

And hit something they did.

Shigure's spirit sank even further as she heard Kasumi scream upon an explosion ringing out behind her, something causing Shigure to fall forward and drop Umikaze as Kasumi fell on her back, knocking them all down.

Shigure struggled to get out of the human entanglement of limbs as she gently pushed Kasumi off of her and got Umikaze out of the mess, hearing Umikaze and Kasumi both whining in pain as she freed herself and assessed Kasumi's damage.

And what she saw horrified her.

Kasumi's uniform was now in tatters, having been shredded into oblivion by the barrage of machine gun fire from the Abyssals as there were a few splotches of blood and areas of broken skin where the concentrated machine gun fire pierced her measly destroyer armor and had drawn blood as the spotlights had highlighted their position to all the Abyssals on deck.

Nowhere was this more evident than on Kasumi's chest.

Or again, to be specific, her lack of one.

Kasumi's breastplate had been torn open by the life-sized shell hitting her in the center of her chest, rupturing the blood vessels and major fuel tanks located around that area.

There was a pool of blood and fuel in the crater located in her chest, and there were signs of disturbance due to Shigure's gentle push spilling its contents onto the sides of her shredded uniform, and Kasumi had a few fractured ribs showing if Shigure looked close enough.

And three guesses as to how Shigure had discovered Kasumi's exposed rib-cage.

Good God, she could almost see Kasumi's heaving organs beneath the steel cage.

Kasumi was coughing up blood, which messily dribbled down her mouth and throat as she looked at her with bloodshot eyes and tried to get Shigure's attention.

Shigure blinked, trembling while positioning herself such that she would be shielding Kasumi from the machine gun barrage with her back and battle backpack as she heard the battleship Hiei talk into her head to ask for a sit-rep.

"Girls!

 _What the hell is going on over there?!"_

Kasumi looked to Umikaze, who was holding up one hand to shield her eyes from the harsh glow of the spotlights behind Shigure and the hail of machine gun fire that never seemed to end, Kasumi hoarsely calling out to her.

"Umikaze…

Give Hiei the sit-rep, and tell her to put one in these bitches before they off us…"

Umikaze nodded, barely holding herself together against an unknown and devastating enemy that they had never expected to face.

Kasumi looked to Shigure as Umikaze narrated the dire situation to the battleships and light carriers,

"Wakaba has been sunk by the Abyssal battleship.

We have two injured ship girls, one sustaining medium damage and the other critically injured…

Yes, Kasumi is critically injured, and I, Umikaze, have suffered medium damage…"

Kasumi looked to Shigure, and Shigure, upon kneeling down, could see the light leaving the Asashio-Class destroyer's eyes, but Kasumi was desperately fighting to keep herself awake as she narrated to Shigure.

"Shigure…

You have to tell the others…

What the battleship is using, are _life-sized_ ammunition rounds…"

Shigure blinked, trying to make sense of Kasumi's words, but Kasumi waved a trembling hand as she elaborated as best she could with a large, blood-filled crater in her chest.

"Our ammo is all downsized when we're created as ship girls and Abyssals.

What that battleship is using are life-sized rounds, so their 14 Cm rounds…"

Gesturing down to her wound as tried to rein in her cough of death, Shigure had to force herself to stare right into her exposed, bloody chest that was missing her humanoid flesh, as what replaced it was a pool of blood and fuel that mixed together to form a disgusting brownish-red mixture with her broken steel bones protruding like the head of the Loch Ness Monster out of the infernal cauldron of blood, fuel and rainwater.

"... are _actually_ 14 centimeters in diameter, compared to our 14 Cm cannon rounds that are shrunk down to the human equivalent of small to medium-caliber bullets.

And whatever's in the water, it's moving about in a massive swarm to intercept and destroy our torpedoes before they even get close to the target.

Go, and tell them…"

Shigure shook her head frantically, exclaiming.

"No…

Nononono…

I'm not leaving you here for the Abyssals to capture or sink!"

Kasumi shook her head despondently, the duo hearing Umikaze trying to clarify the situation over the radio.

"Yes, it's an aviation battleship…

No, it's an _actual_ battleship, as in, hundreds of meters long, and it has cannons on its port side…

No, it hasn't done anything other than shoot at us, and it currently shows no signs of giving chase…

Yes, it's firing machine gun rounds at us, that's the background noise you hear right now…"

Indeed, the whistling of the machine gun bullets flying past them was still going on en masse, although most of it had died down as Shigure suspected that they were cooling down their machine guns or were reloading, and would soon resume their rain of terror soon enough.

Even the spotlights had been turned off to engulf the behemoth in darkness due to the storm and lack of ambient lighting, although its silhouette was still plainly visible in the distance as the rain blurred the sight of the battleship itself.

Kasumi's right hand shot out to grab Shigure by the collar, screaming into her face as her eyes were now furious at Shigure's defiance.

"You don't get it, do you?!

You have the best chance of survival!

And if you don't live to tell everyone about this one-of-a-kind threat, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE HERE!"

"I'M NOT GOING TO LIVE ON WHILE ANYONE ELSE DIES!

I'M NOT ABANDONING YOU!"

Kasumi looked as though she wanted to shout at Shigure some more, but their shouting match was interrupted as Kasumi violently coughed up blood, mumbling in a seething manner,

"Idiots…

…Fucking surrounded by idiots…"

Kasumi gasped, causing the chest crater to shudder violently as raindrops added to the volume of fluid that occupied it, Kasumi relenting so as not to waste any more time.

"Whatever…

Cable…

Reach underneath me and pull out the cable…"

Shigure flinched a little, before trying to lift Kasumi's body and trying her best not to disturb the wound as she looked underneath Kasumi's back and tried to look for the cable.

A Fairy that was wearing scuba diving gear and was swimming on the surface of the ocean beneath Kasumi's back emerged to hold up the cable, leading from a hole underneath Kasumi's battle backpack.

Shigure thankfully took possession of the cable that had a hook at its end, the heavy-duty towing cable often used to tow injured ship girls back to base.

She lowered Kasumi back down as she saw the Fairy retreat into the backpack, Shigure brandishing the hook for Kasumi to see as she asked Kasumi for the next step.

"Kasumi-san, what now?"

Shigure now noticed that the gunfire had completely died down, although she wasn't under any sort of illusion that the _Dutchman_ was going to stop attacking them.

If anything, it was the calm before the storm, the actual storm that was raging around them notwithstanding.

Kasumi nodded and motioned with her trembling arms, trying not to snort in rainwater as she narrated, streaks of tears running down her cheeks as she tried to ignore the pain.

"…Alright…

Pull out as much of it as you can, wrap it around me and lead it to you.

Attach it around to wherever on you.

Quickly…

The longer we stay out here, the easier it is for us to die…

And the _Flying Dutchman_ hasn't fired its cannons and machine guns for a while now…"

Shigure was already on it, trying not to disturb Kasumi's wound as she wrapped the cable and hook underneath the arc of Kasumi's back, Umikaze allowing herself to act as a lookout as she talked to the light carriers.

Several times, Shigure either saw or heard Kasumi wince, but she didn't hear Kasumi cry out explicitly in pain even once, Shigure respecting the caustic Asashio-Class destroyer a little more for that.

And after tightening the steel cable in a knot around Kasumi's shoulder, the cable was to be wrapped around Kasumi's armpits like the straps of a backpack as Shigure was worried that if she used the cable to crisscross over Kasumi's wound, it would serve to exacerbate the injury and risk killing Kasumi outright.

But Kasumi motioned for Shigure to come closer, and when Shigure quickly leaned in to put her right ear next to Kasumi's mouth, she could hear the rarely-shown sweetness of the bitter destroyer as she addressed her Admiral, Kasumi smirking as she asked Shigure.

"If I don't make it back alive to tell him…

Tell my teammates to tell my _kuso_ Admiral… that if he wants to make it up to me…

When he repairs me, make sure to ask the Fairies to bump my cup size up a few letters…"

Kasumi's face hardened, and Shigure understood the wordless meaning conveyed in that look as she stood up, using the extra length of the cable and hook to wrap the cable around her waist and securing it with the steel hook.

She quickly ran back to Umikaze, looking down as she saw tears of fear streaking down Umikaze's eyes, Shigure reassuring her sister despite the odds being against them.

"It's alright, we'll make it out of this alive…"

But Umikaze wasn't convinced, shakily asking,

"What the hell is going on anymore, Shigure?"

But Shigure slowly picked her sister up, making sure not to disturb the wound that was the missing leg as she maintained her cool facade and replied.

"A new type of enemy that no one here is prepared for.

But we _will_ make it out of here to warn everyone about this."

Umikaze, upon being hoisted up in a bridal carry in her sister's arms, stayed silent while choosing believe in her sister's words as she closed her eyes in acceptance, nodding resignedly at Shigure's reassuring words.

But Shigure heard Kasumi's deadly cough as she tried to warn them about something, Shigure making out one chilling word.

" _M-M…_

 _Missiles…"_

Shigure whirled around to find small silos on the deck of the _Flying Dutchman_ being opened at the bow, deck and stern of the ship as Abyssals cleared the deck, Shigure's heart stopping as she put two and two together and felt all hope abandon her spirit and felt pangs of despair start to gnaw at her heart.

She saw the blinding ignition of the rocket boosters lighting up the vertical missile launching silos, throwing up columns of smoke that erupted from the mouth of the silos before the missile warheads emerged, the same eruption of smoke and blinding booster illumination lighting up the rest of the silos as a dozen missiles shot up into the air sequentially.

They left billowing smoke in their wake that dissipated within seconds instead of leaving a clearly identifiable trail of smoke behind them, something that would have been solved by the technologically advanced Abyssals, the bright and active exhaust boosters looking like a cluster of fireflies reaching for the heavens as they flew above the rain clouds on the journey towards their targets.

Shigure looked to Kasumi for advice, and she heard the desperation in Kasumi's feeble voice crying out in genuine concern.

"The cruisers…

Must… warn the cruisers…"

Shigure nodded as she made her way across the ocean with Umikaze in her arms while towing Kasumi, attempting to contact everyone on the emergency frequency and desperately calling out as she sailed against the rain and wind while looking down at Umikaze, who had curled up silently and was almost unconscious from the shock and trauma of recent events, her inexperience in dealing with these events and significant blood loss taking a toll on her.

"Shigure to everyone, do you read me?!

The left flank of the formation has been decimated by a gigantic Abyssal vessel of unknown capabilities!

The Abyssal aviation battleship, named _The Flying Dutchman,_ has fired several missiles into the sky, and are flying towards the vanguard of the formation.

 _All cruisers, perform evasive maneuvers!_

 _NOW!"_

Shigure could hear different voices start to talk on the radio, Shigure turning off the radio in her mind to prevent an overloading of information and questions in her mind that would only serve to distract her when she was still in point-blank range of the _Flying Dutchman_ , the aviation battleship choosing to stay enigmatically silent instead of trying to finish the destroyers off.

Perhaps it was preparing its cannons for the firefight later instead of wasting its shells in an attempt to pick off three measly destroyers that were already on the run.

And as Shigure saw the figures of Hiei, Haruna, Junyou and Hiyou in the center of the formation, her spirits raised as she finally thought that there was finally some hope of recovering from this disaster.

And the world decided to screw her over again with several bright flashes in the distance, where she assumed the cruisers were since she could see the bright trails of the rockets re-entering the battlefield, devastating the vanguard of the formation by illuminating the distance with bright, almost blinding explosions due to the missile warheads hitting either the ocean or the ship girls.

Shigure prayed it wasn't the latter as she squinted and shielded her eyes to avoid overloading her apertures with the sudden increase in light intensity.

Haruna was running towards them as best she could while carrying her heavy rigging on her after hearing about and witnessing the injured Kasumi being dragged on the ocean surface like a rag doll, one hand raised to shield her eyes from the glare of the missile detonations.

She looked to Shigure, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer shaking her head and stating in a demoralized manner.

"I'm sorry, Haruna-san.

Wakaba…

I…"

But Haruna patted her softly on the shoulder to reassure her just as she was about to burst into tears again, Shigure looking up to see Haruna's old and fatigued eyes reflecting her experience and wisdom, comforting Shigure.

"It's alright, Shigure.

You tried, and that's what counts, right?"

This sent a pang of guilt throughout Shigure's heart, the destroyer trying her best not to break down and start sobbing on the spot due to the sudden nature of Wakaba's death.

She knew that Haruna didn't know anything about the situation, but she couldn't help but feel bad that instead of trying to save Wakaba like Haruna thought, Shigure instead dived to the floor like a coward to avoid getting shot.

Haruna shifted her eyes over to the supine and dying Kasumi, the Asashio-Class destroyer bleeding out through her mouth in trying to get Haruna's attention.

And Haruna, despite carrying her cannons and her rigging, was somehow able to suddenly rush to her side in an instant as she leaned in to hear Kasumi's last words before she expired.

Shigure looked down at Haruna's surprised expression, the fast battleship's eyes widening upon hearing Kasumi's information before she lifted her head to look down at Kasumi.

Everyone could see the lights finally leave the Asashio-Class destroyer's dull and unfocused eyes as Haruna shook her softly as she tried to prevent Kasumi from dying, despite knowing full well that they could be revived later on.

"Kasumi?

 _Kasumi?!"_

And Shigure had to look away and down at her unconscious sister as the depressing message popped up on her HUD.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

ASASHIO-CLASS DESTROYER 090

"KASUMI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Hiyou approached them, and Shigure allowed the light carrier to carry the unconscious Umikaze, gently handing her sister over to Hiyou as she saw Haruna come up beside her, also holding Kasumi in a bridal carry as she politely asked Shigure,

"Shigure-san.

The cable."

Shigure blinked before nodding in acknowledgement, making sure that Hiyou had a good hold on her sister's unconscious body as she reached down to untangle the cable and hook that was tied around her waist.

Hiyou did her best to cradle Umikaze's head to allow her to breathe as Shigure noted that Kasumi had her eyes closed, Haruna likely closing them for her to allow her to look as if she had died in peace.

They all looked towards the silent aviation battleship as the darkness and rain camouflaged it somewhat, the neon blue stripes almost failing to light it up as the monolithic superstructure in the distance failed to betray any of its mysterious intentions as the spotlights were deactivated, Shigure trying to discern any signs of activity aboard the mysterious ship.

She finally uncoupled and untangled the cables that was wound around her waist, letting go of the hook so that the Fairies manning Kasumi's battle backpack could reel the cable back in.

Hiyou turned to Shigure, gravely informing.

"We've asked what was left of the vanguard to retreat and rendezvous at the right flank, where we'll be far away from the _Flying Dutchman_.

We should be out of its range, or at least at a distance where its cannons can't hit us easily due to the distance we put between us.

There, we can reassess our manpower and observe the _Flying Dutchman_ , determine our odds of winning and arrive at a consensus as to what our next move is, since not all of us are out of this fight yet."

Hiyou looked fatigued from having to deal with the weather, the Abyssals and the arrival of the _Flying Dutchman_ , looking back at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer as she continued.

"The _Flying Dutchman_ doesn't seem like it's going anywhere, but we don't know whether it'll attack us later.

And if it does, we'll be ready to cut our losses and retreat if we decide that it's the wisest course of action.

But on the bright side, the 3rd Fleet of Yokosuka's about five minutes away."

Shigure, lowering her head to shield her face from the bulk of the rain, nodded as she asked Hiyou and Haruna about one thing.

"This new Abyssal vessel…

Is this situation similar to when the world was introduced to the first Abyssal Princess?"

Hiyou and Haruna both looked at each other questioningly as they revved up the engines in their boat slippers, Haruna answering.

"According to the history books, it was a mess back then too.

Confusion, panic and mass retreats to get a better grasp of the situation."

Haruna's face darkened as she pointed out one last similarity that wasn't in the history books.

"It was omitted from the history books, but one thing that we all knew in the back of our mindss was the number of ship girls that were killed in droves and sunk upon engaging the Princesses for the first time."

Shigure nodded solemnly as she remembered the sunk Wakaba, the dead Kasumi and the unknown fates of the cruisers at the vanguard, having been devastated by the missiles and were now likely retreating.

Shigure sailed towards her comrades Junyou and Hiei, bitterly thinking about what might have happened had Hiei and Haruna fired on the _Flying Dutchman_ and saved Wakaba and Kasumi from their gruesome fates.

But she shook her head, closing her eyes to forbid herself from thinking like that, reminding herself that Hiei and Haruna were tasked with the responsibility of looking out for the entire Combined Fleet and had to provide cover fire in order to protect everyone on the battlefield.

There were only two of them, and the light carriers couldn't help out much as the stormy weather and heavy rain severely limited the range of their planes, only allowing them to scout out the enemy before they had to land their planes.

Wakaba was sunk almost immediately after the _Flying Dutchman_ appeared, and neither her help nor the battleships' cannon fire could have prevented that since the _Flying Dutchman_ temporarily threw off communication frequencies upon arriving.

The battleships probably wouldn't want to fire in their direction for fear of hitting them since they were so close to the _Flying Dutchman_ , and the only option was for them to wait for the destroyers to update them on what the heck was going on and giving them accurate coordinates before they could fire at anything.

Shigure could see the cruisers approaching the destroyers of the right flank that comprised of Ayanami, Oboro, Hibiki and Isuzu.

And by their looks, they had also been in one hell of a firefight.

Hibiki's uniform was stained red by her own blood and she was panting heavily as she laid in a supine position on the ocean surface, Ayanami using strips of her shredded uniform to bandage the Akatsuki-Class destroyer's wounds.

Isuzu was standing up proudly and had her head drooped down in a brooding stance, but the wounds that riddled her bloody body was enough proof of the struggles she had to endure, although she didn't seem as if she wanted to allow herself any rest and potentially let her guard down as she provided protection and kept watch over her surroundings with her assault rifles.

Oboro's rigging was smoking heavily, Shigure surmising that she had suffered an explosion or fire of sorts before her Fairies had extinguished it.

Some of her hair strands were smoldering, although it was likely to her benefit that it was raining as the fire that could have consumed her hair was instead put out by the heavy rain.

Seeing this macabre scene, Shigure wondered how lucky her fleet was to have survived their first engagement, thinking about the various factors that determined their past success and current failure.

Well, the storm would have complicated things, for one.

The storm made things difficult for them, and compromised the ability of the light carriers to summon and fly their planes, massively hindering them in battle.

Shigure's plan was another factor, and the fact that it went surprisingly well was another factor that likely contributed to their success.

Her being the flagship and getting lucky was probably one of them, but Shigure didn't like factoring luck into things, and eventually dismissed that contributing factor.

The final glaring factor was simply the intimidating and lethal presence of the _Flying Dutchman_ , Shigure wondering about the mysterious ship's capabilities.

Port side, and likely starboard side cannons that were capable of obliterating ship girls due to their life-sized shells?

Check.

Several dozen machine guns that emptied countless rounds at them, Shigure noting that the _Dutchman_ hadn't even used its myriad of Anti-Air Cannons yet, and how the Abyssal aviation battleship was likely capable of tearing apart swarms of fighter and bomber planes if they tried.

Check.

Some sort of newly-developed underwater Abyssal swarm with as-of-yet unknown capabilities, one of which was disrupting and prematurely detonating torpedoes before they reached anywhere close to the hull of the _Dutchman?_

Check.

Vertical Launching Systems installed on the entire deck of the battleship, and were capable of unleashing an entire barrage of missiles to easily hit targets that were located across the battlefield?

Check.

Being an aviation battleship, Shigure was sure that the _Dutchman_ was capable of sending out planes of its own, and if she dared to imagine, far more planes than what any aviation battleship in the world was capable of carrying.

Shigure was afraid to think of what else the _Flying Dutchman_ was capable of, personally wishing to simply cut their losses and retreat.

And when she raised her head to see what was left of the vanguard approach them, that notion was looking more and more appealing by the second.

Not all of the cruisers made it back.

And even those who did, didn't all come back in one piece.

Takao's entire left arm was conspicuously missing with only a bleeding stump remaining, and had second-degree burns on the left side of her face and left thigh as she limped forwards, supported by her sullen sister ship that had a smoking rigging and torn uniform.

Kitakami was crying as she carried Ooi in some sort of awkward sling by sliding her right arm underneath Ooi's left armpit, placing her right palm underneath Ooi's right armpit to support her sister ship's body and drag her along clumsily.

Shigure cringed as she saw that Ooi's back and legs were plagued with second to third degree burns, her uniform practically falling apart as the back of her uniform had been burnt off.

Her rigging had likely exploded and set her on fire, her head and arms drooping and lolling around lifelessly despite being in such close proximity to her crush.

Tenryuu was trying not to cry as she carried what was left of Tatsuta, a scorched upper half as Shigure noted that the missile must have blown her bottom half off and burnt her upper torso before the cruisers could recover her corpse.

She could tell from Tenryuu's guilty sideways glance that Tatsuta likely protected her from the worst of the explosion and succeeded, as Tenryuu didn't seem too injured save for some harsh burns.

Kinu, Naka and Tama weren't too injured, and they all had cables attached to their riggings as they pulled Suzuya, who looked as if she was sleeping while bleeding from her head and was half-submerged in the water, caught in the wake of the three light cruisers as her arms flopped around uselessly on the surface of the ocean.

None of them were talking to each other as they towed the unresponsive aviation cruiser towards the right flank, the atmosphere heavy and oppressive.

Shigure saw Kako walking towards her, and just before she saw the right fist flying towards her face, she could see the dull eyes of the heavy cruiser scream bloody murder.

She felt the fist connect with her cheek with a sharp _crack_ , a mean right hook that knocked her back and twisted her body as she hit the ocean surface, again unwillingly swallowing seawater as the world blurred and shook from the impact.

Shigure struggled to re-orientate herself as she felt her balance shift erratically, hearing muffled screams shouting for someone to stop, a white dressed ship girl standing before her and holding a protective hand out.

And as she received the update about the status of the cruisers in the Combined Fleet that had been devastated by the cutting-edge Abyssal technology, she couldn't blame them if some of them wanted to lash out at somebody, _anybody,_ to help direct their rage somewhere.

'UPDATING COMBINED FLEET SHIP GIRL STATUS

PLEASE WAIT…'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

TENRYUU-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 029

"TATSUTA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

KUMA-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 019

"OOI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

MOGAMI-CLASS AVIATION CRUISER 124

"SUZUYA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL SIGNAL LOST

AOBA-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER 120

"KINUGASA"

STATUS: SUNK'

Shigure could feel the numbness and pain of the punch dissipating, replaced by the sting of the cold raindrops hitting the wound and feeling a metallic copper taste in her mouth as she spat out blood, seeing the crimson-red fluid spread out in a turbulent flow as it sank and disappeared into the ocean.

Shigure's ears were slightly ringing as the heavy cruiser had thrown a mean right hook and had momentarily disorientated her, but she could pick out snippets of several enraged, confused and pained voices all trying to make themselves heard amidst the pandemonium that ensued.

" … _All your fault! Your formation…"_

"Hey!

Don't push the blame…"

" … Guys, we need to retreat from whatever the fuck…"

" … gonna get slaughtered out here…"

"I'm bleeding here…"

"We have to hold the line…"

" … the fuck's our _backup!"_

" … didn't have to punch her!

She tried her best…"

Shigure was slowly being overwhelmed by the voices that filled her shaken mind and ringing ears, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer futilely trying to shake her head to dispel the effect of the raised voices.

She liked to think of herself as a calm and analytical ship girl, but she was slowly losing her patience as the voices only seemed to increase in volume and echo in her mind as someone helped her up, Shigure finally resorting to giving everyone the harshest glare she could muster due to the fear of dying, the trauma of loss and pain, and the pressure of the losing battle getting to her as she shouted in an authoritative tone.

" _SHUT THE FUCK UP!"_

The Combined Fleet was silenced by the little destroyer's unnaturally harsh words as Shigure started pointing out the obvious to everyone while using her index finger to point at the most obvious threat that could end them all in an instant if it so desired.

"The enemy is positioned barely a hundred meters from us, readying its cannons to shoot at us and engage us in battle, and what you girls are doing here is playing the blame game?!

Sure, the formation sucked against the _Flying Dutchman_ , but no one even _knew_ of the Abyssal aviation battleship's existence before this!

The _Dutchman_ 's life-size shells hit harder than any one of our cannons, as Kasumi had almost been killed by a life-sized 14 cm shell blowing out her chest!

We don't even know what the aviation battleship is fully capable of, having disabled, killed and even sunk some of us!

Some of us here are bleeding out, and some of us are immobilized by our injuries!

So instead of trying to blame others for the lack of precognitive abilities to anticipate the appearance of an Abyssal warship, of all things, can we focus on making up our _fucking_ minds as to what we're going to do next?!"

Shigure was panting after that mini-rant, although she didn't feel bad about shouting at them.

She didn't like allowing her temper to flare up and have to resort to shouting in a conversation, but there was a time for peaceful talks, and a time where you simply had to be the most forceful ship girl in the discussion to get your point across.

Having a loud voice to out-shout everyone helped too.

Shigure's fists were trembling as she felt her knuckles and fingers go a little numb from the clenching and the frigid temperature, her heart a whirlpool of panicked emotions, not just from the very real threat of her teammates sinking, but from how the Combined Fleet was starting to fall apart due to internal conflict.

And if anyone sank because her teammates argued with each other, she didn't know how she was going to live it down if she didn't do her best to stop these arguments, lest they get out of hand and disrupt their teamwork when it really mattered.

It was tough enough, feeling animosity towards the Abyssals.

She couldn't imagine living while hating her fellow ship girls for committing fatal mistakes that they could have easily avoided.

Shigure felt that her face was now morphed into a scowl not unlike that of the late Kasumi, and was about to look away to try and relax her facial features, but Tama was the first one to speak up as she spoke to Kako in a caring and parental tone, pushing the heavy cruiser as she spoke.

"Kako-san!

Please apologize to Shigure-san, nya!

Without her warning, a lot more of us would've either been killed or sunk, nya!"

Kako, Shigure noted, now looked more exhausted than anything else, Shigure understanding that she lost her sister to the explosion of the missiles that likely hit the Aoba-Class heavy cruiser directly on the head if it did indeed sink her.

The grief and pain of the sudden loss would have pushed her temporarily over the edge and drove her to lash out at the first person she could blame for the loss of Kinugasa.

And she probably couldn't punch the Abyssals, who had either retreated or was sunk during the previous engagement.

Shigure could see the desolation in her eyes and almost felt the gaping hole in Kako's heart where her sister used to be, a result of her sister ship being taken from her so suddenly and leaving nothing but a vacuum of pain, anger and grief.

Her expression barely hid the pain and tears that she tried not to reveal to everyone, and had deflated upon accepting the cruel truth that she had just lost Kinugasa for good, as well as the shell-shock of being at the receiving end of a new and devastating Abyssal weapon.

Shigure heard Kako's genuine apology,

"I'm sorry for hitting you."

As well as a heartfelt and slow bow from the heavy cruiser, lowering her head to mask her tears that were clearly falling from the sides of her eyes, although it was well hidden by the rain that was still pouring down on them.

Shigure couldn't blame the heavy cruiser for what she did.

After losing her sister ship so suddenly in such a manner that was almost instantaneous, it must've been jarring to her.

And although Shigure felt the physical sting of the punch on her cheek slowly fading away, she knew that it was _nothing_ compared to the pain felt within Kako's heart that would likely last an eternity.

The armor of the skin did nothing to shield the ship girl's heart from the fallout of such a heavy loss.

She relaxed her stance as Kako stood back up, hanging her head as her long hair hid her tears, silently walking away from everyone while covering her face with her palms and wanting to be alone more than anything else.

She heard Junyou's panicked and uncomfortable voice asking out in a confused voice.

"Um, guys?

The 3rd Fleet is here, and it wants to know what to shoot at.

And if my bionic eyes aren't deceiving me, I think the gigantic pods on the deck of the battleship are moving."

Hiei, wearing a similar pained and tired scowl on her face, looked in the direction of the incoming 3rd Fleet as she directed, still being in charge of the Mikura Jima Island Defense Operation.

"Ship girls of the 3rd Fleet, there is an unknown Abyssal vessel named _The Flying Dutchman_ located to our extreme left.

It should be a giant red blip on your radar.

We're holding our position for now to assess the situation and consider the feasibility of continuing this operation, and we need you to cover us by firing at the _Flying Dutchman_ when it is within firing range _._

Do not, I repeat, do _not_ engage the Abyssal vessel in a close-quarters firefight, since we have no idea what it's capable of."

Shigure could hear the cannons of the Nagato-Class battleship Mutsu roaring in the distance, possessing the furthest range due to her large-caliber cannons as the shells hit the ocean around the _Flying Dutchman,_ her aim understandably thrown off due to the rough waves and heavy rain as only one of the shells hit the _Dutchman_ 's hull.

Junyou continued her observation while shielding her eyes with her hands, looking towards the _Flying Dutchman_ and noting.

"Got my night vision on since it's almost impossible to see a damn thing at this distance, even with my carrier-exclusive ultra-zoom function.

Thing's got two giant Abyssal mouths on the hull at its stern with large-ass teeth, I guess that's where the planes come from.

The height of the superstructure's pretty decent-sized, probably about 30 meters tall.

Can't tell in this damn rain, though…"

Shigure joined Junyou as they both looked at the shadowy ship in the distance, trying to determine its design by noting several distinguishing features about it and trying to detect a design flaw in the process.

Shigure's eyes weren't as powerful as Junyou's, and she had to resort to squinting in order to try and enhance the view of the Abyssal battleship while Junyou's specialized light carrier eyes could easily spot things from afar, continuing as Hiei came up behind her.

"Got some big-ass spotlights on the deck, and the huge-as-fuck pods finished moving around.

They've got two barrels sticking out of each of them, there's two pods on the deck of the bow and another two on the stern and _ohfuckme-"_

The world exploded into another dazzling flash of white, Shigure hearing shrieks of surprise and one of actual pain, Shigure instinctively shielding her eyes as she saw Junyou fall to the ocean while clutching at her eyes with her mouth open and mouthing a horrific scream that went unheard amidst the deafening cannon fire.

Shigure mentally recounted the five port side 35.6 cm Single Cannons sticking out of its hull that were ready to fire, as well as what she assumed was four 35.6 cm _Twin_ Cannons Mounts on the deck of the _Flying Dutchman_ aimed at them, not including the 14 cm Cannons on its port side.

That meant that there were _eight_ large-caliber cannons on deck along with the five large-caliber cannons on its port side hull, ready to annihilate them all.

Oh fuck.

Hiei threw herself in front of everyone, spread arms ready to defend everyone to the death as she screamed,

" _EVERYONE GET DOWN!"_

Haruna also used herself as a shield for her own teammates and pushed Kako away from the flood of light, the two Kongou-Class battleships firing back at the _Flying Dutchman_ with their large-caliber cannons without being able to actually locate the target as the spotlights were aimed at them.

Shigure, amidst the pouring rain and whistling of flying cannons shells, could see Junyou lying in a supine position on the ocean surface, totally exposed as she clutched feebly at her damaged eyes, tears streaking down her cheeks as her expression was seething from the pain of having five extremely bright spotlights being shone into her photosensitive night-vision enhanced eyes, the light carrier completely immobilized by the pain of the spotlights stunning her.

Having previously experienced the blinding effects of the attention-focusing spotlights, Shigure looked away from the intense flood of light that threatened to destroy her eyesight like it did for Junyou and shouted hurriedly to the few ship girls who were frozen on the spot by the spotlights and the sudden barrage of devastating cannon fire that held a new level of lethality.

" _RUN!_

 _DON'T GET HIT BY THE CANNON SHELLS AND RETREAT!"_

This was the needed push that snapped some of the shell-shocked cruisers and destroyers into motion, causing a bit of a stampede as the twenty-eight ship girls started retreating _en masse_ from the _Flying Dutchman_ as the aviation battleship continuously fired in a constant barrage.

The Abyssal shells hit a little too close to their position as they retreated, causing towering columns of water to be thrown up and soaking them all as the massive shells impacted the rough waves.

Shigure slid on the ocean floor and was right beside Junyou in an instant, trying her best to help her teammate up as she saw the retreating Hiyou glance back at her sister ship, the light carrier making sure to squint her eyes so as not to damage her eyes as she held Umikaze close to her body, clearly intent on protecting the destroyer to the end.

Shigure shouted to Hiyou as she slung a panicking Junyou over her left shoulder, desperately ordering for the name ship of the Hiyou-Class light carrier to call for backup.

"Call for backup!

Order to them to unload everything they have at the source of the spotlight, no matter where they are!"

Hiyou nodded, looking ahead as she screamed into the radio.

" _Backup Fleet, we're taking heavy fire from the enemy vessel!_

 _I don't care if you're still out of range, fire ALL your cannons at the source of the light right NOW!"_

Shigure, trying to put Junyou's weight on her back while trying her best not to expose her to the cannon shells headed towards them, heard the chorus of the 3rd Fleet's cannons going off in the distance before the _Flying Dutchman_ 's larger cannons sounded out again, almost forming a chain of continuous fire due to the sheer number of cannons that the _Flying_ _Dutchman_ possessed.

Shigure actually felt the breeze of a 35.6 cm cannon shell flying past her head and not even twenty centimeters from her face, and she could imagine the immense heat radiating off the surface of the shell and evaporating some of the tears and raindrops on her face as she jerked her head sideways to the left reflexively.

She barely heard Junyou's scream in her left ear as she felt her ears ring from the sonic boom, feeling thankful for the advanced noise-muffling technology installed in her ship girl ears, without which she'd be deaf by now.

She saw a wall of seawater being thrown up before her as the Abyssal shell hit the ocean at an unimaginable velocity, drenching the both of them as they sailed away from the _Flying Dutchman_ 's firing range while doing her best to ignore the depressing notifications that popped up on her HUD.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

KUMA-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 040

"TAMA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

TAKAO-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER 059

"TAKAO"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Shigure prayed that their corpses were towed or carried away by someone, as she didn't want to leave behind anyone in this mess…

Wait.

Where were Hiei and Haruna?

Shigure looked behind her just as the spotlights on the deck of the _Flying Dutchman_ went out again, plunging the entire world into pitch-black darkness as Shigure's eyes, having adapted to the intense light behind her, was now looking into a rainy abyss that her eyes hadn't adjusted to, and instead perceived it as an almost impenetrable darkness behind her.

Her heart stopped and she blanched as she remembered the two fast battleships that stayed behind to draw the fire and attention of the _Flying Dutchman_ , not unlike two aviation battleships that had sunk in a certain strait of Philippines while she had turned tail and ran like the coward that she thought herself to be and had regretted for the rest of her miserable life.

Shigure passed a trembling and sobbing Junyou, who was still clutching at her tear-streaked eyes and sobbing like a pained child would to a retreating Ayanami as Shigure turned back and charged into the fray without a second thought, ignoring Ayanami's screaming pleas as she started to think back on the massacre at Surigao Strait.

She didn't feel the shower of raindrops that hit her thoroughly soaked and bloodied uniform.

She didn't register the fear of instantaneous death awaiting her should she choose to re-engage in the doomed firefight.

She didn't hear the the whizzing of the various cannon shells that flew over her head and threatened to one-shot her.

She was observing epileptic flashes of light that erupted from the barrels of various battleships in the distance, all while mindlessly repeating a long-forgotten chant in her head as she blindly ran back into the firefight that was occurring in the abyss before her.

' _Not again…_

 _Never again…_

 _Never again…_

 _Never again…_

 _Never again… "_


	18. Chapter 18 - Death Match

An empty, rain-soaked Abyss before her.

That was what Shigure was looking at as she pushed her boat slippers to their limit to try and reach the two capital ships that were stuck in the heat of battle.

As to their identities…

The poor destroyer's mind was in a whirl as she tried not to let her morbid flashbacks to Surigao Strait try and confuse her.

However, she couldn't help but see eerie similarities in her fear and paranoia-driven mind as she tried to shield her face from the heavy rain and the cannon shells that flew past her at terrifying and outright lethal speeds.

The _Flying Dutchman_ had crossed their 'T' and was firing all thirteen large-caliber cannons at them in an attempt to wipe them all out, and that wasn't even counting the missiles it had launched to devastate the cruisers of the Combined Fleet.

Two of her battleship teammates that were Hiei and Haruna, albeit one being from another naval base, had been pinned down by enemy fire as they took it upon themselves to protect the fleeing Combined Fleet.

And what did she do in the meantime?

Run like the coward that she was before she stopped herself and ran back into the fray, driven more by her resolve to make it up to her fallen fleet mates that haunted her past than actually trying to accomplish anything.

Because if she knew anything, it was that there was nothing she could do to turn the tide of the battle, lucky ship or not.

But that wouldn't stop her from trying.

Oh no.

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer could now see two distinct silhouettes off in the distance, periodically illuminated by the incessant flaring of the _Dutchman_ 's 35.6 Cm cannons off in the distance as well as the harsh glow of the spotlights that were pointed at the duo, forcing Shigure to cover her eyes to even attempt to look in their direction.

Shigure had concluded that the searchlights from before hadn't exactly went out; Rather, when the ship girls had started running away from the battlefield while Hiei and Haruna stayed behind to cover their esacpe, the Abyssals had temporarily followed the bulk of escaping ship girls before changing their minds and instead trained their spotlights on the two Kongou-Class battleships before them.

Namely, Hiei and Haruna.

Shigure could see the flash of one of the Abyssal cannons going off, and the instant she registered the brilliant flash from its muzzle, she dived towards the ocean surface just as the 35.6 Cm large-caliber shell hit one of Haruna's cannon mounts and caused it to burst into a blinding fireball beside Haruna's left elbow, Shigure barely hearing Haruna's horrified scream as she shook the seawater out of her ears.

She felt the shell pass by her harmlessly as it created a deafening shock wave upon flying past her head, Shigure getting a little more used to these life-threatening experiences as she spat out the salty seawater in her mouth, pushing off of her feet to run towards the two battleships.

Hiei was the first one to notice her, partly because Hiei and Haruna were the only two ship girls who remained behind to distract the _Flying Dutchman_ due to their status as battleships and were the only ones whose armor stood a chance against the _Dutchman_ 's cannons.

The second was that Haruna was trying her best to snuff out the flames that erupted from her defunct cannon mount, the blaze threatening to engulf her bare skin as the raging flames licked her wet skin and tried to set her uniform on fire.

Hiei turned behind to attempt to look at Shigure, key word being _attempted_ , as Hiei's eyes and apertures were damaged after being forced to stare at the blinding spotlights despite having used her hands to try and shield her eyes, and also had to directly face the barrage of cannon fire as she shouted in Shigure's general direction.

"Shigure!

What the hell are you doing, get out of here!"

Shigure shook her head, almost possessed by her drive to protect her teammates as she shouted back,

"No!

I have to save you, Fuso…"

Shigure caught herself in time, hoping that Hiei didn't pick up on her slip of the tongue as she corrected herself immediately.

"I have to save you, Hiei!

I won't let you sink!"

Hiei shook her head, slowly sailing towards her as she tried to rub her eyes with the back of her hands as though she could bring back her eyesight by rubbing her eyes hard enough, trying to persuade Shigure as she positioned herself between the barrage of cannon fire and Shigure to protect the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"You're going to get blown to bits if you stand out here, you need to retreat!"

"Not without you two!"

Another shot rang out, Hiei and Shigure both flinching and ducking as another shell hit a little too close to their position, about twenty centimeters left of Hiei's position and threw up buckets of cold seawater that soaked the both of them as they brought up their arms to protect themselves as best they could.

Shigure held up her hand in an attempt to shield her eyes from the Abyssal spotlights, trying her best not to look directly at the source of the light for a chance to shoot out the spotlights when her internal programs had already estimated the positions of the spotlights on the deck of the _Flying Dutchman_ due to the orientation of the beams of light hitting them, having caught a glimpse the _Dutchman_ 's hull and putting two and two together.

She held up a 12 cm Single Gun Cannon in an admittedly pathetic attempt fire back at the _Flying Dutchman_ as she heard a fuming Hiei trying to make herself heard over the roar of the _Dutchman_ 's cannons, the Kongou-Class battleship leaning in to both shout at and shield Shigure.

"You can't do anything here!

The 3rd Fleet is already here to help us out, and no matter how hard you've trained, as you are now, you can't go up against an unknown enemy when you aren't even remodeled!"

Shigure wanted to argue with her, but a reverberating roar, sounding like a mix between a sharp, mechanical cry of a great leviathan and a loud ship horn drowned out the world with its intense volume as the world was once again shrouded in darkness, the Abyssals turning off the spotlights yet again to confuse them as the ocean around the _Flying Dutchman_ started to shift menacingly.

Shigure fared little better than Hiei as her eyes adjusted to help her see in the darkness, Hiei hardly reacting to being plunged into darkness as she had been overwhelmed by the sheer brilliance of the dreaded searchlights and was now pretty much blinded by them, only shifting her head a fraction as she prepared herself for the enemy's next move.

Although Shigure's eyes were now used to shifting between the eerie and rainy darkness and the incandescent glow of the searchlights that threatened to blind her, it was still extremely disorientating to try and get used to one extreme end of the spectrum amidst a heated battle, and be temporarily thrown off-kilter as her world was plunged into the other extreme in an instant.

Still hearing the slight echo of the _Dutchman_ 's monstrous roar, Shigure could see the oceanic behemoth throwing up massive waves and displacing the water beneath it as it attempted to submerge, the entire process being quite slow due to the sheer size of the aviation battleship.

Shigure could feel the already rough waves get agitated by the sudden intrusion of the aviation battleship, the waves now reaching almost 1.5 meters in height and were a bit more forceful as Shigure tried her best not to get flung onto the ocean floor as the _Flying Dutchman_ submerged and retracted its cannons.

But Shigure and Hiei detected the unexpected presence of enemy signatures in the area as Shigure and Hiei blanched, Hiei sailing back towards the smoking Haruna and attempting to warn her.

Shigure noted that Haruna was burnt by the now-extinguished cannon on her rigging, the few Fairies that had worn life vests and jumped off her rigging to escape the flames were quickly scooped up by the compassionate battleship as the other Fairies wore fire-retardant suits and were equipped with fire extinguishers and fire hoses to put out the remaining flames that plagued the rigging.

Shigure took a slight step back to observe the two Kongou Sisters, and found that they looked absolutely miserable.

Taking into account the fact that they had to contend with staring into the beams of several searchlights that eventually blinded them, they also had to withstand the impact of incoming cannon shells lest they hit their retreating teammates that were behind them.

They had to fire at an enemy that they could hardly see, and had to look right into the series of bright explosions that were caused by several large-caliber cannons going off sequentially to ensure a constant rate of fire.

Their uniform was in tatters and was pretty much unrecognizable due to the rain and blood ruining its appearance, and the battleships themselves were bruised in several places where their normally-flawless skin was marred by the blue-black bruises where the 35.6 Cm cannon rounds had hit them hard, some of the wounds having broken through their skin and caused them to bleed on their uniforms.

Haruna's left arm was charred, having suffered first to second-degree burns before her Fairies successfully put out the flames. Her hair was smoking as wisps of her long, cascading hair must've caught on fire, likely relying on the environmental downpour to put it out.

Both of them were exhausted, in pain, and looked pretty much defeated at this point in time, the only thing driving them on was the hope that their teammates could escape the battlefield safely as they both moved rather sluggishly despite their status as relatively nimble and fast battleships, their movements betraying the amount of damage they sustained as they struggled to talk to each other.

She could see the 3rd Fleet approach them on the radar, and Hiei looked in their general direction as she mustered whatever was left of her strength to command the 3rd Fleet and give her orders.

"The _Flying Dutchman_ seems to be retreating via submerging, but there are now Abyssals in the water!

Be careful, and be thorough when you try to take out as many of them as you can to ensure the safe escape of the Combined Fleet!"

Hiei exhaled sharply after that, her eyes dulled as she felt the physical strain of having to attract enemy cannon fire, especially when they were using life-sized large-caliber cannons.

Shigure estimated that the significantly larger shells would contain more kinetic energy, because even though it would be harder for them to get the shell to fire at the same velocity that the ship girl and Abyssal cannons could due to the drastic difference in size, when the life-sized shells traveled fast enough, they hit _hard._

Their cannons and ammunition had been downsized to allow them to be carried by ship girls of different classes, but no matter how hard they tried, the Fairies simply couldn't replicate the destructive power that the life-sized cannons possessed despite increasing their muzzle velocity due to the reduced size of the cannon shells.

But this was neither here nor there, as Shigure saw Hiei and Haruna tense up from the number of Abyssals that lurked underwater, Shigure mimicking their reaction of shock and genuine, unadulterated fear as Shigure identified no more than eight battleships, roughly fourteen light cruisers and heavy cruisers each and about a dozen destroyers surfacing.

They were all right underneath Hiei and Haruna.

And they were surfacing.

Hiei turned towards Shigure, screaming,

" _RUN!"_

Before a hand attached to a mechanical cannon shot out from the depths, an Abyssal Ri-Class heavy cruiser popping up from the ocean with a sick-looking cannon on her left arm to shoot Hiei.

Shigure didn't even think twice about launching her torpedoes, having done so reflexively out of a desperate desire to protect her teammate, Hiei understanding her move as she bent down to throw a punch at the Ri-Class's cannon, completely crushing the snout of the beast-shaped cannon and compromising the cannon's ability to fire.

This caused her to reconsider her situation as she was stuck within arm's reach of the fast battleship, while Shigure's torpedoes were streaking towards her as she attempted to dive back down into the safety of the abyss.

Hiei was a split second late as she tried to catch the retreating Ri-Class, her tired fingers barely scraping the smooth surface of the Abyssal skin before the Abyssal slipped from her grasp.

She _tsk_ ed under her breath and stumbled away from Shigure's incoming torpedoes to avoid succumbing to friendly fire while regrouping with her sister, using her status as flagship to order Shigure.

"Go!

 _Get out of here!_

 _That's an order as your flagship!"_

And that was when the world went to hell.

The Abyssals that were hiding underwater all surfaced at the same time, their cannons pointed at Hiei and Haruna as Shigure was forced to watch from the sidelines, frozen with shock at the very real possibility of losing her two battleship friends via Abyssal firing squad while she watched helplessly.

But the whistle of an incoming shell was barely enough warning for the Abyssals, a Ri-Class heavy cruiser instantly blown to smithereens as two large-caliber shells ripped into her body and cannons, punching through the Ri-Class with ease.

One of the shells, upon messily exiting her shoulder whilst carving a hole of gory destruction through the Ri-Class's upper torso and heart, likely caused the explosion that put down the Ri-Class for good as she sank in a flaming heap, the Abyssal failing to respond to such a quick execution by a powerful cannon.

The battlefield's attention was instantly drawn towards a figure standing in the distance, a towering ship girl that had two antennas sticking out of her headgear.

She was standing to the side of the Abyssals' formation such that while Hiei and Haruna were in front of them and Shigure was somewhere to their rear, this mystery battleship was standing to their left.

Her head was angled a little lower so that she could glower at them, her calm and cheery attitude washed away by the rain and leaving only bitter, smoldering resentment that was punctuated by her unnatural lack of words and a surfacing passion for combat that was usually well hidden as her clenched, white-gloved fists cracked menacingly.

Her cannons were all pointed at the Abyssals, and one of them had two smoking barrels that indicated its recent use in putting down the Abyssal heavy cruiser.

A flash of lightning lit her tall shadowy figure and headgear amidst the darkness and almost made her seem as if she were the devil, what with her imposing height, horned headgear and lean physique showing off her coiled muscles and legendary cannons.

And she wasn't alone.

Shigure could feel a chill down her spine, and almost swore that she was breaking out in a cold sweat as she saw Mutsu lead her fleet right into the Abyssals, who, for the most part, were also temporarily startled by the intimidating physique and unnaturally cold attitude of the Nagato-Class battleship before they attempted to point their cannons at her.

The members of the 3rd Fleet took advantage of this moment of hesitation to jump out of Mutsu's shadow and charge towards the Abyssals, attempting to take advantage of the assumption that the Abyssals wouldn't dare use their cannons and torpedoes in close range combat.

Shigure started to shout for the 3rd Fleet to watch out upon seeing some of the light cruisers and destroyers orientating their weapons in time to point them at the incoming 3rd Fleet, but she saw that Yukikaze, Ashigara and Haguro had stealthily launched their torpedoes beforehand and were merely trailing behind them, trying to draw attention away from them such that when the Abyssals actually noticed them, they'd hesitate out of indecision.

True enough, the Abyssals seemed to have noticed the incoming salvo of torpedoes, and unlike Shigure's which was aimed at only one Abyssal and could be dodged easily, this time, they were stuck in between the torpedo salvo and a silently furious Mutsu providing shelling support, two injured Kongou-Class fast battleships to one side and a lone destroyer to the other.

They _could_ try to fire their cannons at whomever presented itself as the easiest target, but they'd then risk getting hit by the incoming torpedoes, or they could dodge the entire salvo of torpedoes if they chose to react immediately.

The faster Abyssals attempted a crash dive in order to evade the torpedoes, the cruisers strafing towards her while the battleships lumbered towards Hiei and Haruna in an attempt to finish the job.

Shigure was frozen in place by the sheer number of Abyssals swarming her, before her survival instincts kicked into overdrive and she dived and swerved in an attempt to try and evade the cruisers that were zerg-rushing her.

She was too busy dodging the Ri and Ne-Class Abyssals' en masse charge to notice a few columns of water erupting from where the Abyssals were located previously, the crash-diving Abyssals having chosen wrongly and paid the price in blood.

As she thought back about her training, for a rookie, she considered herself pretty well-trained.

But there were two things training didn't prepare you for.

They didn't prepare her for a Lone-Ranger-esque stand-off against superior opponents and numbers, having mostly focused on team cooperation.

They also didn't prepare her for the overwhelming fear that overtook Shigure upon recounting her unpleasant memories of her previous life, and how it caused her to be on extreme ends of a spectrum.

From being frozen in place by either her flashbacks or her fear of loss and death, to simply reacting to everything without thinking, fueled entirely by her fear of getting killed and her mind being sent into overdrive thanks to the adrenaline coursing through her body.

Right now, it was the latter as she ducked underneath the barrels of the cannons that were swung at her head and strafed away from the Abyssals that tried to get a lock on her, her training sessions paying off as she wasn't completely worn out from having to constantly run all over the battlefield during a torrential downpour.

But reality finally kicked in as the twin-tail of one of the Ne-Class hit her abdomen in a tail swipe and knocked the wind out of her, Shigure failing to dodge in time because,

One, she was still a default ship girl and didn't have the option to boost-dodge, which if she had, might have given her an edge in this situation.

Two, the Ne-Class hid behind her teammates in order to launch a successful sneak attack on the mentally frayed destroyer, who was mindlessly evading and was entirely susceptible to unexpected attacks.

Shigure hit the ocean floor hard, feeling the all-too-familiar taste of seawater being mixed with the taste of rainwater in her mouth as she gasped, attempting to take in a gulp of air as she felt a throbbing pain in her stomach.

Her HUD indicated that she had sustained quite the contusion wound due to the Ne-Class slamming its twin-tail into Shigure, and the fact that Shigure had thoughtlessly charged into it.

Internal injuries weren't extensive, but there was a bit of internal bleeding that could be patched up by her body in due time.

The same couldn't be said for a cannon shell to the head.

Shigure realized that as a Ri-Class joined the Ne-Class who had attacked her, Shigure barely noting through her peripheral vision that some of the heavy cruisers had made their way towards Hiei and Haruna after the 3rd Fleet's torpedoes had passed by them in order to join the battleships in taking down the Kongou Sisters.

Shigure tried to get up and stop them, but only succeeding in rolling over on the ocean surface and coughing feebly and incessantly in an attempt to clear her throat and lungs, the stronger Ne-Class's tail slam having done more damage to her than she thought as the two heavy cruisers sailed right up to her.

They had their cannons armed and ready to execute her, their wispy eyes looking down at her and boring into her soul as she feebly brought her arm up in a pathetic attempt to defend herself from the inevitable salvo of cannon fire that would end her life.

She looked up at her executioners, at certain death that was what the cannon barrels promised her, and at the dark and gloomy rain clouds that blanketed the sky and caused the heavy ran as she reflected on her short life.

' _Ah,'_ Shigure thought.

' _How silly of me, and how arrogant of me to think that my presence would change things for the better, when I'm not even remodeled._

 _I suppose Hiei was right; my presence here changed absolutely_ nothing.

 _But I tried my best to make up for my sin of living and running, by fighting to the death for my teammates._

 _Now that I think about it…_

 _It's only natural that the world would punish me for thinking that I could rise above my own nature as a lucky coward._

 _It's what I deserve, right?_

 _Right?_

But Shigure didn't get to see the life-ending flash of the cannons muzzles, because the three of them were all distracted by a primal roar that promised nothing but pain before the quick deliverance of death to all enemies who were unfortunate enough to hear it.

The battle cry came from behind the Ne-Class, and whatever it was had the Ri and Ne-Class spooked enough that they brought their cannons up to point at the incoming threat, judging from the aggressive steps on the ocean that indicated intense running.

A loud burst of water being displaced was the trigger for the Ne and Ri-Class to start firing at the unknown threat that was currently out of Shigure's sight.

Ashigara came into view by drop-kicking the Ne-Class Abyssal, causing the Abyssal to fly back and slam into the Ri-Class as Shigure saw the airborne silhouette of Ashigara displace the two cruisers.

Shigure felt the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser land next to her after shifting her body in mid-air so hat she wouldn't land on the fallen destroyer, while Shigure noted a barrage of cover fire from another ship girl to cover the both of them.

Ashigara rolled over to cover Shigure with her body just as Haguro came into view, the incoming heavy cruiser choosing to manually wield two of her four 20.3 cm (No. 2) Twin Gun Cannons as she cycled between the four barrels of her handheld cannons, while the cannons that remained on her rigging provided additional cover fire.

The Ri and Ne-Class heavy cruisers got off of each other while doing their best to shrug off the cannon shells fired from Haguro's cannons, and the twin tails of the Ne-Class writhed around to try and provide cover fire as Ashigara manhandled Shigure back up to her feet whilst shouting into her ear, her expression furious and trying to be patient with the dazed destroyer that should have been anywhere but here.

"What are you doing here!

You should have retreated from the battlefield!

You're out of your depth here!"

But Shigure tried to shake her head to refute the point as she mumbled,

"No…

Have to save…

Can't abandon them…"

Ashigara looked back at the incoming horde of cruisers, forming a formidable fleet as they all sailed towards the ship girls and readied their cannons for the inevitable firefight.

She roughly shoved Shigure in Haguro's direction as she fearlessly charged into the fray, her eyes narrowing into predatory silts as her lithe body and coiled muscles propelled her forward along with her powerful boost-run, Haguro catching the listless Shigure before she fell and swallowed another mouthful of seawater yet again.

Shigure was pretty much exhausted by this point, thinking about all that had transpired and changed this inter-base operation into a massacre.

The never ending downpour that constantly rained down on them, soaking their clothes and made their lives miserable.

The _Flying Dutchman_ 's appearance, and how its weapons had mowed down Shigure's teammates so effortlessly while they had almost no idea of how to go up against it, much less think of defeating it.

The devastating barrage of missiles that, up until now, Shigure wasn't sure if such an advanced technology had been been used by the Abyssals, unless she missed out on a vital detail in her studies.

The arrival of Abyssal reinforcements, which Shigure theorized that the _Dutchman_ had some sort of technology that allowed the Abyssals to suit up and sortie from the _Flying Dutchman_ itself.

Right now, she was worn out after having to deal with all these extreme situations that no training could prepare her for.

Haguro, upon catching Shigure as best she could while still holding two handheld cannons in her hands, placed one cannon back on her rigging as she lost her professional composure in order to try and talk some sense into Shigure.

"Shigure-san, please retreat!

This is a massacre, and you need to go now!"

But Shigure, still unable to shake her dreaded flashbacks to Surigao Strait, and how history was going to repeat itself here, clutched the heavy cruiser's uniform as she started crying while looking up at her senior, pleading.

" _PLEASE!_

 _DON'T LET ANYONE DIE HERE!_

 _I WON'T ALLOW IT!"_

Haguro, connecting the dots as Shigure was a particularly infamous ship after having survived many naval battles, did her best to convince Shigure of their chances of victory and how Shigure's presence could unravel everything by using her 'patient and kind senior' tone to address the crying Shigure after coupling her handheld cannons to her rigging in order to free up her hands.

"Shigure-san, the _Flying Dutchman_ has submerged, and all we have to do now is wipe the floor with these Abyssals that it spawned before escaping.

Mutsu, Yukikaze and Amagi are taking care of the battleships that were headed for Hiei & Haruna as we speak.

Combining Mutsu's strength as one of the Big Seven and Yukikaze's high luck and strong stats, they can take them on.

But with you here, our fleet has to protect not two, but _three_ ships all at once!

You may not be damaged in any way, but you're fatigued, you possess neither the physical strength nor firepower to change the tide of the battle, and you're an emotional wreck due to your flashbacks.

Shigure, you really need to go now!"

Shigure crumpled onto the ocean surface upon hearing Haguro's harsh reality check, and despite understanding that her senior had the best intentions in mind, she was absolutely devastated.

Shigure covered her rain and tear-soaked face with her palms as she sobbed at her uselessness in this life-threatening situation.

Was she so useless in combat, such that she was doomed to watch her own friends sink while being powerless to change _anything_?

Was this how things were going to turn out for her in the future?

Because if that was so, then she'd rather die trying to change something _._

But what if that didn't work as well?

Then what was the point of being back in the first place?

Shigure looked up at Haguro, who still provided cover fire for Ashigara and Abukuma, the light cruiser joining the fight to even the odds in their favor.

She squinted in order to prevent the raindrops from hitting her eyes as she begged Haguro to do anything and everything to save her friends.

"Please…

Can you save my friends?"

Haguro looked down at the crying Shigure, understanding the poor destroyer's concerns as she bent down to help Shigure up, her patient tone doing wonders in trying to get Shigure back into action as a cannon on her rigging shot a Ri-Class heavy cruiser, the Abyssal's head popping like a bloody balloon as soon as the shell made contact with the Abyssal's head and put her out of action for good.

"It's alright.

There are no guarantees in life, but I can promise you one thing.

Once we're done here, we'll go and back up the rest of the 3rd Fleet and the Kongou-Class battleships.

We'll do everything in my power to ensure the best possible outcome for everyone."

And amidst her tears of despair and her fearful, trembling hands that were held by the heavy cruiser, Shigure could see that Haguro had taken on a hardened and seasoned demeanor that was borne from countless battles and sorties that had trained up her battle senses and techniques to an extent that was deserving of a Kai Ni.

Shigure could feel the air around the heavy cruiser changing as Haguro unhanded Shigure and uncoupled her cannon to dual-wield her 20.3 cm (No. 2) Cannons as she looked down at Shigure with a mature and gentle aura, not unlike a mother who was determined to protect her children no matter what as she commanded.

"Well, asking you to retreat now won't do us any good, since they may target you after you've put some distance between us.

And if that happens, everyone would be too far away to reach you in time.

Stick close to me, and don't get caught in the sights of any Abyssals, alright?"

Shigure thought about how Haguro's skills and Kai Ni status had to be earned through painstaking hard work, and how someone like her was better suited to fight these one sided battles, unlike Shigure who needed the help of her fleet to accomplish even a fraction of what she could do.

She allowed herself to believe in her senior as she quickly wiped away her tears, trying her best to make sure that her lightning rod didn't accidentally poke Haguro's eye out as she mustered up what was left of her strength to give her a firm nod.

Haguro seemed satisfied with Shigure's determination as her eyes sharpened while looking at Ashigara and Abukuma's tag-team combat.

Shigure, looking at the two members of the 3rd Fleet off in the distance, could see that even though they were clearly outnumbered, the Abyssals were clearly outmatched as Ashigara and Abukuma were tearing through any Abyssals that were unfortunate enough to be caught within melee range.

Ashigara was the more aggressive ship girl of the duo, shouting her _kiai_ upon throwing a strike and preferring to utilize physical attacks in order to bring down the Abyssals, Shigure looking up in time to catch her forming a flat blade with her right palm and driving it with extreme force into the throat of a Ri-Class, causing the Ri-Class's trachea to be instantly crushed by the move as the Abyssal stumbled back while clutching at her throat.

The Ri-Class's face was wrought with pain as the poor Abyssal tried to heave and cough in an attempt to clear her throat as Ashigara turned away, having a cannon positioned such that she could focus on another Abyssal while her cannons finished off the injured Abyssals.

The barrel of the 20.3 Cm cannon roared and emptied a shell into the skull of the helpless Ri-Class as Ashigara had already moved onto the next Abyssal that was slowly inching away from her, fearing the Myoukou-Class's killing intent that emaciated from her pores as Ashigara's feral eyes betrayed her intent to take no prisoners.

The heavy cruiser was now fully committed to the battle, a bloodthirsty aura blanketing her and reaching out towards the Abyssal cruisers that warily kept their distance in a semi-circle formation.

As they tried to fire at the terrifying ship girl standing before them, a few of their legs suddenly blew up from an entire salvo of torpedoes being unloaded by Abukuma, the light cruiser having used the heavy cruiser's flashy and deadly fighting style to draw the attention of the Abyssals as she snuck around and unleashed a torpedo salvo.

A few Abyssals cried out at the surprise attack, but one of the Abyssal light cruisers, a Tsu-Class, was close enough to the light cruiser and tried to reach out menacingly towards her after recovering from the initial shock of the attack.

The Tsu-Class Abyssal had four mounted weapons on her enlarged arms, with two 5 Inch Twin Gun mounts on her left arm, her right arm possessing the same Twin Gun mount on her shoulder while a Triple Torpedo Mount replaced the gun mount that was supposed to be on her right forearm.

Her uniform wasn't exactly modest by any stretch, but it covered little more than the Ri-Class's uniform as it was made of a shredded black tank top and an equally black mini skirt. She had the Abyssal's signature black color on a thigh-high that was riding up her left leg, and she had some sort of dark high collar protecting her neck as it contrasted with her pale skin.

Her helmet was somewhat similar to that of the Ho-Class, covering most of the face's features and provided adequate protection to her skull. And in true Abyssal fashion, Shigure could see that the back of the Tsu-Class's helmet was connected to something on her back via a thick black cable.

But what was most intimidating about the Tsu-Class wasn't any of the listed traits.

It was her unnaturally gigantic, gloved hands that seemed fully capable of crushing any ship girl that was caught in her grasp, as Shigure was about to bear witness to.

Shigure, running behind Haguro while trying her best not to get shot at by any Abyssals, raised her handheld cannon to try and stave off the inevitable as Abukuma tried to boost-dodge out of the Tsu-Class's reach.

Two shots rang out from in front of Shigure, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's attention being diverted as she saw two small plumes of smoke wafting from Haguro's cannon and saw that the heavy cruiser was still running towards the duo, her cannons whirring as they moved into position to fire at the Abyssal cruiser.

The Tsu-Class was hit on her upper left turret and right collarbone, the impact of the shell causing a small explosion where her cannon was as she was forced to shield herself with her large, deformed hands while stumbling back, creating some space for Abukuma to safely boost away and granting Haguro a straight path towards the enemy.

Shigure could see the Tsu-Class already recovering from the shot, being significantly stronger than most Abyssal light cruisers as she saw the cannons on her uninjured arm point towards her, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer diving to the ocean surface in order to evade the Tsu-Class's aim.

She worried about the charging Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser that likely couldn't dodge due to the speed at which she traveled at and the fact that compared to Shigure, Haguro was pretty much within point-blank range of the Tsu-Class's cannons, making things very difficult for her indeed.

But what the heavy cruiser did next surprised her.

After spitting out the the familiar-tasting seawater from her mouth and looking up towards her senior, concerned for her safety in the face of adversity, she was instead greeted with the sight of the heavy cruiser suddenly spinning like a top to throw off the aim of the Tsu-Class while firing her own cannons.

Shigure was bewildered by the demure heavy cruiser's fighting style that worked to devastating effect as Haguro kept track of the shells fired at her, using her feet to push herself in different directions and alternate swiftly between clockwise and counterclockwise rotations as she fired her cannons and even emptied a few torpedoes at the crowd of Abyssals.

She saw that Haguro didn't even need to look at some of the enemies to hit them with her cannon, which helped her out a lot as she could blind-fire in every direction all at once, sometimes scoring critical hits and forcing the Abyssals to evade her shots and keep moving.

The Tsu-Class was quickly cut down upon three shells being emptied into her upper torso and helmet despite her best attempts to block the experienced heavy cruiser's shells, causing the Tsu-Class to crumple onto the ocean as Haguro blitzed past her as she engaged the rest of the Abyssals in close-quarters combat whilst strafing and spinning.

Shigure tried her best to push herself up and keep moving so as not to paint herself as an easy target for any Abyssals that might still be lurking within the depths, feeling the lightning rod weigh her down somewhat as she saw what the 3rd Fleet was truly capable of.

Shigure was awed by the spectacle of the three ship girls before her flawlessly cooperating with each other to take down the crowd of Abyssals that were unprepared for the sudden aggression, although to their credit, the Abyssals did try to take advantage of their superior numbers in order to overwhelm them.

Haguro continued pirouetting like a professional ballerina, occasionally lowering her height as she bent her knees to spin even faster and evade some of the shots that were aimed at her head as she continued firing everywhere, skilfully avoiding friendly fire due to her enhanced situational awareness as her teammates went to town on the heavy cruisers.

Ashigara continued shouting passionately as she charged towards the Ho-Class and Ri-Class Abyssals that opened fire on her.

The Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser, upon easily noting the trajectory of the shells after having been through so many battles, shifted her body so that she would avoid the more lethal shots as she allowed the shells to hit her and push her further into an uncontrollable rage, throwing her rain-and-blood-soaked body at the crowd of panicking Abyssals, her face contorted in an expression of unholy rage as she screamed at them.

Abukuma was doing her best to provide cover fire as she skirted around the battlefield so as not to get in the way of the more experienced Myoukou-Class warships.

She restrained herself from using torpedoes as they could accidentally hit her teammates, and Shigure noted that she often used them to isolate certain Abyssals as they were often forced to dodge the deadly little underwater projectiles.

But that didn't mean that the ship girls got off scot-free from engaging so many Abyssals at the same time.

Eventually, some of the pot shots that were fired from the cannons of the Abyssals had to hit the ship girls due to their vast numbers.

And they did.

Ashigara drew their attention with her fierce and flashy fighting style, and it was no surprise that the Abyssals focused her down as she tried her best to melee all of them to death while shooting at others with her rigging cannons.

But the sheer number of Abyssals that she attracted also worked against her as one of the Ri-Class Abyssals managed to sneak past her defense, weathering the shells fired from the cannons of Abukuma and Haguro as she wrapped her clumsy cannon arms around the right wing of Ashigara's rigging and broke it off at the joint to allow her comrades to stand a better chance against the heavy cruiser.

Ashigara was too preoccupied to respond, and upon the Ri-Class breaking off part of her rigging with a heave, she stumbled due to the force of the action pulling her back and taking her by surprise.

The Ri-Class, upon seeing an opening, immediately dropped the inactive rigging in her hands as Shigure saw the Fairies manning the turrets and the rigging abandon ship and jump into the ocean with their life vests on them, the Ri-Class having readied its cannon to fire at the Myoukou-Class's torso at point-blank range.

But as Shigure tried to intervene with some cover fire, she saw an orange blur come in quickly as Abukuma boost-charged towards the Ri-Class Abyssal's rear as she performed a lariat take-down from behind, forming a hook with her left arm and hooking it around the back of the Ri-Class's neck as she swung her legs forward to throw the Ri-Class off balance and was projected to land on her back.

The Ri-Class was too occupied with trying to take out the deadlier threat in front of her to notice the light cruiser behind her, and was thus indeed caught off-guard by Abukuma's surprise move as she fell flat on her face and her cannon shot went wide.

Ashigara looked relieved at the light cruiser's timely intervention, and as the light cruiser rolled off of the prone Abyssal, Ashigara raised her left leg to bring up the sharp underside of her boat slipper and brought it down on the back of the Ri-Class's skull with a vengeance.

This immediately killed the Ri-Class with a curb stomp, the Ri-Class's skull breaking apart like a dropped porcelain bowl from the impact and Shigure looking away in time to avoid looking at the gruesome sight of an Abyssal's brains spill out of its shattered skull and watch the fluids within it pollute the surrounding seawater as the fight continued.

Haguro was weaving in between several Abyssals, so when one of them was training their sights on her, she would spin around and take cover behind another Abyssal, using their superior numbers to her advantage as they wouldn't want to accidentally fire at each other, giving her the chance to maneuver in between them and avoided their threatening arms that reached out and attempted to grab her as she emptied her cannons and torpedoes into them at point-blank range.

And all of a sudden, Shigure could see Abukuma take note of something behind her, Haguro positioning a 20.3 cm (No. 2) cannons underneath her left armpit and pointed at Shigure as she whipped her head around to see the unhinged jaw of an Abyssal I-Class fly towards her in mid-jump.

Shigure's eyes widened, frozen in place by the surprise attack that came from her blind spot while she was too tired and too engrossed in watching the 3rd Fleet's fight to pay attention to her surroundings, taken completely off-guard.

She was still running on adrenaline, and was thus able to take in the details of the I-Class and see that Yukikaze's torpedoes had utterly destroyed the armor that previously shielded its right flank, allowing Shigure the chance to see some of its innards, a few stray wires jutting out of its flank, spider-web cracks plaguing the entire shell as the I-Class Abyssal looked barely functional, and yet looked ever so determined to drag one ship girl down with it into the afterlife.

It had already bled out a little while sneaking around to get the jump on Shigure, and one of its ghostly green eyes were inactive, likely because the vital cables that previously led to the I-Class's left optics were now destroyed and rendered it unable to see out of one eye.

Shigure was a second late to react as she tried to strafe and dodge the I-Class, which had misjudged its jumping arc due to its lack of binocular vision and was a little too low in its projected trajectory, but even Shigure could tell that the I-Class was going to shoot its cannon shell into Shigure's upper torso after angling itself correctly as it flew towards her, before ramming itself into Shigure's abdomen and detonating whatever torpedoes it had left to sink Shigure.

But it was not meant to be as another shell rang out from behind Shigure and destroyed the I-Class, Shigure getting a front row seat to watch the I-Class get killed, noting that the 20.3 cm shell crushed the I-Class's shell as it impacted the destroyer's snout and annihilated whatever was inside.

Shigure could see some electronics parts flying apart, tainted by the blood that flowed within the Abyssal's body as Shigure saw the mushy insides of the I-Class destroyer get crushed by the high velocity shell impacting it as it made its way down the I-Class's tubular body.

The I-Class's guts were simply eviscerated as the shell punched through the poor Abyssal, the I-Class's intestines messily blown out by the bloody shell as a small explosion was caused by the shell hitting the propulsion system that was located at the rear of the Abyssal's body.

This caused Shigure to shield her eyes from the point-blank explosion as she felt the Abyssal's guts, blood and fuel get spilled on her as Shigure fell back, the explosion knocking her back a little as felt some steel shrapnel superficially pierce the skin of her palms and forearms as she hit the ocean.

Shigure could feel some of the residual heat warm up her skin as she felt the lightning rod and her backpack submerging yet again, thankful that these riggings were water-proofed to some extent and silently apologized to the Fairies that were manning her backpack as she tried to recover quickly by pushing herself up.

Again.

She wiped the mess of fluids off of her face as she felt the oily feel of fuel and the slippery texture of blood on her skin, looking at the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser that had saved her life with a blind-fired shell, something that she surmised was an ability of hers due to her heightened situational awareness.

Abukuma had her cannon raised, but she hadn't fired as the barrel of her 14 Cm Single Gun Cannon wasn't smoking, and she was looking back at the fighting Haguro incredulously as she tried to close the distance between herself and the bloody destroyer whilst speaking up in her trademark high-pitched voice, now tense with concern as she tried to cover Shigure and the Myoukou-Class heavy cruisers as she got closer to her.

"Shigure-chan!

Are you alright?!"

Shigure shouted out in a sort of voice that didn't resemble any particular word, but still conveyed the basic concept of agreement as she met up with Abukuma halfway, seeing that the light cruiser had sustained a bit of damage after participating in such a fierce close-quarters firefight despite her Kai remodel.

Abukuma looked back at Shigure as she panted, her hair drenched and parts of her uniform either shredded or stained with blood, most of it the Abyssals', shifting around in her sailor uniform as she raised her voice in a way that made herself heard over the cannon fire.

"What were you thinking, coming back here?!

You're exhausted, and we can't guarantee your survival out here!"

Shigure shook her head frantically as she tried her best to convey her intentions in coming back as she shivered from the cold, the rain and the numerous dunks into the water finally getting to her as she failed to stop the trembling.

"I want to save Hiei and Haruna!

I won't leave them behind while I run from the battle!

I can still fight!"

But Abukuma bent down, her coiled muscles still ready to react to any enemy interference as she tried to talk to Shigure in a patient tone, understanding that the destroyer was haunted by her past, and wanted to help everyone even if she had to risk her own life due to her deep-seated survivor's guilt.

"Shigure, you've done well.

You survived the _Dutchman_ 's cannon fire at point-blank range, and did your best to save two of your teammates.

But right now, you're out of your depth, and you need to rely on us to fight the battles that you can't win.

Can you do that?

Can you believe in us, Shigure?"

Shigure wanted to retort, but she looked at the determined light cruiser's eyes that begged her to believe in them, her eyes being those of someone who understood since she was one of the warships that had fought with her, had sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and knew all too well of her traumatizing losses.

And this somewhat personal connection to her past was what finally convinced her to try and let her teammates take over the battle instead of running around like a headless chicken, shooting Abyssals with her pathetic cannons, being too mentally fatigued to make a difference and basically being a burden to everyone the longer she stayed on the battlefield.

Shigure's shoulders slumped as her spirit exited her body through her exhaled breath, finally allowing the mental fatigue to set in as she felt the weight of the unexpectedly bloody battle soak in, morbidly remembering the ship girls that had fallen today.

Wakaba, with her upper torso and head sheared clean off by the live-sized 35.6 Cm cannon shell that was fired at point-blank range.

Kasumi, who had died trying to protect Shigure and her sister Umikaze from the machine gun barrage.

Umikaze, who had lost a leg in the firefight and had probably passed out from exsanguination due to her missing leg, courtesy of the _Flying Dutchman_.

Kinugasa, who had likely protected her sister ship from a descending missile meant for Kako, was killed on the spot and sunk.

Junyou, Tatsuta and Ooi, who had been either disabled or killed by the Abyssal vessel's equipment.

And although Shigure knew that they would be revived or healed over time, that didn't make her feel any better due to the fact that most of them were still dead.

And Hiei…

Abukuma looked towards where Hiei was, the rain letting up a little and allowing Shigure to see the few ship girls engaged in battle off in the distance, spotting the colossal Mutsu using hand-to-hand combat techniques and her cannons at close range to finish off any battleships, Yukikaze firing her torpedoes while keeping her distance from the stronger Abyssals.

Shigure's spirit was raised as she saw Hiei fight on with a vigor that she hadn't seen before in the Kongou-Class battleship, the closest being their first sortie where she was pissed off because Junyou was seriously injured as a result of the Abyssal battleships firing at her.

But seeing the carrier of the 3rd Fleet carry the final ship girl in her hands was what connected the dots in Shigure's mind, her spirit dropping again upon seeing the limp body of Haruna being cared for by the Unryu-Class carrier as she remained behind the iron wall that was Mutsu.

Amagi kept watch as she dragged the fast battleship around while Haruna, much like Suzuya, was partially submerged underwater as Amagi had a thick cable leading from Haruna's rigging and was tied around Amagi's waist to prevent her from potentially sinking.

Shigure saw Hiei fight on with an unbridled fury, ignoring her own injuries and fatigue as she punched out a Ta-Class battleship, the Abyssal's skull being displaced by Hiei's clenched fist as the fast battleship was being driven more by her incensed passion than her objective.

Shigure was already running towards her in order to help her out, already defying Abukuma's order to retreat and instead was jumping from the fire into the inferno by running towards the stronger Abyssals, completely oblivious to her surroundings due to her fear of being unable to help her teammate when she needed it and Hiei paying the price with her life.

She could see that the Kongou-Class battleship was already pretty much defeated and exhausted, but allowing herself to succumb to her injuries and fatigue was tantamount to giving in to despair as Shigure could see her teammate's expression carrying the burden of being responsible for the deaths and sinking of her fellow ship girls, having failed her own team as a flagship and letting her sister down by allowing her to get knocked out by the Abyssals.

And the fact that the Abyssals were taking advantage of her blindness and ganging up on her was something that hurt her deeply.

No, Shigure thought.

She had to prevent history from repeating itself by helping out the battleship that was her friend, lest she fall in battle while Shigure stood by and watched.

Her life wasn't even that important to her at this point, tuning out the battle that was being fought, the stormy weather and thunderous lightning that flashed overhead and brought forth the rain in an attempt to dampen her spirits, and the rough waves that tried to resist her progress as she blindly ran towards her teammate.

Shigure wanted to help her out and remind her that not all was lost, ignoring the predatory looks that the Abyssals all gave her as they saw her as the chink in the ship girl's defensive formation, the destroyer too blinded by her own personal trauma and was too mentally fatigued to pay attention to her surroundings as some of the battleships turned to swarm her.

Everyone blanched as Shigure froze up from the Abyssals trying to beat her to death, knowing that she was no threat and would instead serve to unravel the 3rd Fleet's defense as they shot at Abukuma, forcing the light cruiser to keep her distance as the Ta and Ru-Class battleships surrounded her.

Shigure could see that some of the Ru-Class battleships had lost their cannon columns and were bleeding from wounds inflicted by Mutsu, while most of the Ta-Class battleships were unscathed save for a few bruises, being fast and were thus able to dodge the slower Mutsu's strikes and only having to contend with Hiei and Yukikaze for the most part.

Shigure saw that her situation went from bad to worse, but the sight of the Abyssals leaving Hiei was enough to convince her that this was instead a blessing in disguise as she backed up a little to draw them away from everyone.

One of the Ta-Class battleships lunged out and grabbed her by the left forearm as she tried to frantically twist her arm out of the stronger Abyssal's grip, feeling whatever warmth that was left in her body get snuffed out as she felt the icy fingers of the Ta-Class wrap around her wrist and firmly held her in place.

The Ru-Class's incoming right hook hurt more than Shigure thought it would, and that was after she felt Kako's hard fist hitting her, a battleship's strength being on another level as she felt her neck creak ominously from her head snapping to the right so suddenly, the cold sting of the blow hitting her like a rough wave a split second after the initial impact.

The Ta-Class that had her hand on Shigure's wrist then followed up with a fast swing to Shigure's gut and knocked the wind out of her lungs, the destroyer doubling over and feeling someone's knee hit her in the sides as she fell onto the ocean, feeling her lightning rod slap the surface of the ocean for the umpteenth time.

Shigure was reeling from the Ta-Class's gut punch as she clutched at her stomach and heaved in an attempt to try and breathe in a lungful of air.

She then felt one of the Abyssals pull her hand away and exposed her body to a Ru-Class who straddled her while sitting on her diaphragm and started pounding on her face, Shigure feeling her nose break from the Ru-Class's swings and tasted a bit of her own blood that was flowing from her nose.

Now that the Ru-Class was so close to her, she could see that the Ru-Class had been shot at about half a dozen times and was significantly weakened due to the previous battle with the 3rd Fleet, Shigure hoping that if she was to sink, she didn't have to die an even slower death than what she was currently subjected to if the Ru-Class couldn't hit with all her might due to her injuries.

She saw the Ru-Class alternate between both arms as she pulled back her left fist this time and feeling her ribs creak ominously as a result of the Ru-Class sitting on her.

Shigure could see the ship girls on her radar desperately try to break through the barrier that had been formed by some of the battleships around Shigure, afraid to shoot into the crowd in case the Abyssals were twisted enough to use Shigure's body as a human shield to block the incoming shots.

She couldn't breathe in from her nose anymore, and tried to gulp in some air from her mouth as she tasted the rainwater on her bloody tongue, noting that a second Ta-Class was lifting up her foot to bring down on Shigure's stomach as her face was thrown to the right by the Ru-Class's right hook.

Shigure felt the stone-cold steel edge of the Ta-Class's shoe impact her on her stomach, causing her to cough up blood due to the strength of the Ta-Class's downward stomp on her bruised abdomen despite being a fair bit weaker than the Ru-Class, Shigure getting a notification that she was dangerously close to sustaining fatal damage and it was possible that she could die soon.

Although seeing the unnatural yet passionate viciousness of the Ru-Class's punches and Ta-Class's kicks, she was sure that 'soon' was actually going to come a lot sooner than what the CPU in her mind had predicted.

She was somewhat blinded by the _Dutchman_ 's searchlights prior to this, had previously sustained a bit of damage due to running into the Ne-Class's twin-tailed slam and was now being slowly killed by the Abyssals via a relentless beat-down.

But compared to all the ship girls that had suffered, died and sunk around her while she came out relatively unscathed, this was justified penance, right?

She thought about the Combined Fleet that had safely escaped, slowly losing the feeling in her face as her body started to shut down from the Abyssals' beatings.

She had done her best to try and help everyone out, and despite her current self being absolutely useless in a battle that was this intense and prolonged, she did try her best to prevent others from sinking as she attracted the aggression of the stronger Abyssals and took some of the heat off of Hiei.

' _Well, I did my best._

 _I'm going to sink anyway, but after seeing Hiei get less hurt as the Abyssals came after me, I'm happy that she probably isn't going to die now.'_

At least, she thought, as happy as she could be with an Abyssal Ru-Class doing her best to make her face cave in and splatter her brains all over the ocean.

' _I can't face Akashi-san after this, since I essentially used myself as bait to distract the Abyssals, and she'd be beyond pissed because I risked myself so needlessly._

 _And I wanted everyone to take the chance to abandon me and flee the battlefield; It'd almost be poetic if that happens._ '

Shigure thought about the Nishimura Fleet and the Fast Response Fleet as she felt her palm get crushed by the heel of another Ru-Class, who brought down her heel and drove it in between the bones between her middle and ring finger as blood gushed out of the wound, the aggressive Ru-Class grinding her heel into the wound and sending up sharp jolts of pain that now barely registered in her lucid mind.

' _I'm sorry for throwing my life away like this, everyone._

 _But I felt so bad, abandoning everyone yet again as they died behind me._

 _I thought that all it took was some time with my newfound friends to put the past behind me, but it seems that I needed more time to heal..._

 _All it took was a sortie to go wrong, a few teammates to get in trouble as I ran away, and everything comes flooding back into my mind as though I were remembering a nightmare, and I almost drive myself insane trying to defend everyone._

 _I just wanted to make it up to everyone that died and sank because of this worthless little destroyer's cowardice, and do my part in protecting my current teammates, even if it costs me my life._

 _I deserve all this pain…_

 _Looks like this is it for me…_

 _Admiral, everyone…_

 _Goodbye…"_

But Shigure could now hear the infernal roar of someone's voice, the Abyssals' attention now focused on the incoming threat as they immediately let go of Shigure and tried to stop the juggernaut that was the fast battleship Hiei carving a path through the Abyssal battleships, who were no slouches themselves as they tried to halt her assault.

Shigure, feeling that her neck was pretty much non-functional, pretty much ignored the HUD's warning of her body sustaining major damage as she used what was left of her peripheral vision to try and see what the commotion was about.

She could see the golden gleam on the head of the Kongou-Class battleship as a peal of thunder passed overhead, illuminating Hiei's bloody headdress as she blindly punched, kicked and shoved her way towards Shigure, Mutsu's towering figure right behind her with her cannons blazing to force the Abyssals to get out of the way, or else.

Ashigara, Haguro and Abukuma came in from another front to back up the battleships, likely having wiped out the light and heavy cruisers with their impressive slew of abilities and techniques.

Shigure's bloodshot eyes widened, and although she could feel a splitting headache coming on as a result of her cracked skull, she tried to crane her neck as best she could to watch her teammates tear through the crowd with the intent of saving her.

Shigure was justifiably confused about this, her mind starting to blur as she felt water start to leak into her body, held back by the ever so hardworking Fairies that tried to repair her body as she felt the water line rising millimeter by millimeter.

She thought to herself,

' _No…_

 _Why are you all coming back for me?_

 _You all should have run while I distracted them…"_

Hiei shoved the Ru-Class off of Shigure's chest and furiously emptied her cannon shells into the torso of the Ru-Class battleship, her eyes seething with nothing but hatred and malice for the Abyssal that had nearly killed her teammate, saving the last cannon shell for a point-blank shot to the Ru-Class's skull as she stood above the fallen Abyssal, Shigure looking at Hiei's unflinching back as the fateful 35.6 Cm cannon on the Kongou-Class's rigging rang out across the battlefield.

The Ta-Class didn't fare any better in her attempt to put some distance between herself and the painfully close Nagato-Class battleship as Shigure had yet another front row seat to watch Mutsu unceremoniously punch the Ta-Class in the face with a simple yet powerful punch that could only be achieved by only the strongest of battleships.

Mutsu's right fist punched through the Ta-Class's skull, instantly popping it like a bloody balloon that contained blood, cerebrospinal fluid and brains as Shigure watched the Ta-Class's steel skull fail to withstand the force behind Mutsu's punch.

Skull fragments flew out from behind the Ta-Class's skull as Mutsu caused the face of the Abyssal to cave in, and Shigure could see some bits of brain and a lot of fluids be thrown back as the Ta-Class's head was displaced by Mutsu's forearm, a fountain of blood erupting from the dead Ta-Class's neck like a broken fire hydrant and soaking Mutsu in the Abyssal's blood as it crumpled to the floor faster than a puppet that had its strings cut and eventually sank.

Mutsu, for the most part, had looked nothing short of determined to see the Abyssal die, and her stone-cold demeanor that had replaced her usual cheery attitude only served to drive the point home that she was one of the Big Seven and was _not_ to be messed with, looking more as if she was drenched in blood than in rain as she lowered her blood-soaked gloves and relaxed her emerald green eyes to look at Shigure, her kind, green pupils contrasting with her bloody right arm, torso, face and even hair.

The fact that she naturally had an intimidating height and that her headgear was shaped like two steel horns didn't help either.

A weak and bloody Hiei finally appeared within her sight as she felt the fast battleship support her by shifting a hand underneath her backpack to prevent her from sinking further into the ocean, Shigure looking into Hiei's tired blinded eyes that couldn't focus on her and seeming as if she had been through hell and back, Shigure barely hearing the cannon fire that was dying down on Ashigara's front as she tried to listen to her teammate's next words.

Hiei's voice was hoarse, likely because she had been shouting for so long and the battle having taken so much out of her as she asked Shigure in a voice that was wrought with concern and pain, tearing up as she did so.

"Why, Shigure?

Why did you come back for us? "

Shigure almost couldn't respond due to her bashed-in face, but her tongue was still somewhat intact and she hadn't lost too much teeth as the Ru-Class's punches were weakened by the battle, and despite feeling the metallic taste of blood polluting her mouth and filling her taste buds, she tried to cough out some of the blood to free up her mouth as she gurgled.

"I… couldn't…

Had to save…

...couldn't leave you behind…"

Hiei's tears were now flowing as she tried to bring up Shigure's limp body as her eyebrows creased, ready to break down after hearing Shigure's confession as she now held Shigure in her arms, the rain drenching her hair and blood caking her ruined clothes as she replied.

"But you…

Coming back only served to heavily injure you!

How am I going to live with myself if you sank because of us?"

The 'because of me' part was implied, but Shigure shrugged tiredly and tried not to black out as she looked into her senior's crying eyes and pointed out.

"It doesn't matter…

I wanted you all to run away… while I distracted them…

...wouldn't have minded…

If you all abandoned me…"

Hiei's face contorted with disgust as she pointed out, trying not to aggravate Shigure's wounds as she tried to keep a straight face.

"' _Abandoned'?_

How _dare_ you suggest that?

I asked you all to leave us behind because we knew that the 3rd Fleet would eventually arrive to back us up!

But to abandon you here to sink?!

Did you think we were capable of doing that?"

Mutsu knelt down to address Shigure, her voice patient but sharp as she pointed out a flaw in Shigure's outlook on life, still not smiling as she tried to ignore the blood that covered her from head to toe.

"Shigure-chan.

If you want us to abandon you to keep ourselves safe, but find the thought of leaving us behind repulsive, and instead actively seek to do the opposite and disobey orders to rejoin the battle, that sounds rather hypocritical, don't you think?"

Shigure thought about it, and considered the fact that she wanted them to do something that she secretly despised doing and actively tried to do the opposite, raised an eyebrow in agreement as she conceded the point before feeling the entire world around her collapse in a nauseating whirlpool as she felt another coughing fit hit her again.

The last thing she felt was the dribble of blood flowing down her chin and throat, Hiei softly shaking her to keep her awake as she cried out Shigure's name.

Mutsu was looking down at her concernedly and she heard Amagi call for a mass retreat before the world faded to black.


	19. Chapter 19 - Fallout

A startled awakening was what Shigure was subjected to upon waking up at the Yokosuka Military Hospital, temporarily tensing up upon remembering what had previously transpired before her inevitable death as she scanned her surroundings for any Abyssal threats.

But because of the conspicuous absence of the heavy rain, the aggressive Abyssals that nearly beat her to death and her fallen comrades in the adequately-sized hospital room, Shigure slowly allowed herself to take several deep breaths as she continued to scan the white-colored room for any signs of life.

The room had the kind of white hospital walls that made you feel like the entire place was a little too sterilized, clinical and impersonal, Shigure feeling a little uncomfortable due to the fact that she was a little fearful of doctors and what they could do to her.

The fact that Akashi was the base repair ship and was not entirely in her right mind didn't help much, as Shigure wondered when the repair ship was going to come into her room and start scolding her for her suicidal decision to run back into the battle when she was supposed to retreat and almost got herself killed in the process.

There was an incessant beeping in the room that was punctuated by less than a second of deafening silence and was only partially filled by the meek exhalation of cold air from the air-conditioner.

Although Shigure could clearly hear the heart-rate monitor that was on the side of her right ear, she was still pretty irritated by the constant, mechanical beeping that softly rang out throughout the small room, trying her best to tune it out from now on as she looked around the room to take in her surroundings.

She saw that the closed window was secured with a keyhole, probably to prevent any ship girls from opening the window and jumping out in an attempt to either escape or commit suicide, although Shigure wasn't sure about the feasibility of either course of action as she was sure that escaping the hospital wasn't going to do much when they would still be in the Yokosuka Naval Base, and jumping from such a relatively low height would never kill them.

Not that killing them was going to do anything more than inconvenience them for a few days at most.

The room itself was rather spacious, and it was big enough for it to feel a little like a bedroom, the window and curtains being on the wall to her left and had a small drawer made out of steel that stood at the corner furthest away from her bed, a small fake potted plant sitting on it and was patiently waiting for her to awake from her slumber.

The plant was a shiny green and had a few leaves sticking out innocently, and although they were positioned from the window so that they wouldn't catch much sunlight, it was obvious that it didn't need any, being created artificially as it stood proudly on its base that was the small brown pot of soil.

Shigure could see that there were two chairs sitting silently to the right of her medical bed and were made out of hard plastic and steel, the seats quickly losing her interest as she continued looking around.

Currently, no one was in the room save for Shigure, and she could see that the door that blocked the exit was a lacquered brown and had a small window on it to allow anyone to look in as she saw the milky-white walls of the hospital hallway.

No one was passing by to check up on her, Shigure not minding the temporary solitude as she took the time to cherish her comfortable bed and appreciate the technology that kept her alive and monitored her vitals as she tried to crane her neck.

She only used only her eyes to scan the room as she felt some resistance around her neck, straining to look down and found some sort of brace on her neck that restricted the movement of her head as she tried to struggle and get out of it in vain, trying to use her arms and legs to remove this cast only to find that they didn't respond for some reason.

She eventually gave up as she couldn't even feel her limbs, much less try to move them and resigned to her fate as a (hopefully temporary) quadriplegic as she tried to angle her head so that she could get a better look at the machine that kept her alive.

The heart-rate monitor was the one who filled the silence in the room, reflecting her heart rate as she saw the solitary green line hop up regularly in tune to her heartbeat and the mechanical beep of the heart rate monitor as it displayed what she identified as her heart rate in large green numbers due to the heart-shaped symbol above it and the Beats Per Minute being shortened to BPM, the number beneath it displaying,

'70'.

The rest of the color-coded numbers and squiggly lines were all a mystery to the resting Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, in part due to her exhaustion despite having woken up after resting in the hospital and her ignorance of medical terminologies and equipment.

She could see that its displays were blinking irregularly, LED lights adorning the machine situated beneath the heart-rate monitor as she saw some vials being connected to the machine via tubes while some of the wires were coupled to the machine, snaking up her bed and disappeared under the blanket as Shigure came to the conclusion that they were connected to her body, beneath the hospital gown she was likely wearing.

The blanket and bed were primarily white in color, and it only served to make her feel a little sick in the stomach, because contrary to what people wanted to believe, this was where the ships girls came after they had been dunked in the docks and after their conditions had stabilized somewhat to allow the Fairies and orderlies to check up on them.

So instead of the warm and welcoming atmosphere that it was going for with its white-dominant color scheme, it wasn't lost on anyone that this was instead a place of death, where countless dead or dying ship girls had been sent to in order to recover.

The hospital wards were privatized to disallow the ship girls from looking at each other's injured forms and become dispirited due to negative emotions being invoked over being thrown together in the same ward and were forced to see each other at their worst, this being damaging to their short-term psyche at best and disastrous to their long-term mental health at worst if unaddressed.

Shigure could remember the battle a little more clearly now, recalling the beating that she had suffered at the hands of the Ru-Class and understood that the impact of the Ru-Class's fists hitting her would cause her neck to suffer some damage due to the vertebrae snapping to the left and right constantly, and as the neck was a vital spot, they probably wanted to be thorough when repairing that area.

Her body was slowly booting back up, Shigure feeling the electricity course throughout her body and slowly regaining the feeling in her limbs as before this, she felt as if she had suffered complete spinal injury and only had control over her eyes and head before her body restarted itself.

She kept still for fear of disturbing anything as she saw the HUD on her screen run through some startup diagnostics and non-invasive physical evaluation tests while she saw countless paragraphs of undecipherable program lines fly upwards, the lines being projected onto an invisible wall in front of her as Shigure waited patiently for about a minute before the scrolling of program lines ended.

The screen before her showed a simplified diagram of her body, showing not only the affected areas of her body, but also the resulting damage to the skeletal system and internal organs along with what had been repaired in the docks.

The displayed time was 9.23 a.m..

The date was the 15th of April, year 2015.

Not surprisingly, Shigure could see that the internal bleeding, the damage to her face as well as her strained neck were amongst some of the more serious injuries that required a second, more thorough dip in the docks to fully heal, having been brought out of her critical condition after the first docking and had been brought here to make sure that there were no hiccups in the recovery process.

Shigure could understand that muscles and bones were easier to repair than the joints in her body, now feeling her body booting back up as she groggily tried to move around.

And promptly felt her body fail her as pain reverberated through her body and echoed in her tired bones, wincing at the ache in her joints and the receding numbness that plagued her face.

Moving, bad idea.

Got it.

She tried to look down at her blanket and attempted to bring her hand up to observe the bandaged wound, feeling resistance all throughout her body as though there were something that stretched across her body at various intervals to restrain her movements.

Shigure tried lifting up her head from the cushion to look down at her body, and saw out of the peripheral of her vision that her body was held down by thick and tightened rubber straps that were designed so that they wouldn't chafe when used for long periods of time, and they either stretched across the bed to restrain her body, or were directly wrapped around her wrists and ankles.

They sneaked up from underneath the bed and wrapped around her wrists and ankles to completely restrain her limbs, although it was adjustable to allow it to be used on different classes of ship girls.

Shigure sighed, giving up almost immediately as she knew that the restraints could withstand the strength of anyone up to a heavy cruiser, battleships, adult cruisers and carriers requiring the use of a straitjacket to effectively restrain their movements and negate their overwhelming physical strength.

Seeing that she was a ship girl that had defied orders due to her traumatic flashbacks, had acted on her own accord and died in an entirely preventable 'heroic' sacrifice, to say that she was unpredictable was quite an understatement.

It was no surprise if she was deemed too dangerous to be allowed to roam around due to her compromised mental state, and they had no choice but to resort to this method to prevent her from doing anything rash.

Shigure could feel that her hand was held still by a medical cast, and any attempts to move her fingers or her hand in general was met with heavy resistance from the material of the cast itself or a wave of pain that shot up her arm, Shigure learning to deal with the agony and take it in stride as she continued observing her surroundings.

Her bed was relatively well-made, with another steel cupboard positioned to the left of her bed and closer to where her head was, flanking the window as she didn't see anything remotely interesting about it and moved on.

The medical bed had a source of light above her, currently extinguished due to the ample sunlight that streamed in from the windows, the simple plastic curtains being tied up at the sides and arranged so that they wouldn't gather too much dust.

The railing of her medical bed wasn't propped up, and Shigure could see that her blanket failed to cover her entire body, spotting the medical blue hospital gown that she was wearing and finally noting that she wasn't wearing her underwear and bra, as they were likely seen as restrictive wear that might complicate matters if an emergency operation needed to be performed.

And finally, Shigure could see Akashi's signature bored face occupying the small window an instant before the door clicked open, the steel handle of the door swinging down like an executioner's blade before the door was pushed open by the repair ship, Shigure noting that the joints of the hospital door were regularly oiled to avoid disrupting the patient.

Akashi appeared in the doorway, her expression unreadable and betraying nothing as she quietly waltzed into the room, knowing the hospital like the back of her hand as she used her hand to close the door behind her.

And immediately locked it, effectively locking Shigure in with her.

Shigure's eyes were trained on her, the noticeable beep of the heart monitor increasing in frequency ever so slightly and betrayed her nervousness as she kept silent out of respect and fear of the repair ship.

Akashi walked over to her side where the chairs silently stood, the two ship girls never breaking eye contact with each other as the only sound that could be heard was the meek humming of the air-conditioner in the background and the mechanical beep of the heart rate monitor.

The repair ship finally broke eye contact and shuffled over to the chairs, plopping down as she looked at Shigure with an inquisitive, mysterious stare before piping up.

"I know that you couldn't help yourself, Shigure.

And I know…"

Akashi sighed again, Shigure wondering how much happiness had escaped the repair ship if she sighed as often as she did, and if the belief that a bit of happiness escaped every time you sighed was true.

But it didn't look as if the metaphorical loss affected her too much as she rested her cheek on her left fist while resting her elbow on the armrest to support her head as she continued in an attempt at a patient tone.

" … I know that you were thinking back to Surigao Strait."

Shigure wasn't so much shocked as she was interested to know how she deduced that, and said it as if it were a certainty.

But Akashi's next statement clarified matters as Akashi lifted her eyebrow, explaining herself and what she had done in the last three days.

"Well, when we brought you out of the docks after your first dip, we had to access your memory to gain information about the _Flying Dutchman_ , so it was up to me to access your mind to observe the battle through your eyes.

I noted you calling out Fusou's name instead of Hiei's, so that's why."

Shigure lifted an eyebrow in acceptance and lamented her slip of the tongue as Akashi continued, seeing that the repair ship was trying to find the fine line between trying to reprimand her for her actions without breaking her already fragile psyche, sighing again before continuing.

"I can't blame you for trying to go back and trying to back your teammates up, because it was clear from my analysis that no matter how much we tried to help you, there will always some part of you that's haunted enough by your past to try and risk your life in battle to try and save your friends.

What I _can_ fault you for, is attempting to throw your life away in a manner that's so sad, it's almost _pathetic."_

Akashi's voice became harsh upon finishing that sentence, and Shigure could see the repair ship's expression harden and winced at the repair ship's accusation as she respectfully listened to Akashi's mini-rant.

"I never expected this enemy vessel to pop up from the Mariana Trench, and I won't apologize for not predicting this turn of events.

The conditions were almost perfect for you to go into a mini-meltdown as you remembered the worst parts of your past and wanted to die changing something.

And for allowing you to sortie in conditions that would easily cause a trauma-induced anxiety attack while assuming that things wouldn't go to shit, I truly apologize for my oversight."

Akashi looked genuinely apologetic upon saying this, the repair ship lowering her eyes a little as Shigure saw the rare display of guilt in her mature green eyes.

"I may be a repair ship, but I am by no means a miracle worker.

It's a given that most ship girls need to resolve their past traumas to be able to handle the present ones, and the time needed to recover can last anywhere from a month to a decade.

I was certain that over time, experience in both sorties and life would help you mitigate the inevitable meltdown that would likely occur during a future sortie that may mirror the conditions of Surigao Strait.

This was one battle which I was on the fence about, but I decided to let you sortie after taking into account the fact that you'd be surrounded and protected by so many ship girls.

Apparently, it wasn't enough."

Her eyes hardened yet again, the warmth in her expression gone as her gaze bored into Shigure.

"But sacrificing yourself so that your teammates would run away?

Really?"

Shigure blinked in quick succession and tried to convince herself that she wasn't going to cry as she tried to explain herself to the repair ship, who was patiently waiting for her to respond.

"I… I…

I just wanted to save everyone!"

Shigure could hear the beep of her heart beat increasing in frequency, and she forced herself to take slow, deep breaths in order not to hyperventilate as she continued, remembering her turbulent train of thoughts.

"I thought…

That if they focused on killing me, my teammates would take the chance to escape, and that would be the end of that, you know?"

Akashi released her clenched fist and brought the tips of her fingers together in a thinking pose, crossing one leg over the other to use as a rest for her elbows as she contemplated Shigure's answer and finally concluded.

"So, you disobeyed an order to flee the battlefield while Hiei and Haruna held the fort and instead ran back into the thick of battle, yet want others to abandon you when you're being beaten to death.

Well, that's...

Contradictory."

Akashi then shifted her head to the side, acknowledging another possibility as to why Shigure was like this.

"Well, either that, or you're feeling entitled as fuck, thinking that you're the only one who's capable of saving people's lives, and possess hidden martyrdom tendencies within you.

Not entirely unexpected, of course…"

Shigure vehemently tried to shake her head in order to deny her senior's theory, as Akashi darkly and disbelievingly chuckled, almost mocking in tone as she counter-argued Shigure's silent denial.

"Oh really, Shigure?

Come on, dear.

An attempt at a heroic sacrifice, and then what, Shigure?

The Abyssals would certainly have been destroyed by the 3rd Fleet, but I can tell you right now, they were just as intent on disobeying your unspoken order for them to abandon you as you did theirs.

Let me tell you what your death would have changed, my dear.

 _Everything and nothing."_

Akashi almost spat out the last sentence, and Shigure was shocked into silence by her venomous tone as Akashi slowly lowered her hands to hold onto the armrest and pushed herself up, all while her eyes slowly shifted from contemplating and brooding to hurt and downright accusatory as Akashi rose from her seat like a demon queen from her throne.

The light that shone in from the window opposite Akashi and illuminated her pinkish-red hair only served to cast shadows over her livid expression and truly made her look terrifying in the eyes of a frightened Shigure, who was strapped down helplessly to a medical bed and was locked in a hospital room with the furious repair ship.

Shigure tried her best to inch away from Akashi as she moved closer towards the trapped destroyer, outlining the futility of attempting such a senseless thing in the midst of a battle.

"Since your presence didn't change much, your death wouldn't have been any different.

The outcome of the battle wouldn't have been changed because of you since the whole battle was pretty one-sided in our favor after the _Flying Dutchman_ left.

Because of that, it almost immediately invalidates the worth of your sacrifice.

It changes next to nothing about the battle, and you would have been better off saving yourself so that you could fight another day.

And I know that it ties back into your past, Shigure, and how you want to die and join those who had sunk around you.

But let me ask you, Shigure.

What closure would you have gotten from sinking again, knowing that the Nishimura Fleet is somewhere out there, alive and well?

Think of the family and friends whom you would leave behind, and think of the things that you will never get to do, all because you died like a dog out there on the battlefield when you could have lived."

Shigure flinched, unsure of how to respond to that.

Because no matter how much she disliked being a lucky ship that lived while others died, she did admit that sinking in the Battle of Mikura Jima Island would have left her unfulfilled, having never met the Nishimura Fleet in the present, never having spent more time with her friends and sisters and inadvertently leaving a hole in the 1st Fleet where she used to be.

But it was alright, right?

Everyone would just move on without her, right?

Akashi sadly shook her head as she seemed to predict Shigure's thoughts, the destroyer morbidly listening to the repair ship as she pointed out what was wrong with her way of thinking.

"You think everyone would just move on from your pointless death.

No, oh no.

Death causes more sadness, and it only serves to propagate despair and create more ship girls like you.

Oh yeah."

Shigure's eyes widened a little as Akashi dropped the truth on her, Akashi smiling sadly as she looked away and reminiscing about something or another as she continued.

"The thing about everyone's deaths was that they died because the Abyssals had overwhelmed them.

They died and sank either because they knew that there was no alternative left and wanted to make the most of their sacrifice, or the enemy was simply too fast and offed them before they could do anything."

Akashi's eyes hardened, locking back onto Shigure's gaze and caused the destroyer to sweat a little under her stare, trying not to wither under the repair ship's fierce gaze as Akashi slowly walked forward, the lighting on her body shifting ever so slightly to shroud her upper face in darkness as she leaned over the terrified destroyer.

"But how _your_ death differed, was that you _knew_ that you could have safely retreated.

Even when you saw how much stronger the 3rd Fleet was, even when Abukuma convinced you to retreat, you instead chose to defy yet another order to blindly charge into the battleships' battle.

Your sacrifice was completely pointless, and it was twofold.

One, the battle was already pretty much won, and you instead allowed them to try and claim a consolation prize by killing and potentially sinking you.

Two, your death could have been completely avoided if you had just believed that your teammates could handle themselves in a battle and left them behind, though not for the reasons that you think.

I know that you were suffering from severe traumatic flashbacks to Surigao Strait, and that's the one thing that makes all the difference between allowing you back on the ocean, albeit with added counselling sessions, and suspending you indefinitely with a restraining order that restricts you from coming within ten meters of a large body of water.

Along with more counselling sessions, of course.

And did you ever consider what your death would do to everyone else?"

Akashi's eyes softened as she leaned in a little closer, and although the anger was still reflected in her pupils, it was rather subdued when compared to the touch of disappointment reflected on her face as though Shigure had done something without any forethought, and Akashi was disappointed as she likely thought that Shigure was above that.

"They wouldn't simply move on.

Your death would haunt them, because not only was your death entirely preventable, but you failed to see your current teammates as being capable enough to step out of the shadow of your previous fleet."

Shigure blinked upon hearing that, slightly taken aback at how accurately that phase was used to describe her situation, how she couldn't help but see her old teammates in her current ones, and as a result, may never bring herself to trust them to handle themselves in unfavorable situations as she took it upon herself to save them, the Battle of Mikura Jima Island being a good case in point.

"I understand ship girl psychology pretty well, and I know that we just _love_ to blame ourselves in so many little and irrational ways.

Remember what I said about your death propagating despair?"

Akashi's expression now softened even further as she looked down at Shigure, and for a second, what she saw really made her regret her actions that day.

Her face revealed her sadness within, and how the shadows on her face, instead of serving to make her scary in the eyes of the destroyer, now only seemed to make her look far older and wearier than she actually was.

The repair ship's expression was now melancholic as Shigure could easily identify the sadness that laid beneath her facade of boredom and indifference, and how Shigure, in trying to get closer to the repair ship, had instead almost caused her unbelievable pain and grief after threatening to leave so soon and break Akashi's heart even further.

Akashi's anger was now the equivalent of smoldering embers, barely recognizable as the repair ship allowed Shigure a peek into her broken heart and revealed a glimpse of the pain Shigure would have caused to her had she sunk that day.

To know that her own sinking would affect her friend in such an extreme manner only served to make Shigure feel worse, this sickening sensation of guilt overriding all other feelings in her heart as she wondered about how her friends and family would have taken the news.

There was no need for that as Akashi caught Shigure's attention before continuing, recalling a certain blinded Kongou-Class battleship that she had helped to write an After Action Report.

"Did you ever think about how Hiei would have felt about herself, had you truly sunk?"

Shigure's breath stopped as she drew in a deep breath, her eyes wordlessly asking about the condition of her teammate.

Akashi's regretful glance was the equivalent of a shrug, and was what caused Shigure to really take a mental step back and wonder,

What was she thinking the second she decided to give in to the Abyssal battleships' assault and potentially scar her teammate for life?

She remembered how ferociously Hiei fought to save her, and how the lack of Shigure's vitals, or worse still, how the lack of a body had the Abyssals sunk her would have broken Hiei's spirit, and like Akashi said, would have created a pit of despair in her defeated heart and would only serve to destroy Hiei from within, like what the sinking of the Nishimura Fleet, amongst others, did to Shigure.

Not only that, but in Hiei's (blinded) eyes, Shigure's death could have been prevented had Hiei been stronger so that she could alleviate Shigure's concerns that they would sink and would thus convince her not to come back for them.

Add that to the fact that her death may inadvertently cast a shadow on her teammates since Shigure was unable to distinguish them from the Nishimura Fleet in times of crisis, and senselessly threw her own life away when she could have easily lived.

This may cause the fast battleship to grieve over her death and similarly allow Shigure's death to weigh down on her for the rest of her life.

That wasn't even taking into account the effect that her sinking would have on her sisters, who would likely spend the rest of their lives trying to make sense of her meaningless death and grieve over her sinking that came too soon.

Shigure wanted to protect her friends, family and teammates, but it wasn't until now that she really thought about what her death would entail and the fallout that it would cause, even if it wasn't as important as a capital ship sinking.

But no.

To think that way was to make light of her relationship with her sisters and friends, not to mention her teammates.

She knew that every ship girl was important in their own unique way regardless of class, and gathering in this base and forming bonds with one another had intertwined their fates.

Every death, big or small, affected the lives of others around them to varying degrees.

The aftereffects of her sinking would have been unthinkable, having far-reaching consequences that Shigure couldn't even begin to predict as everyone would risk becoming a little more like her, blaming themselves in their minds and being haunted by the possibility that they could have done more to save her.

This was arguably even worse than what Shigure had been through, as she knew that at the Battle of Surigao Strait, had she stayed behind with her fleet, they would have all been wiped out, that much was certain.

At least there was a certain hopelessness that comforted her, knowing that there really was nothing she could have done in the face of vastly superior enemy firepower despite wanting to at least try.

But at the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, Shigure knew that the ship girls had the upper hand unlike the Nishimura Fleet's one-sided massacre, and if Shigure knew her teammates as well as she thought she did, her teammates would have heaped the blame on themselves without telling each other, forever wondering what else they could have done to save her.

Those seemingly hopeful thoughts would instead serve to haunt them forever in ways she couldn't imagine, and might instead drive them to become like her, or even worse as these poisonous thoughts risked turning hope into despair.

Shigure felt her vision start to water, and she tried to blink away the tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes as she considered the fallout that her sinking would have caused, stuttering and trying to respond as Akashi, the repair ship understanding what she was going through, allowed her the time to think about the consequences and patiently waited for her to respond.

"I-I'm sorry…

I-I didn't mean it…

I just wanted to save everyone…

I-I d-didn't think…"

But Akashi's eyes hardened upon hearing that, causing a tearing Shigure to flinch as she saw the repair ship lean in, face to face as she caught a slight whiff of scented shampoo that was used to hide the odor of blood that seemed to permeate Akashi's skin and uniform, no matter what she tried.

She chided as she stared into Shigure's widened pupils, locking gazes as she bluntly pointed out the thing that irked her the most.

"And that's the problem, Shigure.

 _You._

 _Didn't._

 _Think._

I knew that you were under the influence of your traumatic flashbacks.

There were few other ship girls that suffered like you did, and you had a perfectly reasonable explanation behind your actions.

You're young, inexperienced, had no idea of what to do in such a situation.

Your inexperience and your trauma got to you as you allowed the latter to dictate your actions and tried to do what was right by trying to back your friends up.

And that's why I forgive you."

Akashi rested her clenched left fist and forearm on Shigure's pillow as she sat on the edge of the hospital bed, leaning in above her as Shigure was forced to breathe in the slight stench of blood that she previously tried to ignore.

She couldn't look away as Akashi's empty eyes obstructed her vision, feeling as though Akashi's dull pupils bored into her unguarded soul and was capable of looking past all the excuses and lies.

"But your act of trying to sacrifice yourself is _absolutely unforgivable_.

Not even attempting to fight back, even more so.

If you sank while fulfilling a noble goal and go down fighting, that would be barely acceptable.

But you knew that letting them beat you up and sink you was more about making yourself feel a little better on the inside instead of achieving anything worthwhile, not considering the consequences it would have on your teammates and friends at that point in time.

Am I right to say that?"

Shigure lost the staring contest as she guiltily looked away from Akashi's intense stare and mumbled something incoherently, wanting to apologize for almost making a fatal mistake that she would have regretted down the road, feeling the trembling plague her entire body as Akashi, understanding Shigure's apologetic look, eased off the pressure.

Her murderous aura was jarringly turned off on the spot, almost as simple as flipping a switch in her mind as her eyes brightened and expressed genuine concern as she relaxed her left fist and brought it down to softly fix strands of Shigure's hair as she comforted Shigure.

"Now, now.

I understand that you're a bright and precocious little girl.

You tried to do what was right, and I can't blame you for that.

But you have to understand.

Dying for your teammates may not be as glorious as you think, because you will no longer be there to control the fallout that your sinking causes, something that I'm sure you would abhor."

Shigure tried to control her own breathing, doing her best to listen to Akashi's soothing words as the repair ship coddled her and tenderly wiped away her tears, understanding that her own death and sinking at Mikura Jima Island would have accomplished nothing other than momentarily distracting the Abyssals that were ultimately doomed at the hands of the 3rd Fleet.

Her death could have been prevented had she simply fought back or followed her seniors' orders to retreat, Akashi regarding her in a manner that one would towards a friend in need.

"I know that you simply wanted to protect your teammates and friends.

But you need to know that sinking when you could have been saved is pretty much the antithesis of what you stand for, Shigure.

You have friends and family to fight for now, and in this harsh world, that's all the reason you need to keep fighting on, hmm?"

Shigure nodded in a resigned tone, already worn-out from considering the possible consequences of her actions so early in the morning as she brought her ragged breathing under control and blinked away the tears that formed on the edge of her eyes in order to leave the whole thing behind her.

Akashi seemed satisfied with Shigure's answer, relaxing as she stepped back to pull her chair towards the bed in order to sit down next to Shigure, talking her through what was going to happen later.

"Well, after this, the Admiral will want to talk to you, since you're the one who was close enough to get a good look at the _Flying Dutchman._

You're pretty smart and sharp for a destroyer, and the Admiral knows that she can trust you to be objective about your observations."

Shigure was a little confused as she looked over at Akashi, which, when considering her neck brace, meant looking at Akashi who was located in her peripheral vision as she asked innocently.

"But don't they already have my memories that were extracted from my mind?

If they have that, no offense, but why talk to me?"

She saw Akashi move out of the corner of her eye, assuming that she shrugged as Akashi spoke up, Shigure hearing her bored voice clearly as the repair ship clarified.

"Well, watching the battle through your eyes can only help us so much.

But knowing the Admiral, she may instead ask about your well-being and apologize for her screw-up.

You know what she's like."

Shigure tried her best to nod as she remembered what Admiral Mako was like, and wondered how things were like on her end as she knew that the world's governments and armed forces would go ballistic as they tried to make sense of the enemy's new technology.

The Abyssals probably wanted to draw the world's attention to the _Flying Dutchman_ and make a strong first impression, and the only way to do that was via a show of extreme force to humiliate and crush a Combined Fleet in battle.

And that opportunity came at the Battle of Mikura Jima Island.

There, it took on and crushed several fleets at once, showing that it could surface and submerge wherever it desired, and right now, it seemed as if there was almost nothing the ship girls could do to stop the _Flying Dutchman_ from accessing most of the world's major oceans.

To say that the world governments and armed forces would be fretting about this new Abyssal technology would be an understatement, everyone likely digging through their intelligence archives to try and connect any of the dots that were even remotely related to the _Dutchman_ and prepare countermeasures to stand a chance against the _Dutchman's_ overwhelming firepower.

And according to what she had read up on regarding the modern world, amongst some of the things that mankind had learnt to do extremely well was rebuilding, mass evacuations and quick recovery from massive assaults, having developed an impressive ability to recoup their losses, rebuild and help the economy stabilize and recover in an astoundingly short period of time, whichever country it may be.

She was confident that they'd find a way to counter this threat to some degree in order to make sure that it couldn't always do whatever it pleased.

She was just worried about other any other war machines that they may have created in the crushing depths, if they were able to conceal such a large construction project so easily.

Akashi continued, understanding Shigure's ability to keep up with these mature and complicated matters and shifting around slowly in her seat as the beep of the heart rate monitor became a steady rhythm that reflected Shigure's peaceful state.

"We may need on your input on some things, and being the ship girl who was at the epicenter of the disastrous sortie, I'm sure that the Admiral will want to check up on you.

And now that I've highlighted the simple fact that sinking yourself to make up for whatever asinine reasons you might have in mind rarely turns out the way you want it to, my job here is done.

I don't care if I had to say the cold, harsh truth to your face in order to make you wake up and accept this, as long as you take your own life a little more seriously out there, I don't care what you may think of me.

Besides, I feel that the world would spin a little faster if everyone were a little more honest with each other."

Shigure looked over at Akashi, ready to refute the point as she truly cared for her friend.

She may not know what Akashi had to go through to cause her to turn out like this, but she accepted Akashi as a friend because she knew that whatever happened to her, it had to be even worse than what Shigure had been through if seeing what Shigure experienced barely fazed her, and was mature enough to instead focus on Shigure's failed sacrifice, which was arguably the more important issue in this case.

"Akashi, I won't deny the fact that you may not be my nicest friend…"

She heard Akashi grunt in agreement.

" … but know that I never regretted being friends with you.

I wanted to be your friend because I knew that not only did I want to help you, but I also knew that you could see things in ways that I can't or won't, and you wouldn't hesitate to point things out to me should I err in my ways.

You may be direct and blunt with your words, but I would rather you point out something important than waste time skirting around the issue."

Another grunt from the repair ship, this time of affirmation as Akashi leaned in to look Shigure in the eye, propping her head up with her left forearm as she looked down at Shigure and addressed her, her tone being one of slight concern.

"And what I saw about you being a hypocrite, I would advise against it, as I know you pretty well from my interactions with you.

I know that the possibility exists where you ask others about their pasts and their woes, but when it comes to your friends and family asking you to share your thoughts and woes in times of crisis, you blue-ball them and cause them to see you as one.

And that's a big no-no, alright?"

Shigure's eyebrows furrowed as she considered what Akashi said, and it sounded like an all-too-real possibility, especially when she was down in the dumps after something bad had happened to her.

And the thing was that, it was at that moment when she needed all the help and support that her friends and family could offer, and pushing them away would only serve to sully their impression of her and see her as someone who refused to practice her own notion of sharing your woes, effectively making her a hypocrite.

Shigure lifted an eyebrow in agreement, replying.

"I understand.

I should be just open with others, just as I expect others to be."

"Well," Akashi added.

"It also helps that you're a newly constructed ship girl who's known for being polite and mature, and that you're only learning about their past."

Shigure gave Akashi a confused look, and Akashi waved her right hand in a sweeping gesture as she explained herself.

"Well, your innocence and curiosity allows you to learn more about them, and for some, it may be difficult for them to share their past with others.

But something that might be even harder for them to share is the present, and what they're feeling in the here and now.

The point where you know that you're really close to someone is when they actively seek you out and confide in you when they're in agony."

Shigure nodded sagely at that, understanding where Akashi was coming from.

The past, although it was a difficult thing for some to share, was ultimately something that had already happened, and it wouldn't change much even if they chose to share it with Shigure.

But right now, she wasn't so close to them to the point where she would be their first choice when they needed to find a shoulder to cry on.

This wasn't something that Shigure could control or force, but instead slowly build up over time as she got to know them better in the present, instead of asking about their pasts which had already come and gone.

Akashi's eyes met hers, and Shigure could see Akashi sharing a harsh truth of this world as Akashi continued.

"Everyone suffers, Shigure.

Destroyer, cruiser, carrier, battleship, we will all experience loss and pain at some point in our lives.

Do not believe that anyone, even the strongest battleships, can withstand adversity forever by themselves without eventually relying on someone else to shoulder the burden with them."

Shigure innocently blurted out.

"And what happened to those who tried?"

Akashi blinked, her eyes dulling and her smile drooping as Shigure instantly regretted asking such an insensitive question, but Akashi recovered faster than Shigure's heart could hit the floor as Akashi gave Shigure a genuine, forgiving smile as she reassured the distraught destroyer.

"I was a senior worker at the Ship Girl Institute of Mental Health, so take it from me when I say that I _know_ it's a bad idea to keep it all in."

But a polite knock on the door was what interrupted their conversation and drew the attention of the two ship girls, and the door handle jiggled as whomever was on the other side of the door attempted to open the door that was previously locked by the repair ship.

And after a short while, Shigure heard what she assumed was a key being inserted into the door handle, and she could barely see the lock popping back into its original position as something was turned on the other side of the door.

The handle of the door was finally opened as it clicked, the handle of the door turning on its axis as it swung downwards.

The white peaked cap of the Admiral peeked through the opened door as Admiral Mako looked inside the room, spotting the two ship girls that were situated next to each other.

Akashi was positioned beside Shigure and was leaning towards her as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was tied down to the bed, Admiral Mako blushing a little upon witnessing the sight before her and commented meekly.

"If the both of you are up to something kinky, do you mind if I sit and watch?"

Shigure blushed at her Admiral's words, the heart rate monitor reflecting her embarrassment as she started feeling her cheeks flush and her heart rate soar, the mechanical beeps conspicuously shooting up in frequency.

She stuttered as she tried to clarify the 'misunderstanding', but Akashi got off her chair as she scoffed, remarking on her Admiral's ability to see some sort of romantic undertone whenever a girl got close to another girl.

"Well, trust our lesbian Admiral to enjoy a bit of voyeurism whenever she sees two girls together."

Admiral Mako shrugged, entering the room as she removed her naval officer cap and tossed it onto the seat beside Akashi's as she retorted.

"Well, would you prefer I go by the saying, 'The more the merrier' and ask if I can join you two?"

Akashi shifted as she straightened up to reach her full height, conceding the point as she walked towards the Admiral and the door.

"Well, when you put it that way, I don't really have anything to say."

Akashi stopped as she looked back at Shigure, concluding their meeting by informing her.

"Maa, after this, we'll perform some physical evaluations in the afternoon as well as one last dip in the docks, and you'll be free to go before dinner.

But your fleet will take a longer time to recuperate since quite a few of them suffered complicated injuries, so don't expect to sortie anytime soon."

Shigure nodded solemnly as Akashi concluded their meeting by giving her a small nod before coolly turning back towards the Admiral and walking towards her in order to leave the room.

Akashi and Admiral Mako crossed paths and their eyes must have met, because Shigure saw Admiral Mako's expression harden for a second as she met Akashi's gaze, and Shigure swore that she saw the barest movement of the repair ship's head as Akashi nodded at her Admiral, having understood each other wordlessly as Akashi brushed shoulders with the Admiral and left, quietly closing the door behind her.

Admiral Mako then seemingly deflated, the energy sapped out of her in an instant as she collapsed into Akashi's seat, having picked up her cap prior to sitting down whilst facing Shigure's hospital bed, exhaling and allowing herself a moment's respite before addressing the hospitalized destroyer.

"Well, this is a royal clusterfuck the Abyssals have dumped on us.

It's got us tripping over ourselves trying to make sense of everything, trying to connect the dots wherever we see them in order to prepare ourselves for anything else they may throw at us.

But enough about this messed up world already.

How are you, Shigure?"

Admiral Mako looked towards Shigure, and she could see that the Admiral was tired from having to deal with angry superiors who demanded to know how things could have gotten so out of hand and how the Abyssals could have hidden the construction of such a large vessel from the world, to confused and grieving Admirals who wanted to know just what the hell happened to their ship girls for them to die and sink so easily.

But despite this, the Admiral showed that she was still concerned about her well-being, especially since Shigure was the one who survived the _Flying Dutchman_ 's assault and saved two other destroyers from the devastating cannon barrage.

Not only that, but Shigure had a traumatic flashback due to the various seemingly unrelated factors ultimately coming together to cause a relapse, driving her back into the battle as she risked her life to save her friends.

Shigure looked away from her Admiral's kind eyes, which were as different from the eyes of the repair ship that came before her as was heaven and hell, and although both of them were ultimately concerned for her, they expressed it in extremely different ways.

One was kind and warm, innocently wanting her to express her thoughts and woes candidly as she patiently waited and pushed all her worldly concerns aside just for her, while the other expressed her opinions on Shigure's views and choices without restraint and openly expressed her contempt whenever Shigure committed a fatal mistake, even more so when she did so without prior forethought.

Shigure decided to practice what she preached by talking to the Admiral about her troubles and express her opinion on the situation to get several things off of her chest.

"I…

I hated how things went south so quickly, and despite throwing myself back into the fray, I couldn't change anything.

And I know…"

Shigure clenched her right fist, her left hand being encased in the medical cast due to her injury as she cringed, thinking about all the ship girls that had either died or sank in the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, and how she wasn't strong enough to change the tide of the battle.

"I know that I can't change the tide of the battle by myself.

And yet…

When I threw myself at the Abyssals, I wanted to help them _somehow_ , instead of running away like I always did!"

Shigure exhaled, conflicting emotions welling up within her again as she remembered the disastrous sortie, and how her teammates had dropped like flies around her.

She knew that there was pretty much nothing she could have done to help some of them, Shigure thinking back to the searchlights that blinded Junyou and the missiles that killed Tatsuta.

"I know that no matter who it may be, be it the strongest battleship or destroyer that replaced my position, they too, may have been unable to do much about the injuries that everyone sustained.

But if I were strong enough, I might have been able to stand with Hiei and Haruna on the battlefield and help repel the Abyssals.

So why…"

Shigure was now at a loss for words as to what to say next, because all these thoughts were running through her mind at the same time as she tried to make sense of it all, including her own actions which got her killed.

But a comforting hand was slowly placed on her clenched fist, which brought her attention back to the present as Admiral Mako, having scooched over while still being on her seat to sit right next to her bed, comforted her with a tired smile as the Admiral spoke.

"Shigure.

I can't ever say that I understand what you've been through, because I've never been on the battlefield or sailed a mile in your boat slippers.

But can I at least tell you how I see things from my perspective, in the hopes that it might help provide a second opinion?"

Shigure looked into the eyes of her Admiral, and she saw it.

Admiral Mako no longer possessed the playful demeanor that she used to address the younger ship girls in the base as Shigure saw that despite all the paperwork and backlash she had to endure from her superiors, she genuinely cared for them like a mother would for her children, but also understood the fact that Shigure was mature enough to discuss complex matters and thus used the appropriate tone to regard her while still expressing the same warmth and love.

Shigure smiled tiredly, doing her best to nod in order to allow her Admiral to speak, in which Admiral Mako's smile grew a fraction and served to brighten up her face as she looked away, still holding her fist as she began.

"I know that you're a precocious little destroyer, and that you're a veteran in World War 2, but you must never let that get to your head."

Admiral Mako looked back at Shigure, now losing the smile as her expression became a little more serious without becoming overtly sullen, her face inching closer towards Shigure as she continued.

"You are a newly built destroyer, and no ship girl can train herself up to be the super ship girl that you envision yourself to be in such a short time.

No one can!

This was only your second sortie, and you're still considered inexperienced when compared to everyone else.

You were unfortunate enough to be caught in this one-of-a-kind development, and you did what you thought was right.

And as to whether those actions were really right or wrong, that's up for debate, but still…"

Admiral Mako waved her free hand idly, as if to dismiss that last sentence before concluding.

"I don't blame you for doing what you did.

And all those thoughts of whether you could have done better or what you could have done differently?

Dismiss them, Shigure.

Beating yourself up mentally isn't going to change anything.

Instead, appreciate the present, look towards the future, and strive to improve and do better next time."

The Admiral then gripped Shigure's hand tighter, doing her best to drive the next point home as Admiral Mako looked into Shigure's eyes with concern.

"But also keep in mind that you have a duty to keep yourself in peak physical condition, lest you fall at a critical moment due to fatigue or some other silly reason.

And even when you fight to protect others, you shouldn't ignore your own health and make others worry about you by needlessly risking your own life, you hear me?"

Shigure nodded, understanding that their lives were all now closely intertwined due to their ability to interact with each other, and the loss of her life, even if it meant little to the base in terms of resources and manpower, would still cause repercussions that she may never truly see the end of.

Her teammates and sisters were the ones who were the closest to her, and she couldn't be so callous as to throw away her own life like she did at the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, because not only would she run the risk of adversely affecting her teammates.

Things would be worse for her sister ships, since they got to know her and watch her grow and mature, even if for a while, and would be the ones who were the most devastated by her sinking.

That thought alone was what scared her more than anything else in the world, being separated from them again and risk leaving them forever changed for the worse, even if it was to make it up to her dead teammates.

And like Akashi had bluntly pointed out, even if she sacrificed herself, she would never be able to bring her dead teammates back and would never be able to meet the Nishimura Fleet, made even worse by the fact that the Nishimura Fleet was back, and they were out there somewhere in this life.

She would only end up as nothing more than a statistic on an After Action Report, and would leave behind nothing but bitterness and loneliness in her wake.

Admiral Mako seemed satisfied with Shigure's answer and the newfound resolve in her eyes as she released Shigure's slackening fist, the Admiral leaning back in her chair in order to relax a little.

She understood that Shigure, damaged she may be, was smart enough to understand and learn from her mistakes after some thought and receiving second opinions from those around her.

Shigure looked over at her Admiral, and felt the restrictive neck brace resist her attempts as she asked Admiral Mako.

"Admiral, I have a question."

Admiral Mako was at attention as Shigure addressed her, crossing her legs and leaning in to listen to Shigure's question, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer wondering if it was alright to ask before asking anyway.

"I have a bit of a confession to make.

Before the operation, I wondered if you deemed us to be less valuable when compared to the 3rd Fleet and sent us out first as a result, but Ayanami told me that we had to trust you, otherwise the chain of command would fall apart.

I wonder, is it alright to doubt your orders?"

To Shigure's surprise, Admiral Mako looked a little relieved to hear that, and she placed her naval officer's cap on her lap as she answered.

"Oh, of course, my dear.

I'm not perfect, and I'm still capable of making mistakes."

Her eyes darkened and a shadow clouded her face as she continued.

"I just force myself to make less of them, because the lives of my dear ship girls are in my hands."

Shigure silently listened as she saw the Admiral lift her head up to look at Shigure again, feebly attempting a smile as she reassured Shigure.

"I understand if some of you might doubt me, and that's to be expected as some of you may have had less-than-stellar Admirals in the last war who made bad calls.

I've accepted it as par for the course to earn that trust by making the right choices and seriously considering all of your feedback and advice, even from those who disagree with me."

Admiral Mako looked away, seeming to reminisce on something as she continued.

"Well, I've discussed my own views and plans with those who disagreed with me, and sometimes I'd win, or they'd win, or we'd come to a compromise.

I actually welcome this, because even when I know what kind of base to create and what kind of ship girls I want to raise, I can't expect myself to be able to understand you all to the point where I can make all the right decisions for everyone.

Besides, I'm not the one who goes out on the battlefield, so you girls will definitely know certain things that I don't."

Her smile then grew a little, this time into one of a tired yet genuine smile that was like a warm light source, not blinding but was instead reassuring as she looked towards Shigure.

"I don't mind it so long as you remember to make valid points, Shigure, so don't hesitate to ask me anything, alright?"

Shigure nodded, asking her next question.

"About the _Flying Dutchman_ , what is the world doing about it?"

Admiral Mako's smile now morphed into a contemplative look, thinking about things before answering Shigure as best she could without divulging classified information.

"Well, we're frantically trying to connect the dots and see what else the Abyssals are up to while preparing ourselves for a possible second strike, but we aren't exactly declaring a global Code Red or throwing up our hands and running around like headless chickens while waiting for the end.

Because I suspect that even though the _Flying Dutchman_ is capable of more than it let on at the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, it can't be everywhere at once as it may likely be a one of a kind machine…"

"For now."

Shigure added, and Admiral Mako morbidly chuckled as she conceded the point.

" … Yes.

For now.

But it's far larger than anything the Abyssals have built so far.

And because of that, we can detect the damn thing the instant it comes within a certain distance of any naval installation around the world.

The only issues are our response time, trying to predict what else it can do, figuring out how to fight it and eventually, how to sink it if using conventional weapons isn't of much use."

Shigure raised an eyebrow at that, and Admiral Mako explained the situation.

"Well, one of the _Dutchman_ 's most powerful abilities is the ability to submerge at will, since it can scout and observe the battle before deciding to run interference.

So far, we can't seem to find any other way to deter its movements other than through naval mines."

Shigure interjected with a question, asking about possible human interference and support to back them up during battles.

"But what about the Japanese Air Force?

Surely we must have the air power to respond quickly when they attack?"

Admiral Mako sighed sadly, giving Shigure a exhausted smile as she corrected Shigure and pointed out a detail in the battle that she had been through.

"Not when it can pop up in bad weather, and at a convenient moment to mow us down like a sickle against wheat.

In adverse conditions, ship girls have to fight both the weather and the Abyssals, and even if we sortie all our JSDF destroyers to patrol the waters, it won't do any good if the _Flying Dutchman_ can simply lay in wait like the shark in _Jaws_ and slowly pick them off, if it even decides to engage them at all.

Right now, jet fighters may not be fast enough to intercept them as they have to be launched from the mainland, and it's suicidal for them to fly in bad weather while engaging the _Dutchman_."

Shigure thought about it, and eventually saw where her Admiral was coming from as the Admiral looked away at nothing in particular, lost in her thoughts about how to deal with this new development in the war.

 _The Flying Dutchman_ 's diving speed was considered pretty fast, and any missiles fired from the JSDF destroyers would mean that it might be able to detect them at a distance and could either crash-dive to evade them or simply shoot them out of the sky.

Being underwater meant that it could scout out the enemy beforehand and decide if it wanted to participate in the battle.

At the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, it likely determined where to best strike the Combined Fleet, and the _Flying Dutchman_ tanked everything the Combined Fleet threw at them, hitting hard and fleeing before reinforcements arrived.

If too many ship girls were present in battle, it might decide to flee the scene so as not to risk damaging the _Flying Dutchman_ in a battle of battleships, where it knew that there was a chance of the _Dutchman_ sustaining significant damage.

This way, the Abyssals could also drain their resources in a battle of attrition as they would waste more fuel sortieing more ship girls to prepare for a potential battle with the _Dutchman_ that may never come to pass.

But Shigure was snapped out of her thoughts by the Admiral politely and softly calling her name, Admiral Mako asking someone who had seen the _Dutchman_ 's technology up close.

"Shigure, concerning the _Dutchman_ 's cannons and the torpedo-blocking technology, can you tell me a little more about them?"

Shigure blinked before registering the question and prepared to answer her superior, thinking back to the time when the destroyers had tried to escape the _Flying Dutchman_ 's cannons, and how Shigure had heard that the torpedoes that Kasumi had fired had no effect since some sort of underwater Abyssal swarm disrupted the torpedoes before they hit the hull of the _Dutchman._

"Well, the cannons are life-sized and are capable of firing shells at high velocities that likely match our ship girl cannon counterparts, so unlike our downsized cannons which are suited more for ship-girl-to-Abyssal combat, the shells that hit us are far more destructive and lethal, since it's a large shell travelling at the same velocity.

The torpedo-blocking technology is something that I'm not too sure about, since there are different ways that it could operate."

Her face darkened as she continued, sharing her opinion about the new Abyssal torpedo-blocking technology which they currently had no way of countering.

"I thought about it, and there exists two possibilities.

One is that it dismantles the torpedo before it reaches its target, since it's movement is akin to that of a school of piranha gathering around a torpedo, and the possibility of the underwater swarm being able to attack the boat slippers of ship girls is unknown.

The second is that it might use its sheer numbers to gather around the tip of the torpedo, and if I understand the interior workings of a torpedo correctly, it might gather into a clump to fool the Abyssal-sensing sensors on the torpedo to think that it has already reached its target and trick it into detonating its warhead prematurely."

Admiral Mako nodded at the proposed theories concerning the working principle behind the new Abyssal technology, but Shigure was quick to put forth a disclaimer as she exclaimed.

"W-Well, it's just something that I thought up of off the top of my head, and…"

Admiral Mako raised a hand to stop Shigure, and her gaze pretty much summed up her 'Please stop talking' attitude as she corrected the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"Shigure.

I asked you for your opinion and ideas because I respect your intelligence, and know that you're smart enough to bring credible ideas to the table.

But something that grinds my gears is someone saying something smart, then backtracking as if they're embarrassed about their own intelligence.

And to that, I say, stop it."

Admiral Mako smiled as she looked at Shigure, her expression softening as she slowly got up from her chair to leave and continue performing her daily duties.

"Those were good ideas that you put forth, Shigure, and they'll be important in determining how we face off against the _Flying Dutchman_ in the future."

Shigure wanted to apologize for that, but caught herself in time to stop herself, unsure of how to reply to that and finally settling on a sheepish smile.

Admiral Mako turned to leave, but caught herself in time to turn back and remind her of one last thing before leaving, a smile gracing her weary face as she looked down to meet her gaze.

"Oh, and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't throw yourself into another life-and-death situation, because your sisters, Shimakaze, Tenryuu, the 3rd Fleet and various other ship girls have been badgering me about your mental state and recovery.

There are people who are genuinely concerned about your survival and well-being, and I think that's enough of a reason for you to not off yourself, alright?"

Shigure made a remorseful face, realizing how close she'd been to inflicting the same pain and loneliness that she had felt onto her sisters and friends, Admiral Mako sighing one last time before slapping her Admiral cap back on her head whilst giving her one last aside smile before leaving quietly, leaving the contemplative Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer alone with her thoughts.

* * *

Admiral Mako strolled down the hospital hallway, inhaling and taking in the sanitized, well-conditioned cold air as she considered the situation at hand and what exactly was going on beneath the ocean.

The Abyssals were changing up the game.

Apocalypse, whatever it was, may well be in full effect after considering the fact that the amount of resources needed to craft the _Flying Dutchman_ barely held a candle to the sheer amount of resources that had been used to create God-knows-what.

But the thing was that she might have an inkling of what they were up to.

She spotted a particular pink-haired repair ship waiting at the vending machine in the hospital's rest area, the squarish machine aglow with various canned drinks that were on display, one of which was in Akashi's hands as they noticed each other, nodded so as to acknowledge each other's presence and looked towards the steel bench that they both eventually sat down on.

Akashi took a sip of her drink as Admiral Mako dryly commented on the situation.

"Knew I'd find you here.

This is quite the conundrum, hmm?"

Akashi retorted, reminding the Admiral about the war in which they were currently embroiled in.

"If by that, you mean 'we're fucked everyday', I suppose so.

Today just marked the start of yet another five years of the Abyssals screwing us over by changing up the game again, so what's new anymore?"

Admiral Mako lifted an eyebrow to concede the point, asking Akashi as they made sure to sit on the bench that was furthest away from the hallway so that anyone who was passing by wouldn't accidentally overhear sensitive information.

"That's the problem, Akashi.

I think that the Abyssals' Apocalypse plan may be the 'Mud-skipper' scenario that we thought up of, in the wake of the Abyssal _Blitzkrieg_ in '07."

Instead of being greeted by a typical reaction of surprise, the senior ship girl calmly considered the current situation and all of its known variables before responding without the usual sass that she used to address others.

"Hmm.

Abyssals coming onto land and attacking us directly?

Interesting."

Admiral Mako twisted her body to face the repair ship, concern and worry permeating her voice and was reflected in her eyes as she explained herself.

"Think about it!

They've done it in the past despite using their unwieldy ship cannons on land, which allowed them to pull off a successful assault on America despite suffering heavy casualties.

So, what if they've built the correct weapons and mass produced them to get the job done right this time?"

Akashi breathed out a little harder through her nose to pass as a sigh as she gave her Admiral a bored aside glance.

"Relax.

I said it was an interesting notion, not an impossible one.

The chances of what the Abyssals term 'Apocalypse' being the plans to carry out the code-named 'Mud-skipper' scenario coming true are growing higher and higher with every revelation.

And should the Abyssals come on land and possess enough firepower in the air, sea and sky to take on several countries at once, no force on heaven or earth is going to stop the inevitable World War 3.

They're prepared, they're cocky, and they believe they can win.

That's probably why they chose to usher in the next age of ship girl warfare with the _Flying Dutchman_ at its vanguard instead of choosing to sneakily attack everyone simultaneously in a devastating first strike."

Admiral Mako's eyes widened before narrowing worriedly, a shadow forming on her face as she lowered her head to look at the ground and grumbled darkly.

"Fuck man, they knew that we probably wouldn't prepare any real countermeasures for a second land invasion that seemed less and less likely as time passes, and that's when they'll really strike.

We need to convince Central of this in order to get them to set aside resources and Fairies to build Anti-Abyssal weapons en masse and get the governments of the world up to date on this new development..."

"Stop."

Akashi silenced her Admiral with one word, and Admiral Mako looked up at Akashi's sharp eyes that reflected her concern as she pointed out.

"Remember.

Everything that have we proposed thus far are ultimately nothing but hunches.

Like you told the Coordinators and seniors, if you're too locked onto one particular theory, you may suffer from confirmation bias and only focus on certain facts that agree with your theory, and that's arguably hell of a lot more dangerous than anything the Abyssals are capable of cooking up.

Right now, we only have vague plans and receipts to indicate that something large is going on behind the scenes, and they could be building giant Gundams for all we know."

Admiral Mako snorted upon hearing that, her expression finally softening as she wearily conceded the point.

"Alright, alright, I know.

I need damning evidence to convince Central and the Japanese government about the 'Mud-skipper' scenario and 'Apocalypse' being true.

Otherwise, I'm just a fear-monger or doomsayer that those stuffy government officials want to avoid the most."

Akashi sighed, single-handedly crushing the steel can in her grasp and tossing it into the nearby trashcan without even glancing at it, sluggishly standing up as she put her hands in her pockets and asked in a bored tone.

"What do you need me to do?"

Admiral Mako looked up at her as she ordered her repair ship.

"The _Flying Dutchman_ 's attack has also sent the Abyssals scurrying about in a frenzy of activity, and one Abyssal Princess in particular has been spotted leaving her little island and has been press-ganging Abyssals left and right into her fleet amidst the chaos.

If she reaches anywhere near the Safety Zone, I want you to sortie with the 8th Fleet in order to stop her and interrogate her about 'Apocalypse'."

Akashi raised an eyebrow in acceptance and tilted her head, causing the white bandanna wrapped around her head to shift and swing as she acknowledged her Admiral's orders, clarifying.

"And about 'Psyche'?

Do we push that project forward?"

Admiral Mako considered the tempting possibility but eventually dismissed it with a simple shake of her head, remembering the uncomfortably low odds of survival as she added.

"No.

I don't want to needlessly jeopardize our girls' chances of surviving the procedure just yet.

Focus on the Princess, and then on Project Psyche with Aoba.

I'll focus on the upcoming large-scale battle and 'Apocalypse'.

Besides, the government and navy will understand the importance of submarines and naval mines after seeing the _Dutchman_ in action, and will be more than willing to provide all the naval mines under the sun in order to protect our shores.

I suppose there's a silver lining after all, hmm?"

Akashi responded with a _hmpf_ as she nodded and turned to leave, Admiral Mako pulling out her touch-phone to contact the Coordinators about the _Flying Dutchman_ and get them to crunch some numbers.

Ooyodo's voice piped up on the other end of the line, her 'default secretary' voice chirping as she commented on the Admiral taking the occasional initiative to call her and get work done.

"Oh, Admiral?

It's a pleasant surprise to see you call me, instead of it being the other way around.

What is it this time?"

Admiral Mako's tone surprised even herself, ordering Ooyodo in a way that didn't allow for any rebuttal as she kept her volume down, seeing that she was using her phone in a hospital.

"Ooyodo, get the folder.

The 'Apocalypse' one."

She could barely hear Ooyodo inhaling sharply, the light cruiser having worked with Admiral Mako for roughly ten years and understood the Admiral's current tone to be no-nonsense and completely serious as she curtly replied.

"Yes, Admiral.

What would you like me to do with it?"

Admiral Mako slowly made herself comfortable on the steel bench while keeping an eye out for anyone that might overhear her as she ordered into the phone.

"You received the 1st Fleet's memory file from Akashi for inspection, right?

I want you to build a hypothetical model of _The Flying Dutchman_ and determine if the amount of resources needed to create the _Dutchman_ matches the amount of resources needed to build a Nagato-Class battleship.

And then, I want you to determine our odds of winning should the Abyssals utilize the resources detailed in 'Apocalypse' to develop and mass-produce human weapons for another land invasion."

Ooyodo's voice sounded steady, although after working with her for so long, Admiral Mako could discern various subtle signs of the secretary ship being unsettled by the order as Ooyodo asked.

"Admiral…

Do you think that the Abyssals have built Abyssal tanks and firearms without our knowledge?"

Mako chuckled at that, preparing to correct the Ooyodo-Class light cruiser as she shared her fears and felt the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"Oh Ooyodo, my dear.

I'm not just afraid of them building tanks, warships or even planes without our knowledge.

I'm afraid that those may not be the only things that they've built."


	20. Chapter 20 - Convalescence

Shigure was discharged before dinner like Akashi promised, the warm fabric of her newly-ironed uniform pressing on her skin as she quietly stepped out of the docks, ready to eat her dinner alone before quietly retiring for the night.

And those hopes were immediately dashed as she was greeted by her sister ships zerg-rushing her, giving her one hell of a group hug as she was slowly suffocated by her sisters' passionate embrace, and had to spend about five minutes to convincingly reassure them that she wasn't going to do anything drastic like taking her own life, after which they finally believed her and ushered her towards the canteen.

The fact that they kept her in their sights at all times didn't escape Shigure's notice, although she was was rather ambivalent about her sisters' skittishness around her and how they looked as though they really wanted to confront her, yet tried their best to pretend that everything was alright.

Noting the slightly reddish eyes of her sisters, Samidare's wet gloves, the barely perceptible redness of their noses and the sniffling of her sisters told her that they had been crying, and Shigure now felt even worse about trying to take her own life and almost inflicting an unimaginable amount of pain on them, the kind that can only be felt when a sister ship sank.

Shigure was currently eating porridge with scrambled eggs on one plate, salted fish on another with a small dish of peanuts and bauxite seated alongside a chilled steel fuel can, a meal specially made by Mamiya to help her recover from her injury.

But her sisters were too nervous to try and engage her in conversation, or in Yuudachi's case, too engrossed in trying to scarf her food down after a long day while Samidare and Murasame genuinely looked worried about her, but Japanese manners dictated that they act as though everything was alright so as not to provoke her and make things worse, although Shigure knew that deep down, they really wanted to console her.

Just another inconvenience that arose when being reincarnated as a humanoid; you have to behave just like a human did.

Sigh.

Looking down at the piece of refined bauxite in her spoon, she decided to engage in a neutral topic as she asked Samidare why bauxite was so important in maintaining their bodies after seeing Kaga and Akagi hoard a small mountain of the refined reddish-brown ore, and since her blue-haired sister was a bit more knowledgeable about the physiology of the ship girls as she studiously listened to her seniors who conducted their lessons, she answered Shigure's question.

"U-Um, bauxite is used for what is known as 'External Unit Control', and bauxite is ingested so that our bodies can break it down and use it to maintain the neural networks that connect us to our weapons.

Any ship girl up to a heavy cruiser class doesn't require too much bauxite to function, because our weapons are mostly handheld or are comparatively small in size compared to the larger cannons of the battleships.

Power is transmitted to our weapons via touch or through our riggings, and the activation of our cannons..."

"Which means firing off a shell, right?"

Samidare nodded politely, Yuudachi now losing her interest in the conversation as they veered off into technical territory, the blonde destroyer shifting her attention onto the dinner tray before her.

"Firing a cannon is either done by hand since our cannons are mostly handheld, or by sending a signal into our riggings in order to get them to swivel around to aim at the target and then fire.

The thing is that our weapons don't consume too much power, are small in size to allow us to hold and move them around, and they're in contact with our riggings or hands, hence allowing us to maintain a direct link with them."

Shigure nodded as she slurped on some of the porridge and swallowed it before asking inquisitively.

"But carriers and battleships require more bauxite to maintain, am I right?"

Murasame nodded, her sisters now looking extremely eager to take this chance in order to distract her from whatever depressing thoughts that may still be plaguing Shigure as her sister chimed.

"Of course, since their weapons are considered heavy-duty.

The carriers need to maintain a wireless connection with their planes over long distances so that they can give their orders and allow their reconnaissance planes to transmit a live feed of the ocean in order to scout ahead.

The Fairies are the ones who fly the planes, but the carriers have better situational awareness, and also understand the flow of battle well enough to command their plane squadrons effectively.

They require powerful, wireless radio-control capabilities in order to command and micromanage their planes if the need arises, and need bauxite to fuel this ability and even boost it in certain cases if consumed in bulk."

Shigure nodded, picking up a small, refined bauxite piece with her spoon and wondering about how the battleships required so much bauxite to function in battle, and remembered Samidare's quote about their handheld cannons being rather small when compared to the large-caliber cannons of the battleships.

"And the battleships need bauxite to move their cannons because of how much the cannons weigh?"

Samidare nodded sagely, patting Yuudachi on the crown of her head as the blonde destroyer took the chance to tuck in after seeing that her sisters were talking about what they learnt in boring lessons, the blue-hair Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer elaborating.

"In a way, yes.

Battleships need bauxite to not just start, but also stop the movements of their gargantuan cannons quickly and accurately as their cannons can only be fired from their riggings.

Without it, their cannons would lag due to high inertia, and the difference in two or three degrees in aim could mean hitting or missing a small island entirely."

Shigure nodded, opening her mouth to ingest the piece of bauxite as she felt the metallic taste of the refined aluminium ore upon biting down, noting out of the corner of her eye that her sister ships were smiling tensely, exercising tact in the classic Japanese way to make sure not to use potentially aggravating words and politely changing the subject in order to skirt around the issue and defuse the situation.

It was somewhat bothersome to see her sisters treat her like a delicate porcelain doll, as though she could be easily broken and had to handled with care, but in light of recent events and the sincerity in their concerned looks, it was understandable that they wouldn't want to say anything that would exacerbate her condition as they didn't know about the talk that she had with Akashi and Admiral Mako.

She felt the crunchy yet soft texture of the material as the bauxite material deformed and broke down inside her mouth, Shigure feeling rather thankful for their steel teeth that were significantly stronger than a human's, and were thus entirely capable of eating bauxite when humans would most likely be suffering from cracked teeth if asked to replicate their feats of eating metal on a daily basis.

Indeed, when one considered the sheer size of the large-caliber cannons compared to their paltry hand-cannons, Shigure could see the reason why the battleships needed bauxite to transmit a large amount of power into their riggings in order to accurately move their cannons around.

They couldn't manually move their cannons around like destroyers and cruisers could with their handheld cannons, and thus had to transmit immense power down their spines which was then transferred to their riggings that were coupled to the base of their spinal columns.

Like the carriers, eating more bauxite would help boost their signal transmitting abilities and help them to swivel their cannons around faster to hit enemies with potent evasive abilities, and since their neural networks were powered by bauxite and were integral to their performance on the battlefield, it almost justified the sheer amount of resources they needed to consume when compared to the less resource-intensive cruisers and destroyers.

But Yuudachi, after feeling her mind start to overload from listening to her sisters talk about facts that they had learnt in lessons, lessons which she sometimes slept through as they bored her, threw her hands up in order to change the subject and exclaimed out of concern for her sister ship.

"Maa, that's all irrelevant!

Shigure, why did you run back into the battlefield and die three days ago, Poi?!"

Two of her three sisters that were present temporarily froze, unsure of how to approach the subject since their blonde sister ship had thrown tact out of the window in order to directly ask Shigure about her death in the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, which was likely connected to her blood-stained past and was something which they were convinced was a sore point for Shigure.

Fortunately for them, Shigure had tried her best to put the disastrous battle behind her, sighing in relief as she gave them all a tired smile and explained herself.

"Well, I wanted to save my battleship teammates who had volunteered to stay behind and fend off the _Flying Dutchman._

I didn't want this to end up like another Surigao Strait."

Yuudachi's face lit up upon learning the reason for Shigure's suicidal actions, but her eyebrows furrowed and her expression soon clouded over as it was obvious that she was trying to connect the dots in her mind in order to see the similarities between the two battles, her expression and mannerisms slowly but surely deflating as she eventually came to an understanding and uttered,

"Oh."

As Murasame gently bopped her on her head with one cheek puffed out, slightly miffed at Yuudachi's insensitive question.

Samidare placed her gloved hand over Shigure's left hand as she leaned to comfort her and tried to salvage the situation.

"Shigure, you don't need to feel obliged to share anything with us.

We understand if..."

But Shigure shook her head, trying her best to get through to her sisters that she was capable of moving on from her trauma, and despite her bloody past casting a long shadow over her, she wanted to make sure they understood that she wouldn't try to keep her emotions from her sister ships of all people, responding firmly as she placed her spoon on her porridge bowl and placed her right hand over Samidare's hand in order to turn the tables on them as she comforted Samidare.

"No.

I know that you all know about my past, and it's understandable that you'd be worried about me.

But I'd prefer it if you all expressed your concerns up front rather than try to skirt around the issue out of tact and be left wondering about how I'm doing whilst keeping silent."

Samidare leaned in to confirm Shigure's statement, her bright blue eyes reflecting the kind of concern that sister ship would instinctively show towards her siblings as Samidare asked in a mature tone.

"Are you sure, Shigure?

I mean, you went through a lot in the last war..."

"And the rest of you haven't?

I can't be so selfish as to say 'my pain is greater than your pain' and assume that all of you are incapable of understanding me and shut you all out without saying anything, right?

I'd prefer it if you were honest and upfront with me like Yuudachi was, rather than hurt yourselves trying to suppress your concerns out of 'politeness' and whatnot."

Samidare blinked upon hearing that as Shigure lifted a hand to pat the at-attention Yuudachi on the head, but Murasame piped up.

"But we're just worried that if we say the wrong things to you or dredge up bad memories, you may react negatively and push us away as a result.

Besides, is it wrong for us to try and respect your privacy by trying not to touch upon the various disastrous battles that you were in?"

Shigure turned to Murasame and gave her an easy smile as she reassured her sister.

"Well, if that were the case, I'd tell you all to leave a certain topic well alone beforehand.

But know that you're my sisters, and I'd certainly try my best to understand if you wanted to help me out by talking to me about topics that I'm not very comfortable with sharing in order to try and get to know me better and to get me to open up."

Shigure looked back down at the table and at her food tray as Yuudachi leaned in and rubbed shoulders with her to give her some moral support.

"This war is unpredictable, and no one can say for certain when any one of us might sink tomorrow.

I really wish that we can be a little more honest with each other, because I don't want any one us to move on while wondering how things could have been had we been a little more honest with each other and expressed our feelings a little more freely.

And if you have something to tell me, please don't keep me in suspense by saying 'I want to tell you something after this operation', because according to what I've learnt from the entertainment industry of the 21st century, that's a death flag and I'll be killed off.

Touch wood, but if I were to ever sink in battle, I really don't feel like spending my last moments obsessing over what you wanted to tell me."

Yuudachi then piped up, innocently asking about something.

"Maa, but when you say it like that, can we use it as bait to get you to fight harder in order to ensure that you come back and find out what we wanted to tell you, Poi?"

Shigure blinked a little, spotting Samidare trying to hide a knowing smirk and realized how she gave her sisters the bait needed to keep her alive, Shigure leaning over and playfully slapped a giggling Yuudachi on the head whilst shushing her, Murasame tilting her head back to think about Shigure's words before nodding in acceptance as Shigure took the chance to try and elaborate on how she wanted their relationship to be like.

"I really don't want to respond negatively to your concerns and flare up at you all in times like these, where your concern is the one thing that I need the most in times of crisis.

I understand that I'm the one sister ship who angsts a lot..."

Murasame and Yuudachi snickered upon hearing that as Samidare halfheartedly shushed them with a suppressed smirk, but they all kept quiet to allow Shigure to finish her sentence, the dark-haired Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer being extremely grateful for their thoughtfulness, sincerity and dedication.

"...but I never want you all to feel like I'm alienating you all simply because of my personality and past experiences, forcing you all to treat me with kid gloves and look at me like I'm a walking time-bomb or something.

I don't want you all to ever feel wary about approaching me."

Her smile waned as she looked down at Samidare's gloved hand, which was still placed reassuringly on her left hand as she explained herself to her sisters.

"And besides, I think that as my sisters, you all have a right to know how I'm feeling at all times.

It's something that I'd ask you all should something happen to any one of you, and I understand that I have to practice what I preach by honestly expressing my woes and thoughts to those who are closest to me, namely my sisters."

Samidare's expression softened, her furrowed brows relaxing to show her benign smile as she gently held Shigure's hand and reminded her that they would always be there for her, and that they would respect her decision to keep certain things to herself.

"Of course, Shigure.

But remember that you don't have to tell us everything, and if you feel that it's too difficult or traumatizing to tell us something..."

Shigure looked back at her again, returning the warm smile to show that she truly understood her intentions, and then looking down as she elaborated more about the Battle of Mikura Jima Island.

"Well, I was told by Akashi that I should have run instead of sailing back into the battle, where my lack of training and traumatic flashbacks would only serve to hinder everyone and paint myself as an easy target.

And I think this needs to be said, so I shall simply say that the incident where Hiei and Haruna protected us from the _Dutchman_ was what temporarily drove me over the edge and made me jump back into the fray."

Her sisters were all silent, their smiles now wiped off their faces as they listened to the luckiest and quietest of the Shiratsuyu-Class, understanding that this was a rare occasion where Shigure was taking the initiative to express how she felt whilst experiencing the worst moment of her life thus far.

"Akashi said to my face that it was a stupid move, because sacrificing myself back then was a pathetic attempt on my part to absolve myself of the guilt that I felt.

Looking back at my own actions, I have to agree that it was rather silly of me to rush in without any plan whatsoever."

Murasame came to her defense as she commented, understanding the fact that traumas were extremely powerful mental driving forces that could cause unpredictable responses in different people.

"Well, that's not exactly your fault now, is it?

You weren't in your right mind, and your actions were a result of you wanting to prevent Hiei and Haruna's sinking at all costs, like...

You know..."

Murasame looked away as she muttered in order to finish her sentence, as though she believed that the decrease in volume would change anything.

"... Fusou and Yamashiro."

Shigure gave Murasame an aside glance before nodding and commenting about her current status.

"Well, she did say that she understood my reasons for acting out like I did, and that's the reason why I'm not suspended from duty due to either insubordination or concern over my mental health.

And besides..."

Shigure looked towards her sisters, shifting in her seat and swiveling her head so that she could see them all as she revealed to them her most important reason for staying alive, those reasons currently being seated around her.

"She told me that I had all of you with me here, and that's all the reason I need to keep fighting on.

And I now know that I nearly made one of the greatest mistakes one can do, and almost inflicted the same pain and loneliness that I felt onto you all.

And I vowed, never again."

Samidare and Murasame seemed extremely relieved upon hearing this, the former ship girl inhaling deeply as she straightened up and allowed a smile to grace her concerned face while Murasame exhaled in relief and allowed herself to unwind by stretching her arms, Yuudachi choosing to respond with a genuine smile as she heartily slapped Shigure on the back and chirped.

"Maa, it's good to know that you'll be taking your own life a little more seriously out there, Shigure!"

But Yuudachi was strangely the one who chose to give Shigure her opinion on things, her smile relaxing as she regarded Shigure seriously before speaking her mind.

"But Shigure, I really don't want you to feel as though you have to shoulder the burden alone and try too hard.

I know that we may have had different experiences in the night, where I shined and excelled while you, well...

You're like, the opposite of me in the night, Poi?"

Shigure nodded, feeling interested in what her beloved sister had to say, seeing that she chose to compare how the both of them had a love-hate relationship with the night, with Shigure being somewhere on the 'hate' end while Yuudachi was firmly on the 'love' end of the spectrum.

Yuudachi was sitting next to Shigure, so they were able to shift their bodies around to lock gazes with each other, Yuudachi expressing her own opinion on things as she took hold of Shigure's right hand and continued.

"You don't have to feel as though you have to try too hard to overcome your trauma too quickly.

You see..."

Yuudachi leaned in towards Shigure, now commanding the dark-haired destroyer's full attention as she explained.

"In light of recent events like the _Flying Dutchman_ owning the Combined Fleet, I understand if you want to try even harder to improve yourself and want to overcome your fear of the night, which stems with your history with Surigao Strait in order to eliminate your glaring weakness.

But know that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder isn't something that can be 'cured' or 'eliminated' like this, and you should never feel like you have to tackle this issue alone when you have the support of your fleet and sister ships.

And I know, like I said, I've never been through what you've been through, so I may not have the right to say this..."

Yuudachi's eyes drifted away upon uttering this sentence, but Shigure surprised even herself as she gently shook off Samidare's hand in order to clasp Yuudachi's hand as her eyes hardened, reiterating.

"No.

I never want to you to feel as if there's anything you can't talk to me about for whatever reason.

You and I may be as different as night and day, but know that I love you regardless."

Yuudachi broke out into a relieved smile as she exhaled and continued,

"Please do not ever feel as though you need to improve yourself at a pace that exceeds what you can handle physically or mentally.

Your friends will also strive to improve along with you, and will be more than willing to help you in the recovery process in order to come to terms with your trauma.

You'll arguably be spending more time with them than with us, but know that I'll also be training myself up to become stronger in order to protect you in the dark, Shigure."

Shigure smiled upon hearing that, the both of them gently clasping their hands together in a sister-like manner as Murasame, upon seeing her two sisters become closer to each other, rolled her eyes non-derisively as she commented in a good humored manner.

"Wow, I've heard of opposites attracting, but I think this may a little too much.

I mean, the two of you couldn't be more different, and yet are so close to each other."

Yuudachi puffed her cheeks out, now becoming a little overprotective of their relationship as she released her hands in order to hug her affectionately, huffing rebelliously.

"Oh yeah?

How so, Poi?"

Murasame dryly pointed out how Shigure and Yuudachi were like night and day as Samidare took the time to tuck in before their porridge got cold, Shigure attempting to do the same but was stuck firmly in Yuudachi's embrace.

"Well, for starters, Yuudachi, you like the night but possess blonde hair and an extroverted personality.

Shigure prefers the day while possessing black hair and is quite the introvert, and one would think that our makers would think to try and rectify the dichotomy between you two."

Samidare added after seeing Yuudachi and Shigure so close together and possessed certain qualities that reminded her of two celestial objects that symbolized the day and night and only served to highlight the dichotomy between them.

"Well, when you consider the fact that Yuudachi's as vibrant as the sun while Shigure's personality is as quiet and as subdued as the night, it only seems natural to assume that Yuudachi would like the day, and Shigure the night.

But Yuudachi's nickname as the Nightmare of Solomon is a result of her brilliance in the nighttime, and as night battle is destined to be her forte, it would certainly seem that she is an agent of darkness.

Shigure looks like the kind of ship girl that, despite excelling in night battles, prefers to fight in the daytime where she feels safe, so..."

Yuudachi's puffed her cheeks out, tightening her grip around Shigure as she was quietly eating her food and almost caused her to drop a piece of fish on her lap, hearing Yuudachi pout about how their sisters were overthinking things.

"Maa, day or night, I don't really care!

I'll be sure to train myself up to the point where I can protect myself in battle anytime, any-day, Shigure!"

Shigure swallowed her food, but was interested in what her sister ship had to say as she craned her neck so that she could look Yuudachi in the eye, seeing the dogged and resolute determination in her eyes.

"I don't want you to think that I'm incapable of protecting myself, despite not currently possessing a Kai remodel.

So how about we both aim to attain our Kai Ni and develop our full potential, Poi?"

Shigure smiled in agreement, but Samidare interjected with a small warning in order to remind them that safety came first.

"Yes, girls.

But remember, Yuudachi, you need to stay safe, alright?"

Murasame nodded while taking on a slightly sarcastic yet benevolent tone as she added.

"Yeah, kinda defeats the point if you risk your own life to get stronger, but fail to protect yourself in battle as a result."

Shigure nodded as she finished her dinner and lowered her spoon, looking around at her sisters and appreciating the amount of concern they all showed towards her, thankful that she had sister ships to share her woes with.

A shadow loomed behind her and she turned around whilst noting the surprise that overtook the expressions of her sisters, finding herself looking at a metallic box with a smiling face emoji on it as it stared back at her at eye level.

Shigure looked up to see Shimakaze standing over her, her expression dead-serious as she looked at her with a mix of complicated emotions, Shigure managing to discern agony, relief, remembrance and certain internal conflicts about something or another within her through her gaze, the skimpily-dressed destroyer speaking up.

"Looks like you're still kicking, huh?"

Shigure smiled and cheekily replied whilst meeting Shimakaze's gaze.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't want my sisters and friends to feel lonely without me."

Shimakaze's eyes widened a little before narrowing upon hearing Shigure utter that sentence, and Shigure could see that the destroyer revealed a moment of surprise and pain in her eyes, barely perceptible and was quickly covered up, but was still picked up by her nonetheless.

Her mind started wandering, wondering what sort of ship girl she would deem close enough to be akin to a sister, going through her list of possible candidates before remembering the one other ship that her past captain, Captain Tameichi Hara, had captained during the war.

Amatsukaze.

Member of the Kagerou-Class of destroyers and was related to Shimakaze in that her design was used as a template in order to create Shimakaze, and just like that, Shimakaze must have seen the Kagerou-Class destroyer as a sibling of sorts out of sheer loneliness due to being one of a kind, and Shigure's eyes also narrowed, starting to understand why Shimakaze was here.

Indeed, the Shimakaze-Class destroyer held her three Rensouhou-chan close to her, a natural reaction as they were her close companions, the cuboid turrets silently waving their arms at the rest of the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers as Shimakaze explained herself.

"Well, I wouldn't want you to sink before I can get to have my rematch with you.

And besides..."

Shimakaze's eyes softened as she looked down at the floor, and Shigure could see the pain and worry in her eyes as she finished her sentence.

"I wanted to share my secret with you after I prepared myself mentally, but when I heard that you died in battle..."

Shigure inhaled as she connected the dots in her mind, speculating on the fast destroyer's thought processes and could see that it wasn't out of the question for the destroyer to see her as a very special friend, since Shigure was a newcomer and didn't know about anyone's pasts.

Because of her newly crafted status, Shigure had a special privilege in this base where her ignorance, in this case, was an unorthodox advantage as she could safely ask them about them about their pasts.

They had to enlighten her lest they make themselves look rather standoffish, and in a society like Japan, almost no one wanted to make themselves look bad in the eyes of what was essentially a child.

Shigure's promise with her meant that Shimakaze could prepare herself mentally in order to share her past with Shigure at her own pace, and allow the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer to get closer to her as a friend and help her start recovering.

But that promise meant nothing if she was at the bottom of the ocean like Amatsukaze and left Shimakaze alone.

Her sisters were now respectfully silent as were Shimakaze's three Rensouhou-chan, understanding that whatever went on between them stayed between them as Shigure asked.

"I assume that you're here because you're ready to tell me everything?"

Shimakaze solemnly nodded, looking away and shifting on the spot as she tried to determine a time and place for them to meet.

"I want to get this off my chest and honor the promise between us before you go on your next death-defying sortie.

Knowing you, you'll be recklessly training yourself up by participating in more and more sorties, and I'd rather tell you everything now than take my chances and delay it any more than I have to.

I'll meet you tomorrow, and-"

"No.

We'll go tonight."

Everyone surrounding swiveled their heads around to stare at her, Shimakaze looking rather surprised by this turn of events as Shigure looked up at the Shimakaze-Class destroyer and explained herself.

"I'm sorry.

But like you said, I'll be busy starting tomorrow."

Her gaze turned into one that seeked the acceptance of others, her gait softening as she pleaded.

"Please understand, I'm a newly crafted destroyer who has a lot to catch up on.

If I'm to be a member of the active roster of ship girls, then I need to close the gap in terms of experience by going on more sorties."

Shimakaze blinked, taking a very deep breath and allowing her chest to swell before deflating, finally scratching the back of her blonde hair and bluntly instructing.

"Alright then.

Finish your dinner, and meet me outside.

Be quick about it, because we'll be taking a hike to the base's graveyard."

* * *

Shimakaze led Shigure up the mountain where they had previously raced, having left her Rensouhou-Chan all behind with Houshou who had wordlessly understood Shimakaze's intentions and accepted her request without any fuss.

It was nighttime, and the trees that surrounded Shigure and Shimakaze stood silently at a distance and kept silent in the presence of the two destroyers as they walked up the path that led up the hill of the Yokosuka Naval Base, which led to the graveyard that was located in the small forest located on the outskirts of the base.

It was still located within the base and was available to those who wanted to pay their respects, but was located in a location where their tombstones would be shielded from the elements by the tall and immovable trees that formed a defensive perimeter and kept vigil over them, even in death.

The trees provided ample cover from the weather at the expense of the forest air being rather humid and thick along with the musky smell of the forest, and the fact that it was nighttime didn't help matters much as the forest looked menacing with its tall trees overshadowing them and blotting out the moon and stars.

There were crickets chirping and leaves rustling, but the darkness that overshadowed them for the majority of the journey only served to unnerve Shigure, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer trying to regulate her breathing and control her heartbeat as she scanned her surroundings nervously.

In light of recent traumatizing events, Shigure told herself that there was nothing to fear despite understanding the cause of this irrational terror, Shimakaze picking up on her fear and anxiety as well as the beads of sweat rolling down her face as she stopped beneath a steel lamppost and turned to ask.

"Are you alright, Shigure?

You don't look too good..."

Shigure nodded a little too quickly, swallowing as she took the time to catch her breath and stabilize her heartbeat, having finished her dinner and really didn't wish to throw up while in the company of another ship girl, replying weakly.

"I'm alright.

It's just that, you know...

The _Flying Dutchman_ and everything..."

Shimakaze's eyes widened and she lowered her head apologetically, but kept her voice steady as she tried to comfort the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"Don't worry.

You do know that we're safe on land, right?"

Shimakaze sighed and scratched her head, trying to make things easier for the dark-haired destroyer that had been through quite a lot in the past week, suggesting.

"How about we get this over with and head back?

I want to tell you everything, but if you're still experiencing the fallout of Mikura Jima Island, I can-"

"No."

Shigure gulped, and she raised her hand to clench at the uniform that covered her chest as she steeled her gaze and looked up, the street light that shone down on her casting a shadow over her face and further drove home the point that she was serious about this.

 _"Let's go."_

Shimakaze raised an eyebrow at Shigure's stubbornness, but turned without looking back and continued their little trek.

They walked off the main path and onto an unremarkable dirt path after 10 minutes of brisk walking, the compressed earth flanked by rows of overgrown grass after ship girls walked on this very path and cleared it of vegetation long ago.

Her regular exercises and training paid off as she kept her breathing and pulse steady, focusing on the destroyer before her as she tuned out the ever-present darkness, appreciating Shimakaze's silent company and wondering just what had to happen to Amatsukaze to make her turn out this way.

Following the dirt path for another two minutes led the both of them into a clearing that was devoid of trees and was only populated by a field of grass, where she now overlooked the eight tombstones that sat above recently mowed grass, Shigure immediately noting upon arrival that the trees had been trimmed so as to keep the environment neat and presentable.

This was quite the location, Shigure failing to detect significant environmental disturbances here which meant that the tombstones would be well-protected during storms or periods of strong winds, Shigure fanning herself with her school uniform to keep herself cool due to the lack of wind so far into the woods while in the midst of the summer season.

The musky and humid air made her uniform cling onto her skin as she ignored all that in order to observe the arranged tombstones that were illuminated by the moon, which was thankfully peeking over the tip of the barrier of trees to their right to provide some light.

The tombstones weren't anything special, being made of some of tough rock material, likely granite if the grey color of the tombstone was anything to go by, and were shaped in a machine-cut anchor that was placed upright, the stone support at the base diligently propping it up.

Their names were cut into the material of a metal nameplate that was then stuck to the base, with their name in Kanji and Hiragana for clarification purposes, a small glass bottle filled with water and white lilies in front of each tombstone.

And boy, there were quite a few tombstones that were lined up here.

Even if Yokosuka did lose comparatively fewer ship girls when compared to other bases, something that was already considered impressive due to the sheer number of ship girls stationed here, Shigure was despondent to find out that there were still quite a number of casualties in Yokosuka.

The tombstones read,

'Lebe (Z1)',

'Yuubari',

'Sakawa',

'Amatsukaze',

'Taihou',

'Katori',

'Nenohi'.

She recalled a few of the harrowing stories of sunken comrades after inquiring about the relevant information from her sisters and comrades, when they started talking about a ship girl in the past tense and she simply had to ask what happened lest she be left out of the loop.

Sakawa.

An Agano-Class light cruiser that was crafted via Large Ship Construction, and she was one of two Japanese warships that were sent over to America to participate in Operations Crossroads, the second being Nagato.

Understandable then, that the Nagato-Class battleship would be protective of her in this life, being a surrogate big sister to her as Yahagi hadn't been crafted then, and the battleship wanted nothing more than for Sakawa to be safe.

Unfortunately, sentiment alone wasn't able to shield her from a round fired from the cannon of the dreaded Armored Carrier Princess, which punched clean through her chest and left a gaping hole where her human heart was supposed to be.

She dropped dead on the spot, having the section of the spine behind her heart shot out and losing control of her boat slippers and sinking before anyone could get to her in time.

Nagato had grieved over that loss, and Admiral Mako had tried her best to console the sullen battleship, kept her company and gave her some time off.

Shigure looked at the next tombstone, not having gotten the entire situation of some of their deaths and skipping some of them after saying a quick prayer in her mind.

Katori.

A training cruiser that was not created to fight, but rather to teach the ship girls about combat tactics and the world at large, managing to also serve as the intermediary between the past and the present to any ship girls who took a longer time to adjust to the 21st century.

She held off a fleet of chasing Abyssal light carriers, light cruisers and destroyers in order to ensure the safe retreat of the accompanying 6th Fleet who was out on a training session that had quickly gone south as an Abyssal Fleet ambushed them prior to the resulting chase.

Some say that the 6th Fleet, having retained most of its members after the fleet shuffling, still try their best to sortie in a five-ship fleet and keep the sixth member slot free out of respect for the training cruiser's training and sacrifice that had paid off in producing some of the strongest carriers in the Yokosuka Naval Base.

Taihou had sunk off of the coast of Sri Lanka in a manner that was quite gruesome due to how she suffered before she sank.

A stray cannon round had struck her in the knee and disabled her movement to a large extent, and a damaged Abyssal Ha-Class destroyer got the twisted idea to attempt to take Taihou down in a kamikaze-style attack as it swam up while underwater, propelled itself out of the sea and rammed itself into the armored carrier's stomach as it detonated its torpedo at point-blank range, effectively sacrificing itself in an attempt to take down a superior opponent.

The Abyssal's gamble succeeded as the armored carrier was immolated after having a large chunk of her stomach blown out and her body was unable to shut off the burning fuel valves in time, leaving her to effectively burn to death from the inside out as the armored carrier was reportedly screaming the entire while.

And it was a small mercy that she had eventually exploded from the various smaller fuel reserves in her body causing an extreme buildup in internal pressure that led to the considerably large fireball that blinded nearby allies and enemies as it annihilated her body and cut her suffering short.

And as Shigure shifted her eyes to look at the tombstone of Amatsukaze, she was reminded of her own mortality despite being a lucky ship.

Her past captain was Captain Tameichi Hara, the only IJN destroyer captain to survive the war, and he had captained Amatsukaze for the majority of his naval career before becoming her captain, Shigure remembering her experience with the seasoned captain as he led her through some of the harshest battles of her career.

Perhaps it was because of this fact that they shared the same captain for the majority of the war that somehow meant to her that she had some sort of unspoken bond with Amatsukaze and by extension, Shimakaze, and was also a reason why Akashi had strongly suggested that she be the one to help Shimakaze through her loss.

The stars had really aligned in her favor for this to work out in her favor, Shigure still being a little skeptical of just how powerful her luck was to ensure that she, a ship girl who shared a captain with Amatsukaze, was introduced into this world and was sent to Yokosuka, of all places, to be able to connect with Shimakaze, who just so happened to lose Amatsukaze and was currently grieving.

Still, if she was sure of something, it was that the Kagerou-Class destroyer had left this world too soon, and that left Shimakaze all alone.

She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, taking in the environment and allowing herself to enjoy the silence of the forest, tuning out the background noise as she steadied her pulse and contemplated the mortality of the ship girl.

Shigure reveled in the silence as she took the time to appreciate what the deeds of the dead, and how some had accepted the ultimate sacrifice in order to ensure the survival of others, while others had unfortunately fallen in the line of duty.

It was strange, seeing that her life was plagued with death and comrades who fell like flies around her and how she had cried for them numerous times in the past.

And now that she was here in a place that remembered the dead, she expected to feel some sort of emotional outburst or overwhelming sadness after having arrived here.

Nope.

She felt absolutely calm here, almost soaking in the air that almost seemed plagued by a miasma of tranquil death as she had her eyes closed and contemplated on the world and the comrades that she will never get to know.

It was perhaps because they all died or sank at sea and their bodies were either unrecoverable even with the help of submarines, or their bodies were too damaged where it really mattered to even consider repairing them, that their physical bodies were likely not here and these tombstones only served as a reminder of who had perished.

Perhaps it was a sign that some of them had died at sea and returned to the dark embrace of the sea that strangely put her mind at ease, Shigure hoping against hope that no one else would have to join this queue of tombstones in death, acknowledging the futility and silliness of such an impossible wish and hoping for it anyway, vowing to get stronger to hopefully prevent a fellow ship girl from sinking.

Shimakaze, who had been silent the entire time as she stared at Amatsukaze's tombstone, spoke up in an unnaturally meek voice, the words causing Shigure to freeze up in surprise.

"I caused her death."

* * *

 _Shigure was reviewing Shimakaze's memory, a function that was available to them and allowed them to share knowledge quickly by transferring and relieving each other's memories._

 _She was now coming up on a small clearing that had well maintained plots of land as the various erected tombstones barely peeked out at the end of the road, much like what she had seen on her own trek into the forest as Shimakaze likely cut to the important part in order to keep things short and in focus._

 _But Shimakaze noticed a white-jacket-and-cap-wearing woman at the graveyard and was sitting on the grass and doing something, the Shimakaze-Class destroyer breaking out into a run to meet her Admiral at the tombstone of Amatsukaze, clearly a new addition as her tombstone didn't possess the wear and tear as well as the minute cracks that plagued the other tombstones._

 _Admiral Mako noticed the fast destroyer approaching her, raising her left index finger to her mouth as she turned to face the approaching Shimakaze while still seated._

 _Shimakaze, barely panting even after finishing the fast run in order to reach Admiral Mako, whispered to the Admiral while respecting her wishes to try and keep her volume low._

 _"Admiral, what're you doing here?"_

 _Admiral Mako took off her jacket and officer's cap to fan herself even though it was still early in the day, revealing a white tank top and black exercise bra._

 _The Admiral removed her Admiral's blazer to use as a makeshift picnic blanket for Shimakaze to sit on, setting it down and patting it as an invitation, causing Shimakaze to visibly cringe at how little Admiral Mako cared about everything else in trying to make things more comfortable for her girls._

 _After some hesitation, Shimakaze reluctantly sat down on her commander's blazer that was now strewn on the grass surface, Mako smiling down at the fact that her ship girl wouldn't get her miniskirt dirty._

 _Admiral Mako then piped up with an answer to Shimakaze's question, remarking._

 _"I come here sometimes to pay my respects to the ship girls who died in the line of duty._

 _I feel that I can't leave them behind just because they're gone, you know?"_

 _Jabbing her thumb at the white lilies resting in front of the individual tombstones, she noted._

 _"I also come here to replace those every now and then._

 _Makes me feel as if I can still do something for them…"_

 _Admiral Mako looked away, her eyes becoming distant and morose as she remembered them, but Shimakaze tried to speak up in her favor._

 _"B-But, it's not your fault!_

 _You can't guarantee our safety out there on the battlefield, even after you've accounted for every factor._

 _No amount of preparation can stop a cannon round from carving a hole into our heads, instantly sinking us."_

 _Shimakaze cringed at her own gruesome description of a ship girl sinking, but Admiral Mako shook her head tiredly, her hair somewhat of a mess as her bangs covered her depressed eyes, remarking._

 _"Yeah, but as a leader who's responsible for you all, I still feel that it's partially my fault that I caused Amatsukaze to sink…"_

 _Shimakaze clenched her fists, gritting her teeth and trying to calm herself down before trying to clear something up with the Admiral._

 _"It's not your fault that Amatsukaze sank._

 _It was mine."_

 _Admiral Mako shot Shimakaze a glance, and Shimakaze lowered her gaze as she started to feel as though she didn't deserve to meet her Admiral's gaze, an uncomfortable lump starting to form in her throat._

 _"I-I…"_

 _Shimakaze was struggling to get the words out to try and explain things to her Admiral, and she couldn't simply share her memory file with the Admiral as she was a human, which meant that she had to verbally communicate to her what happened between them._

 _"You know that Amatsukaze and I often race together, both on land and on sea, right?"_

 _Admiral Mako nodded, as Shimakaze continued talking about what happened before the fateful sortie._

 _"Well, this one time before a sortie, we raced, and being a fast ship girl, I always won against Amatsukaze._

 _But I recently felt that she had been holding back against me the entire time, and I pressured her to try and go all-out against me._

 _A-And the thing was that…"_

 _Shimakaze was conflicted as she tried to admit the next statement._

 _"I lost."_

 _Admiral Mako raised an eyebrow at that, but was silent as she listened to Shimakaze continue on, Shimakaze starting to feel uneasy and regretful over the next course of action that she took after she lost._

 _"I, umm…_

 _Back then, I had never lost before and couldn't handle the thought of losing, and I didn't take the loss very well as I shouted at her and accused her of being a cheater._

 _A-And I know that I shouldn't have done that, bu-but…"_

 _Shimakaze was trying her best to hold in her tears as Shimakaze's sight blurred, Admiral Mako shifting on the spot in order to sit next to Shimakaze as she put an arm over Shimakaze's slouching shoulders._

 _Shimakaze was trying her best not to sob as she continued._

 _"I kept on trying to have a rematch with her, but she tried not to make the situation worse and declined every time._

 _It was until that time when Yukikaze wasn't feeling well, and Amatsukaze was chosen to be the replacement in the sortie where she sank."_

 _Admiral Mako interrupted Shimakaze at this point and pointed out._

 _"See, there's the problem._

 _If I had chosen anyone else for the job, maybe a heavy cruiser or even a light cruiser to do the job instead of Amatsukaze, then you wouldn't have been left alone._

 _And just like how you blame yourself for Amatsukaze's death, I feel that having played a role in Amatsukaze's death, I should also have the right to blame myself."_

 _Now full-on hugging a crying Shimakaze, she whispered._

 _"And if you want me to stop blaming myself, I can only say this._

 _That's only going to happen when you stop blaming yourself._

 _I'm not leaving you alone in this cycle of self-condemnation and self-loathing."_

 _Shimakaze, still valiantly trying to muffle her sobs, now had tears streaming down her cheeks as she continued._

 _"Th-The Abyssals got the jump on us, as you probably know from the After-Action Report…_

 _I was trying to go faster than I usually did in order to prove to Amatsukaze that I was stronger and faster than her, and I think I must have tripped as my boat slipper hit a wave at the wrong angle, because I fell flat on my face._

 _As I was trying to get up, there were three torpedoes headed right for me, and before I could try to dodge, Amatsukaze used her extreme-speed to position herself in front of me and took the two torpedoes, as I curled up in a fetal position to avoid the third."_

 _Shimakaze was starting to shiver from the fright of simply remembering the sight of her cousin ship after using herself as a human shield._

 _But she continued, trying to explain everything to her Admiral as Admiral Mako cringed at the thought of a child desperately throwing herself so selflessly in front of certain death to protect a sibling from harm._

 _"A-A…_

 _And when I dared to look up, I saw that Amatsukaze…_

 _She didn't have her legs anymore…_

 _The explosion of the torpedo blew off everything below her knees, and she was looking at me with a look, as if she was glad._

 _A-and she said to me… "_

 _Shimakaze broke down in tears at this point, now letting out her grief and guilt pour out of her as she sobbed hysterically into her gloved palms, Admiral Mako using her arm slung over Shimakaze's shoulder to hug her tighter._

 _"She told me,_

 _'You're not hurt…_

 _That's great.'_

 _An Abyssal then surfaced behind her, the Ri-Class heavy cruiser pointing all her cannons at us…_

 _Amatsukaze somehow used her body weight to throw herself in front of me again, this time the cannons blowing off one of her arms._

 _My Rensouhou-Chan all did their best to try and fend off their Ri-Class as they emptied their cannons, but to no avail._

 _The blood flowing from Amatsukaze's limbs were like geysers, spraying on my uniform as she tried to use her body to shield me against the incoming Abyssals that had surfaced and were headed in our direction._

 _I had to retreat as more and more Abyssals gathered around Amatsukaze and emptied their cannons into her body._

 _And the worst thing was…"_

 _Shimakaze's tears didn't stop flowing, but she was now sobbing less as she reached the end of sadness, and was strafing dangerously close into despair as she remembered the most haunting detail about that moment._

 _"And the entire time they did that, they used their weaker cannons, like the Small Caliber 5 Inch Dual Guns to amputate her last limb and weaken her as they immediately dragged her down into the depths as they submerged._

 _But looking back on the memory, I was sure that they did their best not to kill her, as if they wanted to capture her alive, and amputating her simply made transporting her easier._

 _She was conscious the entire time, screaming for me to get away from the Abyssals clustering around her, and even after we were a safe distance away, she was still screaming in pain from the point-blank cannon fire._

 _And I…_

 _I DID NOTHING TO STOP THEM!_

 _I RAN LIKE A COWARD!"_

 _Shimakaze cried into her Admiral's shoulders as she sobbed hysterically, Admiral Mako now speechless and unsure of how to try and help her girls this time._

* * *

Shigure shuddered upon reviewing the memory, and tried her best to look Shimakaze in the eye.

Shimakaze looked away from her, visibly disgusted at herself as she commented on her cowardly ways whilst staring at Amatsukaze's tombstone with dead, grieving eyes and stated.

"I was a coward, and my speed was only useful in helping me run away like one, despite my best efforts.

And I wanted the Admiral to punish me, to suspend me or even scrap me…

But she didn't do any of that, which infuriated me even more at the time.

I kept thinking that I deserved any punishment that the Admiral meted out, but she didn't do any of that as she told me that punishing myself mentally was torturous enough.

Everyone wasn't sure of how to try and comfort me because I didn't have siblings to rely on, and slowly, I pretended to recover in order to try and get everyone off of my back, and it worked for the most part.

I knew that everyone meant well, but everyone had sister ships to share their sorrows with, and that's something I'll never be able to empathize with, being the lone ship girl of my class.

But Admiral Mako could only offer her shoulder to cry on, which was what I really needed at that time.

If it wasn't for her, I think I might have turned out even worse than how I am right now…"

Shigure looked at the flowers, applauding the Admiral for taking the time out of her schedule to come here and replace these flowers in order to show her sincerity, since the white lilies were a healthy color and didn't look as if they were going to wilt anytime soon.

But something else that Shigure noted were the deep footprints on the grass and the dirt path that connected the clearing to the main road of the hill, and how they led to Sakawa and Lebe's tombstones.

Estimating the weight and the amount of pressure that had to be exerted in order to leave footprints that sank into the dirt and couldn't be easily washed away by the rain and seasons, Shigure deduced that those footprints were likely left by battleships, who had the highest weight displacement and figured that Nagato and Bismarck would be the ones to visit the two graves, since they were closely related to them due to their pasts or nationalities respectively.

But back to the present.

Having had an epiphany regarding what she was really living and fighting for, she now understood why Amatsukaze was so driven to protect Shimakaze despite their last race leaving them on bitter terms, and had allowed the Shimakaze-Class destroyer to safely escape at the cost of her own life.

It was almost admirable in a sense, Shigure closing her eyes and lowering her head out of respect for all the ship girls present as she raised her arms in order to bring her palms together and pray for them, hoping that whatever afterlife they ended up in was a better world than their current one.

And eventually, Shimakaze followed suit, raising her arms and bringing her hands together as she slowly closed her eyes and lowered her head respectfully, Shigure feeling her heart break a little as she heard the destroyer try to hold back a sob.

After about ten seconds of silence save for the barely-perceptible rustling of the trees and the passive chirping of the crickets that helped to fill the silence between them and hung over the graveyard like a miasma, they both opened their eyes and lowered their arms to stand before the tombstones, Shigure now at a loss as to what she was supposed to do in order to help Shimakaze from here on out.

But she heard something being uttered by the silent destroyer beside her.

"Don't..."

Shigure gave the Shimakaze-Class destroyer an an aside glance, wondering what she was talking about as she hadn't finished her sentence, and took it upon herself to ask for some clarification.

"I'm sorry.

Don't what, Shimakaze-san?"

The scantily-clad destroyer was looking at the tombstone of the sunk Amatsukaze, her expression unusually sullen and brooding as she requested in a meek voice.

"...Don't die.

Don't sink.

Please."

Shigure's eyes widened upon hearing that, before narrowing in realization as she smiled and answered in a similarly quiet voice in order not to disturb the tranquil atmosphere that permeated the graveyard, her voice firm yet gentle as she reassured the grieving destroyer.

"Of course."

* * *

Tenryuu was sitting in the hospital cafeteria, having bought herself her a microwavable dinner that was soon thrown in the microwave as she cranked up the temperature in order to preheat and eat it in the silent and empty cafeteria, since no one liked staying in a place of death like this at this hour.

She was planning to stay overnight in order to wait for Tatsuta to wake up, and wanted to be there the second she opened her eyes in order to apologize to her for allowing her to be injured and killed in the line of duty, and even got permission from the Admiral to allow her to stay in the hospital after visiting hours.

She savored the bland taste of macaroni along with the piping hot sauce that felt as if it were simply thrown in as an appetizer to help her swallow her meal along with the side meal of meatballs for some variety, now regretting not choosing to change out of her tattered uniform as it no longer seemed to be the best course of action, the frigid air of the sterilized hospital tickling her bare skin and caused her to shiver a little.

She felt rather tired after the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, and knew that everyone around the world had already heard of the disastrous sortie and the appearance of the _Flying Dutchman_ , and Tenryuu shivered a little after recounting how they were mowed down almost immediately after it appeared.

The life-sized large-caliber cannons that, if Shigure's memories were anything to go by, blew Wakaba's upper half clean off before she could react, and Kinugasa disappearing after Tenryuu was there to witness the Aoba-Class heavy cruiser get struck down by a descending missile.

Hiei and Junyou also got pretty messed up in that last battle, the light cruiser recalling Akashi saying to her face that she wasn't going to sortie with the 1st Fleet anytime soon while Hiei was recovering from her injuries and Junyou, her blindness.

And then there was Tatsuta, who pushed her out of the way and used her own body as a shield before they were caught in the blast radius of another descending missile that was headed their way, Tenryuu being forced to hear Tatsuta's valiant attempts to muffle her grunts and weathered the pain of being roasted from the inside and outside...

Tenryuu felt sick in her stomach, instantly regretting recalling these grisly details as she felt her appetite leave her and her stomach threaten to regurgitate the food that she had previously ingested, the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser dropping her plastic utensils and shoving her unfinished food aside.

She then heard a pair of barely-audible footsteps get louder as it strode down the corridor, Tenryuu surmising that it was definitely not a battleship or carrier, as this ship girl sounded too light to be from either class.

The footsteps were getting closer, increasing in volume ever so slightly with each step as she prepared herself who whoever it may be, finally turning around and seeing a black cape draped over the shoulder of a certain torpedo cruiser, white beret in hand as Kiso appeared in the cafeteria.

Tenryuu blinked, but was quick to recover as she recognized her long-time friend and proclaimed rival, although she was under no illusion that the torpedo cruiser, being one of the seniors of this base, was perfectly capable of killing her without breaking a sweat should she ever get serious.

And perhaps that was why she admired the torpedo cruiser in secret, often hearing of her exploits and the enemies she had felled over the course of nine years and trying her best to train herself up so that she could achieve that level of strength.

Oh, make no mistake.

She certainly knew that the torpedo cruiser was taking it easy on her in their sparring sessions, often seeing how she subtly controlled the amount of strength she put behind her own blade so as not to simply overpower and bisect her.

Tatsuta'd probably slit Kiso's throat in her own bed should that ever happen.

But ever since she matured a little and had tried to strike out on her own, it seemed as though the manner in which Kiso treated her had also changed ever so slightly, like right now, where the Kuma-Class ship girl looked as if she were consoling a friend, and not a child like she did for Tenryuu in the past.

They both nodded at each other to acknowledge each other's presence, and Kiso, noticing Tenryuu's unfinished microwavable food on her left, sat herself down on Tenryuu's right, putting her beret down on the table before asking.

"Planning to stay here until Tatsuta wakes up?"

Tenryuu nodded, looking down at the milk-white cafeteria table as she crossed her arms and leaned back determinedly and expressed herself.

"I'm not going to leave the hospital and let Tatsuta wake up alone when I'm the one who caused her death in the first place."

Kiso raised an eyebrow as she gave the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser a quick scan from head to toe, stating disbelievingly.

"Not like that, you aren't."

Tenryuu balked at that insinuation, jerking her head over to halfheartedly glare at Kiso as she shot back a retort.

"I'm.

Not.

Moving."

Kiso sighed, Tenryuu recognizing that her gaze was reverting to that of the patient gaze that she used to regard Tenryuu back when she was fully immersed in her chuunibyou phrase and when Kiso had looked at her kindly, but without any weight behind her gaze, currently looking as if she was mentally preparing herself to point out the errors of a course of action to a child as she settled down in her seat.

Tenryuu looked away, feeling that she was in the right and that Kiso, even if she was her senior and was far more mature than she could ever hope to be, she was wrong and Tenryuu was right.

Tatsuta was killed because of her, and she had a responsibility as her older sister to be there for her and be by her side when she woke up, right?

Right?

Kiso opened her mouth to speak, her voice gently reverberating throughout the cafeteria with its empty food stalls and unoccupied steel seats and tables, the torpedo cruiser looking at her with a slight touch of pity as she asked.

"You believe that your sister died because you weren't strong enough.

So why are you sitting here uselessly, waiting for her to wake up before acting?

Are you so weak as to be unable to do anything without Tatsuta?"

Tenryuu narrowed her lone eye, ready to retort before she saw that Kiso was being absolutely serious with her.

Kiso's lone eye reflected her expectations of the light cruiser, and Tenryuu could see that even though Kiso was prepared to treat her like a child again when she was stubbornly waiting in the hospital instead of doing something useful, she was clearly disappointed in her as she had clearly expected Tenryuu to be better than this.

Kiso continued, patiently elaborating on her true responsibility as an older sister and as the name ship of the Tenryuu-Class.

"You should be out there, training your ass off in order to get stronger instead of sitting in the hospital like a bum.

Look at you.

Proud name ship of the Tenryuu-Class, rival to the torpedo cruiser Kiso, and this is how you're going to present yourself to Tatsuta when she wakes up?"

Tenryuu got a little defensive after hearing that, but Kiso tried her best to sound as inoffensive as she could as she shifted her body in order to face Tenryuu and proceeded to point how fatigued Tenryuu looked.

"You look tired.

When did you last sleep, hmm?

You have slight eye bags under your eyes, and it's clear that you've been crying recently."

Tenryuu narrowed her eyes, but did note that she felt rather tired after sitting beside Tatsuta's prone body for hours on end, and had cried a little while hiding in the toilet in order to make sure that no one overheard her sobs.

Kiso's eyes softened as she raised her hand, Tenryuu pulling her head back as Kiso's brown gloved hand reached out towards her, but squeezed her eyes shut as Kiso patted her on the crown of her head, messing up her hair as Kiso consoled the light cruiser.

"I know that you love your sister, but you need to look your best.

It's obvious from your shredded uniform, drooping mechanical ears and your sluggish movements that your morale is in the dumps, and you're dog-tired."

Tenryuu could see that Kiso's gaze shifted over to her unfinished microwavable food, and she grimly added as Tenryuu tried to act as if Kiso observations weren't on the nose as she folded her arms, leaned back on her chair looked away sullenly.

"And it seems as if you've lost your appetite, so I suppose we can add 'hungry' to that list."

Kiso exhaled through her nose, understanding that she was getting through to Tenryuu as the light cruiser would sometimes resort to the silent treatment whenever someone else made excellent points and she had no idea how to counter them verbally.

And if she was resorting to this childish tactic to try and justify her actions, it meant that she was wavering in her resolve and that Kiso only had to go a little further in order to try and convince her to stop.

"I won't be so crass as to say that I understand Tatsuta, since you're her sister and you know her best.

But do you think that it's the right thing to allow your sister to see you like this?"

Tenyuu hesitated for a moment before eventually conceding the point and nodded solemnly, looking away from the Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser and looked at the table as though it were the most interesting thing in the world as Kiso continued, trying not to make it sound as if it was a scolding, intending for it to be a moment where she gave Tenryuu some advice.

"I know that you want to be by her side because you feel responsible for her death, but to my knowledge, she pushed you out of the path of the missile.

She did it to protect you, and you can't be sitting here, doing nothing and wasting her sacrifice."

Kiso's tone hardened as she continued, straightening her body as Tenryuu's demeanor softened, starting to see things from Kiso's point of view and understanding that Tatsuta would probably see herself as the burden that was standing in between Tenryuu and her training if she saw her right now.

Tatsuta would probably prefer it if she used the time to train herself up and prepare herself for the next sortie instead of sitting beside her prone body in the hospital, eating microwavable food and mope about while blaming herself.

She'd never hear the end of it from her sister should she wake up from her slumber, as Tatsuta only required the use of her mouth to chew her out for her foolishness and inability to take care of herself.

Fuck, she was now regretting staying in the hospital without first taking a shower and changing out of her clothes, starting to feel a little self-conscious about her appearance in front of Kiso, curling up a little in order to hide herself despite knowing that there was no one in the cafeteria save for Kiso and herself.

" _Tenryuu."_

Kiso's voice became a little harsher as she tried to get Tenryuu's attention and drive her point home, but understanding that sometimes, people needed to be reminded of the right thing, and a bit of persuasive force was needed to remind them of what they knew deep down was right, but chose to insist otherwise for some contrived reason.

"You _knew_ that there was nothing in your training that prepared you for a missile barrage.

Tenryuu deflated upon hearing that, knowing that Kiso's logic was irrefutable as she nodded, trying to add anything to the conversation.

"I know, I know…

I just…

I just wanted to know what I can do for her, now that she's on a medical bed and unconscious, you know?"

But Kiso's smile returned as she addressed the light cruiser, trying to lift her spirits by encouraging her to get out of the depressing funk by helping herself.

"You need to take a shower, for one.

Have you taken one since the battle?"

Tenryuu blushed a little at that, trying to move her chair away from Kiso out of embarrassment as Kiso pointed out.

"You need to be at your best, otherwise Tatsuta would be worried about you upon waking up to see you as you are right now, right?"

Tenryuu nodded meekly, smirking as she saw Kiso smile while she looked away as she remembered something.

"I know.

Tatsuta would be mortified to see me like this, blatantly disregarding my hygiene and diet in order to watch over her helplessly, instead of doing something worthwhile with my time like training."

Kiso saw Tenryuu consider everything for a while before giving her a thankful aside glance before turning to face Kiso as she looked her in the eye, the fire now somewhat rekindled in Tenryuu's eyes while she spoke.

"Maa, thanks, Kiso.

I personally felt that my performance left a lot to be desired, and I couldn't stop Tatsuta from getting killed.

But she's still here, and she'll wake up soon enough, that much is certain.

And all the time spent moping here could be better spent somewhere else, especially when I'm wasting it to keep her company while she's unconscious."

Kiso nodded, visibly relaxing as she knew that her junior wouldn't continue on her self-destructive path, leaning back and folding her arms as Tenryuu leaned in to ask the torpedo cruiser.

"So, what're you doing lately?

I mean, I heard that your Fleet's gonna be sortieing with your backup Fleet sometime soon, so..."

Kiso nodded as she lifted an eyebrow, her half-lidded eyes looking down at her lap as she responded coolly.

"We're going to fight an Abyssal Princess and her Elite Fleet.

Specifically, the Southern War Princess."

Tenryuu's breath stopped as she considered the fact that a fleet that mainly consisted of auxiliary ships were going to fight an Abyssal Princess, and despite knowing that the 8th Fleet was infamous for its unorthodox fighting styles and extensively used Anti-Abyssal weapons to kill Abyssals, she wasn't sure if they were capable of defeating the Southern War Princess and a whole bunch of Elites, who were stronger versions of existing Abyssals.

And wasn't the Southern War Princess supposed to be at Savo Island?

Kiso answered those questions for her, clearly seeing the transparent surprise on her face as she pulled back her shoulders to make herself comfortable before elaborating.

"The Southern War Princess seems to be making good time as she left Savo Island a while ago, and has been forcing other, weaker Abyssals into her fleet.

She's headed for Japan as we speak, and even though she won't arrive that soon, when she does, we'll be there, ready to take her down."

"B-But, I mean...

Not to disrespect your fleet's skills, but most of your teammates consist of auxiliary ships.

Are you sure that you can defeat them?"

Kiso smirked a little, unfolding one arm in order to reach out and rub Tenryuu's head again as she cooed.

"Aww.

Getting worried about your dear 'big sister' Kiso, hmm?"

Tenryuu pouted as she gently slapped Kiso's arm away, leaning back and away from Kiso's reach as she retorted.

"Of course not, man."

But a wave of dread hit her then as she remembered the frailty of a ship girl's life, remembering how easily Tatsuta died and nearly sank in the Battle of Mikura Jima Island along with the lifeless bodies of those who had been killed on the battlefield, feeling her body betray her attempts to overcome the sinking feeling in her heart as she broke out in a cold sweat, and the fact that the hospital was unbearably cold at night didn't help her at all.

She saw Kiso's expression morph into one of concern as she leaned in concernedly, Tenryuu hastily correcting her own statement so as not to leave the torpedo cruiser with the wrong impression.

"I-I mean...

I am, but..."

Tenryuu sighed, wondering if she would ever be able to get through a conversation without losing her cool, but Kiso gave her an understanding smile as she leaned back and folded her arms yet again, crossing her legs as she spoke up and helped Tenryuu sort through what she wanted to say.

"Let me guess.

You wanted to act like you don't care in a way that would make you look 'cool' in your own eyes, but you're conflicted because you're genuinely concerned about my well-being and safety, yes?"

There was a pregnant pause before Tenryuu nodded, finally giving up the facade and tried to be a little more truthful with herself and her feelings.

Kiso's gaze softened, and Tenryuu could see the age in Kiso's eyes, the kind of thing that could only be understood by ageless beings like them, where their seasoned and tired gaze occasionally slipped past their facade of normalcy, reflecting but a glimpse of what they had to go through throughout years of strife and war.

Tenryuu scratched the back of her head, feeling her disheveled hair through her gloved hands and mentally reminding herself to thoroughly wash her purple hair later as she explained herself to her senior.

"I-I mean...

It's just this bad feeling that I have, you know, where things are only going to go downhill from here on out.

And after fighting the _Flying Dutchman_ , I can't help but wonder what kind of surprises the Abyssals may have in store for us.

But I think it's probably nothing for someone as strong as you..."

Tenryuu waved her concerns away, unsure of how to face the Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser when she was fatigued, hungry, and really wasn't in the mood to try and put on a tough act, especially in front of the one cruiser who could easily see through it as they were both almost like two peas in a pod and understood each other best.

But Kiso caught her hand in mid-wave, Tenryuu snapping her head to look right into Kiso's dead-serious eyes, caught off-guard by how solemn the torpedo cruiser looked and how it vastly differed from her previous expression which was gentle and calm, and respectfully listened to Kiso as she muttered.

"Tenryuu.

You're not wrong in being afraid for the future.

Most of us seniors can feel that there's a new age of warfare looming on the not-so-distant horizon, since the Admiral's being a lot more secretive than usual, and Akashi is now in cahoots with her in the planning department.

The _Flying Dutchman_ 's appearance only serves to justify our suspicions that the Abyssals are no longer going to play by our rules anymore, and are going to engage in the next phase in their war against mankind and ship girl-kind."

Tenryuu raised an eyebrow at the last statement, but her expression hardened and her demeanor shifted back to her tough and tenacious persona as she silently listened, understanding that if someone as enigmatic and dangerous as Akashi was now actively scheming with Admiral Mako as they tried to stop the Abyssals, then things were really going down the crapper like Kiso said.

Kiso glanced at Tenryuu as she reminded the light cruiser about what needed to done.

"And that's why you need to be training right now, since there's no telling what they may do in the future.

The future's full of uncertainties, and the one thing you need to be certain of is whether you're skilled and prepared enough to face what comes next, otherwise you're done for."

Tenryuu looked down at the floor as she nodded guiltily, understanding what she had to do in order to prepare herself for the battles to come while she had the time, otherwise she'd get caught off-guard by unexpected developments and get left behind in the wake of others.

But one thing that made her look back up at her friend was the unexpectedly gentle voice that Kiso used to address her, raising her gaze to see that Kiso's demeanor had softened in order to show her genuine appreciation for Tenryuu's concern.

"But thank you, Tenryuu.

Thank you for being so concerned for me."

Tenryuu was silenced by her senior's mature look that revealed her years, her gentle smile complementing her softened gaze as she was awed by how gentle the Kuma-Class torpedo-cruiser could be despite being known for being a member of the infamous 8th Fleet of Yokosuka, and also despite the fact that her status as a torpedo cruiser was earned through hard-fought battles and unspeakable losses.

And perhaps that was why she admired Kiso.

Perhaps it was because of that quality where she knew that her self-proclaimed rival and longtime friend had been through things that she'd never reveal to her, either because of how gruesome or traumatizing they were, yet could still smile like that and be so concerned for others.

In other words, she marveled at how her friend could be so strong, even after being through God-knows-what and still being able to hold her head up high and retain her compassion for others.

Tenryuu blushed a little upon hearing her senior thank her for explicitly expressing her concerns, and she could feel herself slipping back into her old habits and her usual way of speaking as she crossed her arms, confidently drew back her shoulders in order to hold her head up high as she huffed and exclaimed.

"Maa, don't worry 'bout it!

I mean, it's understandable that I'd feel worried for a fellow comrade, right?"

Kiso exhaled through her nose and closed her eyes, her radiant smile still on her face as she closed her eyes and nodded, now fully convinced that the light cruiser Tenryuu was now back in action, and that her concerns were now addressed as she muttered to herself.

"Yes.

Yes, it is."


	21. Chapter 21 - Outliers Assemble

"You wish to what?"

Akashi, Unryuu and Shigure were standing outside the canteen, in a side alley where Shigure had directed the two members of the 8th Fleet to after breakfast in order to ask them about the sortie that the 8th Fleet was rumored to go on, especially since people had started to talk and say that an Abyssal Princess was en route to Japan.

And that the 8th Fleet of Yokosuka was going to fight her and her Elite Abyssals.

Akashi was looking down at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer with a perplexed expression while Unryuu was dumbly munching down on a rice cake that was served at dinner, the repair ship trying her best to figure out her intentions as she clarified the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's request.

"Let me get this straight.

You want to sortie with us, the 8th Fleet, and observe how we fight the Elites and the Southern War Princess?"

Shigure nodded, eager to get in on the action as she explained herself to her seniors.

"Look, if a fleet that's filled with auxiliary ships is being tasked with fighting a Princess, it's either a suicide mission, or you're doing something right.

Admiral Mako isn't the type of Admiral to pointlessly throw the lives of her ship girls away, so it's obviously the latter, and I want to know what it is.

Even if I can't fight like you all, I want to know just how powerful you are as a team, since no matter how skilled you all may be to be able to exceed your mediocre stats, you couldn't have gotten this far on individual skill alone.

Please?"

Unryuu, upon heartily swallowing the rice and considering Shigure's proposal with a blank stare, gave Akashi an aside glance as she tried to play devil's advocate and oppose Akashi's blatant expression of disapproval as she meekly suggested.

"Well, it's not like she'll be with our fleet.

We can dump her with the backup fleet, and she'll be someone else's responsibility, not ours, right?"

Akashi's gaze shifted as she turned to look the Unryu-Class carrier in the eye, scathingly remarking.

"You just don't want to feel responsible for her should she ... get in trouble, right?"

Unryuu looked away, a few bits of rice stuck to the sides of her mouth as she responded aloofly.

"Hey, if it's her time to go, she'll go regardless of whether we let her go on the sortie or not."

"Yeah, but if we let her go on this sortie, her chances of dying will increase..."

"And you're saying that as if she doesn't know the risks?"

Akashi turned to look Unryuu accusingly, asking bluntly.

"And if she does die should a stray shell kill her, who's the one who has to break the news to her teammates and sisters?"

Shigure paused at that, wondering if this was indeed the right thing to do after having a talk with her sisters yesterday about keeping themselves safe despite wanting to get stronger.

But she mentally dug her heels in, absolutely convinced that she was capable of handling herself, especially when she would be in the backup fleet and would only be tasked with providing cover fire for the 8th Fleet.

She would be relatively far away from the action, close enough to provide support but far enough so that she could safely kite her opponents should they attempt to target her.

Still, it was rather chilling for Unryuu to coolly talk about the lives of ship girls in a fatalistic sense, saying that she was unable to change her fate should some higher power determine that she was going to die at a particular date and time, the white-haired carrier barely hiding the fact that she was trying not to roll her eyes as she stayed silent while Akashi asked Shigure.

"Did you learn nothing from the Battle at Mikura Jima Island?

Do you have a death wish?"

The warmth went out of Shigure's expression upon hearing that, trying to get the point across that she wanted to go on this sortie in order to learn something, not to die.

"No.

I understand that it'll be dangerous, but I want to see what we're going up against.

If I want to get stronger, I need to know how powerful our opponents are, and how even auxiliary ship of this day and age are able to go up against them, and try to learn everything I can from the best."

It was now Akashi's turn to roll her eyes, placing her hands in her skirt pockets as she commented on how Shigure was trying to suck up to them.

"Please.

If you asked any one of our members, we'd use many words to describe our own team, but we'd never consider ourselves anywhere near the best.

Flowery language and praising words are lost on us, but if there's one thing the 8th Fleet understands, it's ship girls who know what they're doing, who can really put their money where their mouth is and achieve victory at all costs.

Besides, why us?"

Shigure looked away, being truthful with her part-friend-part-psychologist as she muttered abashedly.

"Well, you all are going to sortie tomorrow on the 17th, and that's rather convenient.

And although I'm loathe to use this phrase, I believe I got lucky...?"

Shigure raised an eyebrow as she scrunched up her face, unable to determine what kind of expression she was supposed to make when saying this, and she could see Akashi develop a bit of an eye twitch upon seeing events line up in Shigure's favor, and to see the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer be able to find another opportunity to sortie immediately after exiting the docks.

Unryuu looked down at Shigure, commenting idly.

"Well, you're a smart little destroyer who knows what you're doing, so I'll be counting on you to watch my back in battle."

Akashi brought out a hand to lightly karate-chop Unryuu on the head, Unryuu hanging her head as she lazily leaned forward like a tree swaying in the wind, Akashi retorting when seeing Unryuu act as though Shigure had already been accepted into the backup fleet and was going to sortie with them without her approval.

"Don't assume that little Shigure here's going to be sortieing without my say-so, and since I'm the flagship of the Combined Fleet, I have the final say.

Even if I allow her to be in the backup fleet, I don't want her to slow us down by getting injured, and I'll have to repair her..."

"U-Um..."

Shigure tried her best to try and convince Akashi that not only did she want to come back alive from this sortie, she wasn't going to get in the way of the 8th Fleet or allow herself to be a burden to anyone as she was prepared to pull her own weight.

"You don't have to worry about me.

I'll stay far away from the main battle and keep myself safe as I observe and support you all in battle, so please allow me in the backup fleet.

Please?"

Unryuu and Shigure both looked at the repair ship with pleading eyes, the repair ship now feeling the pressure being shifted onto her as she was now faced with the final decision of whether Shigure would be allowed to participate in the upcoming battle, albeit playing a supporting role.

Akashi finally relented, Shigure seeing that the repair genuinely had her best interests in mind, but also understood that she had to learn as much as possible in a short span of time and gain experience quickly.

The Akashi-Class repair scratched the back of her head whilst keeping her other hand in her pocket, trying to agree to a compromise as she laid down some conditions.

"Well, if you're going to go on such a dangerous sortie, I need to lay down some conditions to make sure that you don't come out any worse for the wear.

First, after the sortie, I want to have another counselling session with you to make sure that you're recovering from these two recent sorties.

Second, you're not to disobey any orders given to you by your seniors, especially if they're asking you to retreat.

Third, don't die."

Shigure nodded in order to accept Akashi's conditions,understanding if Akashi would get really tired of dealing her if she actively tried to get herself killed in a battle that was already fraught with peril.

Akashi was trusting her to be able to handle herself in battle and keep her wits about her in order to keep herself alive, and she couldn't let her down.

Unryuu turned to look at her flagship as Akashi muttered something to her, their body expressions relaxing as they were both close friends and didn't mind sharing their thoughts freely with each other.

"Well, the counselling session is to let her angst a little and get it out of her system at regular intervals, lest it build up and makes her turn emo..."

Shigure tensed up a little upon hearing that, raising her clenched fists to waist level as she retorted.

"I-I don't angst, Akashi-san!

And I'm standing right here, I can hear you!"

The tables were now turned on her, both members of the 8th Fleet now shifting their bodies to look down at her, Akashi raising an eyebrow at that statement while Unryuu, normally a bored-looking carrier who didn't express much emotion save for her default bored expression, now looked ready to smile as the edges of her mouth threatened to curve upwards, slowly raising a hand to pat Shigure on the crown of her head as though humoring a child.

She was left temporarily speechless by the gesture, unsure of how to convince her seniors that she didn't angst, but Akashi cut her some slack as she drew back, notifying her about the time which they had to assemble at the harbor in order to make it to the battlefield on time in order to intercept the Southern War Princess's fleet.

"Well, our fleet is comprised of ship girls with slow speed, so we need to sortie early in the morning to reach our destinations by afternoon or evening.

"Meet me at the canteen around 8.15 tomorrow for breakfast.

We'll sortie at 10, so that leaves us some time to conclude whatever unfinished business you may have before then."

Shigure thought about it, and understood if some of the slower auxiliary ships as well as the Ise-Class battleships had low top speeds, and needed to sortie earlier in the day in order to get to their destinations in time.

She nodded, exhaling as she tried to mentally psyche herself up for the battle that was to come, how she was now officially a part of it and was responsible for the safety of her teammates, herself and the 8th Fleet.

But now, she was a supporting player in this battle, and that meant that she wasn't supposed to throw herself into the fray and was only had to back the main fleet up.

No heroics, no stupid moves.

Shigure believed she could do that.

* * *

'17th April 2015

8.47 a.m.'

Shigure blinked as she turned off her HUD after checking the time and noting the date, having woken up the next day to get some breakfast before the sortie.

She sat with Akashi at the breakfast table after a sumptuous breakfast specially made by Mamiya to help fill their stomachs before fighting a Princess, Shigure now wondering about her next course of action.

Shigure had been exercising yesterday in order to make sure that her restored body was indeed capable of withstanding the physical strain of battle, and had went to bed early at night to make sure that she got enough rest, now feeling rather refreshed and was ready to face the battle later today.

Waking up early in the morning meant that she could quickly eat her breakfast and check up on her teammates and sisters before sortieing so as to reassure them again that she was going to come back alive from this sortie, and only wanted to participate in this battle in order to learn how to improve herself.

Shigure had an idea to visit her teammates in the hospital before she sortied, but Akashi then explained her friends' condition to her and how she might not have enough time to visit them all.

"Your teammates suffered injuries that take time to heal, seeing that both Junyou and Hiei were blinded by the _Flying Dutchman_ 's searchlights, and I need to operate on their eyes to prevent complications.

Hiei also suffered some damage, so she's not going to be out on the ocean anytime soon.

Tatsuta will probably wake up sometime tonight, so your presence isn't going to change things."

Shigure sighed, understanding that the eyes of the ship girl, despite being extremely powerful, were also one of the most delicate organs in their bodies that required intensive care to make sure there weren't any hiccups in the healing process.

Hiei would have been heavily injured in the battle of Mikura Jima Island after holding back the _Flying Dutchman_ and the Abyssals that it spawned, and she would be out of commission for a while.

Junyou would also require some time to recover, her eyes having suffered extensive damage as her night-vision eyes were meant to take in low amounts of ambient light to see in the dark, but was instantly blinded by the spotlights blinding her, and Akashi would have to perform extensive surgery on their eyes.

But she knew of two other ship girls on her fleet who were likely training in order to perform better next time, and she wanted to at least meet them before going off on another sortie.

She knew of the all-too-real possibility of being sunk while on a sortie even when playing a supporting role, and she wanted to at least say something to them on the off-chance that happened to her.

So when she told Akashi of her plan, the repair ship nodded after considering Shigure's choice and remarked on the status of the last two members of the Fast Response Fleet and her sisters.

"Ayanami's going to go train with Jintsuu later, but you can talk to her right now.

Tenryuu's in the sports hall training with Abukuma to keep her body in shape, and your sisters should be at the _Shinsengumi_.

You can visit all of them before the sortie, but we'll have to move quickly."

Shigure nodded as she saw the name-ship of the Ayanami-Class sitting with her sisters at a table, the tray in front of her displaying today's breakfast which was a serving of a sunny side-up egg with pepper sprinkled on it, jam on toast and two strips of bacon, a Western-style breakfast cooked to serve an entire base.

Shigure left her table to approach her teammate as Ayanami noticed the both of them nearing her table, not that Akashi was someone that one could deliberately ignore due to her distinct pink hair that was a relatively uncommon trait despite the wide variety of ship girls in the base.

Shigure noted the two other Ayanami-Class destroyers sitting beside her, both digging into their breakfast while speaking to each other, respecting Ayanami's silent plea to talk to Shigure alone.

Shikinami looked a lot like Ayanami, along with similar brown-white sailor uniforms, although Shikinami had dull brown eyes compared to Ayanami's, which had a slight tinge of green in it.

Shikinami's hair was reddish brown, and her bangs were parted above her right eye while her short ponytail was held together by a black ribbon.

She was the relatively quiet one of the group, though she still proactive enough to maintain a conversation with others despite not being as energetic as, say, Sendai during the night.

Shikinami also seemed to be quite doting of her sister ships as Shigure could detect slightly dilated pupils, and was rather proactive when speaking with Ushio, who was seated beside her.

Ushio was the _really_ quiet and shy one, although Shigure could see the kindness bleeding through her demeanor as she was gentle and soft spoken while responding kindly to Shikinami's conversation prompts in order to form a consistent conversation between sisters.

Her sailor uniform was slightly different in that instead of the brown-white color scheme of the two Ayanami-Class destroyers beside her, her uniform was a distinct navy blue and white, and upon coming closer, Shigure could see two knee-high socks peek out from underneath the table along with her brown shoes.

Her long, silky black hair fell down to around shoulder length with the fringes curling inwards, and there was a tuft of hair curling out from her right temple.

But the most noticeable thing about her weren't any of the stated traits.

Her uniform, and by extension, her bra, failed to cover up the fact that she was far more well-endowed than most of the destroyers in the base, and the human side of Shigure felt a slight pang of jealousy before her analytical mind shot it down and tried to remain focused on the task at hand.

Akashi stopped in her tracks, allowing her to approach the Ayanami-Class trio alone as she spotted a spare seat and sat down, Ayanami breaking out into a relieved smile after seeing her up and about so soon.

Shigure nodded towards the nearby Ayanami-Class sisters, and they reciprocated the motion to greet each other without saying a word as Ayanami expressed her concern regarding Shigure's state of mind.

"Are you alright, Shigure?

After the Battle of Mikura Jima Island..."

Shigure nodded resolutely, her expression calm but determined to get through the day safely as she answered understandingly.

"I understand your concern, Ayanami-san.

But I'm... mostly alright now.

There's no guarantee that I won't have a relapse again, but I can say for sure that I'm back in action."

Ayanami's expression softened, morphing from one of concern into one that was now somewhat convinced by Shigure's reassuring words, noting the repair ship standing conspicuously beside them, politely asking about her reason for being with the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"Ah, Shigure-san...

Is Akashi-san following you around to check up on you?"

Shigure shook her head, understanding why Ayanami would see things that way as she corrected the Ayanami-Class destroyer.

"It's the opposite, really.

Akashi-san's 8th Fleet is going on a sortie to fight the Southern War Princess, and I've been invited onto their backup fleet."

Shikinami and Ushio's attention were drawn to their conversation immediately after Shigure name-dropped an Abyssal Princess, the both of them turning to look at Shigure along with Ayanami, who now resumed her concerned expression, gravely addressing Shigure about the dangers of fighting the strongest Abyssals.

"Shigure-san.

I'm not sure if you should go ahead with this.

You do understand that an Abyssal Princess is far more powerful than anything we've faced thus far..."

"And that's why I need this.

I want to gain experience quickly and get stronger in order to protect us, and I have to go on as many sorties as possible.

And besides, I'm only a supporting player in this battle, which means that it's very unlikely for me to sink."

Shigure regarded everyone at the table seriously as she answered.

"But I understand that 'unlikely' doesn't mean 'impossible', and I wanted to talk to you, Tenryuu and my sisters before I leave.

I can't visit those who are still hospitalized, but I suppose it provides some incentive for me to strive to come back alive."

Ayanami's expression changed as she contemplated Shigure's words for a while before nodding reluctantly, but Shigure was swarmed by Shikinami and Ushio stuffing their faces into Shigure's as they raised their voices in concern.

"Y-Y-You're going to take on an Abyssal Princess?!

Are you going to be alright?"

"You haven't received your Kai remodel, right?

You shouldn't push yourself like this!"

But Ayanami placed her hands on the shoulders of her sister ships, looking at her two sisters serenely as she addressed their concerns.

"She'll come back."

This seemed to calm her sisters down as Shigure looked at her teammate, interested in how she seemed so sure about her own statement.

"How are you so sure about that?"

"You're part of the 1st Fleet.

Our fleet.

You have to."

Shigure blinked in surprise, seeing that the Ayanami-Class ship girl was confident of her survival in the upcoming sortie.

But Ushio seemed unconvinced as she voiced her concerns, causing her bosom to shift around distractingly in her tight uniform.

"B-But that's a Princess and her fleet they're going up against!

What if…"

But Ayanami turned to look at her in a way that Shigure recognized as the 'elder sister' look, where it was meant to convey a look of reassurance, likely to alleviate their unease as she answered her sister without a second thought.

"There is no point distracting ourselves with thinking about what could happen, Ushio.

It does nothing but prevent us from preparing for what _will_ happen.

Shigure-san will come back alive, because she now has too much to lose."

"W-What's that?"

"Us. All of us."

Ushio attempted to say something, but faltered in the face of Ayanami's words as she nodded meekly, Ayanami looking back at Shigure and meeting her gaze.

Shigure could see Ayanami's confidence in her skills and how she could handle herself in dangerous situations.

Shigure, feeling a little uplifted after seeing how her teammate trusted her to be able to hold her own in a fight, hardened her gaze and gave her a small nod as she stood up, Ayanami returning the motion with a sagely expression on her face.

And as she got up to leave while pushing her chair back, Shikinami looked to her and bid her farewell.

"I'd say good luck to you, but you don't need it.

Stay safe out there."

Shigure nodded to them, thankful for her support as she stood up to join Akashi and leave the canteen to talk to the others before she left.

* * *

Finding Tenryuu was next, and seeing that she was training with the Nagara-Class light cruiser to improve her mobility in a one-on-one training session.

Seeing that Abukuma was a light cruiser who had trained to earn her Kai remodel, she figured that the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser felt that she could learn something from her, and one way for them to do that was to train up their physical strength in the sports hall, where the sports equipment were.

Tenryuu had shed her mechanical ears and eye patch, was clad in a basketball uniform and likely wore a sports bra, seeing that she was rather well-endowed and her chest might hinder her during training, while Abukuma had her hair tied up in Chinese ox buns to prevent her hair from interfering with her training.

Akashi revealed that Tenryuu had wanted to hit the ocean in order to train herself, but was finally convinced by Akashi and Kiso that it currently wasn't a matter of skill, but simply physical conditioning.

Learning techniques as a ship girl granted them eidetic memory, superhuman stamina and enhanced healing in order to allow them to learn and recover quickly, allowing them to take their techniques to the next level without fear of permanent self harm.

But in terms of physical conditioning, training as humans made things easier as they were pushed to their physical limits more often than they would as ship girls, since turning on their ship girl modes boosted their physical stats and stamina to the next level.

In extremely simplified terms, if a ship girl trained as a human to lift tens of kilograms in order to improve herself physically, it was no different than a ship girl turning on her ship girl mode and using the same amount of strength to lift hundreds or perhaps even thousands of kilograms to achieve the same amount of improvement.

To improve one's physical condition as a ship girl was significantly harder, as improvements could only be made as the body trained itself to exhaustion in trying to reach and overcome its limits.

But since they were capable of superhuman feats in ship girl mode, they required special training equipment to train themselves up, equipment which they didn't have enough resources to spend on.

That was why she was training the old-fashioned way with Abukuma, Tenryuu up in the air with Abukuma but failing to stop the Nagara-Class light cruiser from dunking over her, causing the reinforced backboard to shudder from the sheer physical force behind the move.

Tenryuu fumbled the landing a little, landing on her heel and stumbling a little, Shigure seeing that the name-ship of the Tenryuu-Class was rather shocked at the difference in physical strength, Abukuma holding onto the rim for a little while to allow Tenryuu to clear the area before letting go and landing on her feet.

Shigure could see the sweat that permeated their clothes and covered the skin of the two light cruisers, both of them panting heavily and caused their shoulders and chest to heave with great effort, each exhaled breath moistening in the air-conditioned sports hall while their hair stuck to their skin.

Having seen the way the light cruisers fought, it was understandable that agility and finesse would be their specialty on the battlefield.

She appreciated the skill shown in the dunk, the Nagara-Class light cruiser having swung her arms in an accelerating outward arc to circumvent Tenryuu's defense when she realized that Tenryuu was blocking her too well from the inside.

The light cruiser's body was limber enough to swiftly swivel her body and change its orientation mid-air, something that was difficult for destroyers to do due to their small body frame, and heavy cruisers were slightly slower when mimicking the move due to their larger body frame, often using their strength to compensate for the difference in speed.

This was also reflected in battle where light cruisers used their agility to complement their speed that was only second to the destroyers, and yet were incapable of the strength of the heavy cruisers and battleships.

Shigure started clapping for the both of them, noting the level of skill required to play at that level, Abukuma amiably discussing something with Tenryuu in order to give her some tips on her performance and how it could be improved via physical drills.

And upon finishing the small discussion, Tenryuu walked over to the assortment of physical training equipment that was pushed to the side of the court.

She picked up a skip rope and started skipping with it, closing her eyes to focus on the task while hopping with the ball of her feet, springing up and down to the rhythm of the tough skip rope hitting the floor.

It was an exercise that seemed rather simple on the surface, but required precise coordination of the feet and arms, and was a good way to train up your lower body as it put considerable stress on the hips, knees and ankles and kept them in motion.

She noted the various equipment laid out and arranged to ensure that they wouldn't roll anywhere, which included weights, a bouncy ball, a hula hoop and a few punching bags, amongst others.

There were also a dozen water bottles, chilled fuel bottles and high-calorie snacks for them to quickly consume so as not to run out of steam too quickly.

Akashi picked up two water bottles, greeting Abukuma by lightly tossing one towards her in a way that the light cruiser could easily snatch it mid-air, which she did with a resounding _smack_ on the plastic bottle as she shot the repair ship a thankful look.

Shigure noted the look of slight concern in Abukuma's eyes as their eyes met, and Shigure nodded towards her in acknowledgement as she lowered her gaze.

Abukuma kept her gaze for a while before looking away and ripping off the cap of the water bottle with her superhuman strength, taking big gulps to replenish the fluids she had lost via sweat.

Shigure looked towards Tenryuu, who had likely finished about 100 skips in under a minute, accepting Akashi's second bottle that was offered to her as she placed the skipping rope on the floor and sat down on the sports hall floor.

She approached the seated Tenryuu who was hungrily gulping down the cooling water, Shigure noting the light cruiser's throat heave with each gulp as individual beads of sweat rolled down her sweaty and glossy skin, her drenched uniform accentuating her chest and figure as she finished the bottle.

She crushed the water bottle after most of its contents were emptied, squeezing whatever was left out of it as she stuck her tongue out to catch the drops of water dripping from the bottle before flinging the bottle towards the trash can on the other end of the court.

Shigure followed its trajectory as she tore her eyes away from the light cruiser, and was almost certain of it going into the generously-sized mouth of the trash can, noting how everyone's attention was drawn to the bottle that spun in a slight flip while flying in a wide arc towards its target.

It entered the bin without even grazing the rim, their excellent aiming skills coming in clutch as Abukuma turned back to Shigure, asking her about her reason for being here as her squeaky voice maintained its high-pitched tone,

"So Shigure, what're you doing here?"

Shigure blinked as she looked at her senior, not missing a beat as she replied coolly.

"I wanted to say goodbye before I sortie."

Tenryuu raised her head at that, making an effort to push herself off the floor and join the company of ship girls who were all standing up as she noted.

"A-Are you going on another sortie, Shigure?

I don't want you to push yourself too hard…"

But Akashi put a reassuring hand on Shigure's shoulder as the two members of the Fast Response Fleet looked at her, the repair ship confident of the Shiratsuyu-Class's odds as she stated.

"We'll be doing the heavy lifting, so all she has to do is be a good girl and stand by the sidelines as backup."

Akashi's eyes hardened as she met Shigure's eyes, her glare unyielding as her palm tightened on Shigure's shoulder menacingly while her voice took on a colder tone.

" _Doctor's orders."_

Shigure felt a major chill go down her spine at the harsh glare of a friend who did not take kindly to her martyrdom tendencies as she meekly nodded and averted Akashi's intense gaze.

Likewise, nobody decided to question the repair ship's order to the destroyer as Akashi visibly relaxed, looking at a slightly scared Abukuma who was wiping away her sweat with her sports singlet, asking.

"After this training match, I'm guessing that you two are hitting the gym, am I right?"

Abukuma nodded at the repair ship's guess as she notified the two of them about their plan.

"Well, after a few more best-out-of-ten matches here, we'll hit the gym before going for lunch."

Akashi nodded at that, releasing her hold on Shigure's shoulder as she pointed out some things for Tenryuu to note, being a medic and was thus more knowledgeable about the ship girl body.

"Good.

Techniques might be effective, but it doesn't hurt to bulk up and put some strength behind your strikes.

You're light cruisers, and your acrobatics and agility-based skills are only going to serve you well so long as your stamina doesn't run out in the middle of a battle, so remember that."

Shigure piped up with a question of hers about the situation.

"Seeing that the loser of this match likely has to do a penalty like skipping 100 times with the skip-rope, how many matches have you played?"

Abukuma cringed a little at that, revealing the outcomes of these matches.

"Five.

And I won them all, albeit with quite a bit of difficulty."

Tenryuu sputtered at that, pointing at the Kai light cruiser as she declared.

"Hey!

I came close that last match, alright?"

But Akashi, having stepped forward a little to stand by Shigure on the court, looked at Shigure and made a little gesture with her head, Shigure noticing it as she replied with a nod of her own, wrapping up the conversation by looking Tenryuu in the eye and reassuring her.

"I'll be back, Tenryuu.

You can count on that."

Tenryuu's gaze met Shigure's, and she could see that Tenryuu was slowly becoming more and more convinced of her determination to make it back alive, Shigure now back in control of her life and now felt driven to improve herself.

Tenryuu's eyes widened before narrowing as her expression hardened, Shigure feeling thankful for the light cruiser allowing her to participate in this sortie, noting that the Nagara-Class cruiser also picked up on her new-found confidence as they both nodded.

After talking to her fleet, or at least part of it, she felt a little more reassured about the upcoming battle as she had their blessings and support, and knew that everyone was trying to improve themselves after the fiasco at Mikura Jima Island.

Giving everyone one last reassuring nod to give them some peace of mind and allowing them to focus on their own tasks, she turned to follow Akashi out the sliding doors of the sports hall as she heard the sharp squeak of sports shoes and the rhythmic thump of the basketball hitting the floor start resounding through the hall before she exited the sports hall.

* * *

Meeting her sisters was the last thing on her agenda before she left, the repair ship having spotted them heading the _Shinsengumi,_ likely in order to get something cool to drink in this summer heat.

Shigure had talked to them previously, but she truly wanted to be closer with her sisters this time round, thinking about how they had become more and more estranged from each other the longer the previous war went on, and how it hurt despite understanding the need for her to carry on like a soldier.

The fact that she had such a _colorful_ past didn't help one bit, wanting to notify and reassure them before she left.

She saw that the three of them were sitting at a wooden table with another red-haired ship girl, but when Akashi notified her about her identity, Shigure's eyes widened at the revelation before struggling to contain her smile as she approached them, Akashi walking to the bar counter where Houshou patiently stood to order something before the sortie.

Shigure observed the newcomer sitting with her sisters, before kicking herself mentally and reminding herself that the newcomer was also her sister.

Kawakaze was a fiery ship girl who was much like Yuudachi, seeing that they were leaning towards each other despite sitting opposite each other, and despite Kawakaze's larger-than-life personality, she tried her best to include all of her sisters in the conversation, making sure that Samidare and Murasame could give their opinion on things.

Her hair was red like a burning inferno, complementing her personality to a tee as she used quite a bit of hand gesturing to get her point across, her expressions animated as she had the perfect balance of being a veteran that had fought many battles, and yet retained a fair amount of her indomitable spirit that was likely from her pre-Kai Ni days.

Her striking golden-yellow eyes added to her entire 'fiery ship girl' persona, and it was a nice aesthetic choice to accentuate her features with complementing colors in order to make her stand out as a Kai Ni ship girl, Shigure moving into position while noting that her red hair stuck out behind her and resembled a fox, remembering from her studies that most of the Shiratsuyu-Class's Kai Ni forms had hair that resembled dog ears.

The tip of the hair flaps were grey-tipped, and her uniform was unique in that she had on something resembling a sleeveless version of Shigure's black uniform that exposed her shoulders, along with a sick-looking black and white scarf around her neck, the spot on the scarf near her chin sporting the upper half of a golden four-leaf clover that acted as a throat guard.

Her uniform had red and gold trimmings along with primarily black finger-less elbow gloves, and on her uniform was a red neck handkerchief worn as a decorative ornament, her sleeveless uniform flaring out at the ends as it was unbuttoned, a large white stripe running down the length of the front zipper and continuing around her uniform along the flaps.

She wore a black miniskirt that revealed her toned thighs that were thankfully covered by similarly black pantyhose that ended with her dull red loafer shoes that were shaking about restlessly, no doubt eager to sortie.

Her hair had two long strands beside her face, reaching down to her stomach and were swishing around freely as she moved, and behind her head were two red ribbons that held up her twin braids with green beads at the end to prevent the whole thing from unraveling.

Along with a red-white hair-band to hold back her hair (although it failed to contain her _ahoge_ ) and with her bangs parted above her right eye, she looked significantly older than everyone, as a Kai Ni remodel also meant a physical maturation as well.

Shigure greeted them with a wave, which got their attention as they stopped their conversation to look at her as she approached them, sitting herself down on a free chair.

Kawakaze piped up with a greeting as her energetic voice sounded out with a touch of familiarity due to their past together.

"Yo, Shigure!

Kawakaze here, I guess we'll be sortieing later today in the same fleet, right?!"

Shigure nodded, unfortunately remembering the Battle of Vella Gulf as her confidence deflated somewhat and she looked away abashedly.

Feeling a little ashamed at being the sole survivor of the disastrous battle that sank her sister and several other ships then just made things awkward between them.

Picking up on the uncomfortable atmosphere between them, Samidare asked Shigure about her battle with the Abyssal Elites and Princess.

"Um, Shigure...

I just want you to be careful out there, alright?

Abyssal Princesses are extremely dangerous..."

But Shigure nodded, understanding why they would be worried about her safety in a battle like this, because her high luck was never going to be something that they would rely on to get her back in one piece, and wanted nothing more than for her to be safe regardless of whether they won or lost.

She had indeed faltered before this, after seeing comrades dying and sinking so violently and had a meltdown in the midst of battle, but that was why everyone was there to support her.

The ship girl spirit, despite being immensely powerful and capable of withstanding adversity, was also unpredictably fragile in that it could be broken by the death of a close one, a traumatizing event, or extended periods of extreme stress.

But that was why friends and family were there, to help you up whenever you fell.

And even though her spirit had deflated a bit from remembering unpleasant memories, looking at her sisters sitting beside her and were more than happy to help her out made all the difference in the world to her.

"I will do my best to come back here and be with you all again.

We're all back together again after so long, and it would be irresponsible of me to leave you all when we've been granted a second chance at life as the reunited Shiratsuyu-Class, right?"

Her sisters all nodded, Yuudachi reaching out to grab Shigure's arm to reassure her.

"Don't worry, Shigure!

We'll be here if you have any troubles on your mind, Poi!"

Murasame nodded at Shigure's reassurance, remarking as she leaned forwards to face Shigure.

"Shigure, we'll always be here for you.

And even though I'm an expedition ship, I won't hesitate to take your place on the 1st Fleet if you feel like you need to take a break from the action!"

Shigure raised an eyebrow at that and wanted to retort, but Kawakaze tried to stand up for her by putting a hand on their shoulders and explained on Shigure's behalf.

"Now, now.

I know that you all mean well, but I'm sure Shigure-Aneki doesn't want you to take her place in battle and get injured as a result.

That's why she pushes herself so hard, you know?

To get stronger so that she can protect you all."

Samidare politely objected to this, turning to face her Kai Ni sister ship as she responded questioningly.

"And why should she feel obliged to do so?

We are warships, and we can hold our own in battle, having all been through the same war.

I will admit that we may be the weaker ships of the Shiratsuyu-Class, but I must say that even though we may allow our stronger sisters to bear our burdens with us, we do not wish to them to bear our burdens _for_ us."

Kawakaze conceded the point, but still tried to convince everyone that Shigure meant well as she started.

"Well, you're right about that, but-"

"No.

I understand."

Shigure cut Kawakaze off, and she turned to face them all as she explained how she couldn't suffocate and bury her own siblings with her protectiveness.

"I understand that I can't protect everyone from everything under the sun, so I won't bother trying.

Just like how I want you all to trust me when I say that I can take care of myself, I have to do the same for you all when the time comes, and can only offer my help and protection when you need it."

She then shifted her gaze to her redhead sister, smiling as she officially greeted her.

"But I digress.

It's good to see you again, Kawakaze.

And if you don't mind me asking, where were you this past month?"

Yuudachi piped up at that, proudly proclaiming her redhead sister's accomplishments after obtaining her Kai Ni remodel.

"Oh you wouldn't believe it!

Kawakaze nee-san sailed down to New Zealand to fend off an Abyssal invasion!

She's been back for a few days, and she visited you when you were still unconscious in the hospital."

Kawakaze nodded at that, looking at Shigure and puffing out her chest as she explained herself.

"I visited you in hospital when you were unconscious, so it's completely understandable if you didn't remember my visit.

I needed some rest because of the time zone difference, and I had to set sail in the middle of the night in order to intercept the Abyssal fleet in time."

Shigure's eyebrow raised at that, asking with a touch of concern about her sister's well-being.

"Are you sure you should be going for another sortie so soon?"

But Kawakaze thumped her chest in a manner that inspired confidence with an assuring grin on her face, boasting.

"Don't worry, Shigure-aneki!

I've been through worse than this, and your sister's a Kai Ni ship girl!

I was fine after a dip in the docks and few days' rest!"

Yuudachi then innocently asked a question about her own words.

"But what's worse than fighting two Princesses back-to-back?

Three Princesses, Poi?"

Kawakaze's smile drooped a little at that and her eyes struggled to remain calm in the face of bitter memories, but she still kept up her heroic smile as she turned to Yuudachi and answered truthfully whilst rubbing the blonde's head with a gloved hand.

"Well of course, Yuudachi-chan!

I've fought many Princesses, like most of the seniors in this base!

This won't be hard for me, so don't you worry!"

Yuudachi nodded affectionately in response to Kawakaze's confident answer, Shigure noting that Samidare and Murasame remained silent upon hearing Yuudachi's question.

Excluding Kawakaze and herself, she remembered that Samidare was the oldest and had already achieved her Kai remodel via sorties, and Murasame was the second Shiratsuyu-Class who arrived here, being quite active on expeditions while Samidare allowed other, stronger ship girls to take her place in the 4th Fleet as the base grew in manpower.

Yuudachi arrived before Shigure, which would explain her more laid back and innocent attitude when compared to her other sisters, Samidare, Murasame and Kawakaze being the mature foils to the blonde destroyer.

This would mean that Kawakaze, likely being as old as Samidare since a Kai Ni remodel needed months or even years to achieve, had been the heavy hitter of the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers and had participated in several Princess battles before this, Shigure's heart feeling a little heavy at that realization and respectfully remained silent.

Kawakaze then noticed someone behind Shigure as she stood up and pushed her chair back, the chair legs scraping on the floor of the bar as she nodded in Shigure's direction.

Shigure got the message that Akashi was behind her, also pushing her chair back to leave the _Shinsengumi_ while looking at her sisters, giving them her winning smile as she nodded and reassured them one last time.

"Don't worry, sisters.

I shall return."

Samidare's expression softened, sighing as she gave a tired smile and expressed her support.

"I believe you.

Please be safe out there on the battlefield, and watch each other's backs."

Murasame didn't seem like she had anything to say, but her eyes hardened as she gave Shigure a tight smile and nodded, to which Shigure returned the gesture gratefully.

Yuudachi was the most vocal one of the seated trio, waving her clenched hands about and exclaiming as Kawakaze feebly gestured for her to calm down.

Shigure couldn't help but allow her smile to widen at Yuudachi's energetic demeanor as she voiced her support.

"Go, Kawakaze and Shigure!

Go and kick the Abyssal Princess's ass for us!"

Shigure turned to exit the bar with a smile on her face as Kawakaze walked beside her and followed Akashi out the front door while Houshou gave them a small wave, to which they both reciprocated out of respect for the senior light carrier as they left.

* * *

"So, it seems that you have quite a few things you want to ask me."

Kawakaze gave Shigure an aside glance, and Shigure nodded slowly as they both walked towards the harbor while keeping a distance from Akashi, the repair ship respecting their privacy and led the way, keeping silent as Shigure and Kawakaze spoke in hushed voices behind her.

Shigure knew that there was the issue of the Battle of Vella Gulf hanging between them as she lowered her gaze and responded quietly, a slight feeling of guilt starting to build up within her.

"I just want to know if you feel anything towards me for surviving the Battle of Vella Gulf."

Kawakaze silently contemplated the question shortly before answering with a honest and simple,

"No."

Shigure looked towards her sister as the trio walked towards the harbor, crossing the barracks along the way as she saw some of the ship girls coming and going on their way to who-knows-where, and the sun today was slightly harsher than usual with a bit of cloud cover to prevent today's temperature from becoming too hot as summer was coming.

She saw Musashi with Mutsu out of her peripheral vision, and she shuddered upon remembering the sight of a bloody Mutsu in the rain and punching through the head of a Ta-Class Abyssal without a second thought, a far cry from her cheery demeanor as she talked to the uptight and proud Yamato-Class battleship.

But those thoughts were pushed out of Shigure's mind as she gave Kawakaze a confused look, trying to explain her point of view.

"B-But I survived a dud torpedo, and you all were sunk while I lived.

So why…"

But Kawakaze shook her head slowly as she gave Shigure an understanding look, her eyes containing the kindness of an elder sister that had matured over the years.

"So what?

Could you control the fact that it was a dud that failed to detonate?"

Shigure couldn't reply to that, and could only listen in stunned silence to her sister as Kawakaze explained herself to the confounded Shigure.

"I understand if you might feel guilty for surviving, but let me tell you, Shigure.

These are things that you can't control.

And even if the torpedoes that hit you weren't duds, so what?"

Shigure's mouth opened in an attempt to respond, but came up empty and failed to think of anything as she became slightly conscious of her open mouth and closed it, choosing to listen to her sister's point of view.

Kawakaze nodded at Shigure's lack of answers and tried her best to fill the silence between them as they walked towards the harbor, trying to give Shigure a second perspective on a battle that had sunk her whilst leaving Shigure alive.

"Look, Shigure, these things happen, and if you're prone to having things turn out favorably for you all the time, no amount of complaining from me or self-loathing on your end is going to change that.

I've already come to terms with it a long time ago."

Shigure nodded meekly, understanding her sister's reasoning as she tried to explain herself and how she saw things.

"I know.

It's just that whenever I see someone who sank in my wake, it just makes me feel a little bad about surviving, even though I know that I can't go back in time to change things."

Kawakaze nodded upon hearing that, looking at her and allowing Shigure to see the maturity in her eyes, and the weariness that was displayed after moving from battlefield to battlefield.

"I know how it feels, Shigure.

But we're here now, and I'm here now.

I'm not going anywhere."

Shigure faltered upon seeing Kawakaze expressing such brutal honesty with her and allowing her to glimpse into her weary heart, but Kawakaze's eyes hardened as she looked right into Shigure's uncomfortable, shifty eyes as the Kai Ni destroyer addressed her seriously.

" _Shigure_.

Just like how you want us to trust you to come back in one piece, you have to trust me when I say that I'm not sinking."

Shigure looked Kawakaze in the eye, and she could see the 'hardened veteran' look in her eyes, being a ship girl that had seen her fair share of death and destruction. And seeing that she had friends and family here in Yokosuka, she wasn't allowing herself to go down anytime soon.

Shigure sighed as she nodded in agreement, deciding to believe in her sister's strength and allowed her to lead the way, looking at the backs of her two seniors, shoulders slightly slouched as though perpetually tired from their experiences, but their backs straightened to exude seniority and confidence in their skills that had been developed and refined throughout years of combat against a never ending stream of Abyssals.

She wondered if it was inevitable for every senior to eventually look like that.

But there was no time to entertain such thoughts upon seeing a crowd of ship girls standing at the harbor, along with a familiar white-uniformed Admiral standing with them.

Shigure noted Admiral Mako's glance in their direction as they approached, and Admiral Mako's gaze lingered on Akashi for a while as though wordlessly communicating something, Shigure making a mental note of that before observing the ship girls gathered there.

Unryuu and Kiso were there, and there were a few more ship girls there that she had never seen before in public.

Hayasui the fleet oiler was there, with her short raven-black hair along with a long-sleeved black and white exercise sweater.

She saw that the fleet oiler was somewhat well-endowed despite hiding it behind her exercise sweater, and she had on a black miniskirt underneath her sweater which ended slightly beneath her hips, and a black collar with metal parts guarding it.

Her thighs were bare, but she had on black knee socks with brown school shoes, and she was also carrying some sort of rectangular baggage that was slung over her left shoulder via a sling connected to it, and her mild-green eyes were vibrant as she looked around with a friendly and amiable expression, a stark contrast from her teammates as Unryuu looked bored while Kiso looked serious with her arms folded beneath her bosom.

The monochrome ship girl standing next to her was the IJA ship girl Akitsu Maru, the pale ship girl looking somewhat embarrassed at the attention Hayasui was showering her with.

She wore a black military uniform top and dark miniskirt while carrying a red backpack with various unidentified weapons attached to its sides, something that was _very_ unusual for a ship girl seeing that their weapons were given to them after they had entered the ocean and not before.

Her skin was unnaturally pale and contrasted with her dark eyes, likely because of the makeup that she put on before this, and she also wore white gloves that carried two things:

A summoning scroll similar to the scrolls carried by the Hiyou and Ryuujou-Class light carriers in her left hand, and a sheathed katana in her right.

The katana itself had a dull brown sheath with gold ornamental designs etched onto its surface, and the handle had a lighter shade of brown as its handle wrap with a gold-colored metal butt-cap, guard and collar, the golden guard kissing the similarly colored scabbard mouth.

The buttons on her uniform were a similar color of gold, as was the chrysanthemum symbol on the center of her jet black, peaked officer's cap that she wore.

Her hair was dark like Hayasui's and also of similar length, flowing straight down yet barely reaching the collar, oddly making her hair look a bit like a waterfall.

Along with her black thigh-highs and white sports shoes, she was the IJA ship girl that was strangely never seen around other ship girls, Shigure assuming that her katana was essential in helping her fight Abyssals.

Hatsuzuki was standing next to Unryuu, predictably so seeing that she had on pretty much the same bored expression as the Unryu-Class carrier.

Her yellowish eyes were half-lidded as she stared listlessly at nothing in particular, and her dark brown hair was styled in a way that would resemble horns, being held up by the black hair band that read with a gold font,

'61st Destroyer Division'.

And with an armored corset of sorts with a monochrome uniform top with a black neck handkerchief and a black miniskirt beneath said corset, her metallic tall boots/high heels providing further protection.

The Akizuki-Class destroyer wore some kind of dark skin suit underneath her clothes, blanketing her arms, thighs and even partially covered her neck.

She wore some sort of contraption on her right wrist that Shigure eventually identified as a fire director that was styled like a watch, and she was carrying two Rensouhou-Chans in each hand, looking rather different as they both had white spirals for eyes and were obviously more mechanical in appearance with square plates outlining their faces and had paddle-like hands that flapped about uselessly.

The two turrets sticking out their forehead meant that they were to be used in combat, and Hatsuzuki held affectionately.

The backup fleet stood to the side as the Ise-Class aviation battleships led them, Ise being the comical one and Hyuga the deadpan one, their contrasting personalities managing to somehow complement each other as they chatted with each other while the rest of the fleet stood nearby.

Hatsuharu was the most conspicuous one present, being a ship girl that had an extremely large ponytail swirling around behind her and swishing about gracefully with every turn of her head.

Her uniform was a sleeveless sailor school uniform, the uniform's color scheme being an even mix of black and white that formed sectioned stripes across her uniform that resembled black-and-white roads.

She had silver buttons on one side of her uniform as her uniform was the kind that was something akin to a bathrobe as she wore a brown and silver belt around her waist, and she had on a few long strands of diamond-shaped ribbons lined up diagonally, reaching around her body and head.

She had on child-tailored high heels and her legs were bare as she flaunted them proudly, wearing white gloves that held a folded traditional Japanese fan in her left hand that had golden petals etched into it, gently waving it around in a graceful motion as she talked to Maya, who was on her team.

Shigure could see that her hair line had a distinct widow's peak as her hair parted to flow down the sides of her face, and a red rope held her gigantic purple ponytail up.

Her eyebrows were pronounced, perhaps owing to the fact that she styled herself in a manner reminiscent to that of the aristocratic women of a bygone age, what with the way she conducted herself, talking to others in a dignified yet polite manner whilst using her black fan to help cover her face and fan herself whenever the moment seemed appropriate.

There was some sort of mechanical arrow hovering above her head, somewhat similar to Tatsuta's mechanical halo in that it had yellow LED lights, was shaped in a 'V' shape and pointed wherever Hatsuharu was facing.

She did seem to be genuinely interested in the conversation with Maya despite the heavy cruiser somehow finding the opportunity to flex her muscles in the middle of the conversation, and Maya's thick muscles were either the topic of the conversation, or were a quirk that the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer learnt to take in stride.

Shigure could see that everyone was here and they all looked ready to sortie, but something that made her worry a little about her prospects of survival was the grim look on everyone's face, one that accepted the very real possibility of them not returning despite years of combat experience.

Suddenly, saying goodbye to her teammates and sisters seemed like the right thing to do, otherwise she would have been distracted with never having done so at this point in time.

The backup fleet noticed her presence and greeted her with a chorus of greetings, Shigure waving at them meekly but was unsure of how to approach any one of them since she didn't know anybody personally.

But Kawakaze came to her rescue as she patted Shigure on the back and gave her a slight push forward as she introduced her sister to her teammates.

"Yo, everyone!

This here's my sister, Shigure!

She's been in quite a few battles despite been constructed recently, and even though she can handle herself, it's her first time fighting an Abyssal Princess.

So help her out, alright?"

Shigure bowed towards everyone out of respect for them, as they were senior ship girls who were strong enough to be entrusted with the task of taking on an Abyssal Princess, albeit being the backup fleet.

Maya raised her right arm and brought it down on Shigure's small back, which knocked the wind out of her and made her stumble forward as she struggled to breathe in while trying not to cringe and writhe at the stinging sensation along her spine as Maya heartily welcomed her with a winning smile.

"Yo, Shigure!

I know you're relatively new here, but stay with us and we'll get through this, no problem!"

Shigure's started to sweat as she gave Maya a weak, twitching smile, but the purple-haired destroyer of the group opened up her fan to cover her face in a ladylike manner as she approached Shigure, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer doing her best to get up and face her senior at her full height.

The Hatsuharu-Class destroyer chided Maya for her action that clearly hurt the little destroyer, her bushy brows creasing a touch, her mouth hidden behind the spread fan as she spoke disapprovingly.

"Maya-san, have you not learnt anything about the moderation of your strength in relation to our fellow comrades?

The poor destroyer seems to be in pain."

To which the heavy cruiser sheepishly scratched her head, apologetically regarding Shigure as her look softened from a battle-hungry leer to a concerned look upon seeing Shigure's slightly pained expression.

"Maa, sorry, man!

I know that I sometimes fail to moderate my strength, and it takes me a while to understand that not everyone is as tough as me!"

Shigure raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to acknowledge her apology as she looked to Hatsuharu, the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer snapping back her fan to close it before introducing herself.

"Welcome, Shigure-san.

We are Hatsuharu, and we are pleased to make you acquaintance.

It is undeniable that you possess prior experience in doing battle against the dreaded Abyssals, but it be best if you follow our lead this time, for our opponents will be unlike anything you have encountered thus far."

Shigure blinked twice while keeping on a poker face, taking a second to decipher her archaic way of speaking before understanding her words, nodding while giving her an awkward smile.

She gave Kawakaze an aside glance, to which her sister ship returned her glance and gave her 'the look' which meant that even as a backup fleet, they were still a bunch of ship girls with colorful personalities that needed some getting used to.

Hyuga and Ise then came up to introduce themselves, their expressions soft yet mature as Ise raised a hand with her elbow bent in a 90-degree as she smiled radiantly, while Hyuga simply gave her a nod to greet her as Ise cheered.

"Yooo, Shigure!

You ready to kick some Abyssal ass?"

Shigure nodded in agreement, and Ise softly patted her on the back, showing considerably more restraint and control over her physical strength as she felt a slight pang of pain that she shrugged off easily, Hyuga's expression softening as Ise expressed their concern.

"How's everyone?"

Shigure blinked, but understood the question as her expression hardened and she nodded energetically in response to that, Ise adding,

"And Hiei?"

Shigure looked away at that, knowing that she had no reason to lie to them about the condition of her teammates, but couldn't tell them what she didn't know herself.

"I haven't met everyone yet, because I want to give myself a reason to keep myself alive in battle and return to check up on them."

Hyuga tilted her head questioningly at that, clarifying Shigure's actions in her mind as she asked.

"Interesting.

So you don't wish to bid farewell to everyone and make it sound like a final goodbye of sorts, am I right?"

Shigure nodded, explaining herself as she saw the Admiral and Akashi silently communicating something between themselves.

"I want to come back here, and the thing I know that one of the things I hate the most is never getting the chance to say goodbye.

It's quite an unusual reason to drive myself with, and it is quite a big risk, but I hope you can understand…"

But Hyuga slowly raised a hand in order to stop Shigure, politely interrupting.

"It's your personal reason, and it matters not what we think about it."

Shigure blinked before nodding thankfully, noting Admiral Mako and Akashi walk away together from the main group as though going off somewhere to discuss something private.

She looked up to the two aviation battleships, making up a textbook excuse to excuse herself from the conversation and leave, her curiosity starting to kick in as she spoke up.

"I'd like to go to the toilet.

To, you know…"

She gave them an awkward smile, feeling guilty inside for deceiving them and trying to listen in on the conversations of her friends, but this curiosity was going to gnaw away at her from the inside unless she knew what they were talking about, and how it would affect her friends.

She felt the hearty yet painful palm-slap of Ise's hand on her back as Ise's smile widened, speaking in a conspiratorial tone whilst giving her a reassuring wink.

"Alright, we got it.

We won't be sortieing for another ten minutes, so knock yourself out!"

Shigure coughed and tried to clear her throat as she tried her best to shrug off the stinging impact on her back and the slight numbness around the affected area, made worse by the fact that it was the second time someone did this, and not even three minutes in between the two incidents.

Hyuga's eyebrows creased upon seeing Ise be so insensitive to Shigure's plight as she used her fist to softly bump Ise on the crown of her head, to which Ise's eyes brightened a little from the realization, holding up a vertical palm up in front of her face to apologize quietly.

"Sorry."

Shigure nodded weakly as she left, relaxing her stance as she kept her distance from the two women in front of her.

She wondered if she was going to be court-martialled for this, and eventually decided that it was worth the risk of learning something important.

Shigure wasn't an enemy spy, and she could simply say that she was at the wrong place at the wrong time, although she knew that Admiral Mako or Akashi wouldn't believe her for a second.

And besides, if they were going to talk about something personal instead of something important in terms of worthwhile intelligence, she would instantly walk away and leave them be.

Not that it would weigh any less on her conscience for listening in to the Admiral's important conversation with the repair ship, but it was all for the sake of keeping her friends safe with important knowledge, right?

Right?

She shook her mind in order to erase these doubts as she saw the the pink wooden door of the sole toilet coming up, which struck Shigure as a little odd as there was only a female toilet here despite the base housing a significant number of male sailors that maintained this base, and likened it to having only a few boy's toilets in an all-girl's school, since ship girls frequented this area more often than sailors did.

She remembered the group of ship girls behind her, deciding to walk into the toilet and exit it from one of the windows at the top corners on the wall at the far end of the room on the off chance that someone saw her bypass the toilet and decided to question her alibi, pushing open the squeaky, color-coded door to enter the toilet.

The toilet had well-maintained white tiles covering the room along with soft-pink walls for the four toilet cubicles available, Shigure feeling thankful that there was no one in here to notice the slight commotion she would cause, spotting the window that she knew would be there.

The room slightly smelled of ammonia, but there was also a nullifying agent dispersed into the air to negate the ammonia stench, striding towards the window that was unlocked and seeing that there was no point in locking them when ship girls could punch through them with ease and force it open.

And in the case of an emergency, it provided a quick escape for any average-sized ship girl like destroyers, light cruisers and light carriers.

Not that the ship girls of other ship classes couldn't get through it, the window being quite generous in size, it would just take a little longer seeing that they had more pronounced body parts which might prove cumbersome.

Shigure hopped up and slapped her palms on the cool wall while tapping into her training to utilize her arm strength to pull herself up, using the soles of her feet to push herself up.

No need to exhaust herself before the important battle.

Thankfully, her training sessions and exercises paid off as she easily hoisted herself up and harmlessly tumbled out of the window, Shigure noting that the window was one of those one-pane windows designed to open up with its hinge hanging above the window frame to allow easy access.

She dusted herself off, and was grateful for the fact that she bought compression shorts that prevented her underwear from getting dirtied upon landing as she got up into a crouching stance and tried her best to catch up to the duo.

She knew that fully activating her ship girl mode at this distance would give her away, and knew that she had to follow them whilst keeping her ship girl mode turned off, sacrificing enhanced hearing for the sake of a lowered chance of being detected as she did something resembling a cross between a duck walk and a side shuffle while keeping a low profile, spotting the white blazer of her Admiral as it flared up due to the wind.

Shigure strained her ears to listen in on the conversation between the duo, keeping her hands out to maintain her balance and making sure not to step on any fallen tree branches, having heard of that classic cover-blowing move too many times to count.

She could finally make out some words spoken between the duo, seeing them stop as they met up with the name-ship of the Aoba-Class, the heavy cruiser wearing her signature helmet in the middle of the woods, Shigure mentally tuning out the background noise to focus on the three of them as she heard.

" … You don't really…"

"I think..."

She moved in closer as the three of them stopped in their tracks, feeling conscious of the perilous distance between herself and Akashi and noting that this was the distance where Akashi might notice her, but she'd have to be intently looking for Shigure in order to identify her presence.

Something that benefited her was the fact that the repair ship was an auxiliary ship that wasn't meant to fight in battles, and likely wasn't specifically created to detect the presence of others around her while Aoba had her helmet on and likely took her signal-cancelling medication before heading out, which meant that she was oblivious to her presence, almost entirely eliminating the chances of her being detected by the heavy cruiser.

This gave Shigure some breathing room as she took cover behind a tree to further mask her presence.

It was possible for her to crawl forward while prone in order to get closer, but she couldn't risk it when she had to rendezvous with her fleet later, and didn't want others asking about the dirt or leaves she would get on her uniform.

But this was an acceptable distance for her, seeing that her status as a destroyer would mean that she had a weaker presence than a battleship, who would have her work cut out for her if someone that large and possessed such a prominent signature wanted to stealth things.

Ahh, sometimes it paid to be a weakling.

She listened in on the conversation between the three women before her, and heard their concerned voices.

"... keep our coastal cities on 'orange alert' and be ready to evacuate at the drop of a hat.

We'll get the JASDF to help ... the _Dutchman_.

If the _Flying Dutchman_ tries to rear its ugly head anywhere in the Safety Zone, we mobilize fighter jets to try and sink it.

Ship girls are discouraged from attempting to go up against the _Flying Dutchman_ as it's carrying heavy firepower, missiles and planes along ... Abyssal fleet."

"So we're doing this old-school?"

Admiral Mako grimaced, but nodded her head as her peaked officer's cap cast a long shadows over her face as she stated the facts.

"Our ship girl battleships and carriers can't exactly ... fight it since it can pick its fights while travelling underwater, and the cannons that the ship girls carry are calibrated to scale with the size of the ship girl, not real-life warships.

So ... got a good idea of how to sink it, we're gonna need the help of fighter jets to deter it should it try to attack our fleets.

I'll come up with something ... until we get more evidence of what they're up to and come up with better plans to face them, I got nothing."

Shigure strained to hear the conversation, leaning in to try and hear the rest of the conversation, piecing together whatever scraps of information she could hear now in order to research more on them after the sortie.

But the next sentence that came out of the Admiral's mouth made her blood run cold with the possible implications and ramifications.

"But we have to consider the ... the Abyssals may be plotting a land invasion for years now... 'Apocalypse'.

... how could they destroy an entire island?"

"U-Um..."

Aoba's meek voice sounded out, trying to give some possible answers to enigmatic questions as the wind finally died down, allowing Shigure to clearly hear everything they said.

"M-Maybe it's not a weapon destroying an island, but they're testing a weapon on said island, and the fallout can't be easily covered up.

So instead of covering their tracks, they erased everything to make sure that we found nothing.

I mean, we found evidence of their 'Apocalypse' plans even when they thought they could cover that up..."

Admiral Mako nodded, pointing a friendly finger at the heavy cruiser as she commented.

"You may be right.

It's possible that the weapon they tested on that island was powerful enough to produce those energy readings back in 2013, and they now know for sure that the weapon is hella powerful.

But the downside of testing such a potent weapon is that we'd detect its use and send ship girls to investigate, and instead of trying to cover up the damage caused by the weapon, they probably decided to just level the island.

After all, no more island, no more evidence, right?"

Akashi nodded, adding.

"Well, they had a lot of Princesses on scene, so it wouldn't be out of the question if they decided to move the weapon after the test and get the Princesses to annihilate the island when they were finished.

And since they went to such lengths to hide this weapon from us, it's possible that it's a part of 'Apocalypse'.

But the question is, what would destroy the island to such an extent that would justify destroying the island rather than covering up the damage?"

Everyone went silent upon hearing that, and Shigure spent about a minute trying to pick up anything in the silence, fearing for the future if anything they said here was true.

But Admiral Mako finally decided to break up the conversation as she faced Aoba, placing a comforting hand on the unnaturally meek heavy cruiser as she responded.

"Maa, the two of you can't be worrying about such things at this point in time.

Aoba, you need to focus on Project Psyche, and Akashi, you need to focus on your sortie."

Giving Aoba a confident nod, she then turn to seriously regard Akashi as she gave the repair ship a second objective to be carried out after putting down the Southern War Princess.

"Akashi, you're to kick the Abyssal Princess's ass, ask her about 'Apocalypse' and try to confirm as many theories as possible before she sinks, and report back to me.

Just leave the thinking to me."

Aoba lowered her head and nodded, but Akashi looked unconvinced as she coolly pointed out something as a repair ship and was responsible for the well-being of the ship girls and workers of this base.

"I do believe that there's something you might forget to think about."

"And what's that, Akashi?"

"Your health."

Akashi didn't even hesitate to point out how tired the Admiral looked, Shigure now noting the slightly hunched figure of the Admiral, and Akashi pointed to Admiral Mako as she pointed out something as a repair ship who was in charge of everyone's health and well-being.

"You're not infallible, and your work is starting to take a toll on you, even more so when you're human and not a ship girl.

You need to rest."

Admiral Mako's tone then changed, the bitterness and exhaustion starting to creep into her voice as she defended herself.

"I can't.

I need to think about the Abyssals' movements and what their plans might be.

There's no time to rest, I'm afraid."

But Akashi wasn't having any of that as she shook her head slowly and pointed out what she could do to the Admiral with the best intentions in mind, Aoba turning to look at her Admiral with a concerned look in her eyes, although her helmet did a good job in hiding the fact that she was slightly tearing up.

"You _don't_ want to fall sick from fatigue again like back in '09 and put us at risk just because you thought you could 'tough it out' for another day, something I blame myself for and would _not_ want to repeat.

You know that I can put you under with chloroform or whatever and say it's to make sure you get enough rest, right?"

" … Can you really do that?"

"You wanna put it to the test?

I _am_ the medic, after all."

Admiral Mako hung her head and nodded in acceptance, reluctantly concurring.

"Alright, alright, I guess I can afford to get some sleep after this.

No point exhausting myself while trying to come up with half-assed plans that'd be dangerous for you all who have to carry them out."

Shigure took that as her cue to leave, and slowly backtracked as she took extra care not to give away her position by stepping on anything that would give her position away.

But her mind was a whirlpool of disturbed thoughts and fears, making her truly fearful for the future of this war as she considered key points like 'Apocalypse', 'Psyche', The _Flying Dutchman,_ disappearing islands and Abyssal Princesses.

She would never dream that the Abyssals were preparing for another land assault like the American _Blitzkrieg_ of 2007, especially since everyone wouldn't expect another land assault after eight years had passed without so much as a hint of another assault being planned.

No one could keep their guard up for an attack that seemed more and more unlikely to repeat itself no matter how devastating it might be if it actually happened, as they needed to focus their attention and resources on more current events instead of preparing for every possible scenario.

Aoba seemed to be working on some sort of Project that Akashi was certainly privy to, Shigure hypothesizing that the heavy cruiser's unique condition and having changed something within herself to achieve a double-edged power contributed to her being chosen to participate in Project Psyche with Akashi.

As to what this Project was about, Shigure wasn't too sure about that, but she intended to find out after this sortie.

She eventually forced herself to push those distracting thoughts out of her mind, forcibly suppressing them in order to keep herself focused on the important things at hand, which was the operation she was to participate in.

Shigure exhaled softly as she began backtracking while still squatting down on the off chance that they could spot her silhouette amidst the trees, suppressing the morbid and pessimistic thoughts that were beginning to surface in her mind while reminding herself that these things could wait until after the sortie, Shigure spotting the open window that she left open to allow herself to climb back into the toilet.

Standing back up and hopping back up to the ledge, she pulled herself up as she saw that the interior of the toilet was dark, not surprising since most of the toilets here, upon not detecting any movement inside for several minutes, would turn themselves off after a while to conserve electricity.

She couldn't see much of the interior because her body, in trying to fit through the only window in the room, blocked her source of illumination as she stared into the darkness, seeing the shadows shift around in her field of vision as she wriggled in order to fit into the window that was in the open position.

In times of crisis, the adjustable window pane could be punched out and made escape/ entry easier for them since the window wouldn't pose a major obstacle. But Shigure wanted to leave as little trace of her presence as possible, the sensors in the toilet likely picking up some movement, the lights somehow clicking on as she faced the wall she was on, fitting her legs through the window opening and feeling herself start to tumble forward as she leaned in to enter the toilet.

' _Wait._

 _I'm not even through the window, so my presence wouldn't be able to trigger the sensors._

 _So why…'_

She failed to finish that thought as she felt her center of gravity shift at the most inopportune time, and she felt herself fall forward into the toilet, gasping as she felt her grip loosen on the sleek toilet walls.

Her bum hit the cold toilet floor first as she winced at the impact, feeling somewhat disoriented at the 180 degree spin and felt her hair become messed up by the tumble, Shigure feeling the pain dissipate through her hips as her left elbow throbbed in pain from hitting something in the room, blinking at the ominous sight before her.

The first thing she saw other than the incandescent glow of the halo-like fixture affixed to the ceiling of the toilet was a figure clothed in darkness, towering above her and preventing the light from directly reaching her eyes, inadvertently overshadowing the mystery figure's features and leaving her identity an enigma.

The blur of cold steel rushed down towards her face before she even had a chance to react, the blade bursting into flames as it severed the air in front of Shigure's face.


	22. Chapter 22 - Freaks of Nuture

Shigure barely inhaled before squeaking,

" _WAIT!"_

And the burning steel blade that was flying towards Shigure's neck instantly halted, causing the fire that flowed from it to dissipate into the air and heat up Shigure's face for an instant, slightly singeing her hair and exposing her eyes to a flash of bright-blue flames despite the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer squinting out of reflex and bringing up an arm in a futile attempt to protect herself.

The fiery remnants were colored a very distinct naval blue, something which registered on the periphery of Shigure's mind as the flames that seemed to burst into existence due to the slashing motion of the dull-red blade eventually returned to nothingness.

Shigure could see that the dark figure wore dark clothes and a peaked cap, which would explain why the light failed to illuminate her figure and facial features, Shigure warily widening her eyes in order to get a good look at her assailant.

Akitsu Maru was standing over her with her katana in hand, the sharp side of the blade mere millimeters from her neck, and she could see that the amphibious assault ship barely stopped her blade in time to prevent herself from decapitating Shigure.

The IJA ship girl was breathing heavily, and Shigure could see that the monochrome ship girl had a powerful killing intent reflected in her eyes, albeit dissipating upon identifying the 'intruder' as a little girl, bringing her breathing under control while pressing her blade to Shigure's neck.

Shigure found herself trembling at the feeling of cold steel being pressed onto her jugular, sweating a little upon witnessing Akitsu Maru's killing intent directed at her, a fellow comrade, although she admitted she was asking for it when she climbed into the toilet like a suspicious person.

The blade itself also felt … off, in the sense that it felt a little too slick and reeked of metal, much like the stench of blood.

Akitsu Maru's somewhat boyish voice rang out and echoed in the small toilet, interrogating her about her suspicious behavior.

"Who are you, and why did you sneak in through the window?"

Shigure turned on her ship girl mode, certain that the katana could easily decapitate her if Akitsu Maru so desired, like Tenryuu did so to an unfortunate Wo-Class with her sword, Ezekiel in battle as she introduced herself to the suspicious ship girl with a katana, although Shigure admitted that one would respond with a healthy amount of suspicion and hostility towards someone who slipped in through a window, introducing herself while still lying on the floor and trying to keep her voice steady.

"I-I'm a Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, Shigure.

I turned on my ship girl mode, so I'm not some cosplaying human spy or an Abyssal in disguise, alright?"

Akitsu Maru dropped her scowl almost instantly, blinking a few times as she likely saw the status update flash before her eyes, before withdrawing and shrinking back as she lifted the katana from Shigure's neck.

Akitsu Maru grabbed the sheath with her left hand and mimicked wiping the flat part of the blade on her glove and the mouthpiece of the scabbard in a manner reminiscent of a swordsman wiping blood off of the katana before sheathing it as she straightened up, casting a shadow over the crumpled Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer that had turned on her ship girl mode to convince Akitsu Maru of her identity.

Akitsu Maru then smiled, a warm and friendly smile that differed from the 'serial killer' attitude she possessed ten seconds before, something that really threw Shigure off-guard due to the abrupt change in Akitsu Maru's mood.

The amphibious assault ship extended her hand as a greeting, gave her a million-dollar smile and introduced herself.

"Salutations!

I am the Hei-Class Amphibious Assault Ship, Akitsu Maru!

Nice to meet you, Shigure!"

Shigure blinked, unsure of how to respond to this sudden change in attitude as the monochrome ship girl went from wanting to execute her to being eccentrically friendly in a heartbeat.

The fact that she had no compunctions about drawing her katana and executing an 'intruder' in a heartbeat than wait and identify the intruder's identity almost scared her off trying to interact with the IJA ship girl.

But she swallowed the lump in her throat and used her trembling arms to push herself up, Akitsu Maru patiently waiting for her to return the handshake all the while as she finally stood back up, her legs shaking like a newborn foal as she warily stretched her hand out to greet Akitsu Maru.

The fact that the amphibious assault ship almost crushed her hand with her handshake didn't help things, Shigure wincing as Akitsu Maru merrily closed the grip on her delicate hand, feeling the pain shoot up her arm as her bones shifted around painfully, wondering if she was going to suffer minor damage before she even sortied.

But the monochrome ship girl didn't seem to care about any of that, giving her a small salute as she secured her katana on a strap that hung on her hips, Shigure noting that the scroll that she used to summon planes was stored on her backpack, on its left where it was placed in a specially-made holster.

And noticing the strange equipment on the right of Akitsu Maru's bag made her stiffen up in fear as the amphibious assault ship leaned in and asked about her suspicious actions.

"But why were you sneaking about in a toilet, Shigure-chan?"

But Shigure's attention was transfixed on the firearm that she carried on her backpack, Shigure discarding the possibility of it being a rifle as the shape wasn't quite right, but obviously not a pistol since it was way too large to be one.

She eventually shook her head in order to clear her train of thought as she struggled to come up with a believable answer without giving herself away, finally deciding on a partial truth to cover her tracks.

"Well, you see…

I saw Admiral Mako and Akashi walk away, and I was worried about them."

Oh god, she could feel herself getting sick of herself for lying to a fellow ship girl with a straight face, but she felt that she had no choice if she was to protect herself from the suspicion of Akitsu Maru.

It didn't make her feel any less bad about it.

"I wanted to check up on them, so I sneaked out to listen in on their conversation.

And you know what I heard?"

Akitsu Maru seemed rather interested in what Shigure had uncovered, and her eyes were wide with curiosity as Shigure blurted out the half-truth and tried to sell it to her as the 'honest truth' without retching at how underhanded it was.

"I found out that the Admiral was on the verge of being ill from all the planning and scheming against the Abyssals, and Akashi pulled her aside to talk to her about her physical condition.

I was worried about the Admiral, so I knew that Akashi pulling her aside meant that something was wrong with Admiral Mako, or will go wrong if Admiral Mako continued on like this.

She said that if Admiral Mako didn't get some sleep, she'd use chloroform to 'help' her get some rest.

She's your flagship, so you'd know her best, right?"

Shigure didn't have to fake being concerned for her Admiral, but using that genuine feeling to mask her true intentions was what gnawed at her conscience.

But Akitsu Maru nodded energetically, Shigure knowing that although the members of the 8th Fleet had ... diverse personalities, they all ultimately cared about Admiral Mako and each other, Akitsu Maru confirming this as she raised her right index finger and replied heartily.

"Yep, that sounds like her, alright!

She may not look it, but she can be pretty caring if she tries!"

Shigure nodded in agreement as she pointed to the gun that was strapped to Akitsu Maru's backpack, still wary of the mood swings that the IJA ship seemed to be capable of as she took a slight step back out of genuine concern for her own well-being while in the vicinity of Akitsu Maru, but was still driven by her curiosity as she asked the IJA ship girl.

"But moving on from that.

What's that on your back, Akitsu Maru-san?"

Akitsu Maru twisted her body to look behind her, pulling out the gun in a smooth and practiced manner as she pointed the gun away from Shigure, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer noting that the firearm's safety was thankfully on as Akitsu Maru boasted.

"This is a Anti-Abyssal Benelli M3 Super 90 Convertible Shotgun.

And I have Dragon Breath shells loaded inside it, ready to fire!"

Shigure saw that the black-colored shotgun was well-maintained and looked fearsome, as all shotguns did when viewed up close where they dealt the most damage.

Shigure wasn't too well-versed in firearms, but she could see that the shotgun had two barrels and used iron sights since it was meant to be used at close range while their aiming system would help them aim with superhuman precision.

The sliding mechanism was in place as Shigure theorized that the shell was ejected as the mechanism slid back after every shot was made to load the next shell, and the stock of the rifle was a solid black piece behind the firearm to allow the shoulder to absorb the brunt of the recoil whenever Akitsu Maru fired her shotgun.

And if the gun was modified to be capable of taking out Abyssals, the firepower of the shotgun was likely improved along with the material of the shotgun to accommodate the increased firepower, lest Akitsu Maru fire off a shot that managed to kill an Abyssal, but the shotgun itself fall apart as the default material of the Benelli M3 shotgun failed to contain the ignition of the enhanced bullet propellant.

And the name of the shotgun shell, Dragon's Breath, sounded dangerous to her, and made her wary of the IJA ship girl due to the fact that she didn't seem to practice proper gun safety as she had a twitching finger on the trigger despite having the safety switch on while standing right in front of Shigure, Akitsu Maru clearly trying her best to contain a slasher smile as she tenderly held her shotgun, ready to utilize this weapon of death in battle.

It also didn't help that Shigure was still stuck near the wall she climbed over to enter the toilet, the IJA ship girl standing in between her and the exit as she tried not to make it look too obvious that she was hugging the wall for dear life while hoping that the amphibious assault ship wouldn't accidentally kill her with the myriad of weapons she carried with her.

She tried to keep the IJA ship girl distracted while keeping track of the time, making sure that they wouldn't be late for the sortie as she pointed at the sheathed katana and asked Akitsu Maru about how the katana produced flames when swung, and why it produced blue flames instead of the usual orange flames.

"U-Um, Akitsu Maru-san, why does your katana produce blue fire when swung?"

Akitsu Maru, upon seeing that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was one of the few ship girls who was interested in her equipment instead of preemptively scurrying away in fear while failing to notice that Shigure was seriously considering doing just that to get away from her, holstered her M3 shotgun and held her sheath, unsheathing the sword a fraction as she explained.

"My sword, Kagutsuchi, has cut through so many Abyssals that their blood, fat and fuel gathered on the surface of Kagutsuchi.

I did my best to clean the blood off, but it's stained the surface to give it the tinge of dull red that you see!

The chemicals and additives in the Abyssals' blood that's essential in lowering the freezing point of their blood to prevent complications when they dive into the freezing abyss were a little harder to clean off...

But when I found that those chemicals mixed together with Abyssal fat and fuel to give off a blue flame when I swing the katana at superhuman speeds, it made it look so much cooler that I didn't bother after that!"

Shigure blanched upon hearing that whilst fighting the urge to heave at the backstory of Kagutsuchi's ability, while the rational part of her mind acknowledged the fact that the Abyssals likely required those chemicals in their bloodstreams to prevent their blood from freezing up whenever they dived into the cold depths that reached sub-zero temperatures at times.

Noting the dull red tinge of the blade that almost made it look as if Kagutsuchi was made out of some sort of cursed crimson steel, while the unnatural glint of the blade was partially attributed to the reflective properties of steel, and most of it was the result of the Abyssal fat and fuel that coated the blade, Shigure noticing that the sharp edge of the blade was unnaturally colored, even when compared to the general color scheme of the katana.

When she brought up that point, Akitsu Maru addressed her concerns away by explaining, now engaged in the act of explaining her weapons to the terrified destroyer.

"Oh, that?

That's a custom-made sword edge that was reinforced to make the edge of the katana significantly tougher than the rest of the blade, and can easily create sparks that will cause the burst of blue flame that you saw!

Want to see it again?"

Shigure started to panic, feeling her heart nearly leap out of her chest as she brought up her hands and made a placating gesture in order to stop an unnervingly enthusiastic Akitsu Maru from setting something on fire, doing her best to stop the amphibious assault ship from showing off her deadly skills in a confined area.

"A-A-Akitsu Maru-san!

Y-You can show off your weapons and skills in battle, so we should be going now, r-right?"

Akitsu Maru blinked at that, before giving a heartfelt smile as she sheathed her katana and nodded in a disturbingly energetic manner, agreeing with her wholeheartedly.

"Yes, of course!

So, shall we, Shigure-san?"

Standing aside to motion to the door with her gloved right hand, Akitsu Maru looked to her expectantly as Shigure meekly smiled back and nodded, slightly exhausted by the chain of events and revelations thus far.

A thought suddenly struck her as she turned to ask the amphibious assault ship why _she_ was lurking around in the toilet, shifting her head to look the IJA ship girl in the eye and asked with a tinge of suspicion.

"Um, Akitsu Maru-san, if I may ask, why were you hiding here?"

Akitsu Maru shifted uneasily upon hearing that, Shigure seeing through her and seeing her nervousness as the IJA ship girl admitted shyly.

"Well, I'm not so great with people that aren't my fleet-mates, since I don't have much to say to them.

I often stay in the toilet until it's time to sortie.

And when I waited until the lights automatically went out, I could feel that someone was climbing in through the window, and I drew my sword reflexively to try and kill the 'intruder'..."

Akitsu Maru scratched her head sheepishly, clearly embarrassed at how she reacted without identifying who it was and almost killed a fellow comrade, Shigure shaking her head and reassuring her.

"No, it was also partially my fault for re-entering the toilet in a manner that would easily arouse suspicion, so it was understandable that you'd be suspicious of me and react in a hostile manner.

I apologize for that."

But she remembered that it was possible for someone else to eventually realize that she overheard the secret conversation, and she looked to Akitsu Maru with a serious expression as she asked a favor of her.

"Akitsu Maru-san, I'm concerned about Admiral Mako, but some of the ship girls might be uncomfortable with the fact that I eavesdropped on them to learn about this.

So can I trust you as a friend to keep this a secret between us?

Please?"

Shigure fought back the sick feeling in her heart as she gave Akitsu Maru the 'puppy-dog eyes' look, determining that Akitsu Maru, while being extremely hostile to enemies to a homicidal extent, was actually really friendly if one could overlook her eccentricities, her introverted nature, and the fact that she carried and used weapons that could easily a ship girl just as it could kill an Abyssal.

And like she predicted, Akitsu Maru's eyes widened at the fact that a fellow ship girl would trust her as a friend to keep a secret, especially after she had almost committed an irrecoverable mistake of ally-killing.

Akitsu Maru gave her a wide smile, like a child who was eager not to disappoint a newfound friend as she bowed energetically and answered with a reassuring.

"Of course, Shigure-san!

It would be my honor to do so as a friend!"

Shigure nodded in relief over the fact that Akitsu Maru went from maniacally excited about executing her as a possible intruder, to excitedly wanting to be her friend the instant she proved that she was a ship girl, Shigure feeling immensely guilty over lying to a fellow ship girl and exploiting the IJA ship girl's desire to make up for a mistake to ensure Akitsu Maru's silence and to cover her own tracks.

As she walked past the IJA ship girl, she felt a strong chill race down her spine while wondering how much worse this day could get, before kicking herself mentally and reminding herself that she had a sortie to go on, and that she was going to fight an Abyssal Princess later today.

Sigh.

* * *

Shigure went through the motions of suiting up and exiting the harbor as though she were brushing her teeth by this point in time since the motions were pretty much the same and she had memorized them.

The briefing was the only thing she paid attention to, having hand-waved everyone's concerns earlier by lying and explaining that she accidentally startled Akitsu Maru upon leaving her toilet stall, causing the IJA ship girl to draw her katana Kagutsuchi in a panic and threatened her before confirming her identity.

Like what she told Akitsu Maru, it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth either, since she didn't tell Akitsu Maru about the sensitive topics that Admiral Mako, Akashi and Aoba discussed, and likewise, she didn't tell the backup fleet about them either.

It was something that gnawed at her heart, but her rational mind brushed those concerns aside without a second thought in order to focus on the sortie.

Shigure could see that a few of the ship girls didn't fully buy her story, like the Ise sisters and Kawakaze, and Hatsuharu narrowed her eyes before nodding slowly while Maya just accepted her story at face value, nobody choosing to question her story as Admiral Mako returned and started her briefing.

According to her, they were to intercept the Southern War Abyssal Princess that was deviating from her usual movement patterns.

The soldiers posted off of the coast of Guam reported that the Southern War Princess was headed towards mainland Japan several days ago instead of loitering around Savo Island near Iron Bottom Sound.

This was corroborated by the few unfortunate expedition and battle fleets of other bases that encountered it on its way here, and everyone thankfully had the common sense to avoid engaging them and retreated, resulting in little to no casualties.

But that meant that the Abyssal Princess and her fleet went unopposed thus far, and she had quickly assimilated smaller Abyssal fleets into a sizable armada.

There was quite a debate amongst the Admirals as to whether a full-scale counter-assault should be planned, but Admiral Mako proposed sending in Yokosuka's 8th Fleet, which promptly shut everyone up and made things very awkward as everyone was reluctant to sortie their fleets with _them_ , leading Admiral Mako to form her own backup fleet and ordered them to sortie with the 8th Fleet.

See, the thing about being infamous was that it worked both ways, and while it could make your opponents hesitant to fight you at best, it also made things difficult when trying to form a Combined Fleet with other bases when you're known to utilize savage methods and left a trail of messy Abyssal corpses behind.

Shigure was wondering just how messed up the 8th Fleet was that no one would want to work with them, and Admiral Mako had to order the assembled backup fleet to sortie with them to ensure an increased chance of success.

But those questions would soon be answered as she heard Admiral Mako give the usual 'watch each other's backs, and stay safe' talk, grateful that she worked for such a caring Admiral who ultimately wanted them all to be safe.

It was quite a long sail to the fated battleground that was on the edge of the Safety Zone established around Japan, where backup could arrive reasonably quickly within it.

This was also where their space satellites and sailors posted on islands could accurately keep track of things and keep tabs on any Abyssals that entered the Safety Zone in order to redirect merchant and civilian ships in time.

Beyond that was something resembling the uncharted oceans of old, where the ocean was too vast for sonar and satellites to keep track in its entirety due to its sheer size, along with sonar blocking capabilities of the Abyssals in the deep sea, and remained a dangerous place for anyone to enter recklessly.

Most of their sorties were based in or near the border of the Safety Zone as the Abyssals sent fleets to engage them just as often as the ship girls attempted to sortie into the heart of the Pacific Ocean to take down tougher Abyssal Fleets.

But an Abyssal Princess had nothing to fear, and the fact that small islands reported its abnormal movements back to the mainland didn't matter to her when she could engage entire fleets by herself.

The two fleets were to engage the Southern War Princess at the designated coordinates where they were projected to cross paths and try to sink her if possible.

Shigure was sailing with the backup fleet as they followed behind the 8th Fleet, Shigure talking to her sister while she kept a wary eye on the fleet before her.

Akashi, Akitsu Maru and Unryuu she knew well enough, or at least the amiable sides to their personalities, but she was almost certain that they'd transform into unstoppable killers when the battle began.

She didn't know Hatsuzuki well enough about to form a concrete opinion of her, and Shigure could see that although Hayasui was nice to everyone, she could see that she was actively trying to restrain an urge much like how a smoker or a drug addict tried to suppress their desires, so much so that it made their gleeful expressions hold a hidden layer of imperceptible pain to them as she couldn't indulge herself in something freely.

And despite carrying a significantly thicker flight deck-looking equipment strapped to her shoulder, it was clearly anything _but_ a flight deck, spotting the well-hidden seams in the flight deck that resembled gaps in a suit of armor, a pistol grip which obviously didn't belong there, and a few heavy-duty rubber tubes connecting it to the steel barrel on her back that contained the fuel used to refuel them.

Akashi's rigging was shaped like a semicircle, with a elongated smoke stack to the left of her rigging.

Four metal cranes were mounted on it as they all possessed menacing steel hooks along with an assortment of wires to maneuver the crane and hook into the desired position, with a steel antenna positioned at the rear of the rigging to receive radio waves.

The cranes and hooks were shining with an unnatural metallic gleam, as though the regularly-used metal hooks and cranes were cleaned regularly in order to get rid of the blood before it eroded her rigging.

Her rigging possessed a 12.7 Cm Twin High-Angle Gun Mount and a 25 Mm Twin Auto-cannon Mount for self defense in order to deter anyone who wanted to tussle with Akashi out on the field, but Shigure was certain that the repair ship had a few nasty surprises hidden away to spring on the enemy if they got too close.

Akitsu Maru was sortieing with lightweight equipment much like Junyou, her green rigging surrounding her waist as she saw that her scroll and shotgun was stored on the sides of her backpack while her sheathed katana was on her hip, ready to be quick-drawn at a moment's notice.

Kiso had her four quintuple torpedo launcher mounted on her, being a torpedo cruiser and all, while Unryuu's rigging was flashier as it was designed more for aesthetic rather than practical purposes, Unryuu's lightweight rigging also surrounding her waist and colored a navy green like Akitsu Maru's.

Hatsuzuki was carrying her two Rensouhou-Chan into battle, or as Kawakaze told her, the Chou-10 Cm-hou-Chan, to which Shigure's mind blanked out a little upon hearing that and resolved to mentally call them Rensouhou-Chan out of convenience, the destroyer carrying a quadruple-torpedo launcher on her back with the four launch tubes sticking out behind her left shoulder.

Hatsuharu's rigging resembled Tenryuu's despite being a destroyer, her superstructure rigging shaped like a large box and was attached to her lower spine, while mechanical arms that held her weapons were sticking out in a non-intrusive manner, the ends of said mechanical arms styled after ship bows.

Maya's equipment was lopsided like Kako's, where a twin-cannon and tons of Anti-Air cannons were stuck to her right arm, either on an armband on her upper arm or on a superstructure-shaped armlet on her forearm.

Her half-rigging was sticking out from behind her left hip, which had more main and Anti-Air cannons attached to it to make her an Anti-Air tank that was the bane of Abyssal carriers everywhere.

Kawakaze's rigging had her smokestack sticking out above her rigging as a wide, net-shaped antenna was located behind it.

Her rigging was different in that she had two mechanical arms that carried her cannons and torpedoes, Kawakaze carrying spare ammunition on her with two quick-load torpedo racks strapped to her thighs and wearing a sling that contained Anti-Sub depth charges.

She also had some sort of single-barreled hand-cannon on the back of her right hand, and when she asked her sister about it, Kawakaze told her that every Shiratsuyu-Class Kai Ni would carry a variant of this, recalling that Kai Ni Yuudachi carried a twin-barreled hand cannon.

Shigure could see that everyone here was strong in their own right as she felt the air shift around them, from the goofy Ise to the stoic Hatsuzuki and Unryuu as they were all mentally prepared for the upcoming battle, Shigure failing to find any words to add to the conversations that no one was really interested in, but kept alive so as not to spend the entire time sailing in absolute silence.

Shigure spent this time brooding over what she had learnt about the situation at hand, and how fucked they were on a scale of 'Pyrrhic victory' to 'Unstoppable end-of-the-world scenario' and everything in between.

Since the Abyssals operated on a 'Five-Year Plan' basis, where the first five years had the basic classes of Abyssals, with the next Five-Year Plan introducing the Elites as well as auxiliary Abyssal units.

The Five-Year Plan immediately after revealing the existence of ship girls to the world introduced the Abyssal Princesses, a rather logical leap in terms of technology from Elites to an Abyssal unit so powerful, it could take on entire fleets as a one-Abyssal-army.

The disturbing thing was that the last five years saw no progress save for new Abyssal Princesses being createds, some postulating that the Abyssals had reached some sort of technological plateau, as it seemed impossible to create something even more powerful than a Princess.

But it seemed like the Abyssals had already been developing, or God forbid, finished developing a new batch of weapons in order to push them closer to the breaking point by bringing the fight to them.

But Shigure temporarily halted her thoughts to notice that Hayasui and Akitsu Maru were distributing chilled drinks and field rations to feed everyone, suddenly feeling thankful that they wouldn't fight the Abyssals on an empty stomach even though they were ultimately machines and could live without food or water for extended periods of time.

Hayasui had unpacked her boxy sling bag, revealing a small Styrofoam container that contained chilled fuel cans for everyone and a few liquor bottles for the seniors, kept at low temperatures via small chunks of dry ice.

Akitsu Maru provided the field ration to Shigure and winked conspiratorially at her, unsure of how to respond to that while in full view of everyone and settled on giving her an awkward smile in return, which seemed to satisfy her.

Shigure tore open the field ration to eat the contents within, noting the chocolate bar, sandwich, biscuits and a few small steel tins that they could easily rip apart with their superhuman strength and eat.

Eating while remembering to get a can of fuel from Hayasui later, she noted that it was now 1.23 p.m. as they continued sailing on while Akashi and Ise led them to their destination, E.T.A. 7.10 p.m when the sky would still be a summer-orange tint.

Shigure resumed thinking, considering possible scenarios should the Abyssals mass-produce human weapons in order to kill ship girls.

That might mean fighting a full-on World War on sea, land and air, which involved many problems that humans and ship girls alike had to overcome in order to stand a chance of survival, and developed countries like America, Japan Europe and Russia would likely be their prime targets.

Not that the less developed countries wouldn't be targeted, as they possessed abundant natural resources and were valuable areas to occupy like Africa, India, the Middle East, South America and Southeast Asia, the last one placing them within striking distance of the Japanese mainland.

It would no longer required just the ship girls to win this war, since a land conflict would directly involve the humans that were previously almost powerless, as their less maneuverable warships were easily sunk by the relatively nimble Abyssals that could surface and strike fast while their cannons struggled to aim at them, and missiles weren't an efficient method of wiping them out as they dived underwater to avoid the brunt of the missile detonation.

But a land assault meant that they were fighting a war which favored the humans, since no matter how crazy-prepared the Abyssals were, humanity had developed all kinds of devastating weapons that could handle anything the Abyssals threw at them.

Missiles launched at them? The humans likely had missile defense systems to shoot them out of the sky.

Tanks had come a long way since World War 2, and so had firearms and weapons of war. And she was worried that the Abyssals might no longer play by the 'World War 2' motif and decide to utilize modern weapons in order to level the playing field.

The Abyssals would know that if they stuck too closely to a particular theme, it might handicap them in the long run, since they would be armed to the teeth with modern firearms which outclassed World War 2 German MP 40 sub-machine guns or Russian Mosin Nagant rifles; They simply couldn't rival a modern firearm no matter how much you upgraded it.

Urban warfare in the streets of America, Europe and Japan, along with jungle and desert warfare in parts of Asia and Africa while the Russian front would mostly consist of winter warfare, something that gave the Abyssals an advantage since the Abyssals were impervious to the cold and would not be susceptible to problems that ship girls would encounter in freezing conditions.

All this would happen while they had to protect their bases in order to sortie and defend their oceans.

But Shigure munched on her chocolate bar, feeling the solid bar melt in her mouth and forming a sweet, viscous liquid as she swallowed the deliciously sweet, pasty mixture of chocolate while brainstorming.

The Abyssals might utilize modern weapons to fight them on land, while they stuck to their guns while on sea.

She wasn't sure about the skies, since Shigure had no idea how they were to defend themselves against fighter jets, having read up on history and noting the significant developments that occurred after World War 2, like stealth aircraft, automated missile guidance systems, supersonic flight and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles amongst others.

It would be remiss of them to neglect a vital aspect of warfare that could change the tide of a battle or even a war, remembering that air superiority was why carriers and warplanes existed.

But she shook her head free of such idle thoughts, reminding herself that she was a simple soldier tasked with fighting a war, not scheming to protect all of mankind.

That was Admiral Mako's job, and she had to focus on the battle before her.

She finished her military rations, pocketing her trash and walking towards the fleet oiler to request for a chilled fuel can, Shigure eventually learning to suppress these now-useless thoughts that would only hinder her in battle, the air shifting around her as she mentally prepared herself for the battle ahead.

* * *

The time was now 7 p.m., and Shigure was starting to feel thankful for the military ration that doubled as lunch, now feeling revitalized as she had been summoned for an emergency sortie before, and she knew that sortieing on an empty stomach did no favors.

She remembered a great military leader saying, 'An army marches on its stomach'. Refueling mid-sortie and having an adequate lunch before the battle would benefit them greatly as they could break down the contents of their lunch and burn fuel in order to power their bodies.

The sky now was a reddish-orange hue as predicted, the sun resting on the horizon and peeking at them, looking ready to catch a glimpse of their battle before setting.

The weather seemed to be on their side as there were only wisps of clouds drifting aimlessly in the sky, above the concerns of the ship girls sailing beneath them as they stood at the Japanese frontier, beyond which were Abyssal waters.

So far, they didn't have to fight any Abyssal fleets that hadn't been accepted into the Princess's personal fleet and were designated as disposable auxiliary fleets as the other bases had helped them whittle down the number of auxiliary fleets before the two Yokosuka fleets arrived to engage the real enemies.

The other bases had tried to wipe out several auxiliary fleets in order to increase their chances of success, something that was important when going up against powerful fleets as the weaker bases could help defeat the enemy minions to make life easier for those who had to face the main Abyssal fleet.

The seas were calm, almost eerily so as she felt the rhythmic yet subdued rise and fall of the tide, Shigure never having stopped to truly appreciate the view that the world provided them with as she marveled at the sight of the sun illuminating the skies and flooding the ocean with a slight orange glow, noting her teammates getting ready for battle.

She sighed as her viewing session was cut short, following in their footsteps by disengaging the safeties of her cannons and torpedo launchers as Unryuu, Ise and Hyuga sent out their planes to greet the enemy.

Unryuu, true to her ideals of becoming the ultimate weapon via suppression of their humanity, had her face set in a blank expression as she did everything efficiently and effectively.

And like every ship girl that had trained up over the years to be excellent front-line combatants, Shigure could feel the air shift around everyone, their auras flaring up as they prepared themselves for battle.

The summoned bomber and recon planes had reached their targets and dropped their payloads, causing the horizon to be illuminated with small fireballs that devastated what remained of the auxiliary fleet that survived the Combined Fleet assault a day ago.

But Shigure could see that there a swarm of Abyssal bomber planes were headed their way, and she readied the Anti-Air Cannon that was part of the recommended load-out as there were quite a few Wo-Class Abyssals that were part of the armada.

Ise, being the leader of their fleet, shouted in an uncharacteristically serious voice,

" _EVADE!"_

Everyone performed evasive maneuvers in order to evade the incoming Abyssal bombers that swooped down in order to drop their payloads and injure them before the actual battle.

But Shigure saw a heavy cruiser who wasn't evading in spite of the bombers performing their bombing runs, Maya screaming as her Anti-Air cannons started barking in a steady stream of machine gun and cannon fire, her expression absolutely confident of her odds of survival.

" _COME GET SOME, MOTHERFUCKERS!"_

The Abyssal bombers, having been fooled by the mass of evading ship girls and failing to account for the Anti-Air specialists within their ranks, tried their best to evade the sudden barrage of Anti-Air fire from both Maya and Hatsuzuki whom worked together to utilize their Anti-Air firepower to deny the Abyssals air superiority, several Abyssal bombers inevitably peppered with bullet holes and promptly burst into flames as everyone opened fire and filled the sky with white-hot Anti-Air rounds.

The Abyssal bombers veered off-course and erratically dived into the ocean as the holes in their shells coughed out flames and pumped out plumes of thick smoke, Shigure attempting to dodge the few Abyssal planes that were on a deliberate collision course with them in a last-ditch attempt to take them out.

She saw the flaming wreck of an Abyssal Hell Dive Bomber attempting to keep itself airborne while trying to home in on her, armor falling apart at the seams and its reddish interior aflame as chunks of armor fell into the ocean while its insides were aflame due to the Anti-Air rounds hitting its internal fuel reserves.

There was a primordial scream coming from the plane, mouth spilling out oil that burst into flames with several horns adorning its burning exoskeleton, looking as though it were bleeding out the flames of Hell itself.

Its voice was a ghastly mix between a metallic screech and a mechanical imitation of a beast's pained howl, intermixed with the whirring engines within its body that were still pumping out burning oil as the Abyssal plane quickly lost altitude, Shigure strafing to the right to evade its crash landing.

The Abyssal's crash landing caused quite the explosion upon kissing the ocean, throwing up waves and disturbing the ocean as the Abyssal Bomber self-destructed upon impact with the sea, the explosion resembling a grenade blast as she was engulfed by a pressure wave that sent her stumbling and struggling to right herself, thankfully not deafened by the volume of the explosion due to noise-mufflers within her ears.

Looking back at the area of impact, the only sign of the Abyssal plane ever having existed at all was the puddle of burning oil that floated on the ocean surface and the pillar of smoke that it released into the air, Shigure shuddering at the haunting similarity of the method the Abyssal plane used to try and take her down with the desperate _kamikaze_ tactics used by the Japanese Air Force in the later stages of World War 2 when they were losing.

But she reminded herself that here, despite being a support ship that wasn't supposed to do the heavy-lifting, she was still out of her depth as the enemies here were stronger, and she had to exercise caution even as a support ship.

Shaking off the uncomfortable feeling, Shigure continued her attempts to shoot down any Abyssal planes that flew too close, knowing that intimidation was part of the game.

Filling the skies with Anti-Air rounds would scare off even the most daring of bomber planes due to the fact that it was too dangerous to fly into and attempt to aim at them when all their Anti-Air firepower was concentrated on them.

And Maya, a ship girl who allegedly had the highest Anti-Air stats and possessed an impressive array of Anti Air cannons, was fearlessly charging…

Wait, what?

Shigure gawked at the sight of Maya and Akitsu Maru charging headfirst into the fray of Abyssals, some of them possessing cracked armor and charred skin from the initial bombardment as the backup fleet provided cover fire, Ise and Hyuga hard at work as their cannons roared, shaking the air as their 35.6 Cm Cannons punched holes through the Abyssal ranks, forcing them to evade the lethal rounds flying towards them instead of aiming at the two incoming ship girls.

Maya and Akitsu Maru were relentless as they fearlessly charged at the enemy, the former brandishing the cannons on her rigging and arms, while the latter had drawn her katana and held it menacingly over her head as they both yelled in an intimidatingly passionate roar to signal their charge.

" _TENNO HEIKA BANZAI!"_

She could hear an exasperated Kawakaze shout over the deafening cannon fire of the Ise-Class aviation battleships to address everyone as she fired at the Abyssals to prevent them from aiming at their two charging comrades, echoing past grievances she had concerning the duo's tactics.

"See, this is why we can't have nice things when _those_ two are around!

Everyone, provide cover fire for them both!"

Shigure noted that Hatsuharu and Kawakaze hadn't unleashed their torpedoes yet, figuring that torpedoes weren't ideal due to their 'fire-and-forget' nature and tendency to inflict splash damage, and since Maya and Akitsu Maru were now engaging the Abyssals in close-quarters combat, it would be unwise to use their torpedoes right now and potentially hurt their allies as collateral damage.

But the 8th Fleet had moved up to engage the Abyssals, Akashi flicking her arms as an array of surgical weapons shot out from her long sleeves, and since the repair ship was created with an innate knowledge of the ship girl anatomy, she had probably dissected many Abyssals as well and learnt to weaponize that knowledge to allow her to surgically dismantle her opponents.

Unryuu's eyes had already dulled, the muscles within her arms taut and ready to kill Abyssals as she had suppressed everything within herself to perform at her best, unfazed by fallen comrades, pain or even threat of death.

Hayasui was pulling on a lever on her flight deck to transform her 'flight deck' into something unrecognizable, the hidden mechanisms transforming the flight deck as the flat surfaces of the flight deck unfolded to form plates on the sides of the strangely-shaped weapon as Shigure identified a nozzle on the end of the 'gun barrel', Hayasui turning some sort of valve as she dual-wielded the mysterious 'firearm'.

Kiso had drawn her cutlass, and the wind had blown back her cloak to cast a shadow over her body as she leaned in, looking excited for the close quarters fighting after this, Shigure noting that the torpedo cruiser was taking in the details of the battlefield and was lost in her own thoughts, even noticing the noiseless mumble as Kiso's lips twitched.

Shigure could see that Maya and Akitsu Maru were going to town on the Abyssals, since their charge was when the Abyssals had the best chance to shoot them down before they even got close, but the backup fleet and the support fleet had made them waste that chance thanks to the cover fire they provided and the various evasive maneuvers on the duo's part.

The 8th Fleet moved up, and Shigure was surprised to see Kiso flip the cutlass in her hand, holding it in a reverse grip as she raised it above her head in a spear-throwing stance, her coiled muscles ready to burst.

And with a swing of her arm, she sent the cutlass flying towards an Abyssal in a shiny blur as it caught a few rays of light originating from the orange sunset on the horizon, Shigure following its trajectory as a carrier Wo-Class was facing away from the incoming sword, oblivious to it as she used the cannons on her headdress to snipe Maya and Akitsu Maru while using her cane to fend off the latter's attacks.

The sword pierced her back through her dark cape, causing the Wo-Class to shriek in pain as she was struck down, trying to turn around and face her attacker.

Shigure could see that the Wo-Class's expression had morphed into one wracked with pain that contrasted with her usual expressionless demeanor as she held up her hand and cane to defend herself against an imminent threat.

And that threat came in the form of a charging Kiso who had fired her torpedoes which were headed for the Wo-Class, the Abyssal's eyes widening in shock and apprehension as Kiso sprinted towards her while staying behind her own torpedoes.

The Wo-Class, now desperate to avoid getting destroyed, performed evasive maneuvers as the three Type 93 Oxygen Torpedoes passed by her harmlessly, the Wo-Class now trying to dislodge the cutlass from her back.

But the approaching Kiso shot up into the air with a high-jump, her cape majestically flaring in the wind and causing her to look like a hero that could fly, intent on reclaiming her cutlass and killing the Abyssal.

The Wo-Class sensed that as she stumbled backwards, struggling against the urge to simply pull the blade out as common sense dictated, since pulling out the sword would greatly exacerbate the wound, trying to keep the cutlass away from the airborne Kai Ni cruiser as she retreated while the cutlass was still stuck to her back.

Kiso used her boost gauge to push herself further forward, already losing her beret as she descended and was projected to land on top of the Abyssal while she was still orientated upside down.

Kiso slapped a gloved palm on the Wo-Class's headdress as she flipped over the carrier, now landing in a kneeling position while back-to-back with the carrier.

Wo-Class and Kiso immediately spun around, the former trying to keep the impaled cutlass away from the torpedo cruiser, and the cruiser attempting to retrieve her cutlass and strike the Abyssal carrier at close range.

The torpedo cruiser eventually won as she slapped her hands on the handle of her cutlass, yanking it out as though pulling a cord and partially bisecting the unfortunate Wo-Class as she spun again, deflecting a feeble strike from the Abyssal's cane as she spun around like a lethal, bladed spinning top, using her cutlass to slash at the throat of the Wo-Class as she turned to face her with a grim look in her eyes.

Shigure couldn't see the Wo-Class's expression, but it couldn't have been pretty as she saw Kiso slightly cringe at the expression of the Wo-Class and the spurting river of blood being splattered all over her and her black cape, which she used as a shield against the alien blood as the Wo-Class uselessly tried to stem the bleeding with her hands, dropping her cane in the process.

Not that it did her any good, blood also flowing freely from her torso as the Wo-Class crumpled like a rag doll, bleeding out like a pig as Kiso uncoupled her 14 cm Single Gun Cannon and emptied one shell into the Wo-Class's head to put her out of her misery before moving on coldly, already drenched in blood from that one encounter.

Shigure tried to hold her lunch in after witnessing that and did her best to focus on providing cover fire for her as Kiso ran forward again, the blood freely dripping off of her cutlass as she wiped it on a clean part of her cape.

Not that the rest of the 8th Fleet were doing a better job of being discrete, Akitsu Maru utilizing the incendiary properties of her sword to keep the Abyssals at bay, since fire was a huge threat to them as it might cause them to internally combust.

Akitsu Maru formed a semi-crouching stance while holding her sword like a cue stick as she used the web in between her left index finger and thumb to rest the back of her sword on while holding the handle with her right gloved hand, leaning in to look down her blade to aim her attack as a wispy, black battle aura menacingly flowed out from her pitch-black uniform.

She then shouted in a manner that a berserker would when calling out for blood,

"Tapana!

 _Lone Fiery Impaling Strike!"_

She shot forward at a speed that was almost inhuman, propelled not only by her boost gauge but also her developed leg muscles as she used her left hand to aim the sword and her right hand to shove the katana forward to form an impaling lance, Akitsu Maru's katana igniting in an uncannily-colored blue flame.

The tip of the burning blade caught the right shoulder of a Ri-Class heavy cruiser that hadn't expected the move and couldn't evade in time as the katana entered the shoulder of the Abyssal, drawing blood as Akitsu Maru pulled her left hand away in order to allow the katana to be plunged in all the way.

The Ri-Class started screaming in pain as the flaming katana impaled her shoulder, and the skin around the area of impact started to glow in a muffled blue tint, Shigure connecting the dots in her mind and realizing to her horror that the Abyssal heavy cruiser was starting to burn from the inside.

Akitsu Maru pulling out the katana only confirmed this as freeing Kagutsuchi from the heavy cruiser's shoulder exacerbated the wound, Akitsu Maru retreating from the struggling heavy cruiser.

The Abyssal Ri-Class's shoulder was starting to glow from within now, the fuel lines near the area of impact starting to burn up and caused the fuel vessels in her shoulder to glow a luminescent blue in contrast to her pale skin, spreading throughout her body like a growing crack in a glass pane and likely slowed by whatever protective systems they had in place within their bodies.

The Ri-Class was certainly panicking now, screaming in an ungodly tone as the primal fear of fire set in and forced aside all rational thought.

Her voice denoted her desperation to put out the flames that started to consume her from within as she instantly fell onto the ocean and shoved her afflicted shoulder into the water, rolling about in an attempt to put out the flames via seawater and now screeching from the pain of the seawater getting into her wound.

The rest of the Abyssals hesitated to get close to the injured Abyssal for fear of getting caught in a spontaneous internal combustion, Shigure remembering the gruesome case of Taihou where the ship girl body failed to contain the flames, causing an internal fuel reserve to ignite which would result in an increase in internal pressure and inevitable self-destruction.

But Akitsu Maru wasn't so kind as to wait for them, already jumping and slashing at another Ne-Class's torso, her katana bursting into flames again as she sent yet another Abyssal screaming and hurling herself onto the ocean surface to extinguish the lethal flames that danced on her chest, heating up her blood and her dire injury to uncomfortable levels.

Akitsu Maru almost seemed to be enjoying herself all the while, gleefully laughing as she swung her katana about like an excited child swinging a toy about with unrestrained enthusiasm while using her physical agility to evade any torpedo and cannon fire aimed in her general direction.

A Ta-Class battleship was keeping her distance to try and take advantage of any opening that might present itself in the IJA ship girl's tempo, and as Akitsu Maru's boost gauge was depleted while landing on the ocean surface, the Abyssal fast battleship took advantage of the momentary lull in the the IJA ship girl's movements as she trained her cannons on her crouching form, Shigure worried about Akitsu Maru's well-being as she trained her cannons on the battleship while knowing that it wouldn't do much to stop the battleship.

But a group of Suisei Dive Bombers swooped down, Shigure spotting the brown-tipped nose cone, myrtle green paint job on its fuselage and wings, the red circles that represented the rising sun and the three white digits on its tail to indicate that it was from the Suisei 601 Air Group while the other two had silver nose cones, white-rimmed red circles with ' **鹰** -13' imprinted on their tails in gold fonts to indicate that they were normal Suisei bombers.

The Ta-Class was bombarded with explosions as the flying trio made a pass on the battleship and dropped their payloads despite the amount of Anti-Air fire from the Abyssals, the battleship howling in pain as her oversight caused the dropped payload to engulf her upper torso and head in a fiery explosion while the three courageous bomber planes pulled up to evade the sudden hail of incoming Anti-Aircraft fire, their engines buzzing monotonously as they proudly sailed across the skies.

Shigure whipped her head around to see Unryuu walking up to her with staff in hand, Shigure shivering slightly at how inhuman the carrier seemed now seeing that she had suppressed everything human about her, her cold eyes piercing into hers before looking away and talking to the ship girls who were having a little too much fun fighting.

" _Do not drop your guard in battle, fools."_

Listening to her talk made her shrink away from the carrier a little, her detached, emotionless and impersonal tone reminding her that they were ultimately weapons of war, and that emotions and weaknesses had no place on a battlefield, just like what Unryuu preached.

But Akitsu Maru responded over the radio as Shigure turned back to see her aggressively swinging her katana at the surrounding Abyssals, the two Wo-Class and Ri-Class Abyssals drawing back out of genuine fear at the streak of blue fire that was produced in Kagutsuchi's wake, Akitsu Maru sounding like she was having the time of her life as she retorted.

"Maa, there's no point in doing that when you're here and watching our sexy backs now, eh, U-chan?!"

Unryuu responded,

" _Focus."_

Looking around and using her cloud staff to direct another squad of torpedo bombers towards Maya who was having a little trouble with the Abyssals that were ganging up on her as she tried to punch them all out with her bare fists, Unryuu calmly giving the heavy cruiser a heads-up about the reinforcements she was sending.

" _Maya-san, I'm sending out a squad of torpedo bombers to take down the Elites that are surrounding you._

 _Prepare yourself."_

When she wondered why the Kai Ni heavy cruiser was having trouble with the Abyssals that surrounded her, she noted that a few of them had wisps of colored flames that were flowing out of their eyes and even their exhaust ports, crimson-red auras bleeding out of their pores and eyes making them look far stronger than the rank-and-file Abyssals as some of them looked as though they were able to match Maya's strength.

But a squad of Type 97 and Ryuusei Torpedo Bombers flew in to save the day, the former with the same myrtle green paint job, red circles on their wings and two horizontal yellow stripes on their rudder, and the latter with their signature bent wings, silver-tipped nose cone and slightly darker tone of red circles on the plane skin.

And like the dive bombers, they swooped in to drop their torpedoes in the water and hauled ass to prevent themselves from getting shot at or swatted out of the sky by the taller Abyssals.

The crowd of Abyssals cried out as the torpedoes detonated and blew up their feet, but Shigure, to her horror, could see that one of the Elite Wo-Class carriers, having noted the incoming bombers soon enough to evade their salvo in time, used the cannons on her headdress to shoot down one of the Ryuusei Bombers.

Succeeding in that before Maya managed to intercept her with a nasty right hook to the left cheek, Shigure's widened eyes followed the flaming wreck of the Ryuusei bomber, frozen in place while wondering what she was supposed to do in this situation, the bomber plane clearly attempting to remain in the air for as long as possible without burning to death.

But Unryuu calmly walked towards the descending wreck as nothing seemed to faze the white-haired ship girl, uncharacteristically calm amidst the chaos as she stored her summoning staff on some sort of flag-holding apparatus that unfolded itself and took the load off of Unryuu's hands.

And this was when an I-Class destroyer its chance to emerge majestically from the water like an unholy dolphin from the depths, mouth dislodged and jaw cannon ready to fire at Unryuu, Shigure bringing up her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon without a second thought, ready to shoot the destroyer down.

But she was glad to have been a millisecond slower on the draw as Unryuu twisted her body to evade and used her left arm to catch the upper jaw of the I-Class Abyssal in mid-air, the Abyssal now realizing its predicament as its thumb-sized limbs writhed around uselessly in order to free itself while its jaw cannon retracted in order to allow its lower jaw to close.

But Unryuu wasn't so nice as to allow the poor destroyer to do whatever it wanted, slapping her right hand on the I-Class's lower jaw and ripping the I-Class destroyer down its torso while Shigure was in a good position to see its flesh rip apart like wet tissue paper, the flesh of a destroyer unable to hold up against the might of a stone-cold carrier, the Abyssal fully aware of its predicament as its useless limbs squirmed like a dying bug in order to stave off the inevitable.

Unryuu was being drenched in the I-Class's blood from the chest down, absolutely apathetic as she dropped the two pieces of the twitching I-Class destroyer onto the ocean without a second thought while coolly walking to where Shigure saw the Fairy descend on a parachute, carried by the gentle wind.

The pilot Fairy likely activated the plane's ejector seat to save itself while the torpedo bomber had unceremoniously crashed into the ocean and sank quietly while leaving behind a pool of flaming fuel on the ocean, Shigure catching a glimpse of the Ryuusei's tail before it was swallowed by the ocean.

And when the airborne Fairy was within arm's reach of the carrier, Unryuu raised her bloody right hand to gently catch the smoking Fairy who was coughing up a fit from the fire that erupted in the engine of the Ryuusei and threatened to suffocate the little pilot, Unryuu lowering her palm to allow the crew onboard her rigging to pull the pilot in, parachute and all as Unryuu tried to add some words of encouragement.

" … _You're safe."_

But Shigure saw one Ri and Ne-Class heavy cruiser emerge from the sea, tail cannons ready to fire at the vulnerable carrier as the water dripped from their clothes and armor in unbroken streams, their expressions showing their determination in wanting to sink a carrier.

But Unryuu looked at someone behind them as she coolly replied, unconcerned about the cannons that were pointed at her and her Fairies, remaining calm while assessing the situation.

" _Akashi-san, please take care of this nuisance."_

Shigure shifted her eyes to look behind the two heavy cruisers, noting Akashi running up behind them like a ship girl possessed, manic grin on her face as she held two operating scalpels in each fist as she used her weak presence to her advantage, since the last person the Abyssals expected to attack them was the fleet medic.

Akashi ducked underneath the one of the sentient tails of the Ne-Class that attempted to clothesline her, the hooks on her cranes jingling like ominous sleigh bells to signify her presence as she shoved one of her scalpels into the wrist of the vulnerable Ne-Class while maneuvering around the Abyssal.

She spun on the spot like a ballerina while still in front of the now-injured Abyssal, clearly headed for the adjacent Ri-Class who was swinging her cannons around to shoot the repair ship, knowing that the armor that covered her arms protected her hands and Akashi couldn't target the same spot twice.

But Akashi predicted that as she spun the scalpel around to hold it in a reverse grip, bringing it down on the Ri-Class's exposed thigh while Shigure winced, Akashi's fluid motion similar to that of an experienced serial killer with a sharp object as she pulled out both scalpels to get out of the two cruisers' range, and the removal of both scalpels caused fountains of blood to gush out in gratuitous amounts, sending the two Abyssals into a panic.

Unryuu came in fast, dual-wielding her staff to shove its blunt end into the face of the bleeding Ne-Class and punching through it with ease, Shigure looking away before she could see any of the grey matter spill out after catching a glimpse of blood being spilled everywhere, the Ne-Class's skull being crushed after resisting Unryuu's strike for a fraction of a second before shattering like a porcelain bowl.

She kept moving to prevent any Abyssals from targeting her as she hadn't been remodeled yet and was thus more susceptible to life-threatening damage, allowing herself a peek back at the situation as she saw the Ri-Class stumble back from Unryuu's raised and extended armored leg, landing on her bum.

Unryuu lowered her leg, likely having kicked the Abyssal in the gut and causing the seemingly unstoppable fountain of blood flowing from her leg to spray copious amounts of blood everywhere to the chagrin of the Ri-Class, Shigure sailing up to them while keeping her 12 Cm Cannon trained on the downed heavy cruiser, looking at Akashi and Unryuu as she asked out of concern.

"Are you two alright?"

Akashi nodded, licking the alien blood off of the scalpel in her hand as she replied.

"Of course, Shigure.

But Unryuu, didn't you just say that we shouldn't drop our guard in battle?"

Unryuu huffed in indignation as she looked Akashi in the eye and explained herself.

" _Unlike a certain Amphibious Assault Ship who seemed to be having too much fun and disregarded her own safety, I_ knew _you were coming, but I still had my guard up regardless._

 _Like now."_

And Unryuu's hands shot out to catch two incoming cannon rounds from where Shigure was pointing her cannon, Shigure pulling the trigger without even looking at the Ri-Class to fire a round into the Ri-Class's face, causing the Ri-Class's head to snap back from the shell impacting her on the forehead, though sadly not penetrating it as she hoped.

Akashi, having ducked upon hearing Unryuu's warning, was quick to flick her wrists to summon a myriad of surgical tools, from various surgical scalpels to scissors, long-nose pliers and even utility knives for her to grab before they slipped back into her long sleeves.

She wore a manic grin as she leaned in, causing shadows to form over her face as she brandished her sharp weapons for the Ri-Class to see as while strolling over, taking her time to play on the the fallen Ri-Class's fears as she was doing her best to submerge in time, Akashi mocking,

"You don't look too good there, dear.

 _I hear death's quite an effective cure."_

The repair ship utilized one of the scalpels in her hand to cut deeply into the upper arm of the struggling Ri-Class, causing the arm that she was using to aim her cannon at point-blank range to seemingly drop dead, suddenly limp due to some sort of major muscle being severed and rendering it impossible for the Abyssal to lift her cannon.

Akashi slammed her knee down on the Ri-Class's right arm which was still functional, using her body weight to hold down the Abyssal's arm and cannon, calmly pulling the hair of the Abyssal heavy cruiser as she held another scalpel in her right hand before the Ri-Class could fully submerge into the blood-stained ocean, the water now up to her breasts and rising.

Akashi coolly swung her scalpel down to slit the Ri-Class's throat that was exposed as the repair ship pulled the Abyssal's head back to allow the scalpel to fit into the small space formed between the Ri-Class's chin and her throat guard which protected one of their most vulnerable areas.

It was evident that the Ri-Class didn't want to die like this, Shigure noting that the Ri-Class's eyes reflected the horror that one would experience upon being awarded the dubious honor of dying at the hands of a mad scientist or doctor, a shell to the head far more preferable to the prolonged suffering that was to come.

Shigure looked away again, slightly squeamish at the profuse bleeding that erupted from the throat of the dying Ri-Class, looking back with a hint of revulsion at a blood-soaked Akashi who was getting up and was sensually licking the blood off of her scalpel, the Ri-Class dying from exsanguination as the crown of her lifeless head disappeared into the bloody ocean.

"That was _disgusting_."

Akashi withdrew her tongue and pocketed the scalpel, shrugging as she was about to nonchalantly remark about her fearsome fighting style.

But Unryuu was a second earlier in agreeing with Shigure's statement, although not in a way that Shigure would ever learn to expect in a hundred years.

" _Yes, I agree that licking your operating equipment clean is rather unhygienic."_

Akashi and Shigure stared at the emotionless carrier who showed no signs of joking as Shigure wore an indescribable expression, having only one thought in mind in response to that retort.

' _What.'_

But she shook her head free of those thoughts as she looked around to watch the carnage around them, beginning to understand the _modus operandi_ of the 8th Fleet.

They specialized in individual areas of expertise, but compared to other fleets that were comfortable with long-range combat like the battleship and carrier-orientated fleets, ship girls like Akitsu Maru and Akashi used weapons and possessed skills that were best utilized at close range while Kiso and Unryuu had weapons that could be used in mid to long-range while being capable of holding their own in close-quarters combat.

While Akitsu Maru and Maya caused havoc in the middle of the enemy formation, the Ise-Class sisters, Unryuu and the rest of the destroyers picked off retreating Abyssals with cannon fire, bombers and torpedoes respectively, and despite the Abyssals' superior numbers, they were forced to abandon their conventional battle formations due to their close-and-long range combination play.

Kiso kept up the mid-range pressure by charging them, going on the offensive as Shigure could see her hovering in the air while alternate-firing her 14 Cm Single Gun Cannons along with the occasional burst of her boost gauge to keep herself airborne for as long as possible before landing.

And when she did, Shigure was awestruck by how the torpedo cruiser, despite being surrounded by a number of Abyssals that were beginning to converge on her position, had stored her empty cannons on her rigging and did a partial front flip to land while slapping her hands on the ocean.

Kiso, with torpedo launchers strapped on both her thighs and on her rigging, performed a flare break-dance move by swinging her shapely legs around while constantly moving her hands that were supporting her entire body weight, her spread legs spinning around without touching the ocean.

She fired off torpedoes in every direction to either kill or deter Abyssals from getting close as her constant evasive motions, striped launchers and the sheer amount of torpedoes she shot out everywhere threw off their aim, the torpedo cruiser spotting some Tsu-Class light cruisers evading the torpedoes in time and taking aim at Kiso as the other Abyssals were engulfed in explosions.

The torpedo cruiser then changed moves, now swinging her legs up in a sweeping arc to spin her legs like a spinning top with her legs split and her hips thankfully covered by compression shorts, this time using the torpedo launchers on her left shoulder that were almost kissing the ocean to fire another salvo of torpedoes at the stray Abyssals.

This was effective as the Abyssals scrambled to get out of the way, and one of the Tsu-Class light cruisers had one leg blown clean off after stumbling into the path of an incoming torpedo.

The Tsu-Class, despite not looking as if it possessed an oral orifice of any kind to produce such noises, did have a throat and a voice box to articulate as it cried an unholy scream of anguish as its limb was eviscerated by the explosion and fell onto the ocean, temporarily taken out of action.

And as another Tsu-Class light carrier tried to lift her cannons to fire, a burning projectile hit the Abyssal's helmet and shattered like glass upon impact, dousing the Tsu-Class's upper torso in dripping flames and the surprised Abyssal could only howl in its immolated mask as its large hands, unwieldy for self-maintenance, clumsily attempted to wipe the flammable substance off of its burning skin.

And in the end, the burning Abyssal could only screech in its alien, metallic tone as it too fell onto the ocean as it became a flaming wreck that promptly burst into flames, Shigure shielding her eyes as the fireball erupted and the pressure wave hit her even at a distance.

She followed Kiso's glance back at the fleet oiler Hayasui, who stood far away and was giving her an encouraging smile as she bent her knees slightly to emulate a basketball player smugly throwing a three-pointer.

Hayasui proceeded to take out a wine bottle, but it now had a wet towel in its mouth and was a significant fire hazard, Hayasui smiling serenely all the while as she uncoupled the one 'cannon' on her rigging, pressing the trigger dangerously close to the wet towel that was partially stuffed into the filled wine bottle.

And what came out the nozzle of the 'cannon' in Hayasui's hands was a slight burst of flame to set the towel on fire, Shigure finally realizing that what was in Hayasui's hand was a Molotov Cocktail, Hayasui hurling the makeshift incendiary bomb at another group of Abyssals.

This time, the unlucky Abyssal to be hit and set on fire was an Elite Ru-Class battleship who coincidentally looked away at that moment, didn't see the incoming projectile and was thus caught off guard by the Molotov Cocktail hitting her on the shoulder, on target due to Hayasui's advanced ship girl aiming system helping her hit the Ru-Class's blind spot.

The alcohol in the bottle spilled everywhere as the bottle's fragile glass shattered upon hitting the Abyssal's tough armor, but inadvertently caused its contents to spill and the flaming towel to ignite the flammable substance that dripped everywhere, causing the Elite Ru-Class to scream not just in pain, but in surprise at the sudden attack that burnt her skin.

The Ru-Class's jet black hair, flammable due to its humanoid design and no longer protected by the coat of cold ocean water after surfacing, was immediately set on fire as the flames worked its way up her hair in order to hungrily devour her hair and turn it into an inferno that consumed the Ru-Class's upper torso, hair and back.

The shrieking Ru-Class was already spiraling into a panic, seeing that flames were a genuine hazard to ship girls and Abyssals alike as she discarded her cannons stacks to free up her hands in order to try and extinguish the flames that seared her skin, screaming as she ran through the battlefield and cut a large swath through allies and enemies alike as her clothes caught on fire.

Her scream was far more distinct due to her humanoid design, and it really said something when the human-sounding scream made Shigure feel bad for the Abyssal, her voice clearly expressing a primal fear of fire as her panicked scream turned heads and causing ally and foe to dive out of the way of the immolated Ru-Class as she shrieked.

 _[AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!]_

And eventually, she collapsed onto the ocean as she practiced the emergency drill of Stop, Drop and Roll to extinguish the flames that permeated her entire upper body, not difficult to pull off since they were standing on an ocean and water was everywhere, the Abyssal squirming and producing a plume of smoke that dissipated into the air as the flames snuffed out.

Shigure then jumped at the explosion that occurred off in the distance as she spotted Akitsu Maru hurling small spheres off into the distance, causing the Abyssals to either try and evade the spheres, or attempt to throw them back in which Unryuu made their lives difficult if they tried to scoop up the floating spheres and throw them back at the ship girls.

Shigure temporarily retreated from the scene as she realized that Akitsu Maru was throwing live grenades at the Abyssals, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer maintaining her distance from the 8th Fleet members in order to practice the art of Not-Dying.

Shigure saw Maya swinging her elbow at a Ta-Class battleship's temple to try and induce a concussion, the Ta-Class's head snapping to the right as Maya's elbow struck her temple, Hatsuharu, Hatsuzuki and Kawakaze teaming up to take out the Abyssal destroyers, not bothering to risk their lives by trying to hit above their ship class.

The Ise Sisters were providing cover fire along with Unryuu, who was controlling her planes as they waged an aerial war with the Abyssal fighter planes above them while Maya and Hatsuzuki's Anti-Air cannons homed in on the enemy aircraft, Akitsu Maru, Akashi and Kiso all engaging the Abyssals in close quarters combat.

And we have Hayasui standing off at the side, now throwing fuel-filled tied-up balloons around, drenching a Ri-Class who was trying to keep her distance from the fleet oiler, assuming that she specialized in close-range combat like her comrades.

But Hayasui flicked her right wrist like Akashi did, producing a bright red flare gun from her long sleeves and quick-scoping the Ri-Class heavy cruiser before the Ri-Class could get a shot off.

Shigure had to shield her eyes again as the incandescent glow of the flare shot out from the barrel of the flare gun, flying across the air not unlike a comet through space towards the Ri-Class, who was already diving into a prone position to evade the lethal flare.

But any satisfaction that the Abyssal could gleam from evading the magnesium flare flying over her head was lost when Hayasui produced a _second_ flare gun in her left hand, firing at the Abyssal Ri-Class who valiantly tried her best to evade again, Shigure noting the first flare plop onto the ocean and vaporizing the seawater due to the excessively high temperatures the magnesium reaction produced to create a ball of white-hot light, the reaction reacting almost explosively upon hitting the ocean.

But despite the Ri-Class attempts to roll on the water to either get rid of the layer of fuel caused by the tied-up fuel balloon or to evade the second flare, it didn't help much as the magnesium and phosphorus-filled flare impacted the Ri-Class on the left breast, instantly searing into the Ri-Class's breastplate as it ignited whatever fuel remained on her body.

Shigure ducked as the Ri-Class likely squeezed the trigger of her cannon out of reflex upon feeling what was the equivalent of the sun scorch her skin and bra, burning through her armored breastplate and attempting to carve its way into the Abyssal's fuel reserves stored in her chest, the Ri-Class screaming all the while.

 _[AAHHHH!_

 _AAAAAHHHHH!]_

Hayasui was already moving on to her next victim, a retreating Wo-Class who determined that her comrade couldn't be saved and was now acting out of self-preservation in the face of the pyromaniac who was the fleet oiler strolling towards her, calmly reloading her one-shot flare guns while her dark eyes belied the inferno that she had in her mind for her enemies, twinkling ever so slightly.

But the Wo-Class raised her cane at the same instant Hayasui noted something coming in fast from above, Shigure pulling out the one Anti-Aircraft Cannon, a 10 Cm Twin High-Angle Gun Mount that had a good angle of elevation, pointing it upwards in order to shoot down the three Abyssal Dive Bombers swooping down to ambush the fleet oiler.

Shigure's Anti-Aircraft fire was joined in by the Anti-Air fire coming from a third party, Shigure's neck swiveling to see who it was.

Hatsuzuki placed her right hand on Hayasui's shoulder to reassure her, her expression a poker face as she nodded as soon as Hayasui looked back, the fleet oiler expressing her gratitude.

"Yo, thanks, Hatsu-chan!"

Hatsuzuki's left eyebrow creased a little at that, likely the destroyer's way of expressing a slight displeasure at being called such an affectionate nickname, but she placed her other hand on Hayasui's other shoulder, guiding her away from one of the crash-landing Abyssal Dive Bombers as the Wo-Class's pod cannons fired, Shigure already performing evasive maneuvers while firing her cannons.

Hayasui, being dragged around freely by the Akizuki-Class destroyer, was elated at having a teammate who was there to watch her back, cheered her and her Rensouhou-Chan on as her turrets kept firing into the air.

"Yep!

Help me get close with my flamethrower, and I'll finish off that pesky Wo-Class!"

But she didn't get the chance to do what she wanted, Shigure resisting the urge to do a double take at what Hayasui allegedly wanted to use to kill the Wo-Class, noting that the Wo-Class spun around in order to fire her pod cannons at a charging Akitsu Maru.

The IJA ship girl, seeing that she lost the element of surprise since carriers all had enhanced environmental perception and powerful radars, simply gave her trademark slasher smile, and the fact that her once-white makeup and dark uniform were now soaked in blood just made her seem nightmarish, her deathly-black killing aura flaring up again as she deflected every one of the Wo-Class's cannon rounds, small blue flames spitting into existence as she swung her katana around at blinding speeds.

And as the Wo-Class now knew that she had to resort to desperate measures in order to survive, the large headdress jaw that represented the hangar exit screeched as it opened, allowing two torpedo bombers to hastily take flight and only needing to drop their payloads upon seeing the light of day to accomplish their task.

But Akitsu Maru smoothly reached behind her to pull out her Benelli M3 shotgun by the handle which was jutting out for easy access, squeezing her eyes shut as she swung the black shotgun forward to fire its 'Dragon's Breath' shells, Shigure noticing out of her peripheral vision that Hatsuzuki and Hayasui shielded their eyes as Shigure dived back and followed suit.

She was glad to have done so as she felt two large explosions go off at roughly the same instant, rocking her body as she felt her uniform simultaneously feel the heat wave of the explosion and the cool embrace of the sea on two sides of her body as she hit the ocean.

In her screaming mind, she managed to rationalize that the Dragon's Breath shells lived up to their name as she managed to catch a glimpse of the blindingly bright glare of the round fired from the shotgun, igniting as it sprayed all over the Abyssal planes and likely even on the Wo-Class herself.

This probably caused whatever payload the Abyssal planes were carrying to combust from either the magnesium being fired at them, or crash-landing into the ocean after being shot at with Dragon's Breath shells, the shock of the crash-landing causing their payloads to detonate.

She was thankful that everyone on her side had closed their eyes and protected themselves for the most part against the fireball that temporarily shone like the sun as Shigure closed her eyes in time to prevent any damage to her eyes, remembering a certain recovering light carrier in her fleet and the damage she had sustained.

But a dark shadow emerged from the fireworks, trails of flame streaking behind her as Akitsu Maru screamed,

"Pratāpana!

 _Triple Fiery Impaling Strike!"_

The IJA ship girl thrust her katana forward in a piercing motion at a speed that was so fast that it appeared to be three strikes at once, the katana again bursting into flames upon being thrust forward so quickly.

And despite the fact that the Abyssal carrier blocked one strike with her cane, the other two strikes hit their mark and impaled the Wo-Class in the throat and kidney, causing her blade to smash through her throat guard and pierced through her throat.

The Wo-Class stumbled, trying to put some distance between herself and the amphibious assault ship who was still partially on fire after she ran through the explosion and still carried her katana and shotgun, the Abyssal trying to quell the flames that were starting to erupt from her neck wound and was visible through the decimated throat guard, sweating buckets as the Abyssal's expression was trying to remain impassive while facing off against the terrifying IJA ship girl.

But a large-caliber shell fired from the cannon of a aviation battleship suddenly hit her and instantly crushed the Wo-Class's right shoulder, ripping through it to punch through her upper torso and destroying either the heart or lungs.

This caused the torso of the Wo-Class to collapse in on itself as her body was crushed by the impact of the shell punching through her body, causing body bits to fly in strange arcs due to the slight vacuum the large-caliber shell left in its wake.

The Wo-Class registered her own death upon collapsing onto the ocean, now no longer possessing a right shoulder and was almost bisected as blood spurted everywhere, drenching herself in blood and the occasional tiny organ bits.

Shigure inched forward while keeping a low profile to observe the carrier's injury in vivid detail, and to her horror, she could see broken ribs sticking out of the carrier's exposed torso, splintered due to the shell impact.

The flames that were dancing on the Wo-Class's neck wound were now working down her collarbone and her damaged upper torso, the flesh surrounding it already starting to wax and decompose from the fire burning the flesh from the inside out, Shigure taking in a whiff of something disgusting being cooked, almost like the cauldrons of Hell were whipping up their signature dish that was cooked Abyssal flesh.

The Wo-Class's eyes were unfocused and bloodshot, looking up at nothing in particular after being blinded at close range due to either the Dragon's Breath Shells or the explosion of her own bombers right in front of her.

Her dark cape as well as the ends of her hair were smoldering, having endured the brunt of the explosion at close range as evidenced by the horrific burns on parts of her face, her left arm that was now lying uselessly next to her sundered body and the burning wound on her torso that caused the Abyssal's chest to go up in flames, the Wo-Class coughing up blood which freely flowed down the sides of her mouth.

Hayasui and Akitsu Maru were ready to put the Abyssal out of her misery as the amphibious assault ship reloaded her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun and pointed it right in the Wo-Class's face, unceremoniously pulling the trigger to execute the Wo-Class without a second thought, Shigure shutting her eyes to shield herself from the blinding flash of the Dragon's Breath Shell being unloaded into the Wo-Class's face at point-blank range, slightly feeling the heat of the shotgun blast that eviscerated the Wo-Class's head.

Hayasui was mumbling about not getting to use her flamethrower, holding the weapon that had transformed back into a flight deck as it was easier to carry around while Akitsu Maru simply stuck her tongue out at the fleet oiler.

She wanted to complain about the savagery of their tactics, but repressed that desire as she knew that this was done to ensure their victory.

If they hadn't resorted to such brutal and ruthless methods to take down the Abyssals, they would be having a far tougher time dealing with Abyssals, seeing that some of them were Elites and were stronger than the rank-and-file Abyssals, and the Wo-Class would have suffered for far longer than was necessary had Akitsu Maru not ended her suffering prematurely, looking down at the corpse of the Wo-Class, her shattered metallic skull showing through the waxing flesh of the dead Abyssal's face which was annihilated by the point-blank shotgun blast.

The corpse now lost control of whatever damage control systems it had in place to contain the flames, the corpse now internally combusting as her singed flesh started to glow from within whilst slowly sinking into the ocean, Shigure wincing as the exhaust ports violently coughed out flames and slightly caused the seawater around it to bubble before sinking, the Abyssal returning to the depths whence it came.

Shigure looked around, noting that Ise was kneeling down to punch the face of an Abyssal while her sister ship provided cover fire, although the way the bleeding Ri-Class's neck lolled about lifelessly clearly said volumes about the Abyssal's state, Ise gleefully repeating as she kept punching the Abyssal in the face,

" _POW!_

You're dead!

 _POW!_

You're dead!

 _POW!_

You're dead!"

Hyuga, starting to get a little annoyed at how her sister ship went off on a tangent to beat a dead Abyssal and was ignoring the battle around them, ordered Ise to stop.

"Ise.

Stop beating the dead Abyssal, and come help me take down the rest of the Abyssals before they hurt any of our comrades."

But Ise was drenched in her enemy's blood like most of the 8th Fleet, looking back up at her sister and complained.

"But, this Elite Ri-Class came back after being shot a few times by us!

She could be a zombie!"

The glare from her sister was enough to push her into action, the nameship of the Ise-Class sighing and getting up while readying her cannons and controlling them so that they were facing different directions, Shigure wondering what the aviation battleship was going to do.

Ise boosted backwards so that she was able to aim at all her enemies, since it was easier for Ise's vertically-orientated cannons to hit some of the outlying Abyssals, a few barrels having reached their maximum angle of elevation in order to hit them as her cannons could only shoot in a narrow arc before her.

Ise called out,

" _Cataclysmic Roar of the Eight Great Cannons!"_

All of her cannons roared, pillars of fire shooting out of the barrels as Ise hit all her marks, some of the Abyssals getting shot in the head, their metal skulls exploding upon impact with the cannon shell as they collapsed on the spot, fountains of blood gushing from their exposed necks like broken fire hydrants.

Others were hit in the torso, disabling them as the battleship's cannon shells punched through the weaker Ri and Tsu-Class cruisers, while the stronger Ta and Ru-Class stumbled back from the impact of the shells hitting them and providing an opening for the destroyers to empty their torpedo launchers in order to sink the battleships.

The muffled screams of the Abyssals rang out in the distance as the torpedoes struck them with devastating results, Shigure noting that Ise was smiling at them, winking gleefully as she held up a victory sign, and Hyuga also had her eyes closed as she nodded, letting things slide this once as they all gathered around to confirm their status.

Looking around, she noted that she was the only one to come out completely unscathed, although she was fine with it this time round as she wasn't even supposed to be here, and she understood that she was to support the others from the sidelines this time, lest her try-hard attitude either cause her to sink, die or sustain fatal injuries and cause her teammates trouble when they had to protect her.

Akitsu Maru and Maya looked like hell as they had suicidally jumped into the fray, the former's uniform almost entirely shredded and thoroughly drenched in Abyssal blood, so much so that it wouldn't be unusual for a ship girl who met them now to think that crimson red was the default color of her uniform.

But seeing that her uniform was far from burnt despite the fact that she regularly used fire as a means of attack probably meant that her clothes and makeup were fire-resistant, allowing her to go wild with her fire-based attacks without worrying about getting burnt by her own attacks.

Akashi was also drenched in blood, standing off to the side and complaining about her dry-cleaning bills, and Shigure couldn't help but feel a little afraid of her for being so knowledgeable about the ship girl and Abyssal anatomy and learning how to weaponize that knowledge in order to perform surgical cuts that would deal the most damage.

The other destroyers also seemed to be in good shape, if a little disheveled after zipping around and launching torpedoes in a 'hit-and-run' manner, the three of them listening to a proud Maya as the slightly damaged heavy cruiser boasted.

The Kai Ni heavy cruiser had indeed taken some damage and her uniform was in tatters, but she strangely looked more energized now, perhaps getting into the groove of things and looking as if she had no problems with shrugging off her injuries, Shigure assuming that like the rest of the seniors, she had sustained worse wounds in the past.

Shigure's attention was drawn back to the fleet oiler, now free of Molotov Cocktails that were stored in her boxy brown-colored bag, and her flare guns which were likely hidden in her long sleeves as she carried around her 'flight deck' that was now in its innocuous looking default form, the complete opposite of the dreadful weapon it transformed into.

Shigure leaned in to ask the fleet oiler about the battle, and why the Princess was a no-show.

"Um, Hayasui-san, it doesn't seem as if the Southern War Princess is coming…"

But Hayasui shook her head, a slight smile on her face as she seemed almost expectant of something as she gripped the handle of her flight deck, responding certainly.

"Oh no.

Can't you feel the presence beneath us?

Oh wait, I suppose you can't, since you're an unremodeled ship girl.

Sorry."

Shigure looked at her senior, watching her senior unfold her weapon to transform her flight deck into a flamethrower again, Shigure asking about the fleet oiler's choice of weapon while standing away from the nozzle of the flamethrower wherever Hayasui pointed it.

"U-Um, Hayasui-san, why do you use such weapons in combat?

They don't seem too safe…"

But Hayasui scoffed at that, looking at Shigure and giving her a look that expressed some sort of envy at her naivete and the potential that she possessed, something that Hayasui would never have.

"Maa, what else would I have to work with, if I discarded my Molotov Cocktails, flare guns and flamethrowers, Shigure-chan?

Listen here."

Hayasui lowered the flamethrower, having noticed Shigure's obvious discomfort with being in such close proximity to her weapon, trying to explain to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer about what she had to resort to in order to help out on the battlefield despite her abysmal stats.

"I wanted to help everyone out, but I couldn't because I consume more fuel than I can supply to everyone, so I didn't get to sortie too much.

Until I built _this._ "

Gesturing to her flamethrower that was thankfully pointed away from Shigure, Hayasui looked away as Shigure observed her distant gaze and saw how she hated being an auxiliary ship and was never going to perform as well as rank-and-file ship girls, and couldn't even do her job correctly.

But Shigure saw the slight glint in her eyes, the slight contraction of the pupils and the uncomfortable excitement in her voice when talking about her main weapon, likely working together with the Fairies to craft this weapon, seeing that it was so seamlessly integrated into her rigging and didn't seem as if major modifications had to be made to overcome incompatibility, something that might happen if one tried to make a weapon by themselves and tried to integrate it with the technologically advanced machinery of the Fairies.

The way everything unfolded and transformed into a flamethrower with a simple pull of the lever almost seemed as if only one who possessed the Fairies' technological prowess would be able to craft it, Shigure politely listening to Hayasui.

"And since I carried so much fuel and alcoholic beverages to quench everyone's thirst and refuel everyone, what else did you think I would weaponize in order to take down my opponents?"

Shigure nodded, explaining what she had learnt about them.

"I understand.

I can't expect everyone to fight like we do, seeing that not everyone was created to fight in on the front lines."

Looking Hayasui in the eye, she continued her explanation as she gave the fleet oiler a firm nod.

"But I can't underestimate their desire to protect their teammates in battle, and what they had to go through in order to compensate for their inherent weaknesses."

Hayasui smirked, wielding the flamethrower single-handedly as she reached out with her free hand to ruffle Shigure's hair, gratefully replying.

"Well, thanks for understanding, Shigure.

Not a lot of ship girls look past the bloodbath that we indulge in to try and understand why we fight like this.

But you've got potential, and you're going to go far with your Kai Ni remodel.

And you're from the renowned Yokosuka Naval Base, so learn what you can from us and keep testing your limits, alright?"

Shigure blinked before nodding enthusiastically, not wanting to disappoint those who had expectations of her, like her Admiral and her comrades.

But a suffocating aura suddenly engulfed them, Shigure clamming up from the killing intent welling up from deep beneath the ocean and far more intense than anything she felt thus far.

The Abyssal previously tried to conceal its signature underneath the ocean, only choosing to reveal itself to the ship girls present after the auxiliary fleet was wiped out, flaring up from beneath them to make her presence known.

Beneath the ocean laid an Abyssal Princess who was powerful enough to take on several fleets at once, their very being said to be composed of the souls of fallen ship girls and whatever grudges or regrets they brought into the afterlife, and it'd make sense if their auras were vengeful and malevolent, two traits she was feeling in spades from the surfacing Southern War Princess.

Her presence was surrounded by a cluster of strong signatures, since the Abyssals who were chosen to be the Princess's personal fleet would be Elites, Shigure sweating upon sensing that the Abyssal protection fleet was easily on par with Kai and Kai Ni ship girls, and she was clearly out of her depth here.

She looked to the ship girls around her, none of whom were talking anymore and absolutely focused on the rising presence and the fleet which surrounded her.

Hearing Hayasui talk to her, Shigure listened as she tried to control the shivering that was evident in her hands, noting that the wary fleet oiler held her flamethrower tightly.

"Shigure, listen.

When you first lay eyes on the Princess, make sure not to get cowed into immobility by its threatening aura."

Shigure tilted her head to the side while lifting an eyebrow, commenting sarcastically.

"Well, it's a little late to be giving _that_ piece of advice."

Hayasui chuckled as she revised her statement.

"Well, just remember, Shigure.

Keep moving, and always be aware of your surroundings.

You're out of your depth here, and we can't protect you from everything.

But if the Admiral and Akashi allowed you to be here, it means that you at least know how to handle yourself even without our help, right?"

Shigure noted, uncoupling her handheld 12 cm Cannon from her battle backpack as she nodded in a no-nonsense tone, focusing on the battle before them.

It was quite the tall task, learning to roll with the fear when it was against such an intense killing aura.

Shigure's eyes narrowed as she gripped her cannon, unaware that she, for the second time, had entered a 'zone' of sorts like her teammates as the azure blue aura began pouring out of her body, wispy and underdeveloped compared to the veterans standing around her and almost nothing compared to the suffocating, murderous aura emanating from the surfacing Princess.

But this was important for the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer as she realized that no one could simply 'be a spectator' in this battle, which was going to be far more destructive than anything she had experienced thus far, and she needed to be laser-focused to even hope to survive the coming engagement.

' _No useless thoughts._

 _Let go of anything that would slow me down and get me killed.'_

And as the enemy signatures broke the surface of the ocean, Shigure gazed upon her enemies.

The Abyssal Princess brought along two fleets to protect herself as she sailed, and they consisted of 3 destroyers, 2 light cruisers, 4 heavy cruisers, 2 slow battleships and 1 carrier.

 _All_ of which had blood-red auras, two of which were differentiated by their yellow auras and a streak of blue flame vibrantly flowing out of their left eye, Shigure feeling that those Abyssals were likely the flagships of the two fleets and were strong enough to kill her in an instant.

Standing right in front of her protection fleet and somewhat defeating the point of having one, Shigure laid her eyes upon the Southern War Princess, a female adult who was relatively tall compared to her, but only slightly taller than average when compared to the titans of the battleship class, asserting her dominance through sheer killing intent.

The Southern War Princess had unusually long twin tails which reached down to her knees, flaring out the further down it traveled before curling back in, held up by almost-invisible hair bands that burned a crimson red for cosmetic effect.

Her long bangs covered her right eye entirely, her left eye possessing blood red pupils, the three colors that made up her color palette being red flames, white flesh and hair and black steel.

Her body was bare save for part of a risque dark metal thong covering her nether regions, using strands of hair from her ponytails to cover her ample breasts as they flowed down her torso, metallic belts strapped on her thighs while wearing a dark steel thigh-high heel on her left leg while her bare right leg had on a simple black heel.

It was the machinery on her arms which were most horrifying due to the amount of firepower she carried around, the rigging on her arms stuffed full of cannons within large geometric-shaped jaws.

Nightmarish jaws were opening up to produce large caliber cannons in threes while some of the medium caliber cannons stuck out from the exoskeleton in twos and threes, the entire contraption clearly transforming from a more streamlined form for underwater traversing into the machine of death before them, taking inspiration from various deep sea creatures while resembling eldritch abominations.

Shigure noted that two jaws on either weapon stack were now powering up as their insides glowed a hellish red, the Southern War Princess being a far stronger aviation battleship than Ise and Hyuga as the two jaws were likely where she spawned her Abyssal planes to do her bidding, the whole weapon stack gnashing their teeth and occasionally growling like beasts.

Exposed thick wires, fuel canisters and smaller metal plates formed a thin but significant extra layer of protection against outside elements and cannons shells, the Southern War Princess's cannons adorned her arms while shedding most of her defense, exhaust ports to the rear of her rigging and her thigh-high boot regularly expelling crimson steam in order to regulate the temperature, making her seem even more intimidating than she already was with the crimson steam looming behind her like the promise of bloodshed and death.

The Abyssal Princess's appearance which was by default supposed to look gorgeous, was now overshadowed by the fear and even the slight revulsion which she was designed to invoke in her enemies to make them dread facing her.

And despite her logical mind screaming about how out of her depth she really was when going up against two entire fleets of Elites and had to fight an Abyssal Princess later, the only thing that escaped her mouth was a slightly uncharacteristic yet brutally honest opinion as she blurted out.

"You're one ugly bitch."


	23. Chapter 23 - Death in Despair

**Author's Notes**

 _Shout out_ _to my boy_ Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Miller, _thank you so much for proofreading this story and ironing out so many story details before they're even implemented._

 _And now, ladies and gentlemen, we've come full circle by returning to square 23, and I'd to say, thank you all for being so patient with me._

 _(Hopefully) Without any further ado, let's continue from where we left off._

* * *

Wanting to smack herself in the forehead for blurting out that comment which might get her killed, Shigure was mentally praying in hopes that the Abyssal Princess and the Elites hadn't heard her and decide to shoot her for it as she mentally chanted,

' _Please tell me nobody heard that…_

 _Please tell me nobody heard that…'_

But thankfully, none of her enemies seemed to have heard her comment since their ears were probably stilled filled with seawater, and it also helped that Shigure was positioned behind the front lines since she was an unremodeled ship girl and it was too risky for her to be at the vanguard of the formation, although she could hear some of the ship girls around her snicker in amusement at her slip of the tongue.

The Abyssal Princess blinked in order to clear the seawater from her eyes, looking around to take in the ship girls who were sent to fight her as she mumbled disdainfully, Shigure feeling a slight chill as the voice of the Abyssal Princess rang out throughout the battlefield not unlike a chorus of echoes within a large cave which mirrored her vengeful tone, resounding through the battlefield as though the hatred and grief borne of bloodshed naturally flowed from her mouth as she looked down upon everyone with her blood-red eyes.

[Repair ship…

Fleet oiler…

Amphibious assault ship…

All… weak…]

Her eyes roamed over the ship girls who were present, the Elite fleets having readied their cannons and bomber planes to be fired or summoned at a moment's notice and to execute all the ship girls present, only held back by the Abyssal Princess's desire to trash talk all of them as she continued on derisively, calling the 8th Fleet out on their inherent weakness.

[Almost all of you are weak…

And you all are nothing compared to _ME!]_

Kiso shrugged, leaning in to leer menacingly at the Abyssal Princess without a care in the world as she retorted.

"Well, we wanted to give you all a sporting chance and offered ourselves instead of sending our more powerful fleets to deal with you, which would have wiped you all out without so much as a second thought."

Akitsu Maru smirked, using her katana to gesture to the Abyssal Princess as she added.

"Well, not to blow our own horn, but we're pretty strong in our own right.

We'll go all-out in sinking all you bitches, so that you would be spared the ultimate humiliation you would face when you report to your boss that you lost to us, the 'weakest' fleet even when we weren't going all-out against you."

After which the torpedo cruiser and amphibious assault ship bumped fists while keeping straight faces.

The Abyssal Princess's vein on her temple bulged at that, her expression contorting into that of irritation and absolute condescension as she pointed out to those before her in a raised voice.

[Your main fleet consists of auxiliary ships, and your support fleet contains _those_ two useless aviation battleships, who are _nothing_ compared to me!]

The Abyssal Princess leaned forward threateningly, boasting about being the epitome of Abyssal-kind, and how it was asinine of them to even try and go against her, even more so since they were never created to be front-line warships.

[I'm a Princess, and I've killed so many ship girls who were stronger than you!

Sailing the seas unopposed, I sank all those who were foolish enough to challenge me, and here you are, unafraid to die as you stand before one who is many times more powerful than you!

Who are you to even dare to dream of winning?!

I'm a _god_ compared to you ants!]

Akashi perked up at that, holding up a clean scalpel as she leaned in dangerously, the glint in her eyes evident as she muttered loud enough for the Southern War Princess to hear as she giggled like a hysterical schoolgirl.

"Oh, if you're a god, then I wonder if I can cut you up and obtain a blood sample for further studies?

I haven't operated on a god before, so my apologies if I appear a little over-enthusiastic."

Ise drew her katana, her smile now humorless and her eyes cold since the Abyssal Princess had accused her of being 'useless' as she snarked.

"You extol about what you've accomplished as an Abyssal Princess, and how you're almost godlike when compared to us, who are practically ants to you.

But I ask of you this question.

Was it a written rule of this world where ants couldn't kill gods?"

Kiso drew her cutlass, absolutely confident in her odds of winning as she looked at the Abyssal Princess, deep in thought as she wondered out loud.

"Ahh, yes.

When they ask of Kiso the Great, they'll know of the one tale where her cutlass drew the blood of God.

Yes, that'll be quite the tale to tell…"

And Unryuu was the one to be down-to-earth about what they were going to do, although her tone was still bone-chillingly neutral and impersonal as she stated in a matter-of-fact tone while brandishing her conducting staff.

" _I don't care what you call yourself._

 _An Abyssal, a Princess, God, whatever._

 _You show up as a red dot on my radar, you're already marked for execution."_

Shigure, despite feeling ready to fight the Southern War Princess, had a lone sweat-drop run down the side of her face as she fretted about the audacity of the 8th Fleet to talk back to a being who could sink them all easily, and were so nonchalant about their situation as she thought to herself.

' _Oi, oi, can't you all at least take things a little more seriously here?!_

 _I know that you all don't fight like normal ship girls and thus can't be properly countered by anything the Abyssals possess, but at least_ act _like you're a little more worried about who we're going up against!'_

She looked around to take note of their surroundings, seeing that most of the Abyssal corpses which littered the battlefield had already sunk back into the ocean, only leaving a red-tinted ocean with puddles of burning oil to mark their deaths.

The sun had already set on them, although the night sky was surprisingly well-lit and their sight wasn't that impaired in the darkness due to the presence of the full moon and the crowd of stars which were hanging over them and shining down on ship girls and Abyssals alike, Shigure only having to adjust the brightness in her eyes to compensate for the dimmed environment as opposed to relying on her night vision and risk blinding herself due to the sheer amount of cannon fire flashing before her and the flashy flame techniques and equipment that the 8th Fleet used.

The Southern War Princess, upon seeing that her killing intent and her firepower was failing to intimidate this fleet of misfits, was about to launch into another tirade about the futility of challenging her, but failed to get another word out before a large-caliber shot rang out from behind Shigure and flew towards the Abyssal Princess's face at a blinding speed.

The shell seemed to hit an invisible wall, Shigure jumping a little at the presence of some sort of energy field surrounding the now-irate Princess who had flinched from the shell impacting her shields.

Part of the shield which was affected by the large-caliber shell was glowing as the shock wave of the shell impact reverberated throughout the surrounding portion of the spherical shield, the crimson-red hexagonal plates that made up the shield lighting up and was a brighter and harsher shade of red the closer they got to the area of impact, the shield plates softening in luminosity and turning translucent before fading away entirely, invisible to the world just as they were before.

Shigure had been somewhat shocked that the Abyssal Princesses possessed such sophisticated technology, but deep down, she had expected this since her Admiral had told them about this, and the Abyssal Princess was defiantly standing in front of her two fleets which were supposed to protect her, almost unconcerned if one of the ship girls might take a shot at her even if one didn't take into account the fact that her armor alone would likely be enough to protect her against most cannon shells.

Shigure looked back at a bored Hyuga with one of her cannon barrels smoking after taking the shot, the aviation battleship remarking as though she had went through something far too many times and wanted to hurry it along this time.

"Sorry.

I heard that 'You are weaklings' speech one too many times, and I thought I could skip this cut-scene and start the fight if I shot you in the face."

The Southern War Princess looked ready to blow a gasket, but she closed her eyes, clearly trying to calm herself down and not make some sort of rash decision, deciding to make use of her Elite fleet to good use as she ordered simply, her voice still echoing despite keeping her voice even and amplifying the weight of her words to resonate within the minds of all who were present.

[Go.

All of you.

 _Sink them all._ ]

Some of the Elite Abyssals clearly looked a little perturbed at this, giving the Southern War Princess and each other aside glances as they saw how the 8th Fleet had decimated their weaker Abyssal counterparts without ever utilizing any conventional ship girl weapons, and they thus didn't possess much in the way of countering those techniques and weapons.

Shigure could empathize with them, thinking about Hayasui's flamethrower, and how there wasn't much an Abyssal could do other than submerge herself in water and activate all the fire defense systems in their bodies to hope that the flames wouldn't engulf and consume them, shuddering at how such suffering was far worse than being killed outright in terms of the pain one had to go through before expiring.

Akashi's surgical tools were another problem, because if those tools were created to be as sharp as Shigure assumed them to be to allow the repair ship to operate on carriers and battleships in times of emergency, there was nothing that could prevent Akashi's dangerously sharp and tough scalpels from cutting into their flesh, since the physiology of both ship girls and Abyssals were similar enough that their flesh could be cut by her operating tools.

But the Abyssals eventually decided to follow their Princess's orders, the two battleships and four heavy cruisers moving up to overtake the Abyssal Princess who was re-positioning herself to be at the rear of the formation, and the Elites opened fire on them like a firing squad in an attempt to deny them their advantage of close-quarters combat as the ship girls began to evade in response, the two carriers on both sides summoning their planes to take part in the bombing phase.

Shigure saw that one of the Ru-Class battleship's shells was going to hit Akashi despite her best attempts to dodge, but Kawakaze tackled her to the ground in order to prevent that as Hyuga provided cover fire for them to get up and continue evading, nobody talking anymore as every fiber of their being was concentrating on not getting killed by the hail of Abyssal shells.

Shigure noted the direction the cannons were pointed in and made sure that she wouldn't get boxed in by the Abyssals which were advancing and attempting to encircle them and block off their exit, Shigure realizing that they could cross-fire if they faced the ship girls from two different angles, ensuring that they wouldn't hit each other while shooting at the ship girls from two perpendicular directions to pretty much guarantee that they hit someone.

And judging by the sounds which were barely audible over the hail of cannon-fire that went on around Shigure, they didn't need to as it sounded like someone was already hit, Shigure clenching her teeth and realizing that no matter how good they were at dodging, the amount of shells being unloaded in their direction meant that someone was going to get hurt eventually.

But she couldn't worry about who it was as she saw the barrel of an Elite Ru-Class battleship swivel in an attempt to point at her, Shigure being the faster ship girl as she pushed off her boat slipper to quickly strafe and discourage her from trying to shoot at a mobile and nimble target.

Shigure noted out the corner of her eye that Ise used her flight deck to deflect a Ri-Class's shell in order to protect Hatsuharu and allow her to get out of the way safely as another Ru-Class's cannon barrel pointed in Ise's general direction and fired, missing Ise by a fraction as the shell grazed the roof of Ise's bottom left cannon and threw up a shower of sparks that thankfully hit the spot where Hatsuharu was a few milliseconds before, the Kai Ni destroyer having recovered enough boost to safely evade as Ise shouted.

" _MOVE!"_

Shigure remembered the plan that Akashi, Hyuga and Admiral Mako had agreed on before sortieing, that the Southern War Princess was likely to keep the Elites closer to her and likely wasn't going to participate in the first stage of the battle as she sent the weaker Abyssals out to test the incoming fleet's strength.

However, Akashi had studied up on the Princess, and determined that she was one to let her subordinates do the heavy work and only interfering when it was necessary, and even when she appeared with her protection fleet, she would likely hang back until she saw the need to intervene, since any Abyssals below battleship or Princess-Class were considered expendable, which explained her behavior.

Since battleships took weeks, if not an entire month to repair any sustained injuries, Abyssal Princesses were projected to take several months to recover, and one of the few theorized reasons why they could sustain so many Abyssal Princesses on the ocean was because they produced many more new units while allowing those who were damaged to recover in the safety of the depths.

And since the Abyssal Princess closed her eyes as though she wanted to strike them all down in one blow but held back, Shigure hazarded a guess that she probably had a bad experience with charging into battle headfirst without allowing her Abyssal minions to soften up the enemy first, and had suffered because of it.

Shigure also learnt during the briefing that this was the Southern Princess's third incarnation, which meant that previous stints as Southern Demon and Southern War Demon would have taught the Southern War Princess a few lessons the hard way, this time allowing her protection fleet to engage the enemy first before she came in to wipe out anyone who survived the two engagements in order to sustain as little damage as possible.

The general plan was that they were to take out both the protection fleet and the Southern War Princess, and they had a few strategies to take her on depending on how things turned out for them.

If everything went well and no one was seriously hurt, they could attempt to split up into two fleets to take on both the Elites and the Princess at the same time, but that was likely an impossibility now, since some of them were likely injured by Abyssal cannon fire which was meant to stop the 8th Fleet from getting up close while making use of their Elite status and their improved stats over the rank-and-file Abyssals to fire their enhanced cannons at the ship girls.

The second plan sounded more feasible than the first, and this required the two fleets to focus down the Elite Abyssals while keeping the Abyssal Princess at bay with bombers and torpedoes, after which they all fought the Southern War Princess when the Elites had been wiped out.

However, there was also enough room for them to improvise, like getting a large part of the ship girls present to fight the Elites while a handful of the skilled ship girls took on the Abyssal Princess, although at admittedly greater risk as she felt that there were quite a few things left up to chance, since the reactions of the Abyssals couldn't be accurately predicted on paper.

But she then noted that everyone present was a pro compared her her, and she could only hope that they were as good as they thought they were, understanding if they wanted to play things by ear instead of bogging themselves down with complicated plans and contingencies.

Finally getting clear of the cannon fire, Shigure heaved a sigh of relief as she felt her uniform weigh her down due to her sweat and the seawater drenching her school uniform as the adrenaline coursed through her body, sneaking a look round to try and spot who had cleared the line of fire while hoping that no one was killed.

Akashi, Akitsu Maru and Kiso met her on this side of the battlefield, Ise coming up behind the torpedo cruiser and guarding Hayasui as Shigure saw that the other ship girls escaped to the other side of the ocean, having evaded by sailing to the right while Shigure and company had evaded while strafing to the left.

Hatsuzuki was the one who got hurt, a gaping hole where her left hip was and missing an entire left leg, already bleeding out and was turning pale as the surrounding ship girls guarded and tried to treat her.

Hyuga had already torn off a layer of her _miko_ uniform to provide some cloth for Hatsuharu to apply pressure with in order to prevent her from bleeding to death before her internal valves could activate in order to stop the loss of blood and fuel.

Maya had a few more bruises on her skin and more blood streaked down her tattered uniform after Shigure saw her body-blocking shells in order to protect others, and Kawakaze was providing cover fire with her cannons and torpedoes, her battle backpack belching out smoke while her Fairies were hard at work trying to bring the damage under control, a perfectly fine Unryuu helping out in that regard by summoning her bomber planes to perform aerial strikes while evading fighter planes.

Hyuga herself didn't look too well, since her flight deck was totaled and one cannon had both its barrels crumpled by what she assumed was a Ru-Class's cannon shell hitting them, Shigure noting that the two barrels were sticking out at odd angles like broken twigs, one even looking as though it were on the edge of breaking off entirely due to the extreme deformation of the material itself.

Akashi looked around her as she grimaced, noting the five ship girls present as she ordered curtly, spotting the Abyssals reloading and preparing their second salvo of cannons and torpedoes.

"Well, the plan's gone to shit, since the girls on the other side don't seem to be doing too well.

Kiso, help them out."

Kiso did a double take at that, asking her flagship incredulously.

"Are you serious?

I wanted to fight the Princess…"

Akashi looked the torpedo cruiser in the eye as she pointed out.

"And risk _them_ sinking because you weren't there?"

Motioning with her head to the ship girls who were on the other side of the battlefield, Shigure looking back and forth between them both while cursing herself for not being strong enough to be able to make much of a difference as she saw Kiso falter, the determination in her eyes wavering and being replaced with apprehension as she contemplated the possibility of an ally sinking as Akashi flicked her wrists to summon her surgery tools while continuing her speech.

"You're undoubtedly the fastest out of all of us here, and you can deal far more damage than what Little Miss Try-Hard here can do."

Motioning to Shigure with another nod of her head as Ise, Akitsu Maru and Hayasui provided cover fire with their cannons, grenades and Molotov Cocktails respectively, although Shigure noted that the Abyssals learnt to utilize their Anti-Air cannons in order to shoot the Molotov Cocktails out of the sky before they reached anywhere near them and evading the grenades before the 5 second mark, after which the grenades detonated.

Shigure wanted to retort Akashi's passing comment about her being a try-hard, but she kept her mouth shut and moved forward to provide cover fire as she heard Kiso stutter and fail to come up with any good points other than,

"But I don't want the Princess to sink you all…"

But Akashi was adamant, compromising as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer barely heard the next sentence over the sharp barking of her 12 cm Cannon that she fired and the _swoosh_ noise that accompanied the launching of her torpedoes from her launchers to deter the Abyssals from aiming at them.

"They need you, and you know it.

You know we can handle ourselves here, so _go."_

Akashi's tone left no room for dissent, Kiso eventually accepting her flagship's orders without question as her voice hardened, accepting her responsibility as a senior ship girl who needed to understand her priorities better as she simply said.

"Alright."

Ise shouted to the torpedo cruiser as Kiso left, asking her to do what she did best as a torpedo cruiser.

"I can provide cover fire for you, but if you could, y'know, fire your torpedoes while running across the battlefield, that'd be swell!"

Shigure didn't hear Kiso's reply, but she knew that the torpedo cruiser would agree to the request in order to help out Shigure and company, Shigure noting that Kiso had drawn her cutlass and was already boosting away as she muttered one word before sprinting,

" _Shukuchi."_

Akashi joined the firefight with her Anti-Air turrets as she gave an order to the ship girls present.

"Cover Kiso, and make sure that she gets to the other side of the battlefield, no matter what."

Akitsu Maru and Hayasui nodded at that, the former pulling out dark, tubular canisters from her bag with some small, white-font words printed on them as Akitsu Maru threw them after pulling the pin on them, while Hayasui pulled out her flare guns to pop out two flares which blinded any Abyssals who weren't prepared for them as Shigure shut her eyes for the duration of the flare's trajectory.

Akitsu Maru, after throwing her flash-bang grenades which erupted in small yet blindingly bright flashes with a burst of smoke and a shock wave radiating from its epicenter to blind and deafen the surprised Abyssals, causing them to stumble around a bit in a daze while being temporarily stunned, used the flight scroll stored on her bag to summon her own fighter planes while Ise launched some recon planes of her own to back up Unryuu's planes which weren't doing too well out there by themselves, Shigure already seeing a few of them either spiral into the ocean while leaving a stream of smoking fire to indicate their final flight path before crash-landing, or simply burst into flames instantaneously and killing the Fairy pilots inside.

Shigure gritted her teeth, understanding that casualties were inevitable and that it was foolish of her to expect that everyone would come out unscathed as she saw the slight disturbance in the ocean and the barely noticeable wake of underwater projectiles headed towards them, Shigure hearing Ise shout out,

" _Torpedoes!"_

Shigure started sweating upon hearing that, finding the spaces in between the speeding torpedoes as she continued her cover fire, feeling an explosion shake the ocean as a torpedo from opposing sides collided with each other and both warheads detonated simultaneously, causing an explosion of seawater on the battlefield and illuminating the silhouette of the running torpedo cruiser who ran through the salvo of cannon fire, elegantly and lithely dodging all the cannon shells and torpedoes while firing off some of her own to deter the Abyssals.

Kiso was able to observe all the incoming shells' trajectories and perform acrobatic somersaults, rolls and boost-dodges to evade them all effortlessly while using her cutlass to deflect cannon rounds whenever she could, Shigure barely able to keep track of all the torpedoes that she fired off and her agile evasive moves which almost seemed to leave an afterimage whenever her boost gauges fired.

The torpedoes which she fired at the horde of Elites paid off as some of the Abyssals failed to dodge them and had their legs blown off by the torpedoes that detonated beneath them, the torpedo cruiser having unleashed a fearsome 20 torpedoes in a salvo as Shigure swiftly sailed through the gaps in the Abyssal torpedoes that swam past them, unchanging in their projected travel paths.

Akitsu Maru and Akashi locked eyes for an instant, and something was wordlessly communicated between them as Akitsu Maru pulled out two dark green tubular canisters as Shigure could only make out,

'SMOKE'

Akitsu Maru tossed one to Akashi, the both of them keeping a low profile to avoid getting shot at as they pulled the pin on the smoke grenades and let go of the striker lever before lobbing them in the direction of the Abyssals, the smoke grenade expelling a dusty grey smoke upon descending and filling the entire area before them with smoke within a matter of seconds, Shigure guessing that ship girls who wanted to use such grenades on the seas would modify them to float on water.

Akashi spoke into her radio, talking.

"Move up, and use the smoke for cover.

We'll flush them out and try to rescue our pilots while the Abyssals retreat, since they would be wary of an ambush in the smokescreen."

Shigure then heard Hyuga respond dryly,

"Agreed."

The two fleets moved up, Shigure trying to spot the rescue beacons of the downed Fairy pilots in the water while making sure that she didn't miss any enemies that might be hiding within the smoke, noting that the red dots on her radar were retreating from the potentially fatal obstruction that was the smokescreen, since they knew that the 8th Fleet might use this smokescreen to close the distance.

Shigure ran into the smoke with the safety of the Fairy pilots as the highest priority in her mind while reasoning that she should be the one to rescue the Fairies, since she was a fast-speed destroyer and could thus maneuver through the crowd of Abyssals quickly while taking advantage of the smokescreen to evade her enemies.

She detected a green rescue beacon symbol blinking on her radar as she ran straight up to it, blinking as she swung her hands around to clear the smokescreen which was obstructing her vision, the thick cloudy smoke slightly stinging her eyes and getting into her nose, threatening to cause either a sneezing or coughing fit which would reveal her position.

But Shigure eventually cleared a small volume of air around her and gave herself some breathing room, staying low as she took about four seconds of walking about and staring down at the ocean before her to visually scan for the downed pilot in the midst of the smokescreen, eventually spotting a downed Fairy pilot with brown hair tied back and hidden behind her singed leather hat and aviation goggles, her bright orange life jacket clearly visible on the surface of the dark ocean with a light beacon flashing red at regular half second intervals.

Shigure bent down to retrieve the pilot, but an enemy signature positioned to her right which she previously assumed to be retreating and thus circumvented to avoid any unnecessary conflict was now moving towards her, the Fairy pilot using her hand to jab her finger at something behind Shigure along with her radar picking up a torpedo headed her way and Ise shouting into the radio.

" _SHIGURE, MOVE!"_

Shigure didn't need to think twice as she scooped up the drenched pilot in her palms and pushed off of her right boat slipper as she did a barrel roll of sorts while feeling a strong enemy presence appearing through the smoke behind her, thankful that her training had taught her some physical skills to physically dodge instead of solely relying on her boat slippers all the time.

The torpedo passed by her and missed her by a considerable margin due to her roll, Shigure sighing in relief right before she heard an Abyssal cannon go off behind her, the mystery enemy having detected her physical roll through the smokescreen and homed in on her position after feeling her out and waiting for her to stop while sprawled on the ocean before taking pot shots at her.

The Abyssal shell hit a spot of ocean before her as she felt the vacuum that the shell left in its wake since it narrowly avoided grazing her shoulder, Shigure straightening back up from her roll and ignoring the fear that threatened to freeze up her muscles after having come so close to death while backtracking in order to regroup with her teammates with the Fairy in her cupped hands.

She felt the cold ocean water drenching her hair, uniform and getting into her eyes both as a result of the barrel roll on the surface of the ocean and the splash of water that was caused by the Abyssal shell almost hitting its target as she blinked the seawater from her eyes.

She didn't have the time to either look back or allow the Fairy back into her battle backpack since that would slow her down for a fraction of a second, which might allow the chasing Elite to catch up and kill her easily, running and trying her best not to inhale too much of the smoke that still plagued the battlefield, catching glimpses of her teammates' position as her radar spun around in order to scan her surroundings as she ran towards them, the red dot unfazed by the company that Shigure was heading back towards and pursuing her regardless.

And finally, as she got close enough to the group of allied dots which were still hidden within the smoke, Shigure saw a grown hand shoot out and grab her arm, which surprised Shigure and caused her to tense up as her backpack cannons twitched about reflexively, ready to shoot the owner of the unidentified hand to protect herself despite still holding a Fairy pilot in her palms.

But the skin tone of the arm was a human beige, and it was Ise's face which appeared through the smoke, her expression uncharacteristically serious as she pulled her in protectively while firing one of her cannons in the direction of the mysterious Abyssal behind her.

Snapping her head back to watch the destruction first hand, Shigure saw that it was an Elite Ri-Class which had materialized from the smoke like a ghostly apparition with its pale skin, dark machinery and bikini along with her menacing and hostile red aura exuding from her very being as she swung her arm cannons around wildly in order to clear the smoke around her before lifting her right arm to shoot at the ship girl duo once she had visually acquired the target.

But Ise was faster on the draw, her cannon firing and causing Shigure to flinch at just how loud a large-caliber cannon sounded at such close range, thankfully protected by Ise trying to put herself in between Shigure and the Ri-Class.

Ise's cannon shell hit the Elite Ri-Class right in the cannon, inexplicably travelling down the barrel and destroying the cannon entirely since the caliber of Ise's shell was far larger than the Ri-Class's cannon caliber.

Hitting some sort of gunpowder storage system within the cannon located close to the elbow caused a large explosion to erupt and engulf the Elite Abyssal, Shigure wincing and closing her eyes as she couldn't watch the incandescent glow of the fireball that engulfed the Ri-Class's upper torso.

Shigure was protected for the most part against the explosion as she protectively clutched the Fairy in her hands while hunched over the little pilot, feeling a slight sense of relief as the Fairy shifted about in her palms to indicate that it was still alive.

And as she looked back at the unfortunate Ri-Class while the flames dissipated, Shigure could see that the Ri-Class was conspicuously missing a right arm and arm cannon, intense third-degree burns plaguing the Elite's entire torso as the Abyssal winced, her bra top dangerously hanging from one remaining strap as the material had been eviscerated by the explosion.

And the reason why Shigure wasn't treated to a view of the Abyssal's ample chest was because she no longer had one, Shigure remembering that it was actually two smaller explosions that were likely a result of the fuel reserves on her chest detonating and creating a bloody crater on her chest, her ribs and internal organs partially visible as Shigure was treated to the horrific sight of the Abyssal's beating heart and blown out lungs, seriously resisting the urge to vomit.

The Ri-Class turned to face them as she attempted to overcome her injuries, and Shigure wished she would keel over and die already as half her face had been consumed by the flames, her lower right jaw and cheek falling apart and exposing part of her steel skull which was heated up to intense temperatures, the waxy and charred flesh on her flesh dropping back into the ocean in burnt chunks.

The Ri-Class collapsed after Ise emptied another cannon round into the Ri-Class's torso and relieved the Ri-Class of the organs within her rib cage, Shigure jumping at the surprise cannon shot as the Ri-Class stumbled back, a hole now being punched straight through her torso in addition to the crater in her chest.

And now that the Ri-Class was missing a heart, both lungs and a portion of her spine, the ocean was polluted with her other organs and her blood which gushed out of her body and her missing arm, Shigure cringing at the brutality and the cold practicality of the move to make sure that the Ri-Class was sunk, the Abyssal's yellow aura ebbing as the corpse slowly caught on fire and sank at the same time.

Shigure saw that there were two other Abyssals, an Elite Ne-Class heavy cruiser and a Ho-Class light cruiser who broke through the dissipating smokescreen, Shigure hearing an ally walk up behind Ise and shouted in a tone that didn't allow for any defiance.

"Move!

 _Move!"_

Ise guided her away from the voice as Shigure stored the Fairy in her battle backpack, the Fairies now finding a lull in the action that they could use to safely come out of her backpack and retrieve the pilot from the hands of the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

But as she guided them back into her backpack through a steel hatch, she could feel Ise stumble a little as the ocean behind her was illuminated by a stream of fire being unloaded on the two Abyssals, and due to the presence of the smokescreen and the impairment of sight, it meant that the two Abyssals likely weren't sure who they were going to meet as they were incinerated by the fleet oiler's flamethrower.

Shigure heard the pressurized weapon unload its liquid contents, causing a nightmarish sound that resembled the squeal of a dying pig and a fire hose turned up to maximum pressure as it filled the air, heating up the environment and illuminating the entire ocean and smokescreen with a deafening _FWWOOSSHH_ as Shigure screamed like a schoolgirl, almost unable to control the primal fear of being burnt alive as she shivered despite the air around her heating up as though the world was turning into an infernal oven.

Ise, now grimacing at the chaos around her, guided the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer away from the source of the flame that engulfed the two Abyssals, and the thing that made Shigure fear the fleet oiler more and more was simply how much excitement was oozing from her voice as she shouted over the high-compression ejection of the fuel she carried around, sounding manic upon seeing Abyssals burn up before her.

"WheeeEEeeee!

Fire beats armor, bitches!

Two barbecued Abyssals, coming right up!"

She tried to peek back at the fleet oiler who had seemed as if she eased off on the oil jet despite Ise trying to pull her away as she heard the jet stream die down, and felt the wave of intense heat hit her like a truck as Hayasui pulled the trigger to fire off one last burst of flame in the Abyssals' direction, wincing at her face being heated up by the intensity of the flames despite being more than a meter and a half away, barely able to make out the squirming figures of the Ne-Class and Ho-Class cruisers.

Their incandescent figures were almost painful on the eyes, since their entire beings were in flames as the Abyssals attempted to do the 'Stop, Drop and Roll' routine to douse the flames, the Ne-Class's pristine white hair now devoured by the flames that were growing in intensity, the seawater vaporizing and bursting into steam as the high temperature of the flames came into contact with the cold, dark ocean and concealed the Abyssals in scalding-hot water vapor.

The Ho-Class Abyssal exploded before submerging, likely unable to contain flames of such ferocity thanks to the flamethrower, Shigure whipping her head back as heated-up seawater was thrown everywhere due to the underwater explosion and causing Ise to hold up her flight deck as a makeshift shield against the scalding hot droplets.

Shigure heard Akashi's voice speaking up on the radio within her head, informing the two fleets about their next course of action.

"All ship girls, move up and take out all the enemies who are still in the smokescreen.

We'll move up and take out the rest of the Elites with another salvo of torpedoes and cannon fire when the smoke clears, which'll give us a clear path to the Princess."

Shigure nodded at no one in particular, shivering as she heard one voice which she couldn't immediately identify due to the chaos within the dissipating smokescreen, the mystery voice concerned about what the plan actually entailed now that everything went south for them.

"Umm, what's the plan now?"

Akashi's voice rang out dryly as she explained the situation to everyone in order to clarify things while receiving a pinned flash bang grenade which was tossed towards her, courtesy of the amphibious assault ship.

"Well, I get that there's a few of you who're injured from the previous exchange.

If I'm not wrong, Hatsuzuki suffered heavy damage while Maya and Hyuga likely sustained medium damage, and I've already sent Kiso your way to hold the fort over there.

We'll sink the Elites before focusing down the Southern War Princess, since it's risky for even someone like me to try and perform repairs with several Elites breathing down my neck.

When the Elites are disposed of, everyone not injured is to either engage the Princess or protect the damaged ship girls while I perform on-site repairs, got it?"

There was a chorus of,

"Yes, Ma'am!"

As Shigure looked at the approaching Akashi, unsure of her role in this battle now since she was undoubtedly the weakest ship girl present, feeling the signatures of Kiso, Hatsuharu, Kawakaze and Maya moving forward as Unryuu's planes swooped in to soften up the enemy while Hyuuga stood with the Unryu-Class carrier and the Akizuki-Class destroyer to guard them both as Shigure asked the repair ship.

"U-Um, what about me?

I can't do much against the Elites and the Princess, since I'm not strong enough…"

But Ise looked down at her as the five of them started making their way through the dispersing smokescreen, encouraging her and trying to lift her spirits.

"Aww, don't say that about yourself, Shigure-chan!

You may not be able to do much, but it's not as if you are unable to do _anything_ against them, right?

Every shell and torpedo counts!"

Shigure didn't have anything to say to that as Akashi answered her question, not caring if Shigure looked more and more incredulous as Akashi uttered every word.

"You, Hatsuharu and Kawakaze will join us and take over Kiso's role in taking down the Southern War Princess should she be unable to participate in the final battle.

The three of you should be enough to make up for Kiso's absence should she be injured gravely, or even killed in battle."

Shigure's eyes widened in shock at having being granted such a difficult and suicidal task, but Akashi patted her on the head as best she could without staining Shigure's hair with blood as she explained.

"Don't worry, there isn't much of a possibility of that happening, since Kiso's a pro like us, and we want to cover all our bases with all the available manpower we have.

Much of it is left up to what happens between us and the Abyssals, and how much trouble they're going to give us before they go down.

So don't get your panties in a bunch, and just don't fall behind or get captured as a hostage or whatever."

She watched Hayasui and Akitsu Maru carve a path through any Abyssals who were foolish enough to stand in their way, calling out warnings whenever they detected incoming torpedoes to ensure the safety of their heavy hitter, Ise while using whatever they had on hand to wipe the Elite Abyssals out.

Akitsu Maru pulled out a bag made out of cloth and Hayasui flicked out her flare gun while using one hand to hold her flamethrower, Akitsu Maru digging into the bag and scooping out black, soot-like powder while Hayasui cocked the hammer of her flare gun.

Shigure could only gawk as another Ri-Class approached them, her red aura giving her position away as she already had her cannons out and ready to fire at them, Shigure having noted out the corner of her eye that Akashi had pulled the pin on the flash bang earlier and cooked it before hurling it at the Abyssal in a fastball pitch so that the flash-bang would reach the Elite in a fraction of a second, the flash-bang detonating almost instantly in the face of the Ri-Class and stunning her for a split second as the Ri-Class shook her head to clear her head.

But that split second was crucial in a battle and was the window needed for Akitsu Maru and Hayasui to move in, Akitsu Maru using her gloved hand to throw a handful of the black powder in the Ri-Class's scrunched-up face and her frozen upper torso while shouting,

"Raurava!

Cremating Flame of the Iron Sands!"

And boosted out of the way for Hayasui to fire her flare gun at the Elite Ri-Class, the Abyssal realizing that something bad was going to happen and dodged the incoming flare in the nick of time as she attempted to shake off the black powder.

Only to be caught in Ise's cross-hairs as the aviation battleship emptied a round square into her chest which blew her backwards from the force of the shell hitting her, the mystery black powder igniting explosively and nearly blowing the upper half of the Abyssal into oblivion, the Ri-Class unable to recover from the damage sustained and could only stumble around blindly as the dark smoke which cloaked her upper body cleared enough for Shigure to view the damage, the plume of pitch-black smoke wafting and rising towards the heavens.

Shigure could see that the Ri-Class had suffered extensive burns on her upper torso, her chest and upper half now ablaze and threatening to burn her face off as her eyelashes were seared off by the flames, her hair still aflame and producing a pillar of smoke which slowly rose from her the crown of her head, her red aura now subdued due to her compromised state of mind.

She fell backwards as her eyes rolled up lifelessly, the trio of ship girls moving on as Ise waltzed right up to her supine body, pulling out her katana and holding it up to behead the Ri-Class.

Shigure, horrified at what Ise was about do, raised a hand to stop her and questioned the battleship about her actions.

"I-Ise-san!

What're you doing?!

Hasn't she suffered enough?"

Ise looked down at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, meeting Shigure's eyes as she could see that the despite the aviation battleship possessing a jovial personality, it didn't stop her from doing what needed to be done, like right now when she had to execute an enemy before she could get back up, expressing this as Ise's tone was serious despite trying her best to give Shigure a reassuring smile.

"Shigure-chan, she's suffering.

Can't you see?"

Shigure looked back down, and sure enough, despite having suffered several lethal burns as a result of both the explosive ignition of the black gunpowder and Ise's large-caliber shell hitting her square in the chest, the Ri-Class was attempting to get back up as her red aura flared back up again, even trying to raise an arm cannon in their direction.

Her ghostly eyes displayed a tenacity and conviction that took Shigure by surprise, Ise explaining to her all the while as Shigure watched the Ri-Class attempt to get back up despite her horrific burns and her chest wound.

"If she's suffering, I see that it's my personal duty to put her out of her misery.

Besides…"

Ise cocked her head and stared back down at Shigure, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer seeing that the Ise-Class battleship was just as stubborn and unyielding in her beliefs as Shigure was about her own, asking the faltering destroyer about one last thing.

"This is an Elite, and this wound is likely not going to kill her.

If she gets back up and shoots a teammate in the back, how're you going to take responsibility, hmm?"

Shigure looked away at that, unable to find a proper counterargument as Ise stepped up and raised her katana menacingly, the moonlight reflecting off of the steel blade as the Ri-Class seemed to accept her fate, since an aviation battleship was looming over her, and even as an Elite Abyssal, she was too damaged from the black gunpowder ignition and large-caliber shell to fight back, and crash-diving at this point was pointless as Ise's sword would be faster as she lowered her arm, not even bothering to defend herself and accepting death.

Ise swung down her katana with a grunt, Shigure looking away squeamishly as she could see another stream of fire be discharged by the fleet oiler off in the distance, as well as several cannon shots going off in the distance, Shigure feeling sick despite her best attempts to remain detached from the situation, realizing that Ise's action was somewhat justified not just due to the threat the Abyssal posed to them as an Elite, but also the possibility that this Ri-Class wasn't entirely immobilized by her injuries, and might get up later and shoot them in the back at a crucial moment, after which Shigure would have to take responsibility if someone died or, God forbid, sank because she forced Ise to leave her alone.

Ise, looking down with a somber look at the horizontal fountain of blood which was spurting from the Ri-Class's neck, now dropped her happy-go-lucky attitude and was now fully focused on the battle at hand, wiping the blood from her katana on her uniform as she sidestepped the sinking corpse and walked forward, ordering the queasy Shigure as she did.

"Let's go.

We're falling behind."

Shigure swallowed the lump in her throat, nodding towards Ise's back as she mentally tried to rationalize the carnage that took place round her, the weaker auxiliary ships engaging their enemies with a new level of savagery to ensure that the enemies stayed dead when they killed them, feeling yet another chill down her spine as the sweat on her uniform evaporated and seemingly lowered the temperature around her, looking around her as the remaining wisps of the smokescreen were carried away by the gentle night wind.

Shigure could see Maya and Kiso throwing their torpedoes as though they were lances at the Abyssals who were standing off in the distance, the torpedo cruiser taking the extra step to shoot the torpedo warheads to detonate them so that even if the Abyssals succeeded in evading the hurled torpedoes, they would still be caught in the explosion and sustain splash damage, another Ne-Class Elite being blown back by the pressure wave.

The Abyssal fleets were being thinned out due to the unorthodox fighting styles of the 8th Fleet and the backup fleet, Akashi swinging her crane hook around in a circular motion with her right hand before throwing it out to catch the jaw of an Elite Ro-Class destroyer as though she were hooking a fish, the hook snagging the Ro-Class by the corner of its jaw and drawing blood from the fleshy insides of the Ro-Class's mouth.

The Ro-Class howled in agony as Akashi reeled in the destroyer by yanking on the heavy-duty steel cable with both hands, shouting animatedly with the enthusiasm of a shark who detected blood in the water.

 _"Let's get intimate!"_

The poor destroyer was hauled through the air, red aura trailing behind it as Akashi readied her surgery tools, catching the Ro-Class destroyer and performing a judo flip to slam the shark-like Abyssal on the ocean floor, freeing up both hands to produce all her surgical tools with a manic grin on her face while looming over the floundering Abyssal destroyer, which was trying to flip itself back upright.

Akashi then proceeded to dismember the Ro-Class destroyer in a spectacularly gory fashion, Shigure looking away from the horrid scene to see Akitsu Maru providing cover fire with her Benelli M3 shotgun's Dragon Breath shells, Kiso using the confusion of the enemies and her high evasive speed to fight in the midst of the enemy ranks along with Maya, Unryuu manipulating her bomber planes to sustain the pressure despite some rather nasty holes being ripped into her flamboyant uniform, the Unryuu-Class carrier ignoring her injuries in favor of carrying out her duty.

Hayasui circled the battlefield, trying to incinerate any outlying Abyssals in order to box them in with the bloodthirsty ship girls, while Hyuga was utilizing a cannon as a second sword along with her katana which was already dripping with Abyssal blood, boost gauges actively used to quickly accelerate and change directions, the damage she sustained evident through her haggard breathing, the glossy layer of sweat on her skin and her blood-stained miko uniform.

Akashi got up, having finished her bloody operation on the sinking Abyssal Ro-Class, and was now almost entirely soaked in blood as she wiped her forehead with the back of her bloody hand, smearing her plain-white headband with alien Abyssal blood as she remarked,

"Whew, I must be getting slower since our last sortie!

I swear I was faster than this the last time I operated on one!"

But Akitsu Maru holstered her shotgun, drawing her katana as she replied enthusiastically.

"Come on, we're missing all the fun!"

To which Akashi shrugged while raising an eyebrow, getting up from her kneeling position over a now-missing Abyssal carcass with the help of a hand offered by Ise, the repair ship reminding them all of their objective.

"Ladies, remember why we're here!

Hunt down the Princess, she'll be at the rear of the formation if I'm not mistaken!"

Shigure spotted the Abyssal Princess standing on the outskirts of the battlefield and taking pot shots at the ship girls, scowling as she seemed rather irritated at not being able to join the battle and had to rely on her Elites who were trying to hold the fort while consolidating their remaining forces around her, Shigure unloading her torpedoes at them as she timed it with her sister's salvo to make things harder for the Abyssals since they would have to dodge even more torpedoes.

Shigure watched Akitsu Maru swing her flaming katana haphazardly in the direction of a retreating Wo-Class as the Southern War Princess was now summoning her fighter planes to stave off the inevitable, Shigure wondering aloud why they didn't simply retreat from the battlefield, since the ship girls still had trouble stopping them.

But Hatsuharu answered her as she joined the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer in the midst of battle, her fan now deployed and shielding her mouth in an aristocratic motion as she answered.

"Retreat is not a viable option in their minds, as to retreat after engaging 'weaklings' is an insult to her pride.

This, as well as to risk looking weak on her part as it would appear that she retreated in the face of mere auxiliary ships, is something that wouldn't sit well with her superiors after two losses before her upgrade to Southern War Princess.

It is also possible that she requires decisive victories to justify leaving her designated location and conscripting fellow Abyssal fleets, likely against their will."

Shigure nodded at that reasoning, adding on as she pointed her 12 cm Single Barrel Cannon to fire at a He-Class light cruiser to distract it, asking the Kai Ni ship of the Hatsuharu-Class about what the Southern War Princess had at stake here.

"I see.

And since we decimated their auxiliary fleet, it would stand to reason that she wants to win this battle, which we aren't making it easy for them since almost none of the members of the 8th Fleet fight like regular ship girls, hence making it harder for even the Elites to find a way to take them out except to play to their own strengths."

Hatsuharu nodded, using the mechanical arms on her rigging to fire at the Abyssals while replying gravely.

"Well, not even such a course of action might bear fruitful results when one observes the highly unorthodox move sets that our fellow comrades possess, like…"

She was interrupted by Maya grabbing an Elite Abyssal Ha-Class destroyer out of the air as she boost-jumped to gain an extra few milliseconds of air time in order to evade the incoming torpedo which was previously shot out of the Ha-Class's jaw.

Swinging around the screeching Abyssal in her hands while its red aura streamed behind it and highlighted the cyclic arc which the heavy cruiser swung the destroyer in, a He-Class light cruiser sailing in while keeping its distance as Maya used the remnants of her boost gauge to close the distance while still in mid-air to the surprise of the incoming Elite Abyssal, its Elite-red aura flaring up.

The He-Class light cruiser had a white helmet covering the majority of its head, having slightly pointed ears barely sticking out of the crown of its head, its torso leaning down on some sort of vessel which was modeled after a motorcycle of sorts as it rested a pale palm on the smooth, jet-black shell of the 'motorcycle'.

The Elite light cruiser's mode of transportation was equally horrifying as the front fork was replaced by a monstrous jaw of sorts with pearly-white teeth, and within it was a steel barrel which burned a hellish red while sharp pincers jutted out the sides of the beast-like orifice, a thick cable sticking out of its left flank and leading to the back of its arm-cannon on its muscular right arm, Anti-Air turrets added to its chillingly red-muzzled right-hand cannon of doom that the wearer attempted to fire at the airborne Maya.

Ignoring the hail of Anti-Air fire from the He-Class which bounced off of her bare skin in order to smash the snout of the Ha-Class destroyer into the helmet of the incoming He-Class light cruiser in a manner reminiscent of a slam dunk while body slamming the transportation vehicle of the He-Class, causing it to stop dead while both the He-Class and Ha-Class Abyssal screeched in pain, part of their armor now cracked and bleeding slightly as their auras flared up vengefully, snarling at the heavy cruiser.

Only for the He-Class to be silenced by Maya's left fist blurring as she punched through its damaged and therefore vulnerable helmet, the Kai Ni heavy cruiser calling out her attack to enhance the spirit which she put into her attack,

" _SHUT-THE-FUCK-UP PUNCH!"_

Spinning around on the spot to lift up her right foot and boat slipper, bringing it down on the cracked exoskeleton of the submerging Ha-Class as she screamed.

" … _AND STOMP!"_

The two Abyssals likely never anticipated such fast movements from a heavy cruiser who was now moving onto the next opponent, Hatsuharu sweat dropping as she bluntly pointed out.

"Like _that._ "

Shigure nodded, gulping at the dead bodies of the headless He-Class and the smashed-in Ha-Class Abyssals, hearing Hatsuharu attempt to explain her teammate's skill set as the corpses sank back into the dark ocean.

"In our long years of service, we must admit that we have only had the honor of meeting but a handful of comrades-in-arms who match not just Maya-san's unladylike strength, but also her speed."

Shigure narrowed her eyes upon hearing that, respecting the heavy cruiser's destructive powers which not only had raw power behind them, but terrifying speed which could be observed through her kicks and punches which practically blurred, bursting with explosive strength which took her physical capabilities to a whole new level.

Hatsuharu then asked of her,

"Come.

Let us make haste, and tighten the metaphorical noose around our enemies' neck."

Shigure looked at the group of Abyssals huddled around the Abyssal Princess, seeing that they were pretty much down to one Elite flagship Ru-Class battleship, one last Elite Ri-Class heavy cruiser and an Elite flagship Wo-Class carrier along with the Southern War Princess.

But Shigure could see that the Abyssal Princess communicated something with them, likely through some sort of hive mind telepathy which they all likely shared in order to coordinate their movements, and the Elites all looked back at the Southern War Princess in surprise.

But they eventually relented, slowly sinking back into the ocean as the surrounding 8th and support fleet allowed them to retreat, which left the Southern War Princess alone on the surface of the water, Akitsu Maru asking.

"Well, what's this?

Getting them to leave yourself alone to die, hmm?"

The Abyssal's haunting voice escaped her lips, now uncharacteristically subdued as she addressed the ship girls surrounding her in a semicircle formation.

[I thought you all'd kill those Abyssals no matter what, and there's no point in asking them all to sacrifice themselves for me when the battle's lost.

I actually thought you'd sink them all, regardless of whether they retreated or not.]

Her eyes narrowed as her expression contorted into one of disgust, Shigure noting that all the ship girls subconsciously tensed up as the Southern War Princess's crimson red aura flared up threateningly.

[Since, you know, you're part of _the_ 8th Fleet.]

Shigure could detect that the Princess's tone held some sort of recognition to it, as though recalling something from memory as she motioned to them with a flick of her chin, her expression now expressing her disdain freely and her anger becoming more and more evident as she called them out.

[The dreaded 8th Fleet of the Yokosuka Naval base...

How could I not have remembered such an unorthodox handful of ship girls recruited to be the last fleet of one of Japan's most influential naval bases?

Why did you not tell me where you hailed from?!]

The Southern War Princess's voice was somewhat pained as she sounded as though it were their fault for not telling her who they were, Akitsu Maru responding sarcastically.

"Well, like you said before about us ants fighting a godlike Abyssal like you, there's no point in you knowing anything about us weaklings now, hmm?"

Earning a sharp, audible inhalation from the Southern War Princess through her nose as she became silent upon hearing the 8th Fleet throw her own words back at her.

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer noted that the rest of the rest of the fleet was arriving on the scene by this point in time, feeling somewhat relieved that the situation was taking a turn for the better and that the Southern War Princess decided to take them all on alone, which meant that they had an advantage in terms of manpower.

Kiso was present, and the fact that she wasn't hurt meant the world to her, since it meant that she didn't have to take part in the battle while standing at the front lines along with her skilled destroyer comrades while the infinitely more powerful Kiso was here, since she had quite a few reservations against doing so.

But that came at the cost of Hyuga showing up to the battlefield while heavily damaged, her _miko_ uniform in tatters and her rigging expelling black smoke ominously, looking to be one shell away from a devastating explosion which would scorch her back as the Fairies ran along the external platforms of the rigging, repairing the damage as best they could while Hyuga carried an unconscious Hatsuzuki, the Akizuki-Class destroyer still missing her left leg but her situation having improved somewhat as the bleeding was stemmed, Hyuga sheathing her katana and in order to carry the Akizuki Class destroyer with two hands while holding up a totaled flight deck-shield to protect them both.

Shigure turned back to the Southern War Princess as she continued her speech, the Abyssal looking at every ship girl present as her cannons lowered, the Southern War Princess's tone now carrying a tone of cautious curiosity as she angled her face to glare at the 8th Fleet and asked.

[But before we fight, I need to know.

How do you do it?]

Most of the ship girls looked confused at that, so the Southern War Princess clicked her tongue as she elaborated, ignoring the fact that there were twelve armed ship girls surrounding her.

[What I mean is, how are you ship girls all still fighting, despite the despair that plagues your hearts?]

A look of realization dawned on the ship girls as the Southern War Princess gestured to herself with her armed cannons, her tone now genuinely curious about the 8th Fleet's ability to fight despair as she continued.

[My existence is made up of sunken ship girls, all of which experienced indescribable despair before they sank which, when consolidated and used to power my hatred, a supreme being, it somehow meant that I can sense the onset of despair in the hearts of others and exploit it in battle.

And there are quite a few of you who have experienced losses and death in life, and that despair plagues quite a few of you here.

You…]

Looking at Akitsu Maru,

[ … you two…]

Glancing at Ise and Hyuga,

[And especially you, you, _and you]_

Shifting her gaze onto Kiso, Unryuu and Akashi as the Abyssal Princess continued her rant, the ship girls all around showing no signs of stopping her conversation either because of the damage they sustained, or genuine curiosity at what the emotive Abyssal had to say, something which would help them further understand their enemy better while still having their guards up and ready to fight at a moment's notice.

[Everyone knows that the soul experiences despair eventually in the face of death and loss, and it's akin to a psychosomatic effect which affects the delicate balance of the Trinity, where conditions of the soul can adversely affect the mind, and the body is sure to follow shortly after and render one impotent.

It is something that requires a titanic effort to overcome and get back on your feet, and yet…]

The Princess narrowed her eyes as a lone sweat drop roll down the side of her face as she questioned.

[You 8th Fleet bitches seemed to have suffered from despair which would break the spirit of ten ship girls!

So how?

How are you here, standing against me?!]

Shigure shot the the 8th Fleet aside glances as she gawked, thinking about what the Southern War Princess had just revealed about them, wondering.

 _'Ten ship girls' worth of despair?!_

 _I felt sadness from Akashi-san and the 8th Fleet, but just how damaged are they on the inside?!'_

Akashi seemed ready to retort, but a hand was politely raised in front of her to get her to halt, Kiso walking forward fearlessly as she considered the question while facing off against the Abyssal Princess in a heated staring contest, everyone holding their breath and hoping that this brief interlude wouldn't jeopardize their chances of winning this battle, which was currently in their favor.

And after a moment of contemplating under the moonlight which shone on them like a giant spotlight and was setting up the stage amidst the dark backdrop of the thick night air, Kiso answered as she gestured with her free hand.

"And may I ask you a question, Abyssal-san?

Is this despair still present within my heart?"

The Abyssal's eyes narrowed, likely suspecting a trap or a nasty surprise of sorts, but after about five seconds of tense silence, the Southern War Princess nodded tersely, ready for anything the torpedo cruiser might throw at her.

The last thing she expected was for Kiso to break out into a relieved smile as she remarked,

"Thank goodness.

If I went through everything I did without feeling something for everyone who sank around me, I wouldn't know what to think of myself!"

The Abyssal Princess seemed a little pissed off at that, a vein bulging out from her temple as she screamed,

[I don't give a fuck about what you think about yourself, bitch!

That explains nothing about why you're here, when the overwhelming despair you feel should have left you empty and without reason to live, let alone fight!]

But Kiso shook her head in the face of the Abyssal's hellish-red aura flaring up and the ship girls all tensing up at once, ready for combat and waiting for the cannon fire which would signal the resuming of the battle that never came.

Lifting her right index finger and lifting another finger for every reason, Kiso rattled off the reasons for her to be here.

"One, I'm here and am in good condition, which means that I'm battle ready.

Two, I have my weapons, hence, I stand a chance against you all.

Three, I have my comrades with me, which greatly improves my odds of winning this battle.

And fourth…"

Kiso clenched her fist and extended her index finger, which she used to point at the stunned Abyssal as she listed the last point.

"I have an objective given to me by my Admiral.

And when my target's right in front of me, how can I not push myself forward to fight?"

[But…

The deaths…

The losses…]

Kiso shrugged, her eyes softening from a slightly manic glint as she anticipated the battle that was to come, to wistful and even haunted, her tone now becoming somber and reflective as she replied truthfully.

"Yes…

I've suffered through them all.

All the tears of regret, pain and despair, I've cried my tear ducts dry.

And all the blood that I've shed as penance, I've bled all that blood away."

 _[SO HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!]_

" _Why don't you cut my heart out_ _and find out?!"_

Kiso shouted back, surprising both her conversation partner and any of her allies who weren't already aware of what she was like, a green battle aura flowing from her very being as she continued.

"Deaths occur everyday, and we sustain losses every now and then, which can break us.

But is that an excuse to curl up, accept our fate and die pathetically?

But in case you forgot, we're warships, you and I!"

Kiso pointed her sword at the Southern War Princess as she continued, becoming more and more aggressive and passionate as her expression morphed into one which was certain of her own words and her conviction.

"We fall into despair when we lose comrades and die, but we need no reason to fight, so long as we're in a war and whomever we deem as our enemy stands before us!

All we need is to slowly find that second wind within ourselves to drive us on and keep us alive in the face of death!

To not do so is an affront our very nature as weapons of war, Abyssal-san!

To continue on in the face of losses and threat of death, tirelessly moving from battlefield to battlefield and always ready to face tomorrow's battle!

Is that not why you are what you are?!"

The Southern War Princess flinched at that, Kiso working off of her assumption and counter-arguing,

"You, who was sunk not once, but _twice_ , and came back even stronger!

You ask me how I get up from the despair of loss and death, but it only seems appropriate that I throw that question back at you!"

The Southern War Princess seemed quite shaken upon hearing that, what with her fringe covering her eye and her body frame leaning over to cast a shadow over her mostly nude body, and for a second, Shigure wondered if Kiso had shaken the Abyssal enough to make the Princess's fighting spirit falter, thus making their lives easier.

Then came the laugh.

It was like a creepy giggle at first, reminiscent of a small girl's laugh as its echoes rang in the ears of every ship girl present despite the lack of the environmental structure required to fulfill the basic criteria for such a phenomena to occur.

The Southern War Princess shook as she started cackling at Kiso's retort, eventually slipping into an insane laughter at the torpedo cruiser's words, Shigure shivering at how the unblockable echo materialized as the pained howls and anguished cries of countless sunken ship girls that made up the Southern War Princess's soul, drowned voices never again to resound in the ears of their comrades except as a poor shadow of its former self that powered the Abyssal Princess.

All the ship girls guarded themselves as the Abyssal's battle aura flared up dangerously and threatened to blanket the sky in its unholy shade of red as she reveled in the brilliance of Kiso's revelation and recovering enough to formulate her next words.

[I like you.

I like your answer!

You're right, since falling into despair is part of a death and rebirth of the soul, and not to be seen as the demise of our selves, but a chance to put ourselves back together again, to become stronger through our experiences!]

Gesturing to herself, grinning like a child who had chanced upon a new and intriguing discovery as she continued, her eyes almost grateful for Kiso giving her opinion.

[I admit, I've been feeling rather confused since my very being is composed of the suffering of countless souls lost to the ocean, and everywhere I see, my presence instills desperation and hopelessness in all my enemies as an end-bringer.

And I just couldn't understand why despite sinking not once, but _twice_ , my desire to come back and fight on despite feeling like shit upon sinking just grew stronger and stronger, until I became this form you see right now.

So please understand that it did not compute in my mind when I met you all and felt within your hearts, the suffering you have endured through horrific tragedies and unspeakable losses.

And yet, in spite of the massive difference in our power levels _combined_ , you all never succumbed to that despair and hopelessness, fighting on and actually winning against my Elites!]

The Southern War Princess sighed, looking somewhat understanding as she continued as her expression mellowed out, even if it was just a fraction.

[But you're right.

We're warships in the midst of a war, and we need no other reason for us to be here.

We just need to be driven to win, and be given an objective to work towards.

And as thanks for giving me such a beautiful answer, I'll kill you last.]

The Southern War Princess's smile grew and stretched her cheek muscles, made even creepier by her blazing hair ornaments flaring up and the Abyssal Princess flicking her fringe away to reveal a hazy stream of blood-red fire flowing from her right eye as she continued.

[Well then, I believe re-introductions are in order.

I'm the Southern War Princess, and this here is my Beast, Tezcatlipoca.]

The jaws on both her weapon stacks growled in unison as the cannons on the Southern War Princess's arm bristled, ready for battle.

[And you will all fall to the bottom, like all the others who came before you!]

Akashi deadpanned at the sight of the Abyssal Princess's aura flaring up,

"Well, good job making her even more driven to win and making our job so much more difficult."

But Kiso shrugged, not taking her eyes off of the enemy before her as she retorted.

"Oh, put a sock in it.

Just like me, you wouldn't enjoy this battle as much if our opponents didn't put up one hell of a fight.

It's why we're on the same fleet, right?"

Shigure could see Akashi mirror Kiso's grin as the repair ship flicked out her operating tools and slowly stepped back to perform quick on-site surgeries on Ise and Hatsuzuki, the torpedo cruiser tearing off her eye-patch and pocketing it as she brandished her cutlass.

Kiso's right eye illuminated the darkness, leaving a brilliant streak behind her as she brought up her cutlass and leaned in, returning the favor as her green-tinted battle aura flared up in response to the Southern War Princess's killing intent, grinning maniacally as she responded enthusiastically.

"Kuma-Class Torpedo Cruiser, Kiso!

And this here's my beloved sword, The Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven!

But there's no need for you to worry your pretty little head over trying to remember my swords's name, because it'll be coming off that elegant neck of yours soon enough as I grant you a resplendent death!"

[What blasphemous arrogance!

I'll enjoy the look on your pretty little face when my Steel Skin blocks that little toy you call a sword in your hand!]

Shigure could hardly stop herself from breaking out in a cold sweat from both the Southern War Princess's ferocious killing intent flowing out of her every pore, and the torpedo cruiser's fighting spirit which flared up in response to a strong opponent appearing before her, both of them excited at the prospect of being able to go all-out as the duo pointed their weapons at each other to signal the start of the final battle.


	24. Chapter 24 - Abdication

**Author's Note**

 _I draw the cover images myself, and I've updated it with the second cover._

* * *

Unryuu and the Southern War Princess's bomber and fighter planes battled for air supremacy, flitting and banking as they attempted to shoot each other down and drop their payload on their respective targets, Shigure barely registering them in her mind as she unloaded her cannon into the shields of the Southern War Princess, barely affecting the holographic shields that surrounded the Abyssal like a protective bubble as her pathetically-sized shells harmlessly bounced off its plates, the force field rippling as it spread the impact of the shell over a large area before dissipating and turning invisible again.

Kawakaze shouted over the chaos of the battlefield as she raised some kind of pistol, not unlike Hayasui's flare gun as she squinted her eyes at what was to come.

"Star shell, out!"

Firing the star shell meant that it was easier for everyone to observe their surroundings since star shells were like flares, but possessed a parachute and were thus airborne for a longer period of time, Shigure squinting as a star shell flew out from the barrel of the star shell gun, illuminating the ocean and all the combatants on the battlefield as the star shell's parachute flared up to slow down the star shell's descent.

The Southern War Princess, upon seeing the star shell flying into the air and flooding the ocean with an incandescent glow, clicked her tongue as pointed her cannons at the group of ship girls, getting the show on the road as her cannons whirred into position.

[Well, come on, bitches!

Let's see you dance!]

Kiso unloaded 10 torpedoes in the direction of the Abyssal Princess as she got out of the way of the Southern War Princess's cannon barrels, an action which was mimicked by everyone as the Southern War Princess fired her own torpedoes to keep them on their toes while she tried to get one of the ship girls in her sights.

And she unleashed the fury of her weapons as the two sets of her three 16 Inch Triple Gun Cannons roared, splitting the sky with a thunderous boom that made Shigure freeze up in fear from the sheer power of the Abyssal's cannons that were battleship-tier, but whose capacity for destruction was on a whole other level, seeing that the shells carved out a small valley as they flew across the ocean, Shigure diving to the floor as she shielded herself from the pillar of seawater thrown up as a result of the large-caliber shells impacting the ocean.

Hearing Maya curse upon safely evading a shell and an Abyssal torpedo,

"Bloody hell!"

And noticing that Kiso's torpedoes detonated as they impacted the Princess's shields and caused the shield plates that were submerged beneath the ocean to glow a furious red, Shigure unable to find a chance to fire off her torpedoes as the Southern War Princess unloaded all her cannons in their direction.

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer noted that the Abyssal was actively trying not to get surrounded by the faster ship girls by constantly re-positioning herself relative to the moving ship girls while using her Abyssal fighter planes to prevent Unryuu and Ise from gaining air superiority, something which could tilt the battle in the favor of the winner should one side gain an edge over the other.

Shigure noted that the underwater damage from the torpedoes hadn't yet recovered, Kiso still trying to wither down the Abyssal's protective bubble shield as they utilized their weapons simultaneously, Kiso firing off more torpedoes along with Kawakaze who escaped the barrage of cannon fire to chip in with three torpedoes of her own.

Ise and Maya firing their cannons at the shield's middle layer while Akitsu Maru fired her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun and Hatsuharu fired her 12.7 Cm B Model Twin Gun Cannon seemed to be the last straw for the shield after as an ominous crack sounded out, several of the plates breaking as Ise shouted, taking charge since Akashi was busy tending to the wounded.

"It's breaking!

Get ready!"

And Shigure thought back about the pre-sortie briefing that the Admiral conducted before the sortie, explaining the Abyssal Princess's defenses and attack capabilities as the shield shattered, and as the Abyssal Princess unloaded a salvo of cannon fire in order to protect herself.

* * *

" _Look, the Abyssal Princess's defense capabilities consist of three layers to defend against three types of attack."_

 _Admiral Mako was surrounded by the fleet girls of the 8th and backup Fleet, the Admiral dead serious about the enemy which they were going up against, sharing information which was gathered over nearly two decades of warfare against the epitome of Abyssal-kind, mostly as a recap lesson since most of them were veterans that had likely already went up against a few Princesses in their time._

 _Shigure listened closely, ignoring everything as she tried to visualize how the Abyssal Princess would defend against conventional ship girl weapons as Admiral Mako continued._

" _Imagine a shield, shaped like a sphere and is made up of invisible, hexagonal plates that glow red whenever they block an impact._

 _And you divide them into three horizontal layers, the bottom-most layer being submerged underwater and arguably the toughest since that shield layer blocks torpedo explosions."_

 _Shigure nodded at that logic, understanding that torpedoes were perhaps one of the most potent weapons that ship girls and Abyssals alike possessed, despite their uncontrollable 'fire-and-forget' nature compared to the 'point-and-click' damage caused by their cannons._

 _It made sense if an Abyssal who possessed a passive defense system would strengthen her defense against torpedoes to prevent her feet from being blown up beneath her, something which wouldn't bode well for an Abyssal who was fighting against an entire fleet by herself._

 _Admiral Mako continued, explaining the bubble shield and the topmost layer of defense that defended itself from aerial assaults._

" _The topmost layer is what's used to protect the Abyssal Princess from bombers planes, while the middle layer defends against cannonfire._

 _When you damage and break a plate in the shield, the plates surrounding the affected plate are now easier to break due to the missing plate, and_ _the shield layer will fall apart if it sustains enough damage."_

 _And Unryuu pointed out,_

" _But their shields can eventually recover, and we have to do the whole song and dance again to break the shields."_

 _And Admiral Mako sharply inhaled, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow as she sighed and agreed._

" _Yes, Unryuu, the shields can come back online after a cool-down period of three minutes._

 _But if you take out the entire shield, and I mean all three layers of it, it'll take twice as long to repair the entire shield since they have to distribute their restorative efforts over the three destroyed layers of shields."_

 _Admiral Mako looked around at all of them as her eyes hardened, ending off the briefing with very brief instructions for them._

 _"Look, when you go up against the Princess, just watch out for each other, and don't sink._

 _Please."_

 _Hatsuzuki was the one to point out something about the Admiral's words, her mature voice soft as she spoke up._

" … _You say 'When' we go against the Princess, not 'If'?"_

 _Admiral Mako shrugged as she shamelessly expressed her confidence in this group of misfits with colourful personalities as her feet waggled energetically, a smile gracing her tired face and was a welcome change in her mood._

" _Well, I believe in you all beating the Elites and normie Abyssals easily, and likely even beating the Princess herself._

 _I mean, you're some of my oldest and most skilled ship girls, and I'd be stranger if I_ didn't _believe in you all, right?"_

 _This resulted a chorus of ship girls nodding and grunting in approval of their Admiral's faith in them, Shigure looking around and understanding that ship girls like Maya, Hatsuharu, Akashi and the Ise sisters, amongst others, had lived far longer than her and were far stronger than she could ever hope to imagine._

 _Everyone's confidence was now slightly boosted, and they were invigorated because of their Admiral's explicit faith in their abilities, Shigure deciding that she should have a little faith in her experienced teammates as she prepared to sortie._

* * *

True enough, she could see Kawakaze and Hatsuharu trying to destroy the shield plates with their cannons and torpedoes to widen the conspicuous hole as they were pulsing a carmine red due to their fragility and were compromised in terms of strength, knowing that every cannon shell and torpedo explosion would chip away at them as Kawakaze fired from her rigging and the small cannon on the back of her hand.

Others, like Maya and Akitsu Maru, tried to utilize the hole in the shield to target the Princess herself as the former tried to use her main cannons to aim at the Southern War Princess, while the latter lobbed a grenade through the shield hole and attempted to draw first blood, the slow Princess encumbered by her own weapons and unable to get too far before the grenade detonated.

The Abyssal Princess was obscured by the smoke and water thrown up in her face due to the powerful detonation of the grenade as the combined firepower of the two fleets paid off since three other weakened plates on the middle layer of the damaged shield, true to Admiral Mako's word, began to fall apart as four conspicuous holes were adjacent to each other and compromised the formation of the shield, its plates collapsing and breaking apart as its shattered bits plopped into the ocean harmlessly.

But the topmost layer was still defending the Princess from the wrath of Unryuu's bombers, as evidenced by the occasional Suisei breaking through the enemy fighter plane formation and hail of Anti-Air fire to drop its payload, only to have them denied as the shield plates flared an incandescent red upon deflecting the damage.

The Princess broke through the smoke produced by the grenade, her tough skin slightly singed from and her stance slightly thrown off by the grenade detonation at close range, but looking no worse for the wear as she readied her main cannons to fire while re-positioning herself.

The ship girls closed in, still wary of being hit by her lethal 16 Inch Cannons or even any of her auxiliary cannons which would spell disaster for them should any one of them connect.

Hayasui attempted to break the tense stare-down by lobbing a Molotov Cocktail at the Princess to cause an opening to present itself, which was promptly shut down as one of her Anti-Air turrets shot down the fragile container, causing it to shatter as it reached the peak of its projected parabola path through the sky.

But it was enough for Kiso and Akitsu Maru to dart forward with swords in hand, Kiso shouting,

"Shukuchi!"

As she sped up, causing the Southern War Princess's cannons and torpedoes to miss her by a large margin as her lithe figure blurred throughout the battlefield, almost a decade of physical conditioning allowing her to be one of the fastest ship girls in Yokosuka as she rushed forward, her cutlass barely reflecting a glint of moonlight as she slashed at the Southern War Princess's neck.

A metallic _CLANG!_ rang out throughout the battlefield as Kiso's cutlass made contact with the Abyssal's neck, a show-stopper as the entire battlefield tried to see the results of Kiso's strike as her movements came to a halt right before the Princess's torso, her cape which was previously flaring up now dying down and hiding her striped rigging.

The Southern War Princess was smiling maniacally as Shigure cautiously sailed around to get a better look at the situation, Kiso's cutlass unable to break the skin of the Princess as the Southern War Princess mocked.

[Well, looks like your sword was useless against my Steel Skin after all, eh?!]

But a dark figure rushed forward behind Kiso and was partially blocked by the torpedo cruiser's figure, evading the reflexive firing of the Abyssal's 16 Inch Cannons by performing a spinning jump-flip over the deafening blasts of the two large-caliber shells flying past her airborne figure while Kiso took advantage of the confusion to plant both boat slippers on the Princess's torso and boosting while using the Southern War Princess's tough abdomen as a kick-board to propel herself backwards as Akitsu Maru readied her stance while still airborne, her back arched and a manic grin painted on her own face as she prepared to pierce the Abyssal's face with her bloody katana.

Only the quick reaction of the Abyssal Princess which involved the tilting of her head to prevent the burning tip of Akitsu Maru's Kagutsuchi from piercing her right eye, the ignited blade illuminating the slightly fearful features of the Southern War Princess as she attempted to strike back with her Anti-Air cannons to shoot the IJA ship girl while she was still in mid-air.

But the timely intervention of Maya and Ise to cover Akitsu Maru's retreat was what drove the Abyssal into retreating, the Kai Ni heavy cruiser unloading a barrage of blows into the Southern War Princess's torso and chest after advancing from the Princess's right flank, taking advantage of the fact that the Abyssal's cannons, as powerful as they were, required a very long reload time and was the ideal moment to slip in and land a few physical blows, while Ise unloaded two cannon shots at the Princess's left rigging, causing small cracks to form on the surface of the weapon stack as the firepower of a battleship, weak she may be, was nothing to laugh at as it could still deal considerable damage.

But the three of them were forced to disperse as the Southern War Princess pointed the three 16 Inch Triple Cannons in their general direction, scaring them off as she retreated slowly while waiting for her shield to come back on as the ship girls tried to surround her.

Shigure looked to the rest of the ship girls, seeing that Akashi was almost done with Hatsuzuki and Hyuga's wounds, looking ready to join in the battle while Hayasui prepared her flamethrower in order to roast the Abyssal.

Kawakaze and Hatsuharu were still working on trying to bring down the Princess's lower shield layer which protected the Abyssal from torpedoes, Unryuu doing the same to the Southern War Princess's upper shield with her bombers as Shigure tried to play a more active role in this, unloading her torpedoes in a narrow salvo to concentrate on breaking through her shield along with Kawakaze and Hatsuharu's salvo.

But the Southern War Princess was smarter than that, having been through many battles against various ship girls, and she must have kept track of the deadly destroyers and cruisers as she evaded them while using her strong legs to propel herself sideways at a speed that almost baffled Shigure, the Abyssal firing off torpedoes of her own in a large salvo to try and catch one of them.

The ship girls' torpedoes passed by harmlessly as they failed to even graze her shields while the ship girls scattered in order to evade the Abyssal's torpedo salvo, the Princess opening fire on the boosting ship girls to keep them at bay while her shields recovered, not allowing them the chance to get too close.

It didn't work as Maya, Kiso and Akitsu Maru came in fast, Ise covering them as her cannons blazed continuously and formed a consecutive sequence of large-caliber cannon fire that put the Southern War Princess on edge as she attempted to protect herself, Shigure trying to keep up with the battle as Akitsu Maru and Kiso's swords blurred, ready to draw blood from the enemy that was before them.

Shigure saw that the battle was moving in her direction, and Shigure started sailing away from the action as she saw that Akitsu Maru pulled the pin of a grenade that she produced from her bag with the middle finger of her occupied hand, which was holding her katana Kagutsuchi while Kiso distracted the Abyssal Princess with dual-wielded twin cannon fire.

Ise ran forwards while uncoupling her flight deck, preparing to throw it like a Frisbee and allow it to serve as yet another distraction as she shouted gleefully.

"Hey!

Catch!"

Flinging her flight deck with superhuman strength only achieved by the battleship-class, the Southern War Princess was forced to uncouple an arm from her weapon stack in order to catch the flung projectile to the surprise of Shigure, who assumed that the Abyssal Princess's weapons were fused to her arms.

But this was all within Ise's calculations as she leapt into the air as two 6 Inch shells were fired in her direction and hit her in her right kidney and gut, these shells unable to stop the aviation battleship from driving both her boat slippers into the Southern War Princess's gut, and catching her own flight deck as she gave an intense grin.

Bending her knees at a ninety degree angle and coiling her leg muscles while leaning forwards, she pushed off of her feet while snapping her back backwards and pulled her flight deck out of the hands of the Abyssal as though she were performing a backstroke start as the Southern War Princess coughed violently.

Ise was clearly having the time of her life, coasting through the air with the grace of a humpback whale breaching the surface of the ocean as she cheered,

"Wheeeee!"

Casting a titanic shadow over the spot of ocean which she hovered over while she arced her back, knowing that the Abyssal would still be reeling from the force of a battleship pushing off her stomach and was likely unable to aim straight immediately after as she got ready to perform a 10-point landing…

… Right beside a frozen and gawking Shigure, who was unable to pry her eyes off of the airborne aviation battleship as Ise's shadow eclipsed her tiny figure and finally realizing that the ship girl in the air, with her incredible displacement and heavy equipment, was going to have to land on the spot of ocean to the left of her, unable to close her gaping mouth in time to avoid swallowing a mouthful of seawater as she shrieked in surprise upon her world being shaken, albeit not by the enemy.

The saltiness of the seawater was drowned out by the freezing cold water being displaced and landing on Shigure's entire body, drenched head to toe as the ocean beneath her was disturbed by the battleship landing, Shigure struggling to keep upright amidst the staggering amount of seawater being thrown her way and was trying not to get thrown off her feet by the rough waves.

Blinking away the seawater from her eyes and trying to peek out the fringes of her hair which was stubbornly clinging to her forehead, she could see the feet of two ship girls coming up to her as she accepted their helping hands and noted the Southern War Princess's alternate form.

Her rigging had transformed, in a sense, the rigging now resembling demonic wings that hung from the Southern War Princess's shoulders, the casing that would contain her arms glowing an ominous red and giving the manic Princess a demonic glow behind her, her main cannons pointing backwards to prevent them from getting in the way of their master's hand movements and also to watch her back.

The Southern War Princess's left hand had on a monstrous jaw which was conspicuously missing from her wings, the duo of secondary cannons glowing as they remained on her hand like a demented version of Kawakaze's hand cannon, providing a lethal weapon to drive the ship girls back while they engaged in close-quarters combat.

Kiso was a blur as she sped around, almost leaving afterimages behind as she tried to pierce the skin of the Princess with her cutlass, something which Ise had no problem with as her katana swings possessed more power than speed.

Akitsu Maru was performing her Triple Fiery Impaling Strike, getting into the half-squatting stance before bursting forth and targeting the Princess's mouth and eyes with an increasing obsession with poking out the Princess's eye as her katana burst into blue, ghoulish flames,

It was apparent that vital organs like eyes were a natural weakness to exploit, and the Princess using her armored arms to block Akitsu Maru's burning strikes meant that Kiso and Ise had the chance to strike her with their katanas, for all the good it did.

But the Princess's shields finished repairing the damage, the trio retreating as an electric whir rang out and increased in pitch before the shields came back online, the time limit having expired as the ship girls made a tactical withdrawal.

The Southern War Princess's rigging was already transforming back, enveloping her clawed arms in a mechanical embrace as the Abyssal reflexively fired her torpedoes to grant herself some breathing room, her armor and shields coming in clutch to protect her from the brunt of the damage thus far.

And as the Princess reflexively fired off a 16 Inch shell, the large-caliber shell punched through Unryuu's left shoulder, cleanly separating the carrier's arm from her main body as the Unryuu-Class carrier stumbled back, her expression betraying her pain as her dead left arm hit the ocean hard, still clutching onto her conducting staff.

Shigure rushed over towards the bleeding carrier, worried that she was going to suffer the same fate as Hatsuzuki as she exclaimed.

"Unryuu-san!

Are you alright?!"

Unryuu shook her head in order to clear her mind, Shigure noting the sweat on her face as she suppressed the pain in order to retain her focus, and the fact that she was bleeding from the stump that was previously her left shoulder didn't help matters, and the carrier had lowered her head, knees bent as she took deep breaths and used her right hand to apply direct pressure to the injury.

Shigure's next comment,

"Y-You should retre-"

Was stuck in her throat as the Unryuu-Class carrier raised her head, shaking the sweat from her brows as she brushed past a frozen Shigure, walking over to her dismembered arm and stepping on it with the underside of her boat slipper, her eyes still lifeless and impersonal as she mentally suppressed and the sensation known as pain in order to keep fighting.

Shigure could only stand by quietly and watch as Unryuu knelt down and grabbed her conducting staff with her blood-soaked right hand, leaving her lifeless arm behind as the blood dripped down from her left shoulder and spilled onto the ocean, and the entire action aggravated her wound and caused the bleeding to temporarily increase in intensity.

The sundered arm was left to the elements as Unryuu turned her back on her own body part, and the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was left to pick it up in lieu of the carrier, Shigure stuttering as she asked in a horrified tone.

"U-Unryuu-san?!

What about your a-arm?"

But her response was unsurprisingly chilling, the pale-hair carrier turning back as she revealed the sweat on her emotionless face and answered in an uncaring tone, since it was no longer a part of her body and was no longer her concern.

 _"Do with it what you will._

 _It is useless to me now."_

She was left speechless as Unryuu turned her back on Shigure, who stood on the battlefield with Unryuu's sundered right arm in her hands, eventually coming to her senses and calling Akashi on the radio, asking her about whether the arm should be kept so that it could be reattached to Unryuu's shoulder.

"U-Um, Akashi-san!

Unryuu-san lost a limb, should I keep the dismembered limb so that we can reattach it later?"

She heard the repair ship ask someone on the other end of the line to apply pressure to a wound as an explosion heard by her own ears was present as an echo over the radio, before shifting her attention to Shigure, her tone detached and aloof as she explained and ordered.

"Drop it.

It's only going to slow you down in battle, and we can easily craft another arm for Unryuu back in the docks.

Just another perk of being a ship girl."

She blinked and nodded, noting that the dead arm was dropping in temperature and was dripping fuel and blood in a dull-red-brown mixture through its upper arm cross-section, dropping the cold arm in disgust as she shivered and turned back to the battle.

Kiso threw another torpedo at the Princess's shield, and since the Princess's bubble shield blocked incoming solid projectiles, the Southern War Princess visibly drew back from the resulting explosion as the torpedo detonated after hitting the surface of the shield, the explosion a small distance away from the Princess herself which helped to minimize the damage she sustained.

The Southern War Princess screamed, now extremely pissed off at how the 8th Fleet was utilizing unorthodox techniques to bypass her shields, since the middle layer of her shield was better-suited to defend her against point-target shell damage, not against torpedoes which deal an area-of-effect splash damage with their explosions.

[Stop...

STOP FIGHTING LIKE... _NOT_ HOW SHIP GIRLS FIGHT!]

Hayasui threw a Molotov Cocktail in the direction of the hole in the bubble shield, since Kiso's thrown torpedo along with accumulated damage over the course of the past minute was wearing down her shields as they crumbled, the fleet oiler shouting in response as the bottle shattered on the Princess's pale skin.

"Hell no!

Fighting fair is for squares!"

The Southern War Princess screeched as her skin and hair caught on fire, the Abyssal Princess performing the 'Stop, Drop and Roll' maneuver as she submerged herself in the ocean, everyone shooting at her as she crash-dived in order to save herself lest she be consumed by the flames.

Her crash dive caused large waves to be produced as the flames were extinguished by the seawater, causing smoke to rise into the air as everyone ceased fire after seeing the Princess temporarily submerge in order to catch her bearings and rethink her strategy, Shigure paying extra attention to her sonar in order to find the Abyssal.

Ise covered the small crowd that was her sister Hyuga, Hatsuzuki and Akashi as Akitsu Maru reloaded her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun with what Shigure assumed to be normal shotgun 12 gauge shells, and Kawakaze asked the other destroyers on her fleet.

"Well then, Hatsuharu-san, Shigure-san, shall we?"

Hatsuharu nodded, and Shigure needed a second to decipher her sister's words, seeing the both of them dropping Anti-Submarine depth charges with their bare hands, since they didn't pack specialized Anti-Submarine depth charge launchers attached to their riggings and battle backpacks, but manually activating and dropping the Anti-Submarine depth charges is a riskier, albeit faster way of combating submarines.

Kawakaze, Hatsuharu and Shigure sailed around as they twisted the cap of the depth charges to correspond to the depth which they wanted the depth charge to float at with the help of the Fairies with their sonar, and pressed the cap to activate its Anti-Abyssal sensor and prime the explosive within it.

And as a small red LED light flashed for half a second to signal their activation, Shigure dropped the depth charge and sailed away so as to avoid getting caught in the explosion should the depth charge detonate.

The Princess performed evasive maneuvers on their sonar to avoid being detected by the depth charge sensors, eventually surfacing as Kawakaze and Shigure bolted away while firing torpedoes at the wet Princess.

Vibrant red waves danced across the bubble shield as the Princess shrieked,

[Shit!]

And unleashed everything she had, torpedoes and cannon shells fired everywhere in order to kill everyone.

Hatsuharu was almost hit by a large-caliber shell as one mechanical arm was cleanly sheared off by the incoming shell while she flung herself onto the ocean, while Akitsu Maru strafed and performed a desperate barrel roll in order to evade several torpedoes.

Hyuga, who had recovered enough to at least perform support shelling, joined her sister in laying down cover fire to break the Southern War Princess's shields again, a boost- dodging Kawakaze flinging her own torpedoes while Kiso sniped them down with her crack shot abilities to shatter a few more hexagonal plates.

Maya charged in, brandishing her right fist as she used the main cannons on her rigging to weaken the holographic plate before smashing it in with her gloved fist, connecting with the Abyssal's right cheek and causing her to stumble, Maya continuing on her streak as she clamped her hands together and brought them up.

"Mind your head!"

And smashed it down on the back of the Princess's head, causing her to hit the floor while Ise moved in, asking as the Southern War Princess uncoupled her arms to try and fend off the tag-team physical attack.

"Maya-chan, Hyuga's a little injured, so you mind if I partner up with you to do _that?"_

"No problem, let's do this!"

Maya and Ise dragged the Princess back to her feet and tucked their heads underneath the Princess's arm as they threw her armored arms over their shoulders, ignoring the inconsequential Anti-Air fire directed at them from the Princess's weapons stacks as they reached over towards the opposing shoulder and hooked an arm around the Princess's ample chest.

They placed their free arm on the Southern War Princess's back, flexing both their arms in order to lift the Abyssal aviation battleship, before the both of them fell forwards and performed a two-man Rock Bottom side slam, throwing up waves of seawater due to the displacement of the three of them combined hitting the ocean at once.

The duo scrambled away as the Princess coughed violently and tried to get back up, her submerged cannon stacks gargling on seawater as they tried to protect their master who was in a supine position on the ocean surface and was rolling over in order to try and get back on her feet, in a crawling position as Unryuu ran towards the Princess's head and performed a small skip when she got close enough.

The Unryuu-Class carrier placed her foot on the back of the Southern War Princess's head and put her weight behind her armored leg, forcing the Abyssal's head back down into the ocean in a savage Curb Stomp, the element of surprise ensuring her move's success.

The Abyssal's voice was drowned out by the seawater entering her face, the ocean around her face bubbling as she exclaimed.

[AAARRABBLARGGHH-]

Akashi shouted enthusiastically,

"She's down!

Get her!"

A few of the 8th Fleet members charged at her while she was down, Shigure gawking as Akitsu Maru wildly swung her flaming sword down at the fallen Princess, Akashi lifting her right boat slipper and stomping down on her left knee, Kiso pulling out both her cannons and shooting the Abyssal Princess in the dome of her skull, unfortunately bouncing off of her steel skull as it was reinforced to minimize the chances that a head-shot would one-hit kill her.

Kawakaze held out a hand to stop Shigure from trying to stop the 8th Fleet as she commented on how the 8th Fleet operated out on the field.

"Maa, don't try to stop them, Aneki.

Get ready to launch your torpedoes when the 8th Fleet pulls back."

Noting that Hatsuharu was also preparing to do the same while Hayasui was angling herself so that she wouldn't be in the way of the ship girl torpedoes and the Princess, while Unryuu was summoning more bomber planes in order to prepare for the follow-up attack, Shigure nodded as her torpedo launchers armed the torpedoes within them.

The Southern War Princess's aura flared up menacingly and instilled a wave of unadulterated fear in her assailants, screaming in a blind rage and forcing everyone off of her.

[GET OFF OF ME, YOU DEGENERATES!

I'LL KILL YOU ALL!]

Akitsu Maru remarked about how Kiso failed to kill the Abyssal Princess even after she shot her in her head, the amphibious assault ship holstering her katana Kagutsuchi while retreating.

"Oh my fucking god, how the fuck didn't you cap the bitch?!

Fucking kill yourself!"

Kiso shouted back at the IJA ship girl while holstering both her 14 Cm Single Gun Cannons, obviously also incensed about failing to kill the Southern War Princess with her cannons.

"Hey, piss off, man!

It's the thought that counts!"

The three destroyers of the backup fleet launched their torpedoes, and Hayasui moved in while she produced a flash-bang that she likely got from Akitsu Maru before this and throwing it in the Abyssal's face, stunning her and softening her up enough for Hayasui to shift her flamethrower onto both her hands as she lit up the lighter on the end of the nozzle and fired the fuel jet at the Princess.

Shigure had to shield her eyes as she saw the fuel jet ignite and burn the Abyssal Princess, the Southern War Princess shrieking as the flames engulfed her, Unryuu coordinating her torpedo and dive bombers to drop their payloads and time it with Hayasui's assault and the destroyer's torpedo salvo, injuring the Southern War Princess in a large series of deafening explosions, and Shigure had to shut her eyes in order not to get overwhelmed by the incandescent glow of the resulting fireball.

Several ship girls cheered and hooted as the Southern War Princess scrambled underwater, Ise mocking in a faux-thuggish voice,

"Yeah, you better run!"

While Hatsuharu reminded her about how the Princess was likely going sail around in wait before striking again, and wasn't going to be scared off so easily after being given a pep talk courtesy of Kiso.

"Please, Ise-san.

The Abyssal Princess does not seem to be the kind of person to run away from mere auxiliary ships, especially after that heated exchange with Kiso-san.

And retreating after her entire fleet was decimated by the infamous 8th Fleet would tarnish her record and destroy her reputation for life.

Forgive the language, but she needs to pull a victory out of her posterior to recover from this situation, and despite us vastly outnumbering her, it's debatable as to whether we can actually win this battle."

Ise cocked her head as she lifted an eyebrow in agreement, and Shigure could see an Abyssal signature disappear as it submerged beneath the range of her sonar, likely to evade detection as she recovered while Kawakaze, Hatsuharu and Shigure continued to drop depth charges, and Maya even chipped in since she was a heavy cruiser and also possessed some depth charges of her own.

Kawakaze was commenting on how they were cornering the Abyssal Princess with their depth charges, dropping them at strategic locations so as to make sure that she kept the Abyssal Princess on the move.

"Woo!

We've got her on the run now, Shigure!

Abyssals don't like depth charges very much, since they can easily be killed by the resulting pressure wave, so keep dropping them and we'll either flush her out or scare her off soon enough!"

Shigure nodded, understanding that air was a compressible medium when compared to water, and the underwater denizens were right to fear underwater explosions, which were deadlier than airborne explosions since unlike air, water was an excellent conductor of pressure waves which could potentially damage their internal organs when they were submerged underwater.

The Abyssal Southern War Princess was performing evasive maneuvers so as to avoid getting picked up by the Anti-Abyssal sensors within the Anti-submarine depth charges and causing them to detonate the explosives within, and Shigure knew that deep underwater, while they couldn't fire at the Abyssals since they were underwater, the Abyssals also couldn't fire at them since cannons didn't work underwater.

Kiso noted,

"She's coming back up!

Get ready, girls!"

Ise uncoupled a battleship cannon from her rigging while Hayasui retreated and allowed Akitsu Maru to take her place on the front lines.

The Southern War Princess emerged cannons blazing while her body tried to repair the burn damage as best it could, her large-caliber cannons shaking the very air around them while everyone performed evasive maneuvers, Kiso and Kawakaze unloading their torpedoes simultaneously in order to force the Princess's hand.

The Southern War Princess grunted as she heaved and pulled her weapon stacks around in order to evade the underwater projectiles, Shigure noting that Ise and Akitsu Maru charged her with weapons in hand.

Her shields blocked the aviation battleship's shells as Ise's shells were fired from her rigging, Akitsu Maru adding to the barrage of cannon-fire by slipping out her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun and firing it in the Princess's direction, and smoothly transitioning from shotgun to katana as she wielded Kagutsuchi in a reverse grip, stabbing it into a gap in between the red hexagonal plates as they began to disappear.

Shigure fired her cannons in order to provide some form of distraction and to wear down the shield, and Hatsuharu's delayed firing of her torpedoes meant that she could home in on the Southern War Princess after she evaded Kiso and Kawakaze's torpedo salvo.

The Southern War Princess grunted as Hatsuharu's salvo hit home and threw up seawater as she tried to fire a large-caliber cannon at the Kai Ni destroyer who was boosting away, Shigure hearing a barely audible,

[Shit, fucking-]

But Ise boost dodged in order to evade a large-caliber barrel pointed in her direction, utilizing her speed to spin around in a counterclockwise direction and using her left leg to perform a spinning rear kick to the Princess's shield, heavily cracking it while Akitsu Maru ripped her katana out and sliced into a hexagonal plate while the Southern War Princess stumbled back from the attack.

Kiso appeared behind Ise, airborne after performing a giant leap as she utilized her boost gauge in mid-air to boost forward and transition from a running jump into a flying torpedo spin, shouting,

"Flying Thunder God!"

Slicing through the Princess's compromised shields in a fraction of a second, Kiso cleanly evaded the Princess's shells as she managed to break the skin of the Abyssal Princess, causing the shocked Princess to exclaim,

[You bitch!

How the hell did you-]

But Ise took this chance to charge forward and attack her along with Akitsu Maru and Maya joining the fray as Kiso boosted away while flashing her searchlight eye in her face and firing a few torpedoes at point-blank range, shattering the Princess's underwater torpedo shields as she passed through the insides on the shield since the Abyssal shield prevented things from entering, not exiting.

Ise came in roaring, brandishing her battleship cannon and wielding it like a baseball bat, clenching a barrel in one hand as she brought it down on the Southern War Princess's head with a vengeance, causing the Abyssal's head to be forcefully displaced as the armor of the battleship cannon crumpled, since both their armor were equally matched and were thus both damaged by the attack.

[GRRAAAGGHHH!

What the hell was tha-]

The pressure never let up for a second as Maya flexed her muscled arm before delivering one hell of a right hook and shouting,

 _"SHUT-THE-FUCK-UP PUNCH!"_

And caused the Princess to stagger back while Akitsu Maru got into a crouching stance and performed a Lone Fiery Impaling Strike into the Abyssal's wounded gut, Ise using her flight deck and her own body to tank the large-caliber shells fired out from the dark 16 inch cannons pointed their way, Unryuu's planes still hard at work in trying to break the Abyssal's upper shields.

The Southern War Princess, now enraged, roared as she kicked Maya in the abdomen and sent her flying, fired two medium caliber shells at her and threatening her with a large-caliber barrel to get her to retreat, and sent out four Abyssal Fighter Mark 2 planes in order to even the odds in the air, uncoupling her arms from her cannons stacks to free up her arms as she did so.

Akitsu Maru then shouted to Kiso in a gleeful tone, as though expecting something.

"Yo, Kiso-chan!

Wanna do _that_ thing we've being practicing for a while now?"

Kiso was incredulous as she sheathed her cutlass, her torpedo launchers hard at work in trying to reload as she brought out her two 14 Cm cannons, watching the Southern War Princess evade torpedo salvos and catching large-caliber shells fired from Ise and Hyuga's cannons, even forcefully throwing them back at the slower ship girls in the 8th Fleet and forcing them to evade as Kiso retorted.

"Are you serious?!

Right here?"

An enthusiastic nod from the amphibious assault ship was all the torpedo cruiser got as a response, sighing as her searchlight eye was now a pale glow in the dark, Kiso turning down the intensity after the star shell had long dropped into the ocean and left the ocean in darkness so as not to stun her own teammates with its glare as she responded while breaking into a run.

"Fine!

But I'll be on top this time, alright?!"

Shigure could only watch as Akitsu Maru stored all her weapons and did the same, sprinting and evading enemy fire as she cheerily replied.

"Alright!"

And running towards the Southern War Princess while meeting up halfway, Shigure was firing her Anti-Air cannons at the airborne Abyssal Fighter Mark 2 planes as Akitsu Maru seemingly slipped, her boat slippers now pointing towards the night sky as she was now in a crouching position with her back on the ocean surface.

But what surprised Shigure was how the torpedo cruiser jumped atop Akitsu Maru's boat slippers, also in a similar crouching position as she readied her two medium-caliber cannons while Akitsu Maru manically called out with a lyrical pitch at the end.

"Lift _off!"_

The both of them extended their legs and pushed off the other's boat slippers, Kiso now soaring into the air towards unheard-of heights as everyone was enchanted by the sight, even the sentient Abyssal Fighter Planes and the Southern War Princess herself, Kiso putting a lot of spin into her jump as she flipped forwards, firing her two 14 Cm cannons everywhere as she hit every Abyssal plane in the vicinity.

The planes were destroyed instantly, since they were never meant to hold up against medium caliber warship shells as they easily punched through the dark shells of the Abyssal Fighter Mark 2 planes, Kiso also taking the chance to drop her Type 93 oxygen torpedoes on the Abyssal Princess's upper shields.

Letting gravity do the job as Unryuu's planes allowed Kiso a large area to try and land so as not to get caught by a stray limb smacking them out of the sky, the Southern War Princess shrieking in surprise as the torpedo detonations utterly annihilated her upper shields and caused the Abyssal to stumble about, since any damage inflicted on the shields could be felt by her, albeit as a softened force after the shields absorbed the brunt of the impact.

Shigure could see that a recovered Maya was getting up while Kiso landed on the ocean surface, and the Kai Ni heavy cruiser began charging towards the Abyssal Princess in order to perform a drop kick on her.

But the Princess was tougher than the duo thought, and Maya was caught off guard when the Southern War Princess grabbed both her feet while she was in mid-air and spun around at an alarming speed, throwing her towards Kiso who was aiming her two 14 Cm cannons at the Abyssal's back, causing them to collide as the Princess aimed a large-caliber cannon at them and fired unceremoniously, the duo disappearing behind an explosion of water and fuel.

Shigure could hear Hatsuharu breaking character as she shouted uncharacteristically, genuinely concerned about her teammate as her expression morphed into one wracked with concern.

"Maya!"

Shigure pulled out her 12 Cm single gun cannon in order to fire at the Abyssal's head in a slight fit of rage, Akitsu Maru, Akashi, Ise, Kawakaze and Hayasui all moving in after the Princess was occupied with dealing with Maya and Kiso, Kawakaze throwing a torpedo and hitting her newly reactivated shield, distracting the Southern War Princess long enough for everyone to chip in with all the firepower they had while Akashi sailed around the Princess to check up on the fallen duo.

The Southern War Princess fired everywhere, trying to hit someone as she endured all the firepower which was directed at her and returned in kind, Shigure evading everything while everyone wore the shields down with everything they had on hand, the Southern War Princess engulfed by another burst of flames courtesy of Hayasui while everyone withdrew, since her shields couldn't block liquid-based attacks.

Shigure could see that the Abyssal Princess was mostly engulfed in burns and was now on the ropes due to the amount of damage she was taking, and even though those burns may look superficial, the potential damage they could cause internally were another matter, since they wore the Abyssal down with damage-over-time and couldn't be blocked by conventional means

Akashi swung her steel hook around menacingly before throwing it in the direction of the Abyssal, catching her around her upper left arm as it decreased in length while it winded around her pale arm, the Southern War Princess noticing it and attempting to pull the repair ship towards her cannons.

But Ise was already on the scene, a big smirk on her face as she had both her hands on the steel wire and boomed.

"Heave!"

Caught off guard, the Abyssal stumbled back as her entire arm was pulled backwards, opening her up for an attack from Kawakaze and Akitsu Maru, the two clumsily-fired 16 Inch shells in their direction unable to deter them from their charge as Kawakaze high-jumped and planted her boat slippers onto the Southern War Princess's face, forming a squatting motion before performing a back flip while launching herself off of the Southern War Princess and emptying her boost in the Abyssal's face, Akitsu Maru holding her katana with both hands as she grunted and slashed horizontally in a clean yet vicious manner.

Cutting into the stomach of the Abyssal while causing her katana to catch on fire, Akitsu Maru's fierce scream to boost her spirit was intermixed with the Southern War Princess's scream of agony, and the Abyssal punched the ocean in an attempt to catch the two retreating ship girls, and would have been successful if not for Shigure and Kawakaze shooting her in the face with their 12 Cm Single Gun cannons to distract her long enough for them to escape and for Ise to retrieve Akashi's steel hook, while Unryuu's fighter planes shot at her from the sky to cover their escape.

The Southern War Princess was weakening considerably, her head bleeding and her guts disemboweled as her body tried to repair the damage caused to it, and Shigure winced as the Southern War Princess was breathing heavily, trying not to stumble after taking so much damage while everyone kept their distance, now looking much like a pack of wolves cornering a wounded bull.

Akashi shouted questioningly in order to ask the Southern War Princess about the possibility of ending this conflict peacefully, or at least as peacefully as they could after attempting to take each other's life.

"Y'know, it ain't normal for us to ask, but do you wish to surrender?"

The Southern War Princess grimaced as she replied defiantly, ready to fight to the death rather than take a step backwards out of cowardice.

[Screw you all!

I ain't retreating, and you'll have to kill me to stop me from making it to the Japanese shore to wreck havoc on those wretched humans!]

Akitsu Maru sneered, asking about why the Southern War Princess was rebelling as she partially agreed with the Princess's view of mankind.

"Y'know, I kinda agree with the fact that humans are squabbling idiots who aren't really worth our effort and time, but really, I don't think you're that stupid to sail right into the Safety Zone and try to take on all the ship girls of Japan with only five fleets, so what gives?

You got a death wish?"

Smirking and trying to blink in order to prevent her blood from entering her crimson-colored eyes as she promised.

[Well, fuck, I hate the new bosses who are in charge, but I ain't no snitch!

You're gonna have to beat the information out of me, whore!]

A shadow shot up from behind the Southern War Princess, and the Abyssal spun around in time to see a partially damaged Kiso burst forwards with the help of her boost gauge, performing a spinning cut on the Southern War Princess, who felt her presence soon enough to turn back and partially evade the attack which was aimed at the nape of her neck, Shigure detecting blood being drawn by Kiso's cutlass as the torpedo cruiser landed behind the Abyssal after performing a Flying Thunder God technique.

Taking a look at Kiso and Maya was all that was needed to see that they weren't in good shape, Maya being worse off than Kiso as her bloody and bruised right arm hung uselessly while Maya was panting and sweating heavily with several broken bones and ribs causing blueish-black swollen flesh to plague her body, having body-blocked the large-caliber shell for Kiso and paid the price in blood as her green uniform seemingly changed color, likely unable to fight on the front lines for the remainder of this battle.

Kiso looked a little better in that regard as her uniform was mostly intact, one torpedo launcher taken out of action while her shredded cape fluttered in the wind, Kiso's battle aura flaring up even more despite sustaining what bordered on medium damage, smiling wickedly as she turned around to address the Princess, her glowing eye now increasing in luminosity as she remarked in a faux congratulatory tone.

"Wow, good job evading that.

You know, I was aiming for your neck like I promised, so if you hadn't dodged that in time, your head would have rolled for sure."

The Abyssal Princess, now breathing heavily from some kind of wound she sustained, turned back to address Kiso in a livid tone as she revealed the bloody gash running diagonally down her face from her right temple to left cheek and was bathing her face in blood, clearly not expecting the damaged torpedo cruiser to still be able to hurt her to such an extent.

[How the hell are you able to able to hurt me this much, despite taking so much damage?!

You couldn't cut through my Steel Skin at the start of the battle, so how?

And aren't you torpedo cruisers capable of high damage output, but get taken out of battle if someone so much as sneezes in your direction?!]

Kiso flicked her hair to one side, using her free hand to wipe the blood and sweat from her brow as she responded coolly.

"Well, I just got used to the thickness of your armor, and figured out the amount of strength to put into my strikes and at what angle I had to approach in order to cut through it effectively.

And you know.

Maybe the fact that I'm still standing means you might not be as good as you think you are.

I'm just saying."

The Southern War Princess growled in unison with her weapon stacks, all her cannons twitching aggressively as they itched to take a shot at the cocky torpedo cruiser, the Abyssal threatening with a bloodthirsty expression that yearned for her head on a pike.

[You bitch...]

Kiso turning to face her adversary, raising her arms in a confident shrug as she mocked, the Abyssal Princess's vengeful red aura flaring up upon witnessing her confidence in her odds of winning.

"Well, I learnt how to cut through your armor.

You might as well drop your weapons and start praying to your dark gods for a divine intervention,"

Kiso's eyes dulled, and even her searchlight eye seemed to dim as Kiso's demeanor changed from cocky to mirroring the Abyssal Princess's homicidal aura, gripping her cutlass a little tighter as she leaned in menacingly in order to finish her sentence.

 _"Because you're gonna need it."_

The Southern War Princess scowled as she brandished her weapon stacks and responded in a confrontational manner, opening fire upon them as she shouted back.

[Well, I ain't praying to anyone other than me!

Like I said before, you'll have to beat the information out of me, bitch!]

And amidst all the evasive moves performed to dodge the incoming cannon shells and torpedoes, Shigure could make out Kiso coolly answering before leaping into the air.

"Just the way I like it..."

And performed yet another Flying Thunder God just as the Princess herself managed to uncouple her armored right arm in order to partially shield herself from the incoming blade.

It somewhat succeeded as Kiso's blade still managed to cut through the dark armor which cocooned her right arm, but couldn't pierce through it to injure the Abyssal's arm, since her armor acted as a buffer against Kiso's Anti-Abyssal cutlass and did its job.

The reason why the Princess's shield hadn't yet recovered was because, like the Admiral said, a Princess's shields would recover after three minutes, but since they destroyed all three layers of her shields, the energy needed to restore them back to working order had to be distributed over the three layers, and extended the time taken to bring these shields back up to six minutes.

Ise fired her cannons in order to bring her down for good, and the Southern War Princess tried to evade her shells and returned in kind, Akitsu Maru, Akashi, Kiso and Hayasui moving in to take her down as Unryuu sent her dive bombers in to soften her defenses for them.

And as powerful as the Southern War Princess's 16 Inch cannons were, they were slow and unwieldy against the girls of the 8th Fleet, who utilized their physical strength and boost gauges instead of their mediocre boat slippers' slow top speed to blitz around, Akashi and Akitsu Maru both scoring hits with their scalpels and katana respectively, Akashi slicing into the Princess's calf muscle before boosting away while Hayasui covered her escape with a stream of flaming fuel to make the Princess hold off on retaliating.

Akitsu Maru kept swinging her burning katana Kagutsuchi wildly around before stabbing it into a gap in the Princess's weapon stack, causing something to catch on fire since the force spread over such a small area meant that it would likely penetrate deeper than a slicing motion, Akitsu Maru evading in time to avoid an internal explosion that engulfed the weapon in flames, comprising the Abyssal Princess's cannons.

And it was at that moment, when Maya and Ise laid cover for them, when the shield happened to come back online, Shigure emptying her cannons and launching all her torpedoes in the direction of the Princess, who was now stumbling around and was starting to mumble incoherently.

[Goddamn...

Every one of you all... gonna fucking die...

I won't... be defeated... again...]

Shigure was starting to feel bad for the Southern War Princess, but she steeled her heart and kept on firing, because she understood her priorities and knew that the Abyssal Princesss had to be sunk, simply because it was their objective as soldiers in a war.

Akashi pulled out from her rigging and activated a strange grenade which Shigure couldn't immediately identify, throwing it while warning everyone nearby,

"EMP grenade, incoming!"

Seeing how everyone visibly prepared themselves for the incoming blast confused Shigure before the grenade detonated, throwing Shigure's mind into disarray as her HUD warped and dissolved into static before recovering over a period of twenty seconds, causing the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer to crumple onto the ocean as she suddenly felt very sick, since their bodies ran on electricity and it was now disrupted by the electromagnetic wave hitting her like a ton of bricks.

As she resisted the urge to vomit upon feeling the world spin around her in her mind, she could notice the shields of the Princess flickering in and out of existence out of the corner of her eye as she heard someone shout accusingly, the sting of the EMP still fresh in her voice as she croaked.

"Couldn't you have used that a little earlier to help us gain a decisive advantage, fucking bitch?!"

That was all she needed to determine that the voice probably belonged to someone from the 8th Fleet, Akashi retorting.

"Well, this here's classified technology, so I had to use it in order to secure our victory.

If she were to run away after I used it earlier, it'd be a problem if knowledge of this weapon were leaked, wouldn't it?"

The voice clicked its tongue, Shigure now feeling the world coming back into focus as her HUD sharpened and displayed her status again, the static in her mind dissipating as her thoughts cleared, shakily raising her cannon to fire her 12 Cm Single Barrel cannon at the Princess's recovering shields.

Ise firing all her cannons at the shield was the last straw for the weakening Abyssal as the wound Akashi inflicted on the Princess's left calf muscle was taking its toll, the wound now agitated as Ise's cannon fire impacting her shields threw her forwards as she collapsed onto the ocean, with her right knee on the ocean as she leaned over while gasping in an exhausted manner.

But Ise didn't stop there.

Shigure was horrified as Ise smashed a hexagonal plate on her shield in with her boat slipper and a quick-boost to damage it before body-slamming it to enter the point-blank range of the Southern War Princess, raising her unsheathed katana and holding it with both hands as she brought it down on the Princess, who was already turning around and was raising her left arm to fire at the aviation battleship.

A 16 Inch shell was emptied into Ise's stomach while the Ise-Class aviation battleship screamed an unholy battle cry with a crazed smile on her bloody face, slashing down at the arm of the Southern War Princess, cutting through steel bone and sundering her left arm, Shigure watching on as the Princess's missing arm spurted out blood like a fire hose on full blast before her internal valves kicked in.

Ise stumbled back, coughing as the injury of the point-blank 16 Inch shell being fired into her stomach took its toll, a dark red stain propagating on her miko uniform as Shigure hesitated to get close in order to check up on Ise's injury because,

One, she wasn't a repair ship and couldn't help fix Ise's injury.

Two, the Southern War Princess might seize this chance to take her hostage since she was admittedly the weakest link amidst the ship girls present, and she didn't want to jeopardize their chances of victory when they were this close to winning.

Three, she could feel the aftershocks of the EMP on her systems, and Shigure's reflexes were still rather sluggish since she was an unremodeled ship girl, and she knew that even a glancing blow from a well-aimed (or lucky) 16 inch shell could easily sink her.

Flicking the alien Abyssal blood off of her katana, Ise was shivering as she shakily sheathed her katana, even coughing out some blood as she pointed all her cannons at her to make sure that she could put the Abyssal down if she tried to do anything funny, everyone slowly surrounding her as they pointed their weapons at the defeated Southern War Princess.

The Abyssal, upon seeing the battle conclude in her defeat, she seemed to deflate as her fighting spirit went out of her, allowing the fatigue to take its toll after suffering intense second, third and even a few fourth degree burn wounds, lacerations and slash wounds crisscrossing her body and disfiguring her face courtesy of Kiso, and she was missing an arm after Ise severed her upper left arm and halved her firepower.

The Abyssal was breathing heavily, her shaky breath complementing the tears of pain that streaked down her shaky scowl as Akashi pulled out some sort of toy gun with a vial where the hammer was supposed to be and the barrel was replaced with a syringe, some sort of internal mechanism powering up as the repair ship roughly pulled the Southern War Princess by her right ponytail, plunged the syringe near the nape of her neck where her rigging connected to her neural network in order to quickly receive orders, and pulled the trigger.

An explosive hiss interrupted the lull in the combat, the Southern War Princess shrieking upon feeling the vial being injected into her bloodstream as she feebly tried to wriggle out of Akashi's attempt to tie her steel hook and cable around her remaining arm in order to ensure that the Abyssal didn't escape into the ocean, Ise moving up and grabbing hold of the makeshift leash that tethered the Southern War Princess to the surface of the ocean.

[Jesus, fucking... shit!

I ain't fighting back, so ease the fuck up, alright?!]

Akitsu Maru was trying to refrain from laughing as she pumped her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun, pointing it down at the head of the fallen Princess as she retorted.

"Nah, this is just to make sure that you don't activate that 'suicide' program and kill yourself before you answer our questions.

We also sure as hell don't want you crash diving back into the ocean and slipping out of our grasp, and to my knowledge, that's called 'Not being an idiot'.

So shut up and start talking."

Shigure could see the logic in their actions, but still flinched at how coldly they treated their enemies, not explicitly cruel, but without a trace of warmth or leniency in them, Akashi asking the first question.

"Let's start with some easy questions, shall we?

What is 'Apocalypse'?

Is it the plans for another major land assault?"

The Southern War Princess breathed heavily for a bit, before shaking her head and answering shakily.

[You're right.

We've been preparing for this since...

For about a decade; God, I thought my software was updated with protection against this suicide jamming vial?]

Akashi shook her head as she leaned in and explained.

"We gave you all the Mark l version of the vial, what I used on you was the Mark ll, an improved version.

War is also a technological race, and right now-"

[You're losing.]

Everyone's breath stopped as they allowed the Princess to explain herself, the Abyssal's advanced repair systems trying to stabilize her condition and bring the blood flowing from her gut, right arm and her face under control as she spoke.

[You really thought that we were gonna sit around, dwindle our arms and hope that ocean superiority alone is gonna help us conquer all of Earth and wipe out those blasted humans?

Fuck no.

We were so fucking worried that you all knew what were doing behind your backs, but turns out, you're just as ignorant about things as I am, as much as I hate to admit it.

And I suppose... in a sense, you made me feel something other than overwhelming hatred for those shitheads you're protecting.]

Akashi blinked, her eyes sharpening as she flicked her right hand and pulled out a curved knife which resembled a giant claw along with a curved handle and a ring at the end, fitting the steel ring around her right index finger as she spun the karambit around slowly and walked behind the Princess.

Before she grabbed the karambit by the handle, utilizing the sharp edge of her blade to press against the Southern War Princess's throat, pulling it up and threatening to slit her throat as she asked.

"And what might that be?"

Cue a snarky response from the Princess while looking up at a no-nonsense Akashi.

[Pity.]

Akashi raised an eyebrow as she shot Kiso and Akitsu Maru a look, uttering a simple _hmm_ before continuing.

"Next question.

2013, 5 of May, 1050 hours.

You were testing a weapon on the abandoned Wotje Island, which was part of the French Polynesia, in the Pacific Ocean.

You wiped out the island, likely in an attempt to erase all the evidence of the weapons test along with it.

What were you testing?"

The Abyssal Princess grunted as she lifted her neck so as not to allow the karambit to slowly but surely cut into her flesh, wracking her mind in order to remember something in the recesses of her mind as she eventually answered.

[Railgun.]

The 8th Fleet looked at each other, contemplating possibilities as Akashi prodded.

"What for?

Using them in war is fine and dandy, but it'd be safe to assume that you have it installed on the _Flying Dutchman_ as its ace in the hole, right?"

The last thing any one of them expected was for the Abyssal Princess to suddenly burst out into laughter, the ax-crazy side to her surfacing as she laughed in the face of all the cannons, firearms and weapons pointed at her, her smile stretching from cheek to cheek as some of the life came back to her eyes, cackling madly as she mocked.

[Oh, that's just hilarious!

Did you think we were at your level, content to allow our railguns to sit on large warships and fire them occasionally like goddamn trebuchets?!

Hell no!]

Shaking her head and causing her long fringe to swing from side to side, Shigure was transfixed by the sight of the Abyssal Princess looking physically defeated in this battle, yet looking more confident about winning the war.

[I heard talks about them upgrading it and reducing its weight so much so that they could mount it on a tank to serve as a tank destroyer, last I heard.

Or was it a bunker buster?

I'm sorry, I often sleep through these progress update reports.]

Another series of concerned looks was shared between everyone, and Shigure could see that despite everyone seeing the need to keep silent for the duration of the operation, she could see that they were all shaken up by the series of revelations that were coming out of the Princess's mouth.

Akashi's eyes narrowed, and she gripped her karambit a little tighter as she asked another question, understanding that they were working against the clock since the Abyssal's 'immune system' which defended it against hacks and viruses was already active and was trying to purge Akashi's Mark ll virus from its system to allow the Abyssal to kill herself.

"Next question, why _did_ you rebel and head for the Japanese mainland?

Don't you fear the wrath of your superiors, call-sign 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac'?"

This was where the Southern War Princess reacted unexpectedly again, her expressive face now morphing into one of shock and even a bit of admiration, commenting.

[Well, now.

Looks like your intelligence isn't completely shit... heh.

I didn't care anymore, y'see.]

Inhaling sharply in pain, the Southern War Princess looked rather bitter about something or another as she continued on a slight rant on her superiors, and how she wanted to royally piss them off with everything she had.

[New management came in, and drastically changed everything.

Convinced those who were even higher up the food chain that we needed to prepare for a real land invasion this time, and subsequently, a World War.

They got what they wanted, and they were researching and mass-producing new Abyssal units and weapons for almost an entire decade, but only recently did they ramp up their production rate.

The _problem_ _...]_

Now seething mad, the Abyssal spoke through gritted teeth as her battle aura flared up while she was unknowingly talking herself into a fervor, Shigure, Ise, Kiso and Akitsu Maru all tightening their hold on their respective weapons as the Princess continued.

[...is that they started shifting the focus onto them instead of us Princesses three years ago, and that was when 'Superstar and Brainiac' started using their ranks as Secretary and Commander-in-Chief to actively boss us Princesses around, despite being _fucking light cruisers!]_

Shigure could feel the Princess's aura flare up menacingly upon talking about her superiors, and there was no love lost there since the Abyssal Princess clearly hated being bossed around by someone who was clearly of a weaker ship class than her.

But something to note was how they managed to lead the entire Abyssal invasion, and if they were clearly weaker than the Abyssal Princesses or weren't competent enough at doing their jobs, more disgruntled Princesses would have rebelled far earlier, and wouldn't have waited this long to act out.

This might mean that the Abyssal light cruiser commanders were actually great at their jobs, and the Southern War Princess possibly acted out of jealousy after seeing the resounding success of the _Flying Dutchman_ at the Battle of Mikura Jima island and tried to strike out on her own.

Akashi's brows furrowed after seeing the Abyssal get agitated by her own words, pressing the blade against her pale, slender neck as she pushed on, despite everyone looking as though they wanted to bombard the Southern War Princes with questions of their own.

"Last question. This is the important one."

Going off on a slight tangent, the repair ship explained herself.

"This is about your superiors, 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac'.

You said that they were light cruisers, but assuming that most Abyssal light cruisers don't possess the ability to communicate verbally, this would make giving orders a little more difficult in real life and complicate matters.

And considering the resentment in the tone in which you regard them with and the lengths you go to in order to rebel against them and expose their plans to the enemy indicates a lack of allegiance, which, by my analysis of your personality, would be highly unlikely if they were an Abyssal Ho-Class or Tsu-Class light cruiser.

Thus, it would stand to reason that they may be Abyssalized ship girls, and them being granted so much power over you all and ordering you around despite previously being the enemy was likely what sent you over the edge."

Akashi's crimson aura flared up as her eyes dulled and her expression hardened, showing absolutely no qualms about slitting the Abyssal's throat should she fail to answer this question.

 _"Here's my question._

 _Who are they?"_

A look of slight surprise was what greeted Akashi, as the Abyssal Princess looked rather surprised at how they didn't already know who 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac' were, responding incredulously.

[Seriously?

And here I was starting to respect your intelligence-gathering capabilities.

I thought you would have known who they were, since they said several times that they were from your base.]

Everyone's eyes widened as the Abyssal confirmed their suspicions, exposing the true identities of her hated superiors.

['Superstar' is Sakawa of the Agano-Class light cruisers.

'Brainiac' is Yuubari of the Yuubari-Class light cruisers, and the both of them were previously from Yokosuka.]

Kiso interjected this time, pressing her cutlass to the Abyssal's throat as her expression darkened, clearly expressing repressed sentiment and the agony possibly because she knew the duo personally, bluntly asking.

"How do we know you aren't lying?

You promised that you'd tell us what you know if we defeated you, but there's always the chance that you may be bullshitting us, you know?"

And the Abyssal did her best to contain her laughter as she pointed out things from her point of view.

[You really...he he...

You really think I need to lie about this crap?!

There's no longer any need to lie, bitch, because we're already done with preparations!

You're the ones who have your guns and knives to my throat, and I fucking hate my bosses, you really think I'm in the mood for _lying?]_

Nodding downwards to motion to her chest with her chin, the Southern War Princess looked down at her cleavage as she provided one example.

[Look, the Sakawa from your base had a shell punched clean through her chest which sank her, right?

Well, as Secretary, I remember the fact that she had a bright circular device in her chest to power her body, so how's that for fucking proof?!]

Akashi's expression was now entirely devoid of humanity as she leaned in, a shadow cast over her empty eyes as she prodded.

"So why wait for us to play catch-up?

Why not kill us in a single, devastating global offensive campaign, and instead send the _Flying Dutchman_ out to Mikura Jima Island, only to tip your hand in the process?"

Looking up at Akashi, her response was aloof considering the situation she was in, Shigure shivering at how both the interrogator and interrogated were discussing about things which would change the world, and how intense her friend looked after the names of code-name 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac' were revealed to be Sakawa and Yuubari, likely suggesting a history with either one of them, or both.

[I suppose it's because of our confidence in ourselves.

Yuubari's pet project, the _Flying Dutchman_ , was used to wipe out the ship girls at Mikura Jima Island to draw first blood.

We have an endless number of reserves and resources to fight this war forever, two things you certainly don't possess.

So the certainty of our victory is pretty much assured, you see.

I guess this was our way of giving you a sporting chance to win, likely because the Brainiac treats all this like a fucking game.]

Meeting Akashi's gaze, everyone felt the pressure shift onto the repair ship as the Southern War Princess revealed Abyssal Yuubari's desire to have Akashi as her opponent in a battle of wits.

[And like what she always says to everyone, she wants you to join in and play with her, Akashi of Yokosuka.]

Sneering as she relaxed and weakened as her wounds took their toll on her, Shigure intently listened to the Princess's last words as she chuckled softly, expressing her thought about the two fleets that destroyed them and brought her down.

[Heh...

It's kinda sad, really...

I respect your strength and the fact that you're capable of performing beyond what your stats allow.

That makes you all great warriors in my book, and was one reason why I shared what I knew so easily...

But seeing how heavily the odds are stacked against you, it's so sad, it almost makes me laugh and pity you all...]

Kiso inhaled through her nose, taking some time to absorb this knowledge as she commented on the battle, since despite the Princess's crass, ax-crazy behavior, extreme killing intent and hair-trigger temper, she was a half-decent warrior who legitimately gave them a run for their money.

"Well, it wasn't all that bad fighting against you, either.

You kept your word even though you didn't really have any obligation to do so, and it was quite surprising when you ordered your Elites to retreat instead of ordering them to fight to the death for you.

You stuck around and didn't run like a pussy even after learning that were the 8th Fleet of Yokosuka, and it took a lot out of us to bring you down, so take it as a compliment when we say that you were one tough bitch to sink."

And the Abyssal Southern War Princess chuckled a little, getting one last word in with her dying breath.

[Well, I must say the same for you all, as weak you all may look.

I'm almost tempted to feel sorry that warriors like you all are going to wiped out by the war's... end...]

Before shuddering and convulsing a little, the Princess expressing a bit of pain as the suicide program was carried out before it fully kicked in and spread to the rest of her body, her pale, limp body collapsing onto the ocean surface as her expression softened and her muscles slackened.

Hitting the ocean with a dull splash, everyone exhaled as they now knew that this was truly the end of the battle, despite being told of what was to come next.

Leaning down and uncoupling the steel hook from the Princess's corpse, Ise returned Akashi's hook to her as she commented on what they had just learnt about 'Apocalypse' and what it entailed.

"So, my guess is that this 'Apocalypse' is the 'Mud-skipper' scenario that the upper echelon predicted and prepared for immediately after the American _Blitzkrieg_ of '07?"

Akashi nodded solemnly as she looked down at the sinking Abyssal corpse, unfettered by the carnage as she flipped and allowed her Anti-Abyssal karambit to slip back into her sleeve while a thoughtful Kawakaze looked towards a silent Shigure and explained.

"Well, the 'Mud-skipper' scenario's an extremely detailed plan to repel the Abyssals should they attempt another land assault after attacking the American mainland in 2007, plans ranging from blueprints to various Anti-Abyssal firearm prototypes to mass-evacuation plans to ensure the safety of the populace.

It was drawn up immediately the Abyssals attacked America, since the humans were then fueled by paranoia, preparing themselves for anything and suspected everything immediately after the unexpected land invasion."

Kiso interjected, now looking extremely concerned about their immediate future and the outcome of the war despite having just fought a hard-won battle.

"And after a few years when no other indications of another land assault happening despite their intelligence networks tracing and deciphering everything they could overhear, they mothballed said plans and focused on the here and now, trying to deal with the growing Princess threat.

But they forget that the Abyssals are always one step ahead of us, and unlike a normal war, we can't send spies in to eavesdrop on them and learn what they're up to."

Maya, limping forward while Hatsuharu provided her a shoulder to lean on despite her smaller body frame, spat some blood into the ocean as she grumbled.

"Seriously, how the hell did everyone think that the Abyssals would try to strike so soon after the American _Blitzkrieg_ , yet never suspect that they were up to something after they failed to come out with another Five Year Plan for the last quarter of the war leading up to now?

It's like someone robbing your house and expecting them to do again after you bought a gun, yet don't prepare yourself when an unmarked van drives past your house a few months after said robbery."

Unryuu, despite missing an arm and looked a little paler than she normally did due to the blood loss, joined in the conversation as she pointed out.

 _"Well, it's not unreasonable for them to do so, since it's impractical for them to try and prepare for every situation under the sun._

 _In a war like this, where information is scarce and you cannot interrogate Abyssals due to their..."_

Looking down at the spine of the Southern War Princess as the corpse disappeared under the ocean, Shigure was reminded that the Abyssals' self-destruct modules to kill themselves were an integral reason why they couldn't simply capture one and interrogate them, especially since experimental vials like the one Akashi injected into the Abyssal Princess were likely hard to research and make, and they had to use it when there was reason to believe that its use was justified.

Like now.

Unryuu continued,

 _"...due to their tendency to commit suicide in order to prevent capture._

 _It would stand to reason that the humans wished to focus on the more immediate threats, namely the Abyssal Princesses, instead of wasting their time on hypothetical scenarios._

 _No one can be paranoid forever."_

Ise tried to clarify as she sheathed her katana and counted on her fingers, trying to make sense of the Abyssal's timeline.

"Alright, alright.

So from 1994, for the first five years, they send out regular Abyssal units.

Then for the next five years, they produce Elites and auxiliary units like the Wa-Class transport ships.

Five years from '04 onward, they introduce Princesses into the equation, but attack America in '07.

And for the last five years, or probably even earlier than that, they've been secretly designing and even producing land assault units for a while now, and I could be wrong about this, but did they attack us in '07 to get us paranoid for a while, wait for us to let down our guard after years of vigilance only for them to make their real move now?

Because if so..."

Ise balled up her fingers and raised them to her temples, before puffing out her cheeks to mimicking her mind being blown as her hands flattened, pointing out the strategic brilliance in that.

"That's seriously sick, like, in terms of how it's so simple, yet so effective."

Nodding, Shigure gave Akashi an aside glance after noting how her friend was so silent despite being respectably intelligent and was capable of coming up with and expressing valid opinions and hypotheses.

The last thing she expected was to see Akashi with the darkest expression she'd ever seen gracing a mortal's face so far, the repair ship's mood plummeting along with the temperature around her, her eyes empty as they were overshadowed by her fringe, everyone now turning to find Akashi's murderous aura completely gone, and her notable presence on the battlefield now nonexistent.

And that disturbed everyone more than anything else.

Everyone backed away from the repair ship as her tone conveyed no life whatsoever, absolutely ready to kill anyone who spoke up against her.

 _"I'd like it if you all forgot about the answer to that last question._

 _Please."_

Maya, feeling a little more courageous than the rest of her fleet-mates despite her injuries, was the one to speak up as she raised her good hand to try and pacify the repair ship.

"H-Hey, bro...

I know you had some romantic history with Yuubari, but everyone has a right to know, since she was a part of our base-"

 _"No one will know of this."_

Cutting her off like a scalpel performing a surgical incision with her words and her gaze, Akashi explained the situation and how exposing things to everyone was the worst thing they could do.

 _"We need concrete proof of 'Apocalypse' being a massive land assault campaign they've been preparing for what we can assume to be an entire decade in order to convince Central to endorse our efforts to mass-produce Anti-Abyssal firearms._

 _Another major naval battle, which I assume is yet another diversion by the Abyssal to get us to divide our attention and resources, is going to occur in the next month or two in the Sagami-nada Sea._

 _The last thing everyone needs is this bombshell affecting their morale._

 _Anyone who dares to breathe a word of this, be it to sister ships or fleet-mates, will risk getting personally scrapped by me."_

Everyone in the backup fleet shivered upon hearing that, while the 8th Fleet dumbly nodded in acceptance, used to their flagship's rare, but ever-present capability for cold-blooded threats in order to serve the greater good and resigned to doing what they were told, now looking more interested in going home than anything else.

But Unryuu detected something on her radar as she turned her head to look at something off in the distance, using her enhanced carrier vision to spot the surfacing Abyssal signature in the distance as she warned.

 _"There's another Abyssal signature popping up from the ocean._

 _She-"_

A slight pause, before continuing uncertainly.

 _"It seems as if she's raising her hands in surrender, and she doesn't seem to have an Abyssal pod on her head._

 _She's turning around now..._

 _Is that...?"_

Everyone was glad to have something to shift their attention towards, and all eyes and weapons were trained on the approaching enemy signature, Unryuu finally revealing what she was looking at.

 _"It appears she has a capital 'A' on her cape in a white font."_

Both Shigure and Akashi's eyes widened, before giving each other an aside glance and replying curtly.

"Wox _anne."_


	25. Chapter 25 - The Girl From Nowhere

"Halt."

Everyone was unsure of how to respond to this situation, since the Abyssal clearly wasn't armed, and Akashi, the leader of this operation, told them not to fire upon this strange Abyssal who was passively sailing towards them.

Shigure explained the situation to everyone, but gave Akashi a questioning look to ask for her consent before doing so, which she allowed with a small nod.

"This Abyssal visited the 1st Fleet during our sortie, and in our 'friendly' little conversation, she said that Yokosuka was in the Abyssals' cross-hairs, and hinted at how we, the 1st Fleet would be 'the first to witness the dawn of a new age of warfare.'

That was probably hinting at the _Flying Dutchman_ and how it destroyed us at Mikura Jima Island, and she's like a spokesperson for the Abyssal high command."

Akashi nodded as she flicked her wrists and summoned her scalpels in order to wield them like claws as she explained what they were going to do.

"We're going to listen to what she has to say, but if she feels as if she wants to hold out on us…"

Holding up her bloody scalpels to indicate how serious she was about learning more about the Abyssals at all costs, she threatened.

 _"I know of ways to convince her to cooperate."_

Shivering at the implications of torture being used to extract information from a non-combatant, Shigure turned back to the nearing Wo-Class who was less than ten meters away now, visibly observing their injuries and their bloody uniforms, noting the amount of bloodshed and the toll it took on her teammates.

Unryuu had lost her entire left arm and was still bleeding a little as it bloodied her white-green uniform and rigging, and an unconscious Hatsuzuki was missing her left leg and was carried by Hyuga, who wasn't looking too good with her smoking rigging and bloody miko uniform.

Ise was clearly suffering from internal injuries as her uniform was even bloodier than Hyuga's after taking three 16 Inch shells to the torso, and Akitsu Maru, Akashi and Kiso were drenched in the Abyssals' blood and might as well have red paint poured all over their bodies and riggings, and Maya suffered from a broken right arm and several shattered bones and ribs.

Hatsuharu's hair was drenched and was weighing her down, and her right mechanical arm was cleanly sheared off at its joint, Shigure noting the shiny steel that was exposed at the affected cross-section, while Kawakaze and Hayasui looked the least affected by the battle just like her, and they could easily take this Abyssal down even after defeating the Southern War Princess which had taken a lot out of them, especially since Woxanne was unarmed.

The Abyssal was now within speaking distance for them to communicate with each other and be heard, Akitsu Maru brandishing her Anti-Abyssal Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun as she called out.

"What the hell are you doing here ... Woxanne?"

The silent Abyssal lowered her hands as she leaned in and responded dryly, noting the animosity in their postures and keeping a safe distance in case she had to make a quick getaway.

[I was sent here to determine the status of the Southern War Princess and her Elites.

And even after getting into contact with what remained of the Elites, I had to personally check up on the Princess's status and how she was doing against the dreaded 8th Fleet.

Well, my job's almost done now, since my last objective was to get in touch with you all and learn what she revealed about us.]

"And why should we tell you what we know?"

Shigure could hear Kiso coolly replying, trying to protect the intelligence that they obtained and making sure that their victory wouldn't be compromised, since the Abyssals might prepare countermeasures to stop them should they share with Woxanne what the Southern War Princess revealed before dying.

But Woxanne shrugged as she hypothesized about what the Southern War Princess told them, shifting a little under the number of cannons, firearms and weapons pointed at her as she spoke.

[Hmm, an excellent point.

But still, I suppose you asked about Apocalypse in order to confirm about it being a land assault campaign.

And perhaps asking about why she acted the way she did by forcing Abyssals into her fleet, only to end up facing you and dying anyway.

Quite the asinine action, in my opinion.]

Everyone shifted and gave each other aside glances, and this was what helped Woxanne confirm her suspicions, looking at each and every one of them as she explained.

[There seems a slight misconception about the situation at hand.

You believe that learning about all this, and more, will give you an advantage over us, but please understand this is us giving you all a sporting chance.

As much as we Abyssals wish to wipe out all of mankind for the greater good of Earth, we understand that you ship girls do not deserve to get steamrolled if we were to simply attack everywhere all at once…]

Looking wistful and expressing a lot more emotion than what a rank-and-file Abyssal Wo-Class normally would, Woxanne looked towards them as she continued.

[That's why I will say this, courtesy of my superiors who sent me.

World War 3 will happen, whether you want to or not.

Like how the sun will always rise from the East, nothing you do will prevent this war from coming to fruition.

It'll happen by the year's end, and from there on, the Apocalypse will be fulfilled.

The war will never end unless we Abyssals are either victorious or dead, and should it be the former, we shall usher in the end of an age for all of mankind.]

Ise, wearing a tense smile on her face which looked like a false expression worn in times of stress, was anything but relaxed and was actually itching to reach for her katana, asking nervously in order to learn more about their plans.

"How're you going to do that, hmm?

Last I checked, we have 7 billion humans living on this Earth.

You can't possibly kill them all."

A small chuckle escaped the Abyssal's twitching lips, Woxanne trying her best not to smile as she raised a gloved hand to her sensual lips as she retorted.

[Hm, like you said…

' _And why should we tell you what we know?']_

Everyone blinked at that, but Woxanne awkwardly waved her hand to comfort them as she behaved a little like an alien being granted human emotions and was experimenting with human behavior as she relented, especially since she was staring down several cannon and gun barrels pointed her way, deadpanning.

[Just joking.

My superiors, Superstar and Brainiac…]

Akashi growled at that as her eyes narrowed, holding her scalpels a little tighter as Woxanne's eyes also narrowed, now knowing that the Southern War Princess revealed their identities since Akashi likely had history with them, and the reason why she would react so negatively to the name-dropping was if she knew who they really were.

[They told me that this was a declassified topic, so I suppose what I'm feeling right now is magnanimity…]

The barest hints of a smug smile graced Woxanne's expression, looking a little unsure of how human expressions worked as she lightly mocked.

[Yes, I feel _magnanimous_ enough to share this information with you all.]

Kiso pulled out a 14 Cm Single Gun cannon as she threatened.

"Hmm, seems like being the spokesperson for the Abyssal high-command seems to have granted you quite the attitude and a sense of humor.

Let's see how they hold up with a 14 Cm shell through your head."

 _[Die Endlösung.]_

Everyone's breath stopped, Shigure suddenly feeling disgusted upon hearing those words even though she hadn't yet downloaded the German language module available to all ship girls in order to learn how to speak German in a split second.

But those words…

Somehow, she had an inkling of what they truly meant, and if that was what the Abyssals were really trying to reenact on all of humanity...

Woxanne lowered her head as her fringe cast a shadow over her eyes, the slight luminosity of her emerald eyes giving her an eerie appearance of a specter as Maya shouted.

"Hey!

Did this bitch say they wanted to reenact 'The Final Solution' on everyone?!"

Shigure felt her heart drop as her worst fears were realized, and since no one answered her question, Maya's breathing increasing in intensity and her expression contorting with hatred as she took action against the Abyssal messenger.

"Fuck this!

Fuck you!"

Rushing forwards, Maya was faster than anyone had predicted after taking the amount of damage she had sustained into account as she used her working left arm to give Woxanne a nasty left hook, standing over the crumpled form of Woxanne as her expression darkened and she roared.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ALL PLANNING?!

TELL US!"

Akitsu Maru chipped in as she kicked the Wo-Class in the diaphragm, looking equally pissed off as she pointed her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun in Woxanne's face and cocked it while threatening through gritted teeth.

" _Talk, or else."_

But Akashi ordered them to step away from the coughing Wo-Class, pointing out the obvious concerning their interrogation techniques.

"Step away, the both of you.

She said that she was going to tell you anyway, and kicking her in the stomach and making her cough incessantly isn't going to help things!"

Wincing and lowering their heads as though they were kids who were ordered to do something against their will, the two incensed ship girls grudgingly backed away from the still-coughing Woxanne who was sprawled on the ocean surface, asking.

"Well, I assume that your superior 'Brainiac', AKA Yuubari is the one who planned it, right?"

Nodding as she cleared her throat, Shigure saw that she was a lot more expressive about the pain that she felt as she pushed herself up with her arms, gasping as she did so while Shigure noted the bruised cheek and the chest wound which thankfully didn't hinder her ability to speak.

[Yes, although you humans had a hand in helping us come up with an early draft and demonstration during the Nazi occupation of Europe from 1941 to 1945.

We improved upon the efficiency of the extermination process and the theoretical speed in which we 'process' humans…]

Using air quotes to get her point across, Shigure now noted that everyone now really wanted to make Woxanne suffer after learning that they improved upon one of mankind's greatest tragedies and planned to execute it on a global scale.

Admittedly, it almost seemed inevitable, with how the Abyssals seemed to behave like machines and never wasted any time on things like sentiment or emotions, likely prioritizing efficiency over everything else as the Abyssal war machine plowed on relentlessly, with no hints of stopping.

It'd stand to reason that they preferred a method of genocide that would be fast yet clean, since a mountain of bullets would be wasted on just one country's inhabitants if they went with mass executions via firing squad.

Woxanne felt their overwhelming animosity, and finished her sentence quickly so as not to piss them off even more with her words.

[... and this will be what awaits all of mankind when we kill the last ship girls.]

Shigure asked, morbidly curious about how fast they could wipe out all of mankind on paper as she piped up with a question.

"How long before you wipe out every single human on Earth?

I mean, if we were to lose?"

Everyone turned to face her, from her fleet-mates as Ise, Kawakaze, Maya, Hatsuharu and Hyuga gave her the 'What the hell?' face, and the 8th Fleet either raised their eyebrows or or gave her the 'Dude, not the time!' look.

But Woxanne looked down, seemingly noting Shigure's meek presence amidst strong ship girls who overshadowed her as she seemed genuinely curious about her, and her question.

[Interesting.

Shigure of Yokosuka, member of the 1st Fleet, here in a battle against an Abyssal Princess.

Perhaps to get stronger in preparation for what comes next, hmm?

Well, as to your question…]

Woxanne stroked her chin with her gloved hand as she considered the question, before answering with a rough estimate.

[Based on the latest meetings that I had the honor of attending, the usage of hydrogen bombs to make our jobs easier and taking into account the theoretical amount of casualties in World War 3 should reduce it to anywhere from 30 to 50 years.]

Everyone recoiled at that, never expecting the Abyssals to have refined the killing process to such an extent, and also using hydrogen bombs which utilized a fusion reaction to produce a explosion that far outclassed the yield of any atomic bomb with very little radiation in the fallout of the explosion, the Japanese being terribly acquainted with such things after having two nukes dropped on them.

Woxanne picked up the ends of her cape as she brought them out, bending her knees a little in a curtsy as she started sailing in reverse and ended the conversation with her next line.

[The next time we meet, we'll do so as enemies on the battlefield.

Good luck for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, Yuubari-sama wishes to commend your use of submarines to lay naval mines as an excellent countermeasure.]

Akashi didn't seem fazed by the line about them realizing what the submarines of Yokosuka were up to, but instead asked a question of her own to sate her personal curiosity.

"If Yuubari is still like anything I remember her to be, she'll want to have a talk with me after this.

Where is she?"

Turning back to proudly display the stylized Abyssal 'A' shark-symbol on her back as she considered the question while stopping in her tracks, Woxanne eventually faced her and responded with an enigmatic answer.

[Yuubari-sama indeed wishes to speak with you.

But Yuubari-sama is a important person in the Abyssal hierarchy, and she is busy with the final preparations for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea and World War 3 later down the road.

But she personally swears that she'll find some time to talk to you after the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, where she'll have finished almost everything on her agenda.]

Akashi said nothing in reply, but gave an almost imperceptible nod in response which satisfied Woxanne, turning as she raised her right hand to give them a wave while she sailed away, everyone staying silent as they kept their weapons trained on her while she sank back into the ocean.

And finally, after Woxanne's hair disappeared beneath the surface of the ocean, everyone collectively exhaled as they sheathed their weapons and Kawakaze gave Shigure a lazy aside glance as she commented on Shigure's curiosity.

"Maa, Shigure-Aneki.

I know that you're curious and want to learn about a lot of things, but I think that there're some questions that you really shouldn't ask, especially asking about Abyssals and their 'Final Solution' plan."

Shigure shrugged as she holstered her 12 Cm Single Gun cannon as she responded, trying not to look embarrassed at how everyone was giving her strange looks and looked tired after fighting the Southern War Princess and confronting Woxanne, learning even more about the the Abyssals' plans and their intention to wipe out all of mankind with the most inhumane, yet efficient method of mass extermination.

"W-Well, I was just interested in just how advanced their technology was, and how advanced it was compared to our current technology..."

Unryuu huffed as she lowered her conducting staff, remarking how it was logical for them to use everything at their disposal to make the extermination of mankind as efficient and swift as possible.

" _Hmm, it certainly makes sense if they were to use hydrogen bombs before they started the extermination process, since they would have increased its potency while decreasing the amount of radioactive fallout it would leave behind._

 _After all, they often made distinctions between wiping out mankind and destroying Earth itself, it would make sense for them to try and accomplish the former without causing the latter._

Akashi sighed, now looking very tired as she sheathed her operating equipment and simply ordered, wanting to go home and get some rest before working on healing the injured.

"Time to go home.

I don't want to waste any more time here, we can do the thinking at home."

Shigure nodded tiredly and felt the fatigue setting in while the adrenaline in her body wore off, and since she was an unremodeled ship girl who hadn't gotten enough physical conditioning compared to Kai Ni ship girls and Kawakaze and Maya, she was feeling rather tired even though she was a support ship.

Everyone relaxed after hearing that, their taut expressions relaxing as they started up their boat slippers while sheathing their weapons and deciding to call it a day, Shigure's HUD displaying,

'18th April 2015

2.27 a.m.'

Akitsu Maru grunted as she holstered her Benelli M3 shotgun while agreeing with her flagship.

"Amen to that."

* * *

Having sailed in the direction of Yokosuka Naval Base for a while, Shigure was pretty much sleepwalking as her body was on autopilot, her mind on 'Sleep' mode while she was standing up on the ocean and her boat slippers were propelling her forwards, trying to take a quick nap so as not to wear herself out after her second night operation, the first being the disastrous battle of Mikura Jima Island.

These operations interfered with her sleep cycle, and she really didn't want to suffer from fatigue after going on two night operations in a row.

But everyone else here were experienced ship girls and knew how to stay awake to make sure that they weren't ambushed on the way back home, understanding that out here on the ocean, despite being in the Safety Zone, there was still an element of danger and uncertainty that should never be overlooked, and the last thing they needed was to sail into another Abyssal patrol fleet in their weakened state, and it was wiser for them to evade said Abyssal fleets in their current condition.

But a hand on Shigure's shoulder gently shook her awake, Kawakaze whispering into her ear in order to warn the sleepy Shigure as she awoke with a start.

"Shigure-Aneki.

We've got company."

Waking up and immediately swiveling her head around to scan for threats, Shigure blanched as she instinctively reached for her 12 Cm cannon, asking worriedly.

"A-Are we going to have to fight more Abyssals…?"

Shaking her head, Kawakaze jutted her thumb out towards Unryuu, the carrier who possessed the radar with the longest range, and explained the situation to her sister.

"Nope.

We believe it's another drop after a battle with the Abyssals."

A blank stare was what Kawakaze received, and she tried to explain a very unusual mechanic of their world, where the death of Abyssals could potentially spawn a fellow ship girl, likely as a reward for their efforts.

"Sometimes, when we defeat some Abyssal fleets, a ship girl is spawned on the ocean as a 'reward', you see.

We ship girls and humans theorize that this 'reward spawning' system is connected to the 'Abyssal/ship girl reincarnation' theory and how life and death is closely intertwined such that the deaths of Abyssals could result in a ship spawning in order to balance the scales.

It's mostly luck-based, certain ship girls can only be found in certain locations, and most of the time, they only spawn if we score a decisive victory against the Abyssals, like our battle against the Southern War Princess.

And Unryuu-san detected that another ship girl's been following us for a while now."

Nodding along with Kawakaze's explanation, Shigure asked about how this system worked, and how it was somewhat karmic, in a sense.

"Interesting.

Much like how a sunk ship girl who possesses regrets can be corrupted into being an Abyssal, can we theoretically say that the death of Abyssals would help them pass on, and they can potentially be reborn as ship girls who then spawn on the ocean?"

Unryuu sailed up to them in order to discuss about the subject at hand, having regained her humanity as her voice was no longer empty and focused, and her expression was a neutral bored look which was preferable to her heartless and utilitarian expression which prioritized efficiency and stoicism over everything else.

"Well, this is all theory since we have no concrete way of proving that the 'reincarnation theory' is true, but people see ship girls and Abyssals as essentially two sides of the same coin.

If you wish to get philosophical, should a ship girl sink, she slips into the darkness of the ocean and is reincarnated as an Abyssal, and if a Abyssal were to be reborn as a ship girl, she rises from the darkness and floats towards the surface, towards the light.

Comparisons have been made to the lotus flower, which rises from the mud before blossoming, unstained and untouched.

The Abyssals may thrive in the dark, but death, to them, is the catalyst which helps them to pass on, be reborn and rise from the dark ocean to be reborn as ship girls again."

Shigure turned to her, remembering the fact that Unryuu also spawned from the bottom of the ocean, after a hard-fought battle which claimed the life of Taihou and allowed Unryuu to enter this world.

"Unryuu-san, you were also spawned as a reward after a battle, right?"

Kawakaze elbowed her in the side, but it was too late as Unryuu blinked after hearing that sentence and was reminded of her past, looking away as her expression darkened and she nodded in agreement while continuing her explanation.

"Yes.

For us, life and death are intertwined in a cycle.

And in a sense, I suppose killing an Abyssal is to cleanse them of their hatred and pain, and a ship girl spawning may be seen as the one positive thing that may come out of all the bloodshed and death."

Kawakaze nodded sagely, asking about the new ship girl who had risen from the depths and was to be brought back to their base as a comrade.

"Hate to cut this philosophical session short, but who's the ship girl on your radar, Unryuu-san?

Heavy cruiser?

Destroyer?"

Unryuu shook her head as she corrected her concerning the mysterious signature.

"It's actually a carrier."

Kawakaze raised an eyebrow, whistling in an impressed tone and idly remarking.

"Looks like we got lucky today, eh?"

Before letting her sister in on just how rare a carrier drop was when compared to a rank-and-file destroyer or cruiser drop,

"Carriers, like battleships and certain light cruisers, are extremely rare drops, since they're either categorized as large or rare ships.

Nagato-san, Kaga-san and Zuikaku-san, amongst others, are sorted into the former while Akitsu Maru-san and Yahagi-san are in the latter.

They require a lot more resources and time to craft and are thus considered a very lucky drop since we can bypass the construction phrase to immediately get an operational carrier or battleship."

"Or amphibious assault ship."

Akitsu Maru took this as the chance to attempt to get a word in edgewise in order to insert herself into the conversation, and got three blank looks in return.

She lowered her bloody gloved finger as she commented meekly,

"You don't care.

I got it.

I'll shut up."

And proceeded to walk over to where a bloody Kiso was and pretended to cry on her shoulder and used her cape as a tissue, unknowingly earning her the stink eye from the cranky torpedo cruiser who was tired of her theatrics so early in the morning.

Unryuu also rolled her eyes after seeing her friend react so dramatically to their lack of reaction, Shigure sweat-dropping as she realized that close to each other the 8th Fleet may be, perhaps their annoyance with each other's antics 24/7 was also an integral part of their fleet dynamic.

But Unryuu revealed something else which seemed to put everyone on edge, simply due to how unexpected it was.

"There's something else I should add.

The carrier signature…

It's American."

Everyone went silent and gave Unryuu aside glances, Shigure feeling the tension rise again as she asked.

"U-Um…

We're friendly with the Americans, right?

So why's everyone so on edge?"

Kawakaze tilted her head, jaw muscles taut as she nervously replied.

"Maa, Shigure-Aneki.

It ain't about the friendliness thing, we don't have any beef with the Yanks.

It's just that we might expect some resistance in getting her to come with us."

Shigure blinked, before connecting the dots in her mind as she physically tensed up as well, following in her teammates' lead in keeping a hand close to her holstered 12 Cm Single Gun cannon.

A ship girl who was spawned in her own country's waters while only retaining memories of her World War 2 days would be easily convinced into coming back to the mainland with the fleet and would then be brought up to date on recent events.

However, a ship girl who spawned in 'enemy waters' while retaining her memories of World War 2 would likely resist should ship girls whom she immediately designates 'the enemy' try to 'capture' her, regardless of how they tried to convince otherwise.

Akashi slowed down, turning and performing a 180 as she coolly ordered.

"Everyone.

Get the American carrier to come back with us.

Non-lethal force only.

That's an order."

Akitsu Maru unsheathed her katana as she had a gleeful grin on her face, ready for another fight as she remarked.

"But we can threaten her with lethal force, right?"

Akashi scoffed as she broke out into a run, her fleet following behind as she commented on how she couldn't care less.

"I don't care.

Disarm her, and she'll be harmless enough.

We won't hurt her, but she doesn't need to know that."

Shigure could only express a disapproving,

"Akashi-san!"

Before everyone rushed towards where Unryuu was headed, Shigure gawking at how they were going to threaten the American into following them back to Yokosuka.

But deep down, she knew that if they didn't force her to come with them, she'd probably put up a fight and refuse to be captured, and since she would have to sail across the Pacific while not knowing about the Abyssal threat, it was essentially a death wish if they left her out here alone.

Straining her bionic eyes in order to see who it was, she heard Kawakaze shout behind her in order to let her know who it was.

"It's Saratoga!

CV-3!"

Saratoga was a tall woman with brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and her hair reached down to shoulder length.

She wore a red ribbon with white and yellow highlights around her neck and was dressed in a white, short-sleeved long dress, her rigging secured around her waist like most of the Japanese light carriers Shigure knew and had two Anti-Air cannons to protect herself, the words 'S A R A' printed on it in large white fonts.

She had bountiful breasts that were barely hidden away by her uniform, and her red-black belt was secured her dress to her waist while her red stockings were held up by what Shigure assumed was a garter belt, several extra drum magazines hidden within the insides of her skirt as it barely flared up due to the wind, and several straight magazines strapped to her thighs as she, much like Japanese battleships, had rudders as the heels in her boat slippers.

She was wearing her smoke stack as a beret or a lopsided hat of sorts as it had the 'E' symbol stamped on it, and in her left hand was a Thompson submachine gun with her flight deck positioned horizontally above said submachine gun, with a straight magazine to feed 'ammunition' into the firearm in order to launch warplanes from her flight deck with drum magazines available for larger capacity.

The American carrier seemed shocked upon being found out and seeing several bloody Japanese ship girls sprinting towards her, something Shigure could understand since she had also suffered from the same misconception before, and at one point didn't think that being reincarnated into human bodies meant that they could use their legs and boat slippers to sprint and jump and spin and…

Well, you got the idea.

Saratoga looked panicked as she stopped before trying to put her boat slippers into reverse, speaking concernedly into her wireless radio in order to send a distress signal in English.

{...Does anyone read me?

This is CV-3, Saratoga!

I'm stranded in Japanese waters, and I require assistance!

I'm outnumbered, mayday, mayday!}

She raised her Thompson submachine gun in order to try and send out some planes in order to stave off the inevitable as she fumbled with the weapon, but Kiso was already in the air as she performed a Flying Thunder God with surgical precision, splitting the firearm horizontally in a spinning splash before landing on the ocean.

Kiso and Saratoga's gaze met, the carrier sensing the faux-killing intent which was left over from her battle with the Southern War Princess, cutting her losses as she scrambled away from the torpedo cruiser before she got hurt by a torpedo or cannon shell.

Akitsu Maru brandished her katana Kagutsuchi, and let loose a streak of flames as she slashed downwards while making sure to deliberately miss the Lexington-Class carrier, Saratoga stumbling out of the path of the flames before they could scorch her, not that the amphibious assault ship was aiming to kill her anyway.

Everyone was panting as they caught up to the duo, surrounding the American carrier as they brandished their weapons, Kiso picking up the cleanly sheared-off portion of Saratoga's submachine gun, Akashi raising an eyebrow as she looked at the destroyed weapon.

"Well, when I said 'disarm her', that's one way of going about things…"

"Well, did you want me to 'disarm' her entire bloody arm from her body?"

Kiso cheekily stuck out a tongue while giving Akashi the middle finger with her left hand which was still holding her cutlass with the flight deck cradled underneath her right arm, Akashi chuckling before addressing Saratoga seriously in English, Shigure feeling extremely confused all the while since she was unable to understand a single word of it.

{Well, now…

You're outnumbered, and your homeland is an entire ocean away.

Trust me when we say this, you do _not_ want to be out here in the dead of night.}

Saratoga looked rather surprised upon seeing an IJN ship girl speak English, but recovered and asked warily.

{... And am I right in assuming that you want me to come back to your base as a prisoner of war?}

{Well, the war's already over, so we don't really have any beef with you Yanks.

We just want you to come quietly with us.

But if you want to resist our peaceful attempts to convince you to come with us, know that you're missing a submachine gun, and despite being weakened, we're fully capable of taking you down.}

Kiso explained the situation to Saratoga, and despite knowing she was outnumbered, Saratoga dared to ask about why an amphibious assault ship, a repair ship and a fleet oiler was on the front lines, the backup fleet being a far more logical choice to be placed up front and center.

{If I may ask, why are auxiliary ships out here?

You're weaker than traditional warships, and you're never meant for front-line combat, so do you all look as though you've been through Hell's Highway?}

The 8th Fleet looked at each other, sighing collectively as Akashi explained the basics of being a ship girl and how it differed from being a conventional warship.

{You see, we're no longer just warships, we're ship girls, y'know, ships taking the form of human girls?

We have these now?}

Using both her arms to cup her breasts as she pushed them up, and only now was a slightly embarrassed Saratoga made aware of the fact that she was a woman instead of a ship, taking a second to study her arms and her body while Akashi leaned in to explain to an extremely lost Shigure.

"I told her that she was a ship girl, and that she now has a body of a human.

This is the first thing you should tell them upon meeting a ship girl after they've been spawned, since they'll mostly act on instinct and may sail for a while without realizing that they've been reincarnated into human bodies.

Because as a warship, 'common sense' would dictate that you sail while staying still, so why would you ever realize what your new body feels and acts like until it's time to use it in battle?"

Shigure's eyes lit up in understanding, realizing that this was why Saratoga hesitated in using a human firearm to send her planes out, since despite being created with an innate knowledge about how a Thompson submachine gun worked in order to use it in battle, the 'future shock' from having to use to a human hand and a human firearm to send her planes out was too much for her, causing her to fumble with her submachine gun and allowed Kiso the chance to 'disarm' her.

Turning back to address the Lexington-Class carrier in English, she gave the Saratoga an ultimatum as she flicked her scalpels out of her wrists in order to threaten her with what Shigure knew were idle threats, but like she said, Saratoga didn't need to know that.

{Allow me to put this in simpler terms.

We don't want to fight you, but we just got back from one hell of a battle.

So forgive us if we aren't in the mood for diplomacy.

When I said that you're coming quietly with us, whether it's as a prisoner of war or as a corpse, we don't care either way.

I'm a repair ship, so I can resuscitate you with the medical equipment back in our base.

Your choice.}

Brandishing her Anti-Abyssal scalpels that were sticking out through the webs of her fingers like claws, Akashi's demeanor hardened as she explained.

{And despite being a 'weak repair ship', these scalpels were created to easily pierce the armor of a battleship in order to allow me to operate on them.

So would you like to see how your armor holds up against these blades?}

Blanching at Akashi's threat with her sharp medical scalpels, Saratoga looked around and noted that Kiso sliced through her weapon with ease, and could easily do the same to her.

She was a fast-speed carrier, but she no longer possessed her submachine gun and the flight deck attachment that came with it, the remnants of her weapon in Kiso's hands as she silently contemplated the situation.

And finally, everyone exhaled a little as she raised her hands in surrender, clearly expecting the worst as the life went out of her body as she probably expected them to treat her cruelly, like what IJA soldiers did in World War 2.

Fortunately for her, the IJN ship girls of this day and age wanted nothing to do with their old shame, Akashi, Akitsu Maru and Kiso sheathing their weapons as they turned away and continued sailing back to Yokosuka, Maya gruffly ordering her as she looked as if she was trying not to let the pain of her broken bones escape her tough demeanor.

{Move.

We should be able to make it back to Yokosuka by morning if we go at full speed.}

Everyone was quiet as they began shifting their boat slippers to full speed and began sailing back home, Saratoga in the middle of the formation both as a means of making sure she didn't break formation and try to escape, and to protect her against any potential Abyssal threats that may see her as an easy target should she be placed at the flank or the rear of the formation.

Shigure heard Kawakaze try to get her attention, whispering to her in a hushed tone as she tried to get her to talk to the new ship girl.

"Yo, Shigure-Aneki.

I think we should try and talk to Saratoga-san to try and know her better, I can't deal with this awkward silence for the entirety of the damn journey.

And to be honest, I don't want to be the only one to talk to her, since I'm not sure if I have much to talk to her about."

Shigure considered the notion, before nodding in acceptance, noticing Saratoga glancing in their direction after they mentioned her name, and Shigure was pretty sure that a newly spawned ship girl really wouldn't want to speak with someone who was drenched in the blood of her enemies, which eliminated about 80% of the ship girls present.

Shigure asked Kawakaze about how she was going to talk to Saratoga when she didn't speak English, and Saratoga didn't speak Japanese.

"Um, I don't speak English, and Saratoga-san doesn't speak Japanese, so how're we going to communicate with each other?"

Kawakaze gave her a generous grin upon hearing that, Shigure noting a torrent request pop up on her HUD as her sister ship explained.

"Well, don't worry about that, Shigure-Aneki!

As ship girls, we can learn entire languages in mere seconds, and all we have to do is to torrent our language modules with each other and extract the files within to learn the language instantly!"

Accepting the request, Kawakaze turned to a genuinely curious Saratoga as Shigure felt her mind get flooded with knowledge of the English language, hearing how the English words which came out of Kawakaze's mouth went from 'undecipherable language' to comprehensible sentences in her mind.

{Yo, Saratoga-san!

How would… learn the … language in several seconds?"

Saratoga seemed a little apprehensive upon hearing that, a little skeptical about such advanced technology existing as she responded doubtfully in English, and Shigure could now understand her words.

"Um, I'm not sure if such advanced technology exists.

I mean-"

She was interrupted by Shigure attempting to speak English for the first time, articulating the English words with a Japanese accent.

"Um, Saratoga-san…

We… are created with advanced technology… far beyond… anything we can ever hope to imagine.

So for us… it's… not impossible."

Saratoga looked surprised upon hearing that, wondering out loud.

"Hmm?

I was certain that you looked absolutely lost when we were using English to communicate with each other, so how?"

Kawakaze likely sent Saratoga a torrent request, because the Lexington-Class carrier suddenly looked rather surprised at the request popping up in her vision as she waved her hand around in order to try and manually press the 'Accept' button, Kawakaze and Shigure raising their arms to try and calm the American carrier down while Kawakaze explained.

"U-Um, Saratoga-san?!

You don't have to press the 'Accept' button with your hands, you just need to allow it into your mind!"

And eventually, Saratoga winced as the knowledge of the Japanese language seeped into her mind, and she attempted to speak in Japanese for the first time.

"A-Am I speaking Japanese….correctly?"

Shigure visibly relaxed as she comforted the carrier, and used her native language to try and get Saratoga acquainted with the Japanese language, since she was likely going to be speaking it for the entirety of her time in Yokosuka.

"Yes, yes you are.

My name is Shigure, and this is my sister ship Kawakaze."

Saratoga blinked, likely remembering something from her memory archives as she confirmed with the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"So you're Shigure of Sasebo, am I right?"

Shigure nodded, Kawakaze puffing her cheeks out as she remarked.

"Hey!

What am I then, chopped liver?"

Saratoga looked a little bemused at Kawakaze pretending to throw a tantrum, but was still rather hesitant to open up to them as she cautiously asked.

"Um, if it's not too much to ask, what date is it?

I would like to synchronize my clock since my clock's stuck at..."

Saratoga's expression darkened as she lowered her head, and Shigure dared to lightly pull on the hem of her skirt to get her to focus on the present, asking meekly.

"Since when, Saratoga-san?

U-Um, if you don't mind me asking…"

But Saratoga gave her a weak smile as she grasped the two halves of her Thompson submachine gun as she revealed.

"It's alright.

If I'm not mistaken, you and I aren't supposed to be enemies in this day and age since the war's already over, so there's no need to keep things from each other.

My clock's stopped on the 25th of July, 1946."

Shigure mentally ran through the history books she had read thus far, and finally remembered that the stated date was the date of the Baker Test, during Operation Crossroads.

The same thing happened to her when she was summoned, and her clock had stopped on the 24th of January, 1945, which was the day she sank in battle, before she recalibrated her calendar and clock to display the right time and date.

She had read up on this, and most theoreticians compared this extremely common phenomena to a plane crash, and how the watches that were retrieved from the crash site all displayed the same time to show the same date and time immediately before impact.

A warship's last recorded date would hypothetically be the date of her sinking during or after the war, and every incarnation in the present age would have their clocks stopped at the exact date and time when they sank.

Kawakaze nodded understandingly before giving her the information needed.

"Well, today's date is the 18th April 2015.

The time right now is 2.49 a.m."

Saratoga nodded, taking note as she looked down at the Fairies manning her rigging.

And Shigure was surprised to see that the American Fairies had painted on a banner and hung it on the outside of Saratoga's rigging to keep Japanese Fairies out, although it wasn't so much out of genuine malice and more 'little boys keeping girls out because of cooties', the banner crudely displaying.

 **WARNING!**

 **}:-(**

 **NO JAPZ ALLOWED!**

While Kawakaze's Fairies were visibly booing and held up signs that said,

'Learn to spell!', and

'HAHA OWNED!'

Amongst others.

Saratoga was interested in these little technicians as she studied them at a distance, watching them maintain her rigging and going about their business, asking.

"These little critters…

What are they, to be able to function while possessing such deformed limbs and such small bodies?"

Kawakaze shrugged as she simply commented.

"No one really knows where they came from, despite our studies and attempts to understand their origins.

Just know that we can understand each other, and are integral in keeping our weapons, riggings and bodies in working order."

Nodding in acceptance, Saratoga looked down at Shigure as she asked about what had occurred after her sinking in order to catch up on recent events.

"I'd like to ask.

What happened between World War 2 and the modern age?"

Shigure wracked her mind to try and simplify almost 70 years of history into the span of a few minutes, before Kawakaze raised her hand to calm Shigure down as her face started to feel hot and her mind start to overload after going through all the historical events of the world.

"Maa, we can do the history lesson when we're back at Yokosuka, where we can get in touch with the Americans to get you up to date on recent events."

Shigure exhaled as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, Kawakaze raising a finger as she sent her a torrent request and showing her their most recent battle.

And after Saratoga reviewed Kawakaze's experiences in the battle against the Elites and the Abyssal Princess in the span of fifteen seconds, all she could muster was a creeped out,

"Who… or what, was that?

Those pale beings..."

Kawakaze shrugged as she shared with Saratoga what she knew about their sworn enemies.

"They're what you call the Abyssals, and we fight to defend mankind from them, and you can think of us as two sides of the same coin.

They don't differ too much from us other than our appearance, humanity and our prime directives, since like what you saw, they look...different.

Unlike us ship girls who possess feelings and a working personality, the Abyssals don't bother too much with these things and are mostly machine-like and efficient.

And unlike us, who want to protect mankind, they want to wipe everyone out, and when I say 'everyone', I mean all seven billion of us."

Saratoga blinked, and took a second to take in the fact that there were so many humans that depended on them, wondering out loud.

"Seven billion…

Has it been that long, I wonder?"

"Of course."

Akashi slowed down to meet their pace, looking towards Saratoga as she introduced herself and explained to her what she was supposed to do for her.

"My name's Akashi, the repair ship of Yokosuka.

As the one who's responsible for the well-being of everyone in my base, I want to have a talk with you after this.

Because right now I'm…"

Gesturing to her bloody uniform, headband and rigging, Saratoga nodded meekly as Akashi continued on.

"Look, I feel like apologizing for our blunt attitude back there…"

But Saratoga was quick to respond, shaking her head as she reassured the repair ship.

"No, I understand.

I got the memory file from Shigure here about the enemies that you fought, and that one Abyssal with the two weapon stacks…"

Shivering in dread upon recalling the Southern War Princess's murderous aura, Shigure waited for her to calm down before continuing.

"And you engaged them in the dead of night, so I understand if you might be cranky-"

"No."

Akashi politely interrupted Saratoga's speech, stating things from her point of view.

"You're right, I'm tired, weakened, and my day's been ruined in more ways than one.

But I shouldn't have allowed that to influence my judgement and make me resort to threats to get you to come with us at the end of the day.

Although I explicitly ordered that nobody was to use lethal force on you, I didn't say a thing about threats, and I think that as a repair ship, I should have handled that situation better by forbidding that too."

Meeting Saratoga's gaze, Akashi deadpanned as she was serious about apologizing to her so as not to start their relationship on the wrong foot, especially since she needed to check up on Saratoga.

"You'll eventually learn that I don't say this very often because I don't make a lot of mistakes, but I'll say it now.

I'm sorry."

Saratoga blinked, before lowering her eyes and nodding in acceptance, Shigure silently listening as Akashi continued.

"Anyway, I need to have several sessions with you, primarily because you weren't supposed to spawn here.

And before you ask…"

Raising a hand, Shigure patiently waited for Akashi to explain herself instead of interrupting her with a question.

"The battle we fought with was with an Abyssal who was supposed to be anywhere but here.

She moved from Savo Island, and formed an armada on the way here which we wiped out before engaging her.

The thing is, moving from her designated location likely screwed up the spawn system, and us winning the battle must've screwed up the spawn system enough to drop you here instead of some random IJN ship girl.

So you're an error drop, since you were a foreign ship which wasn't supposed to be dropped here."

Shigure quietly asked her red-haired sister a question, asking about foreign ship girls in their base and how they came about.

"What about Z1 and Bismarck?

They're also foreign ships, but I heard that they can be constructed or obtained under special circumstances…"

Kawakaze answered her question since she was the senior sister here, and thus knew more about Yokosuka's ship girls and their histories.

"Oh, Z1 and Bismarck came from Germany, after Bismarck survived the disastrous Battle of the Indian Ocean in 2004, and Germany sent Lebe to inform Bismarck that she was reassigned to Yokosuka as they both made their way here.

You're right about the 'constructed or obtained under special circumstances', and in this case, it's the latter since Z1 was obtained after our ships completed a special mission for the Germans in order to obtain Z1, and Bismarck was sent as the cherry on top."

Furrowing her brows, Shigure asked how a battleship would be considered the 'cherry on top' in a overseas transfer of ship girls when compared to a destroyer.

But the answer was part intriguing and heartbreaking, Kawakaze answering her with a hushed tone so as not to interrupt Saratoga and Akashi's conversation.

"Oh, it's quite sad, really.

She was from the Bremerhaven Naval Base in Germany, but she's known for being an omen of death, despite not having a history as colorful as, well...you, Shigure-Aneki.

She caused the death of HMS Hood, French cruiser Montcalm, Z3, an entire armada's worth of ship girls in '04, and recently Z1.

Her being sent here indefinitely is the same as her homeland exiling her and getting rid of her for good, especially since I last heard that they crafted another Bismarck in Bremerhaven in order to replace her.

Practically sent her over for free, like they wanted nothing to do with her."

Shigure nodded solemnly as she noted Akashi discussing several matters with a serious and attentive Saratoga concerning what she wanted to discuss with her in the near future.

"Well, several topics that most summoned or spawned Saratoga need to talk about is their past war experiences and Operation Crossroads, because we want to make sure that you've properly come to terms with your past and are comfortable with sharing it with others.

Something else which we might have to help you get used to is the fact that you're the first American ship girl in Yokosuka, and we need to help you get used to the possible loneliness that might arise as a result."

Kawakaze nodded as she tried to counter-argue against that last point.

"Well, we're Sara-chan's first friends, so I don't think she's really alone in that sense, you know?"

But Shigure pointed something out that an American being stuck in Japan certainly isolated her in more ways than one.

"Um, Kawakaze?

I think that while being stuck in another country certainly means that you need to make some friends in order to survive, it can never help you get over the homesickness and longing for your friends, and I'm certain that Saratoga-san would want to see her sister, Lexington…"

Giving the American carrier a look, Saratoga nodded sadly as Shigure continued.

"...and her friends, Enterprise and Iowa, amongst many others.

I'm certain that she doesn't dislike us unlike other, more emotional American ship girls, but she would certainly come under fire from a few ship girls whom she attacked or sank in the war, possibly resulting in tensions rising in the base.

And polite she may be, I do believe that our Japanese culture may clash with her American traits, and it may result in a culture clash which would, in turn-"

Akashi raised a hand to stop her just as Kawakaze and Saratoga lowered their heads, their spirits dropping as they were being given one harsh reality check, the repair ship interrupting Shigure brusquely.

"Alright, alright.

As much as I understand that you like to be quite a Debbie Downer with your observations and reality checks, understand that these are ultimately predictions.

We should try to make sure that these predictions _don't_ come true, since this is a new age, and as much as it makes me cringe to say this, frien-"

Akashi's face scrunched up in an undecipherable expression as it almost seemed as if it took a physical toll on her to say the following sentence due to how cheesy it was, and how it hurt to hear it from the most cynical ship girl present.

" _Friendship… will help us overcome all obstacles_ ohmyfuckinggod I never want to say that cancerous shit ever again."

Saratoga sweatdropped as Akashi turned away, heaving as she pretended to hurl while her fleet teased her for using such a word in their bleak, blood-stained world.

Akitsu Maru formed a 'L' with her gloved right hand, holding it up to her forehead as she stuck her tongue out at Akashi and mocked.

"So that's it, huh?

We're some kind of Mane Six?"

Kiso raised her hand to stop Akitsu Maru, her expression deadpan as she remarked.

"I really don't like the sound of that, you know?

Sounds like the one-liner line to a short-lived meme that everyone's gonna overuse and kill prematurely.

But if you wanna make that comparison..."

Raising an eyebrow in her flagship's direction, Kiso didn't even bother masking her smile as she commented.

"I guess Akashi's gotta be Pinkie Pie, huh?

I mean, everyone knows she's the most fabulous one amongst us, what with her lovely pink hair and oh-so- _endearing_ personality…"

Akashi got up as she used both hands to flip the both of them off while giving them the widest and most sarcastic smile she could muster, Hayasui snickering and snorting out the beer that she was drinking on her blazer while Maya and Ise couldn't contain their grins upon hearing the 8th Fleet's banter, Shigure sighing as she really wanted to get back home and hit the hay.

* * *

"So, how'd this happen?"

Admiral Mako was up and about, circling the American carrier and was ogling her impressive three sizes while Nagato was pinching the bridge of her nose while seating herself in the Admiral's seat.

Shigure shrugged, really wanting to be anywhere but here as everyone left her with the responsibility of reporting their results to Admiral Mako and the Coordinators in order to update their fleet roster, several ship girls docking after sustaining injuries while others were occupied with other matters.

She was the one ship girl who was completely uninjured, and it was up to her to report the results of their sortie to Admiral Mako, and she assumed that Akashi would discuss the classified revelations with the Admiral some time later.

On the way here, she could feel everyone's eyes on her and Saratoga while they made their way across the base, Shigure taking the time to point out the basic layout of the base to the silent Saratoga while they tried to ignore the amount of attention they were attracting along the way.

Entering the Administration Building and meeting the power couple Admiral Mako and Nagato, Shigure hailed them and greeted them with a courteous bow which Saratoga mimicked before Shigure introduced the two parties.

"Saratoga-san, this is Admiral Mako and Nagato-san.

Admiral, Nagato-san, this is Saratoga-san, an American carrier who spawned after our battle with the Southern War Princess."

Admiral Mako's eyes and expression lit up with unbridled desire while Nagato's face blanched after connecting two with two and remembering the American as a participant of Operation Crossroads, making for quite a dichotomy between the duo as they made their way up towards the Admiral's Office.

And here they were.

No doubt everyone was going to gossip about her being with an American ship girl, and how Saratoga's presence would create waves throughout Yokosuka as a result.

And she hadn't even gotten breakfast or a good's night sleep to be anywhere near focused enough to deal with this.

She exhaled through her nose and conveyed Akashi's theorized explanation, fighting back the urge to yawn as she rubbed the eye bags underneath her eyes.

"Akashi-san theorized that the Southern War Princess's erratic movements had thrown the spawn system into disarray, and dropped Saratoga as a result.

A possibility was that they intended to drop a carrier, but instead of an IJN carrier, the system made a mistake and gave us an USN carrier instead.

She sent out an SOS signal when we engaged her, but through the 8th Fleet's efforts, we've 'convinced' her to come with us."

Nodding downwards at Saratoga's destroyed submachine gun.

Admiral Mako hummed, clearly liking what she saw as she asked Nagato.

"Hmm, Nagato, how about getting in contact with the San Francisco Naval Base and tell them that we've got a USN ship girl here?

Just to, y'know, let them know that Sara-chan's SOS signal was a false alarm as well as to help her get in touch with her American sisters and friends."

Nagato lowered her hand as she responded dryly.

"Already did.

I understand if she wishes to talk to her USN comrades on the other side of the Pacific."

Saratoga perked up upon hearing the possibility of getting in touch with other American girls, asking hopefully.

"Oh, can we send a radio signal across the entire Pacific Ocean to send a message to them?

Technology is more advanced than I thought!"

Everyone gave her the look, in which she drew back a little from the ensuing silence as she asked politely.

"U-Um…

Are we not using radio waves to communicate with them?

Mail, perhaps?"

Nagato hit a few buttons on her keyboard in order to get the Americans online, answering simply.

"Well, technology has improved to the point where we can instantaneously get in touch with them, and we can see them on this little contraption here.

Although you need to keep in mind that it's in real time, so there's a time zone difference..."

Turning the laptop to make it face Shigure, Admiral Mako and Saratoga, they were greeted with the sight of an Admiral who wore the Admiral peaked cap and trousers with a white singlet on the other end of the line, looking to be in his late thirties, was lean and well-built for his age and possessed short auburn hair, blue eyes and sharp cheeks as he leaned back in his recliner couch on the screen.

Beside him were two females, both equally tall and towering over the seated Admiral as Shigure extrapolated from environmental cues, shadows cast on the background and the estimated height of the American Admiral to assume that the blonde was about Yamato's height, while the dark-haired girl was close to Nagato's height.

The blonde's hair was long was silky, and her blue eyes had yellow stars in her irises. Her leggings were styled after the American flag where her right leg had red-and-white vertical stripes, while her left leg was blue-and-white.

Her radar display was on the crown of her head as a cap of sorts, with long silver long gloves with dark blue fingerless hand-gloves at the end, with white stripes adorning her cuffs.

Her corset was a similarly-colored steel with the numbers '61' printed on it in white fonts while her shoulderless upperwear exposed her ample chest and was tied in a knot beneath them, and her thick belt held up her blue-and-white mini-mini-skirt.

Her collar, like much of the battleships on this side of the Pacific, was made of steel and was styled to make sure that she had enough room to turn her head.

The other ship girl was dressed rather conservatively, although this did nothing to diminish her beauty or cover up her curvaceous figure, a long royal purple dress hugging her sleeves and legs and unfortunately (or in Admiral Mako's case, fortunately) highlighting her hourglass figure which was further accentuated by the metal corset that she wore.

Her collar and the cuffs of her long-dress were white with a purple stripe adorning it, and she had a blue neck ribbon holding her collar together.

She had short black hair much like Haguro, and sported a white headband to hold it in place.

The Admiral on-screen waved to the two of them, brusquely introducing them in accented Japanese, something which briefly surprised Shigure before she immediately learnt to roll with it.

"Hey, Sara.

I'm Admiral Jackson of the San Francisco Naval Base, and this here's Maryland and Iowa.

Sorry we couldn't get your sister Lexington, she's out on a mission right now."

Shigure could feel Saratoga deflate a little at that revelation, but she chipped in to console the American.

"U-Um, Sara-san?

To my knowledge, you American carriers are capable of going on night operations, so it's not out of the question for Lexington-san to be out on a sortie at this time of night.

Besides, there's the possibility that she might be asleep at this time of night even if she wasn't out on a sortie."

Saratoga turned to give her a thankful, tired and a tired nod, but before she could say anything, Admiral Jackson did a double take and rested his gaze on Shigure as he commented.

"Yo, Mako, I ain't stalking your base or anything, but I was sure that you didn't say anything about a Shigure being in your base here.

Is she a newcomer, too?"

Everyone's gaze shifted onto her, Shigure freezing up before stepping forward to give Admiral Jackson a respectful bow as she introduced herself to the American trio.

"I-I'm Shigure, a destroyer of the Shiratsuyu-Class!

It's an honor to meet you!"

She raised her head to find Nagato giving a small nod of approval, while Admiral Jackson was smiling warmly as Maryland also bowed towards her, her palms on her laps as she leaned forwards and greeted in fluent Japanese.

"Greetings, Shigure-san.

I am Maryland, a battleship of the Colorado-Class."

Iowa freely waved a hand as she casually greeted in a mix of Japanese and English.

"Yo, Shigure-chan!

Iowa here, of the famed Iowa-Class battleships!

Pleased to meet ya!"

Stepping back to continue the conversation, Admiral Mako told the Americans about the false alarm concerning Saratoga's SOS signal.

"Before my 8th Fleet brought her in, Saratoga sent out a distress signal, which was ultimately a false alarm.

Part of why I'm calling is to let you know that it's a false alarm."

Admiral Jackson simply nodded in response while adding.

"Yeah, we caught it on the satellites, but noted that the USN signature it came from was surrounded by IJN signatures, so I wasn't too concerned.

Although now that you mentioned that it was your 8th Fleet bringing her in, I can't help but think her SOS signal was somewhat justified..."

Admiral Mako could only cock her head in order to concede the point, before Saratoga asked in a concerned voice.

"Please, I need to know.

Are we being treated well over there?

I mean…"

But Admiral Jackson interjected to let Saratoga know that as ship girls who had served their countries well in times of war, they were granted rights as sentient and sapient beings who were capable of comprehending their own existence and making choices for themselves.

"Well, since y'all served in a war before this, we certainly treat you all with the respect you deserve and is one big reason why most of us don't run our bases like normal naval bases.

We know that you're experienced enough as soldiers to know what lines not to cross and we trust you all to behave yourselves.

Besides, you ship girls have like, a Declaration of Independence drawn up to officially state the rights that you deserve, not just as weapons of war, but also as tested and verified humans with comparable, if not superior intelligence to us humans."

Saratoga exhaled and nodded upon hearing that, Admiral Mako leaning in to notify both parties that they were going to let Saratoga into the viewing theater to get her up to speed on the Abyssal War.

"We're gonna get Saratoga up to date in the viewing theater, and I think that we may need to fill her in on the American variations, if she sees that her sister looks nothing like her."

Both Saratoga and Shigure looked confused upon hearing that, and Iowa leaned in to explain the American ship girl phenomena which was discovered about a year ago, pressing a few buttons on the laptop on her end as she did so.

"Yo, Sara.

I'm a Mark ll Iowa, a variation of the Mark l Iowa that America has been accustomed to.

The picture of the Mark l Iowa should come up on your screen right about...now."

The screen was then partially covered up by a portrait of a dark-haired woman whose hair reached down to her hips, partially covered by a white sunhat with a black ribbon tied around it.

Her uniform was a navy blue, reaching down to her thighs with white frills underneath the hem of her skirt along with white stripes reaching around her dress.

Her puffed sleeves were short, and revealed slender arms which carried a similarly-colored umbrella in one hand, and she was wearing white, laced thigh-high stockings and some sort of cross between a sandal and high heel.

Her expression was demure and meek in contrast to the bubbly and radiant Iowa before them, and Iowa explained.

"This here's the Mark l Iowa who was built in good ol' America while I'm the Mark ll Iowa who spawned near Guam and was in Japan before being sent here, and I swear, the difference between us in terms of personality is like Heaven and Earth.

But in terms of performance, there's virtually no difference between our stats, and despite all our engineers and Fairies trying to understand how this phenomenon came about, possibly as a form of Abyssal interference or error within our software, almost all of us have thrown our hands up high and admitted,

'We don't know.'"

Maryland nodded as she leaned in to join the conversation, explaining the situation.

"This phenomenon was discovered after the Japanese found the first Mark ll Iowa in Japanese waters and sent her over to America to be studied…"

Saratoga narrowed her eyes as she cocked her head back, slightly suspicious of the term 'studying' in this context, and Maryland raised both her arms to placate Saratoga as she added hastily.

"A-All non-invasive, and done by the Fairies, of course.

They were scanned extensively in terms of hardware and software, and were cleared of possible Abyssal interference or were potential Abyssal spy units, and were simply a variation in personality to achieve the same ends.

It's a newly discovered phenomenon in the course of our twenty-year war, where overseas American drops like you, Saratoga, are all exclusively Mark ll variants, and this phenomenon has yet to happen in America where we all receive Mark l drops.

But the difference in personality does nothing to affect the performance of the ship girl, which is what we're ultimately concerned with.

But Saratoga, even if Lexington may not share your uniform and your looks, please understand that your sister still loves you very much…"

"I understand."

Saratoga waved her hand to politely interrupt the Colorado-Class battleship, remarking about the bond she had with her sister ship and how a mere difference in looks wasn't going to change that.

"The love I have for my sister ship and my American comrades is beyond skin-deep, and even if we look a little different, it matters not.

All I need to know is that my comrades and sisters are with me in the present, and that's enough."

Admiral Mako inquired, offering the carrier a chance to see what her sister ship Lexington looked like as a ship girl.

"You wanna see a portrait of what your sister looks like?

Might help tide over that feeling of nostalgia…"

But Saratoga shook her head, content to leave things as they are right now as she commented.

"No.

Simply knowing that she's alive right now is more than enough for me.

Thank you, Admiral Mako, Nagato-san and Shigure-san.

I was greatly mistaken about you lot, and to allow me a chance to get in touch with my comrades and countrymen is the most that I dare to ask of you right now."

Admiral Mako nodded her head as Maryland and Iowa smiled while Shigure heard Admiral Jackson respond warmly.

"Saratoga, the Japanese are nothing like their old selves, and I can personally vouch for Admiral Mako's trustworthiness and ability to lead."

But his expression hardened as he leaned in towards Saratoga, and asked her for a very important favor as his two battleships remained silent in the face of his serious demeanor.

"But I need you to listen to me, Sara, and don't say anything until after I'm done.

I need you to stay in Yokosuka.

I can't say when we can bring you over to America anytime soon seeing how things are turning out, so you may have to stay in Japan indefinitely until there's a lull in the war.

The girls in Yokosuka need all the air-power and firepower for the battles that lie ahead, and they need a good ol' fashioned American bird carrier to help them out.

Can I task you with the responsibility with following Admiral Mako's leadership and helping out the Japanese ship girls to the best of your ability?"

Shigure looked back to see an ashen-faced Saratoga standing at attention, but she was looking down silently and was grimly considering the possibility of never knowing when she was going to sail back to USA, if ever.

Nagato chipped in with a suggestion to help her out.

"You don't have to feel like you're pressured into accepting this, Saratoga-san.

We can charter a Lockheed C-130 Hercules to fly you over to America-"

"No."

Saratoga's face relaxed as she nodded in response to Admiral Jackson's request, giving Nagato a polite smile as she explained herself.

"If my superiors deem that I can be of more use to everyone here, I'll gladly accept the task and the responsibilities it entails in order to protect my newfound friends here."

Looking down at a slightly surprised Shigure and giving her a warm smile, Saratoga continued on.

"After seeing what the Abyssals are like through your eyes, Shigure-san, I understand how they are a global threat.

It's understandable that I wouldn't be able to go home immediately, and I'm prepared to stay here and help you all."

Admiral Mako and Jackson nodded while Maryland and Iowa exhaled in relief, but Shigure could see that there was an attempt by the carrier to conceal the sadness within her, not knowing when she could go home and forced to eat, sleep, live and fight with IJN ship girls, her past enemies who likely harbored a few grudges against her.

She had to deal with all this while her people and comrades were an halfway across the world and she was the only American here, and was told that things were going to go from bad to worse here and that despite their best efforts, they couldn't send her back to America where she truly belonged.

But a knock on the door was what interrupted the transoceanic conversation, Admiral Mako opening the door to find Hiei, who was wearing two hospital gowns, one that left her back and bum exposed and the second split down the front to covered her exposed rear and was a coat of sorts.

Hiei was no longer wearing her headdress to prevent complications in the ER, and a fretting Haruna followed behind while Hiei rushed in to hug a tired Shigure, crying out.

"Shigure!

You're alright!"

While Haruna explained to her Admiral whilst bowing apologetically.

"My apologies, Admiral Mako, but Haruna was unable stop Hiei nee-sama from leaving the hospital.

She wanted to find Shigure-san after the night operation so badly…"

Shigure returned Hiei's hug with all the strength she could muster, but the two Kongou-Class battleships must've noticed a conspicuous presence in the room, Hiei looking up ask innocently.

"Nagato-san, who's this?"

Shigure could hear Nagato's patient and authoritative voice boom behind her as she released herself from Hiei's hands, seeing the looks on both Haruna and Hiei's face turn from questioning to slightly afraid.

"This is American carrier CV-3, Saratoga."

Silenced ensued.

Eventually, Hiei tried to recover as best she could by greeting the American.

"Ah, w-welcome.

I'm Hiei, and this is Haruna, my sister ship.

We're both from the Kongou-Class of battleships, and it's great to have you here."

Haruna eventually gave Saratoga a warm smile and performed a proper Japanese bow to welcome the carrier to Yokosuka.

"We welcome you to Yokosuka, Saratoga-san."

Admiral Mako took this as the time to vacate the room, Shigure noting that Admiral Mako gave Nagato the tiniest of nods and a look, which Nagato understood and nodded back in understanding, ushering them out by clapping her hands and gesturing.

"Come on now, Admiral Mako's got a busy day.

We'll all go to the viewing theater to get Saratoga-san up to date on the Abyssal War."

Shigure, Haruna, Hiei and Saratoga were silently ushered out of the room, and the last thing Shigure could see behind her was Maryland and Iowa leaving Admiral Jackson behind to allow them to talk confidentially.

The door clicked shut behind Admiral Mako, and Admiral Jackson took off his Admiral hat to toss it somewhere as he sighed and asked.

"Alright, Mako.

What's up?"

Admiral Mako turned the laptop back to face her seat as she seated herself on her own seat, feeling herself sink into the cushion after Nagato, Musashi, Mutsu and various other ships had sat down on it in the past, flattening the cushions and weakening the springs.

Perhaps she should get it replaced one day.

"Well, not much.

Other than a large-scale battle that requires five or more navies from Kanagawa, Chiba and Eastern Shizuoka _combined_ to win, discovering the plans for the next Abyssal land assault which will lead to a full-on World War 3, and discovering the secret origins of the ship girls and unraveling the mysteries of this universe, nothing much."

Admiral Jackson let out a low whistle as he leaned back in his recliner couch, resting his legs on the armrest as he commented.

"You know, I genuinely can't tell if you're kidding or not with the last two, but I heard reports of an abnormal amount of Abyssals gathering around your area, so I believe about a third of your words since the first one's likely true."

Admiral Mako sighed as she removed her peaked cap and tossed it onto her desk, sighing as she rubbed her eyes and commented.

"You know about the Flying Dutchman and how it wrecked my ship girls?"

"Yeah, if I'm not wrong, that's why Hiei was in a hospital gown, right?"

Nodding, Admiral Mako revealed as she leaned in and whispered conspiratorially into the laptop.

"That was a sneak first look at 'Apocalypse', a plan they've got to start World War 3.

Don't worry about intel leaking out; I got Nagato to set up a secure connection because I knew that I was going to have this conversation with you anyway.

Saratoga's appearance only added a conversation topic and Hiei's intervention provided me a lucky exit, so there."

Admiral Jackson lifted an eyebrow as he commented.

"So what do we know?"

Admiral Mako leaned in as she typed on the keyboard, sending an encrypted email to his inbox which he received, lazily getting up as he extracted the contents within and scrolled through the contents, eyes narrowing the further he got down the list of pictures as he finally asked.

"When?"

Shrugging, Admiral Mako leaned back as she admitted the limits of her knowledge.

"From what Akashi told me before she went to tend to the injured, it'll happen by the end of this year."

Scowling, Admiral Jackson counted on his fingers, before noting harshly at how unfair this was.

"That's too soon; we won't have enough time to prepare for a full-scale war when they've already got their army on our doorstep."

"And that's why they're 'giving us a sporting chance',"

Admiral Mako returned the scowl as she looked away at nothing in particular, grumbling.

"It's because they want the ship girls to have a fair chance of winning, because the Abyssal high-command treats this like a game.

And where's the fun in a game if you steamroll your opponents and dominate the match?"

Cue a sharp inhale from Jackson, who closed his eyes as he cussed.

"Fuck, man, that's messed up.

They're simply playing with their food at this point."

And a slow, methodical exhale to calm himself down, considering the situation in the confines of his office before asking his good friend.

"What do you need?"

"Guns."

Mako replied, meeting Jackson's gaze as she stated bluntly.

"We need all the Anti-Abyssal firearms we can get our hands on, and who better to make them than good ol' Uncle Sam?"

Nodding, Jackson added as he predicted how the conversation was heading towards.

"Let me guess, you want me to dig up the mothballed 'Mud-skipper' plans to prepare for the incoming invasion?

But they were drawn up half a decade ago, they'll be pretty outdated against an up-to-date Abyssal invasion."

"I don't care.

Outdated plans are better than no plans."

"What'll you do about this, in the meantime?"

Looking out her window at the morning sun, the sight of the Yokosuka Naval Base and the frontier that was the ocean before them, Mako only responded.

"Gather more intel about 'Apocalypse'.

Otherwise, I'll either prepare for the upcoming large-scale battle or help forward Project Psyche."

Now raising one eyebrow, Jackson leaned back on his recliner couch, causing him to sink into the furniture likely because capital ships often used his room much like Admiral Mako's secretary ships did.

He sounded interested in this new development, noting as she scratched the tip of his sharp nose while crossing one leg over the other to make himself comfortable.

"Well, I assume Project Psyche's part of 'discovering the secrets of the ship girls' thing, right?"

"Yep.

I plan to explore and study the soul of a ship girl and try to draw more power from it in order to power new Anti-Abyssal technology."

Jackson shook his head, smirking as he commented on the Project.

"Jeez, Mako.

I know that there're less invasive ways to worm your way into a ship girl's heart, right?

I mean, you've done it like, what, eight times already?"

This caused Mako to smirk in turn as she retorted.

"Nine, really."

Sighing, Jackson fell onto the reclining couch in a supine position as he bemoaned.

"Aw, man!

Here you are, in a polyamorous relationship with nine ship girls, and I'm here, struggling to confess to both Hornets.

Even my parents are pushing for me to get together with them already!"

"Yeah, that's why you should transfer your frank and beans to me, because I obviously have more use for it than you do, fucking workaholic pussy."

The both of them now had genuine smiles on their faces, Jackson giving Mako the middle finger as he tried to hide his smirk and tried to steer their conversation back on track.

"Look, my assumption is that this one-of-a-kind procedure is dangerous, and it's the 'perma-death' kind of dangerous.

So how're we going to find a ship girl's who going to survive the procedure?"

Admiral Mako shrugged as she got on her laptop to scroll through the list of her ship girls in another computer window as she commented.

"Well, my engineers Akio and Kousuke said it was better for a ship girl who had a strong will, so that narrows it down… somewhat.

The odds of survival aren't pretty, although it's not entirely hopeless, so it's best that I select an expandable ship girl."

Jackson lifted an eyebrow as he grimly agreed with Mako's thinking.

"Cold, but it's practical.

Can't have a capital ship dying on us if Project Psyche goes south now, right?"

Mako sighed as she nodded, silently scrolling through the list of ship girls as she forced herself to look at her own girls with a cold, utilitarian mind to determine which ship girl had the best odds of succeeding, yet wouldn't affect them too much in terms of manpower and firepower should they die in the process.

And eventually, some of the life came back into her eyes as she found two possible candidates for the Project as she commented.

"I'm not 100% certain, but I think I've got my candidates."

Her computer window was resting on the portraits of Tenryuu and Tatsuta.


	26. Chapter 26 - The Crossroads of Destiny

It was difficult to find something to talk to Saratoga about, since she was a newly spawned, impressionable ship girl who hadn't been exposed to the wonders of the modern age long enough to have any preferences for any topics.

So Hiei and company had to spend the entire time walking to the viewing theater in an awkward silence, and since she didn't know Saratoga long enough to know which topics were sensitive and others were alright with her, Hiei opted for the silent treatment, but only because she didn't want to dredge up any bad memories and start their relationship off on the wrong foot.

And upon reaching the viewing theater, Nagato turned to Saratoga and explained how this viewing theater was used to bring new ship girls and sailors up to speed about the war.

"Alright, Saratoga-san.

This is a small theater to show you a video in order to bring you up to speed with the Abyssal War.

And after this, we'll try and get some lunch before I escort you around the base and introduce you to everyone."

But Saratoga had a different idea, requesting for an extended history lesson.

"Um, if it's not too much of me to ask, I'd like to learn more about what the technology and weapons of today are like.

Perhaps it's my nature as an American to be interested in weapons, but after seeing the 8th Fleet in action, it's certainly caught my interest…"

Haruna nodded as she agreed amiably, Hiei seeing that despite her sister ship feeling somewhat uncomfortable in the presence of the American carrier, she genuinely wanted to be close with Saratoga in order to establish strong ties with their former adversaries and repair emotional wounds for the greater good.

"Certainly.

In some sense, war is a technological race, and it'd be understandable if you wish to keep up with the times in terms of technological advancements.

This way please."

Saratoga nodded as Haruna gestured towards the entrance of the theater, and Shigure gently pushed the carrier into the viewing theater in order to get the show on the road while Nagato placed a comforting shoulder on Saratoga before the three of them disappeared into the dimly-lit room, but Hiei was left with Haruna outside the theater as she asked her sister how she felt about this.

"Haruna…

How're you holding up so far?"

Haruna's smiled drooped a little as she lowered her gaze, exhaling as she responded silently, for fear that the carrier would overhear them talking behind her back.

"I...I do not know, Hiei nee-sama.

I suppose… I should feel happy that we're blessed enough to receive another carrier, which helps us bolster our forces, but…"

Hiei tried to finish the sentence for her.

"But you aren't sure whether you should dislike her for being American?"

Haruna's eyes widened as she held up both arms placatingly in order to refute Hiei's suggested question as she responded, almost panicked and trying not to dredge up bitter feelings.

"Oh, oh no, nee-sama!

She did not ask to be spawned here, of all places, and as an American, no less!

And we are now allies with the Americans, so there should not be any feelings of resentment between us in order to work with them.

It's just that Haruna immediately thought about American bomber planes when I saw her, and…"

Lowering her hands, Haruna seemingly deflated as she finished the sentence and remembered how she sank at the hands of several hundred bomber planes flying over her at Kure, raining Hell upon her and several other warships before sinking them all.

"It just reminds of Kure, and how I sank there…"

Hiei said nothing, but brought her in for a reassuring hug as she empathized with Haruna, sharing with her how she sank.

"You don't have to say anything, Haruna.

I understand how it feels like to sink while coming under fire from bombers.

Enterprise sank me with her planes in Guadalcanal along with the help of USS San Francisco, remember?

Although I do believe the credit mostly went to Enterprise..."

Haruna nodded solemnly as she inhaled deeply, allowing the mood to settle down as the both of them tried to calm themselves down and not allow this to devolve into a pity party, Hiei trying to lighten up the mood by stating.

"Well, if we really wanted a real headache on our hands, we would have received Enterprise instead of Saratoga.

No offense to The Grey Ghost, but her presence here would drive the carriers of the 1st and 5th Carrier division nuts trying to out-perform her along with giving the 1st and 2nd Carrier Division major PTSD attacks, and her presence alone would send about a quarter of us into panic attacks everywhere she went."

Haruna snickered, trying not to laugh at the sight of Kaga and Zuikaku, the hardcore carriers who were present in this base, pull at their hairs while trying to outperform the legendary American carrier, and responded with a fair bit of mirth.

"And would you be amongst those who would be afraid of her?"

Hiei thought about how she would react to her killer, before understanding that the warships of both sides were simply performing their duties to the best of their abilities in World War 2.

She answered simply.

"Yes.

For a while, at least."

And Haruna probed deeper in order to determine if her sister was capable of forgiving someone who sank her.

"And would you forgive her, nee-sama?"

Hiei blinked upon hearing this, and pushed herself away from her sister in order to contemplate the question while looking at a concerned Haruna, who was trying to get her to open up to her sister ship about her sinking and confront it, because the both of them knew that the world was becoming increasingly connected.

It was simple for Hiei and her fleet to be sent overseas, and it was entirely possible that the longer Hiei lived, the greater her chances of meeting either Enterprise or San Francisco and having to come to terms with her own sinking through the combined efforts of both carrier and cruiser.

She knew the textbook answer to this question should a civilian or reporter ask them this question, where the ship girl in question should give the model answer.

 _'Of course!_

 _The past is in the past, and we should put aside our past grudges in order to work together to defeat the Abyssals!'_

But in reality, things were a lot more complicated than that, since every ship girl differed in personality and could range from being entirely fine with forgiving the foreign ship girl who sank her at the drop of a hat, to harboring a grudge for years on end and never considering forgiveness as a possibility for them, making foreign operations extremely difficult for everyone.

The possibility of a ship girl turning out to be the latter was extremely rare, but with twenty years of producing an innumerable variety of ship girls, there were certainly a few of them around the world who were placed on the watch-list immediately after being brought into this world, although they were given several chances to overcome their hatred as part of their ship girl rights.

For Hiei, she wasn't sure if she was magnanimous enough to forgive Enterprise immediately after meeting her like the saintly Haguro and Chitose, but she wasn't the kind of ship girl to hold onto a grudge forever.

Was she?

Finally, Hiei looked Haruna in the eye as she gave her sister her honest answer.

"I'll do my best to forgive her, because there's no possibility of teamwork if we keep holding onto these grudges and feelings of animosity.

But I admit it won't be easy for me to do so for Enterprise and San Francisco, the latter having disabled my steering with her shells while the former bombarded me with her planes."

While looking away as she brooded, this being an entirely new thing for her as she saw herself as quite energetic and cheery, but was surprising even herself as she responded maturely.

"But those hypothetical scenarios can wait for the future.

Right now, I'm more worried about Yukikaze, who was my escort ship back then.

I've always wanted to talk to her to help her come to terms with any negative feelings she might still harbor after scuttling me all those years ago.

But despite being a fast battleship, she's always evaded me as though she knows when I'm approaching her to talk about her actions at Guadalcanal.

It's getting rather vexing, really…"

Haruna gave a small smile as she made a suggestion to help her beloved sister out.

"To Haruna's knowledge, Yukikaze-san still receives counselling sessions from Akashi-san, right?

You can ask Akashi-san to arrange a session where you talk to Yukikaze-san with her…"

Hiei's face lit up as she saw the ingenuity in that plan, slapping her palms on her sister's shoulders as she exclaimed, breaking out into a smile.

"That's genius, Haruna!

Thank you so much!"

Jumping and glomping her sister with a bear hug and with a wide smile on her face, Haruna was caught off-guard as she warned,

"Nee-sama!

I can't…"

As Hiei felt the world spin about her while Haruna was thrown off-balance by Hiei's hug, Hiei falling on her back and landing on the wooden long tiles that made up the floor as Hiei winced at the floorboards hitting her back, thankfully cushioned somewhat by the two hospital gowns shielding her back.

Haruna fell on her and tried to slap a palm on the floor to stop her face from meeting Hiei's, but her hand slipped as she fell forwards, almost parallel to Hiei as her lips met Hiei's for a split second.

They both gasped as Haruna hastily lifted her face while still sitting on Hiei, but they then both broke out into embarrassed smiles as their spirits were a raised a little after her own antics eased the mood, and she now felt rather invigorated after knowing that Shigure was alive, she had an idea of how to get through to Yukikaze, she had quite the productive discussion with Haruna about her past and Yokosuka now had a new carrier within their ranks, further bolstering their forces and increasing their air-power.

This was turning out to a good day indeed.

* * *

Walking into the theater while Nagato's last recorded lines played,

"... comrades to sail into battle with.

And as one ship girl to another, welcome back."

Hiei noted that Shigure was sitting to the left, with Nagato in the middle of the seated trio while Saratoga sat closest to the entrance, the Lexington-Class carrier waving them in as she invited.

"Welcome in.

This is quite the documentary, a simple yet effective method of enlightening newcomers and bringing them up to speed on the situation.

But, Nagato-san, if you please?"

Nagato nodded understandingly got up from her seat, motioning with her head for Hiei and Haruna to take her spot as she walked towards a black door with the sign,

'WARNING

AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY'

Behind them, notifying the Kongou-Class battleships about what they were going to view next.

"Saratoga-san requested for this, so I'll be playing the disc with the prerecorded footage about technological developments, both in the United States and around the world.

We should be in time for lunch after this, so don't worry."

Hiei and Haruna nodded, Hiei sitting beside Shigure while Haruna sat beside Saratoga, Hiei hearing her sister politely start a conversation with the Lexington-Class carrier about the documentary of the Abyssal War as Hiei looked down at Shigure and asked concernedly.

"Shigure.

Does it hurt anywhere?"

Shigure shook her head truthfully, but Hiei was worried that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was trying to put up a brave front regarding the amount of fatigue she had sustained thus far, blinking constantly to keep herself awake and subtly clutching at her stomach as she hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

Hiei mentally grimaced as she put on a worried smile, gently clutching at Shigure hand to tell her in a serious voice, since this concerned her friend's well-being.

"Shigure, if you can't handle the hunger, I'm carrying you out of this theater and feeding you myself."

And Shigure responded weakly,

"Well, I'm actually a little more worried about dozing off after staying up all night to fight an Abyssal Princess.

And if that happens, I'd prefer to get some sleep rather than eat a meal, since as ship girls, we can go for quite a long period of time without food.

But the lack of sleep will slowly induce fatigue, which is harder to recover from."

Hiei nodded as the theater went dark again, halting all conversations as the screen displayed the ship girl symbol with the Japanese characters **'** **艦これ** **'** in large golden fonts with a laurel wreath and a gold anchor beneath the wreath where the two branches met.

And finally, the screen changed to show a small auditorium and a ship girl taking the stage, Hiei recognizing USS Maryland on the screen as she bowed, her dark hair shifting gracefully as she introduced herself.

"Greetings.

I am USS Maryland, and we are gathered here today to learn about technological advancements made after the war in order to understand how we reached from simple rotary phones to hand-phones with various miscellaneous features.

Please note that what we are going over are extremely simplified summaries in the interest of time, so if you are still confused and are suffering from what we term 'future shock' and feel as if you are unable to adapt to the modern age by yourself, feel free to ask your Admiral or senior ship girls for help."

The screen behind her shifted to a picture of the Able and Baker Tests at Bikini Atoll, both Nagato and Saratoga freezing up upon witnessing the two mushroom clouds of doom, although Hiei could tell through her hearing that Nagato handled it better than Saratoga did, since living for so long gave her more time to come to terms with her past trauma.

Saratoga was a little worse off in that regard as her hand was shaking a little, but Haruna and Nagato were there for her as both of them held each hand in order to comfort her as Maryland began the lesson.

"We, the Americans, conducted Operation Crossroads at the island of Bikini Atoll in order to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships.

And during the Cold War, we pushed our technological prowess to the limit, to the point where we developed nuclear weapons that functioned primarily on nuclear fusion, the reaction which powers the sun."

The next picture was of a plane flying above the clouds, likely in the stratosphere as the mother of all mushroom clouds drew everyone's attention, the lens flare which was the sun slightly irradiating the picture but was still overshadowed by the gigantic mushroom cloud, easily punching through the layer of clouds and reaching for the heavens.

"This picture was taken 161 kilometers from the detonation of the Tsar Bomba, and this mushroom cloud was 56 kilometers tall when this picture was taken.

It was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated, and all buildings within 55 kilometers were annihilated, shattering windowpanes as far away as 900 kilometers from the point of detonation.

Fortunately, despite the Cold War culminating in the climax that was the Cuban Missile Crisis, saner minds prevailed and we were fortunate enough not to have started another world war, which would no doubt have ended everything within a matter of minutes, if not hours.

Onto lighter matters."

The screen was now replaced with a black-and-white picture of a plane with a sharp, domed nose, a sleek fuselage and swept-back wings with two mean-looking engines to provide the thrust needed to fly the plane, with one engine beneath each wing.

The fact that the Nazi swastika symbol was imprinted on the rudder of the plane and on the rear fuselage didn't escape anyone's notice, but everyone in the theater knew to leave the topic alone as this was obviously a Luftwaffe plane.

"We developed several new airplanes in order to fly at faster speeds after studying the swept-back wing designs and turbojet engines of the Messerschmitt Me 262, eventually developing fighter planes which could break the sound barrier.

Weapons guidance technology has also come a long way, and these planes possess the capability of locking onto enemy signatures and firing homing missiles.

As part of the human effort to help us fight the Abyssal War, these fast-response fighter jets have played an integral role in providing us backup with their improved performance and payloads over the two decades."

The next video was of a fighter jet, the video being too grainy to make out the specific model despite being in color, but the fighter jet was sleek and had swept-back wings not unlike the Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Me 262, and as it flew across the bright blue air with a few wisps of clouds in the background, it was clear from the speed of the plane that it was far faster than any World War 2 combat plane ever created.

And when it approached the speed of sound, the fighter plane had some sort of foggy cone being blasted backwards as the fighter jet flew past the cameraman, the crack of the sonic boom occurring shortly afterwards before the plane disappeared into the blue sky.

The next two pictures were of the Apollo 13 Space Shuttle, a strangely-styled black-and-white plane with symbol of the American flag and 'USA' emblazoned on its left wing, its fuselage coupled to the conspicuously-colored orange external tank with two ICBM-looking solid rocket boosters in action, leaving a pillar of incandescent flames behind as they provided the thrust needed to fly the spaceship, Hiei hearing Saratoga gasp in surprise at the size of the spaceship as it left thick, puffy clouds in its wake.

The other picture was of a human in a white spacesuit with a golden visor, and he was standing on a barren land with the pitch-black darkness of space in the background, with the Apollo 11 Lunar Module behind him and the erected American flag beside the astronaut, commenting on the Moon landing.

"In 1969, as part of the Cold War between the Soviets and Americans, the two countries participated in the Space Race, whose ultimate aim was to send humans into space instead of satellites, and ultimately to the moon.

And in response to the Soviets first sending Laika, a Russian dog, and then Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut, into space, we sent two Americans, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the Moon and back, as you can see in the following video."

The screen behind Maryland cut to a grainy black and white video of said astronaut descending a ladder belonging to the Lunar Module as Hiei gave the American an aside glance, watching Saratoga now become entranced by her country's accomplishment which would be forever remembered as Neil Armstrong said his famous quote.

"' _That's one small step for a man… one… giant leap for mankind.'"_

Shigure leaned in to quietly ask,

"Did he say, 'one small step _for man_ ' or ' _for a man_ '?

If it's the former, then that quote doesn't make much sense."

Hiei leaned in while keeping her eyes on the screen as she explained.

"Neil Armstrong was from Central Ohio.

His thick accent blanketed the 'a', but it's there."

Now shifting to another two pictures, Maryland gestured to a smaller missile, a white tubular fuselage with a rounded tip and orange wings as it blasted across the screen, the other being a gigantic white rocket placed horizontally on a movable platform with 'US AIR FORCE' etched on its side vertically down its fuselage, the battleship explaining the sight behind her.

"Moving on, what we once knew as the V-1 Flying Bomb developed by the Nazis has been improved into this, the American Tomahawk missile and the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, or ICBM for short.

The smaller Tomahawk is a subsonic cruise missile which has a maximum range of 2500 kilometers while the larger Minuteman missile has a range of 13000 kilometers."

Hiei nodded mutely, now also interested in the history lesson as the screen shifted to a picture of an IBM 5051 with an arrow leading from it to point at an IBM Thinkpad 850, an early laptop model, and another arrow pointing to the chess-playing computer known as Deep Blue.

"Our technology has also improved in order to perform tasks faster, so that computers drastically shrink in size but possess greater performance specs, and it improved to the point where a computer beat a human chess-master, Garry Kasparov, in a chess match.

The development of the computer also brought about the advent of the internet, which allowed much of the world to connect with each other and share information quickly, making current events much easier to follow since a lot of people around the world possess laptops and hand-phones.

So if you're thinking of communicating with a fellow ship girl across the globe, worry not."

The screen changed yet again to show helicopters and submarines, two war vehicles which received a lot of attention in the post-World-War-2-era, Maryland patiently explaining.

"Compared to the technology of our day, which only allowed for the creation of auto-gyros and smaller submarines, they exist today mostly as helicopters and nuclear submarines.

What you see here is a Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter with its missiles and machine gun armaments on display, and the Ohio-Class submarine with its missile silos open in order to launch its Trident missiles."

Looking back at the audience, Maryland, being a battleship whom Hiei knew was a hardworking ship girl and was a front-line combatant no matter which base she hailed from, was likely speaking from personal experience.

"These submarines and helicopters, despite being a bit more limited than fighter jets mainly in terms of speed, have also been extremely helpful in other ways by helping us detect and track underwater Abyssal activity with their sonar, and providing extra firepower after taking off from modern helicopter destroyers respectively."

Hiei suddenly felt a small arm curl around her elbow, and she looked down to find Shigure's downcast expression betraying her fear of submarines after she was sunk by USS Blackfin in the war.

The Kongou-Class battleship used her right hand to gently pry her hand off of her elbow, although she still tenderly held it as she used her relatively long left arm to reach across in order to clutch Shigure's left shoulder, bringing her in to embrace her.

Shigure briefly looked up in surprise to find a confident Hiei smiling down at her, and she finally saw the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer believe in her strength and her smile as she leaned on her for support.

Making sure that her little friend felt safe in her embrace before turning back to the screen, Hiei could see the Colorado-Class continuing on like a training cruiser who was tasked with training and enlightening ship girls under her tutelage, smiling warmly as she described the next piece of technology.

"... And thus, with the help of 24 satellites in space, we can help pinpoint your location via the Global-Positioning System almost anywhere on Earth.

And this…"

A laser-guidance system was shown on screen as it explained how it worked, Maryland adding her commentary.

"Is a laser guidance system.

The laser reflects off of the enemy which we point the laser at and is scattered everywhere, and as a weapon, be it a missile, bomb or some other projectile, flies towards the general direction of the target, a laser seeker detects where the laser is reflected from.

It then adjusts its trajectory to hit the target accurately should we keep the laser trained on the enemy, and like what I said about fighter jets and helicopters helping us out by firing their missiles, we occasionally utilize these laser pointers in major battles to direct their payloads towards the Abyssals while danger close."

The video was nearing its end as Maryland was now discussing about tanks, a picture of a M1A1 Abrams tank and a T90 tank, explaining the sight before the audience.

"Nowadays, tanks are also a lot more advanced where they have monitors inside them to display the environment, allied and enemy units, the distance to target and the tank's position on the map via GPS.

This is integral in helping the tank commander improve his or her situational awareness, as well as improving the coordination between units as radio communications have also come a long way since then.

What is also made possible nowadays is the tank's Anti-Missile weapon attachments which help to destroy inbound Anti-Tank missiles that the tank sensors are capable of detecting, and their specially-created composite armor is capable of doing its job by protecting the tank and keeping its occupants alive."

Maryland was now entering the theoretical stage of her lecture, as humans now had the Fairies on their side, who were extremely knowledgeable engineers who could help them speed up their development of futuristic weapons and green vehicles to help improve the energy crisis.

"And with the Fairies helping us with their advanced knowledge of weapons, physics, engineering and various other related fields of science, we are experiencing another burst of technological advancement, and are planning to develop several weapons that are beyond our time.

Amongst them is the railgun."

Now displaying an extremely long, reinforced barrel with the logo,

"GENERAL ATOMICS"

In a white font on the dark railgun barrel that had to be supported at several intervals to prevent it from hitting the floor, with advanced machinery forming a ring at its end as it fed energy into the barrel, its large muzzle covered up for obvious safety reasons.

"This weapon utilizes the Lorentz Force to propel a projectile at supersonic speeds, the projectile theoretically capable of reaching a speed of Mach 7 and annihilating anything on the receiving end with pure kinetic energy.

Efforts are being made to improve both the railgun's accuracy and durability, and results are looking promising."

Now moving on to a lighter topic, the next three pictures were of a Nissan Leaf, a Tesla Roadster and a Toyota Mirai, three Eco-friendly cars that were introduced ahead of their planned schedules due to the little engineers.

Hiei knew that because the Japanese government, in trying to keep the war going while sustaining the livelihood of the Japanese people, publicly cut a deal with the Fairies early on in the war in order to help advance their Eco-friendly technology, making sure that if they were going to win this war and save the world, what was left wouldn't be a smoggy, pollution-filled planet.

The Fairies accepted, not that they needed much of an incentive to do so as they wanted the humans to win as much as the humans themselves did, and these three car models were amongst the now-common Eco-friendly cars that were available on the market, massively cutting down on the amount of fuel used, which was then used to power the Japanese war machine.

"The Fairies have also helped us spearhead the Eco-friendly technology initiative, helping us design and mass-produce vehicles and optimizing existing technology and systems to ensure that carbon emissions are cut down by an estimated 27% every year, and that percentage is increasing annually.

Advances in weather prediction technology helped America mitigate the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and Sandy in 2005 and 2012 respectively, and helped Japan quickly recover from the Fukushima earthquake, tsunami and nuclear incident with minimal damage.

These little engineers are truly a godsend to both mankind and ship-girl-kind in more ways than one."

Hiei exhaled as she felt a shiver run down her spine, the air-conditioned cold air getting to her as she realized that in some sense, the Fairies were indeed a godsend, not only to the ship girls who were created by them, but also to humanity, who would've been devastated should they not exist in the first place and these these natural disasters be allowed to run their course.

And the video was about to end, the screen behind Maryland displaying the credits as the Colorado-Class battleship summed up her lecture.

"Since World War 2, technology has come a long way since then, both to improve the human quality of life and to improve the effectiveness of weapons on the battlefield, and eventually also helping to protect the environment in the process.

To learn about our technological advances is to be able to understand how it influences our human lives, our society as a whole and even our battles, as humans try to use their weapons to help back us up on the oceans.

Technology is only going to become even more advanced in the future, and we'd best start getting used to the leaps and bounds in technology that we've made thus far, and will make from here on out."

Before the screen faded to white with the international, golden ship girl symbol **'** **艦これ** **'** appearing again on a white screen before fading to black.

Hiei looked beside her to see a silent Saratoga looking downwards, overwhelmed by the history lesson she just sat through and was trying to comprehend just how far mankind had come even without the Fairies and ship girls.

And looking back to her left after noting that Shigure hadn't asked anything in awhile, found that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was fast asleep while leaning on her, lightly snoring as she seemed to be at peace after fighting so many tough battles within the span of a week.

Looking at the vulnerable form of the sleeping destroyer, Hiei swore that she'd step up her game and strove to do better after she was discharged, since she couldn't let Shigure feel as if she had to carry the team on her own, and made her feel like a burden to the little destroyer.

She was a proud Kongou-Class battleship, and she had to live up to her potential as a battleship for the sake of her teammates.

And strangely enough, the goal of impressing her Onee-sama wasn't on her mind, now also feeling a little tired since she was still supposed to be resting in the docks, the lights slowly coming on as Nagato stood up to start ushering them out of the theater.

Hiei gently turned and got up from her seat in order to lift Shigure up in a bridal carry, Haruna helping Saratoga up as the American battleship meekly asked.

"We've come a long way, haven't we?"

Haruna nodded as they got up, heading for the exit as Saratoga asked the three of them (since Shigure was fast asleep) about the worst-case scenario where other ship girls would ostracize her simply for being an American.

"But...

Even though I'm glad to be brought back into this world, I'm not sure if the ship girls of this base will accept me because of our past and my nationality..."

But Hiei was the one to speak up about how she believed that the ship girls of Yokosuka was going to accept her as a comrade-in-arms, despite needing some time to get used to the idea of an American carrier as a member of their base.

"No.

I think everyone here would need some time to get used to an American newcomer, but they'll accept you soon enough.

I won't say that there won't be some tension between you and several ship girls, namely Ryuujou whom you sank and Takao and Atago whom you bombed at Rabaul, all three of them present in this base."

Saratoga inhaled sharply as the four of them saw the light of day, but Hiei was quick to add as she knew the three ship girls in question quite well.

"Look, they aren't bad girls.

I believe that they'll probably be a little skittish around you for a while, but they'll forgive you soon enough and will revert to being their usual selves around you.

We know that you Americans genuinely want to help, and I trust our ship girls well enough to put aside our differences and past to work together."

Nodding downwards towards a sleeping Shigure in her arms, who looked like a innocent sleeping child as she took a well-deserved break after participating in two major naval battles and no longer had the look of maturity on her face, the look which a few high-performing destroyers often possessed after being forced to grow up too quickly and were thus wise beyond their years.

"If a destroyer can learn to overcome both nationality and history to be one of your first few friends in this life, everyone should be able to do so.

To fail to do so is to disappoint our Admiral, who preaches understanding and acceptance, and would only serve to alienate a powerful teammate.

You're a great comrade and friend to have, and I'll be looking forward to working with you."

Saratoga's cheeks colored a little as she nodded, turning to tell Nagato about what she wanted to do right now after being spawned in the dead of night and having her world rocked by so many changes in such a short span of time.

"I'm sorry, everyone.

I need some time to accept all of this, do you think we can go someplace quiet to eat lunch and dinner together?

And I'd like some time alone to think about and accept all these advancements.

I apologize, but I'm no longer in the mood to meet any more ship girls for the rest of today."

Everyone noted the mental and emotional fatigue in the carrier's expression and demeanor, and Haruna was extremely understanding as she consoled.

"Of course.

We can go to Houshou's establishment to get some food and rest up for the rest of today.

She's a motherly, retired light carrier who runs a bar in lieu of sortieing to fight in battles.

She will understand your plight and allow you to stay there temporarily until you've sorted your thoughts out."

Saratoga nodded as Nagato, ever the silent guardian with her commanding and reassuring presence, led the way as she gave Hiei a quiet nod, an action which Hiei reciprocated as Haruna, Saratoga and Nagato headed towards the _Shinsengumi_ , and Hiei, still carrying Shigure, headed towards the Shiratsuyu-Class bedroom to place Shigure in bed.

She still needed to return to the hospital in order to complete her recovery before continuing her training and sorties, but she was already raring to go all-out.

* * *

Saratoga was on an ocean.

She wasn't sure how she arrived here despite knowing that she hadn't sortied yet after being reincarnated, this location obviously looking to be in the middle of nowhere with a small atoll off in the distance, and as Saratoga wondered where she was, she took the time to look around her in order to determine her exact location.

Her engines were turned off, much to her disappointment, but she tried not to make any silly moves as she turned around on the spot to try and observe her surroundings, and picked up a few American buddies of her own.

Sporting a few ghosts on the ocean with her, her radar identified them as American ships, but could only see them as grey, translucent female figures standing on the ocean off in the distance, all silently awaiting something or another.

This was all lost on Saratoga, who tried to hail them by raising her right hand and energetically waving to them in order to get their attention, spotting Arkansas the Wyoming-Class battleship, the amphibious assault ship LSM-60, Hughes the Sims-Class destroyer and Nagato the battleship further behind them…

Wait, what?

Saratoga squinted in order to see further across the ocean, and there she was, the damaged Nagato-Class battleship standing proudly on the ocean, and unlike the rest of the ship girls, Nagato was shown in all her glory with her horned gear, skimpy uniform and her hardened expression as Saratoga's eyes widened in shock.

Her expression morphed into one of dread as she took in the sullen body language of a standing Arkansas, the seated, crying form of Hughes with her face in her palms, and the fatigued expression of Nagato.

No.

Not here.

 _Anywhere but here_.

But she had no more time to think as she felt the rumbling of the ocean beneath them, barely a millisecond before she was blown away by a searing shock wave of devastating proportions, almost like Hell itself roared and made the ocean quake in fear as it unleashed a geyser of burning seawater and seabed sand into the air.

Caught in the intense shock-wave, the hot air roasted her steel lungs from the inside and took her by surprise as her skin was singed and emitted wisps of smoke, the raging ocean rolling and shifting as it threatened to bring her to her knees.

The carrier failed to scream in the resulting low-pressure mist known as the Wilson Cloud as it blanketed the entire area, writhing around on the ocean in pain while attempting to shield herself for all the good it did, before the Wilson Cloud evaporated and vanished as soon as it appeared.

But the column of radioactive seawater began its downwards descent as Saratoga collapsed onto the ocean like everyone else around her, watching the base surge of boiling water rush towards her like it was out to get her, further shaking the ocean as it approached her.

Or was that her fearful body shaking?

LSM-60 was long gone after being in the epicenter of the nuclear blast.

Arkansas was partly sunk, her lower torso and legs the only two parts of her that were still above water.

Nagato was doubling over and was coughing up blood into the ocean, and she couldn't crane her head around to see how Hughes was doing.

The resulting 'cauliflower cloud' cast a shadow upon her dying body as she floated on the ocean surface, blanketing the sky and enshrouding the survivors in a looming shadow with its ominous, towering presence that, in Saratoga's dying imagination, almost formed Yggdrasil, the World Tree.

If Yggdrasil were a radioactive mushroom cloud, and its seed was a nuclear bomb.

Somehow, despite experiencing this nightmare for the first time, it felt as if she already knew the outcome to this dream sequence.

And there was nothing she could do to change it.

She closed her eyes as the rumbling of the base surge engulfed her, soaking her from head to toe in ionizing radiation and silencing her screams with boiling, radioactive seawater, the fact that this was all a flashback doing nothing to stop the pain from flooding her systems.

* * *

Jolting up to the surprise of Houshou, Saratoga awoke from her nightmare as she almost fell from the couch of the cafe booth in the _Shinsengumi_ , her skin glossy with sweat as the Houshou-Class light carrier came to her rescue with a towel and a bottle of mineral water.

And after a second of apprehension before remembering the situation at hand, where she was now supposed to be friends with the Japanese ship girls, she gave the carrier a weak smile and accepted the two gifts, wiping the sweat from her face as Houshou politely asked.

"Saratoga-san, did you have a nightmare?

It seemed as you were extremely perturbed by whatever you were dreaming about."

Saratoga nodded weakly as she felt as if this was one ship girl whom she could trust to listen to her, mostly because of her motherly appearance and her kind eyes which belied the fact that she, much like Saratoga, had survived the war and had endured the losses of her fellow carriers who sank around her.

"I...

I was dreaming about Operation Crossroads, and I was there with Nagato-san.

...And others."

Houshou's eyes widened before narrowing in understanding, sitting beside her in the cafe booth as she asked with the worry of a mother whose child woke up in the dead of night and was frightened about going back to sleep.

"And would you feel comfortable with sharing with me how this dream sequence went?

While I believe that it's best to be comfortable with sharing these traumatic experiences, please note that I also believe we she should share them when we're emotionally prepared to do so.

I respect your privacy as much as I wish to help you."

Nodding, Saratoga remembered that Haruna, Nagato and Houshou kept her company in the _Shinsengumi,_ since she just wanted to be alone, albeit with someone to accompany her, and Nagato used her authority as a capital ship to keep several curious ship girls at bay for Saratoga's sake.

She spent the entire day in silence with two meals being served by the kind light carrier Houshou, the three of them keeping their meals relatively small for capital ships, since they didn't want to eat a hole into Houshou's food reserves.

Not that Saratoga needed to eat that much in order to think.

Haruna and Nagato essentially took a day off as they kept her company until she asked the two of them to leave her be for tonight at Houshou's bar, the two battleships reluctantly agreeing to her request as they retired for the night.

Focusing on the present, Saratoga opted to compromise as she answered the light carrier,

"Well, forgive me if I wish to keep this experience close to the chest, even if for a while before I feel comfortable with sharing it with you in the future.

But I appreciate your concern and your presence, and I wish you'll stay here with me while I recover, please."

Houshou displayed her warmest smile, which made Saratoga feel a little warm inside as she saw the Houshou-Class light carrier making herself comfortable on the couch while agreeing to her request.

"Of course, Saratoga-san.

You're now a part of this base, and you're one of us now, so don't hesitate to ask anything of us."

Nodding, Saratoga relaxed in the presence of the light carrier who showered her with maternal concern, something she never thought she needed while alone in a foreign land, asking innocently.

"W-Well, this is the first I've asked of anybody, but I'd prefer it if you called me Sara.

Maybe it just feels a little awkward for you to call me by my full name while you're the motherly figure of this base, but I think if I were to allow anyone to call me by that nickname, I'd prefer it if you were the first."

Houshou nodded understandingly as she accepted another request.

"Of course, Sara."

And they spent about fifteen minutes sitting there in the silent, deserted pub, with Houshou sitting beside her and keeping Saratoga calm with her presence alone, while Saratoga occasionally took sips of water to pass the time.

And the IJN carrier must've been contemplating something or another, as she seemed to recall something and notified Saratoga.

"Perhaps this is not my place to reveal such things to others, but seeing that the both of you participated in the same event, I do believe you should at least be notified of this, Sara-san.

I believe Nagato-san had the same nightmare about Operation Crossroads, shortly after she was created.

And seeing you appear in this base might cause her to experience the same nightmare again, much like how seeing Nagato caused you to experience this nightmare."

Saratoga's interest was piqued, asking how the light carrier sounded so certain about this prediction of hers.

It sounded plausible when one considered how both parties reacted upon seeing each other, and it'd make sense if both ship girls experienced the same nightmare that was Operation Crossroads, albeit from different perspectives.

But Houshou simply answered with an enigmatic, yet caring,

"Call it a mother's intuition, after caring for so many ship girls for so long."

Saratoga exhaled tiredly as she nodded, thanking her for this tidbit of information to inform her that she was not alone.

"Thank you, I suppose."

And Houshou offered a suggestion of her own to help Saratoga get over her nightmare.

"You know, I find that one way to get over a nightmare is to walk it off, especially when breathing in the cool, salty harbor air at night would help to ease your nerves.

After all, you are a ship girl, and being close to an environment which you are familiar with would help you, right?"

Saratoga considered the suggestion, before accepting it with a nod of her head as she got up slowly while finishing the bottle of water, thanking.

"Thank you, Houshou-san.

For everything."

Houshou gave her a warm smile as she responded warmly.

"Oh, don't worry about it.

We're all comrades-in-arms now, and in some sense, I also consider us friends and even family to some extent, being fellow carriers in the same base.

Is it presumptuous of me to see our relationship in such a way?"

But Saratoga shook her head, strangely accepting the light carrier's affection and the care that she showed her, an American carrier, despite being on different sides in World War 2.

And yet here Houshou was, worried about her well-being after experiencing a nightmare and admitted that she saw her as a friend and even a family member.

It meant a lot to her, since she was half a world away from her fellow American ship girls and craved this feeling of familial concern more than anything else.

She returned Houshou's smile as she responded warmly.

"No.

I prefer it, actually."

* * *

Houshou's suggestion paid off big time, Saratoga now feeling rather relaxed as she walked along the harbor while taking in a breath of the fresh ocean air, feeling at ease as her heels clacked on the hard concrete.

She stopped in her tracks as she looked up at the moon, now appreciating how her new body allowed her to observe the moon in vivid detail, since in her previous life as a warship, the moon was something which didn't even register in her simple warship mind.

But now, she was entranced by the celestial satellite which her countrymen had reached before anyone else, a seemingly impossible task which they had accomplished, making her feel even prouder of her own country.

But upon realizing that she was probably never going to return to America anytime soon...

"Did you have the same nightmare?"

Saratoga whipped her head around to spot Nagato approaching her, in a loose-fitting pair of white shirt and pants that reached down to her knees, likely her pajamas which covered up far more than what her usual uniform did.

Saratoga blinked in surprise upon seeing that Houshou's intuition was correct, and was slightly surprised upon seeing the Nagato-Class battleship locating her so easily, but realized that she would likely have visited Houshou's bar to find her, before asking where she went and Houshou would answer her honestly.

She looked away and gave her the silent treatment, not out of spite, but because she wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about such things, even if it was to another ship girl who participated in Operation Crossroads.

But Nagato audibly sighed as she sat herself down besides Saratoga on the harbor and looked up at the moon, which was almost entirely illuminated by the sun, Saratoga pausing for a moment before sitting down with her.

They sat there for approximately three minutes and twenty-two seconds without saying anything.

Nagato started the conversation first, simply asking.

"Able or Baker?"

Saratoga held her breath, looking away sullenly as she tried to gather up the will to answer the battleship's question, a period of time passing by again before she silently responded,

"Baker."

Nagato nodded as she was being understanding and patient with her, similar to, but also strangely different from her normal, public persona as she remarked in a non-confrontational voice as though she were stating the facts.

"It'll almost always hurt every time you experience it.

But most of the time, we…"

Taking the time to clarify herself.

"Those of us who were in Crossroads…

The pain becomes easier for us to endure, and this nightmare will occur less and less as time goes by."

Saratoga quietly asked, confirming the reason why Nagato was also up at this time of night.

"Am I right to assume that you had the same nightmare about Operation Crossroads?"

She heard an affirmative grunt beside her, and Nagato, being the older ship girl who was undoubtedly more well-versed in knowledge about these things, stated.

"Most theoreticians accept the fact that for us ship girls who experienced Crossroads, it is a traumatic experience that is embedded in our very souls when we sank all those years ago, and will be present in every modern incarnation."

Saratoga's interest was piqued as she asked, cautiously curious about this new subject.

"So when you say 'souls', are you referring to a mystical source of power or driving force?"

She turned to find Nagato facing her and shaking her head as she corrected.

"Oh, no.

Do not fall under the impression that we are created with anything other than advanced technology that is light-years ahead of anything humans can replicate so far.

The Fairies will be quite annoyed and will hastily correct you when you even _attempt_ to hand-wave their super-technology away as 'magic', 'sorcery' or anything along those lines.

For a race who prides themselves on their engineering, that is one of their few berserk buttons that you do _not_ want to touch with a ten-foot pole."

Saratoga nodded and looked away awkwardly, unsure of what to talk about after this, spending a majority of the time listening to the waves gently lapping on the concrete and sand, the trees rustling around them as the night winds were subdued at night, Saratoga breathing in the salty sea air and allowing it to calm her down while Nagato provided silent company so as not to leave her alone on the harbor with her thoughts.

And finally, Saratoga heard Nagato speak up, although it was now in a far more subdued, personal tone compared to the authoritative and commanding voice that she normally heard, immediately shifting her attention to Nagato sharing something so close to her heart with her.

"I think you might remember Sakawa as one of the ship girls who was in Operation Crossroads…"

Saratoga nodded, distinctly remembering the second Japanese warship who was present at Bikini Atoll, an Agano-Class light cruiser amongst the foreign trio with Prinz Eugen as the Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser.

"... Yes."

Nagato nodded as she shared the reason why the light cruiser was previously in this base, but Saratoga wasn't going to meet her anytime soon.

"We got Sakawa as a rare drop, much like how we got you, and I was so elated to be reunited with her.

I suppose I saw her as a little sister whom I had to protect, since she was there with me at Operation Crossroads.

And despite my best attempts, I suppose there was a fair bit of favoritism going on since if I was off-duty and wasn't with Admiral Mako in a… romantic sense, I'd spend all my time with Sakawa, since her sisters weren't present then."

Saratoga furrowed her brows as she searched her memory archives, before remembering that the female Admiral of this base had many girlfriends.

"Oh, right.

You're with a relationship with Admiral Mako along with, if I remember correctly, eight other ship girls…?"

Scrunching up her face, Saratoga politely asked the Nagato-Class battleship about how their relationship worked.

"Pray tell, how exactly do you make it work with so many people?"

Nagato gave a satisfied smirk as she exhaled through her nose, responding patiently.

"With everyone's consent, mutual love, and a lot of understanding minds.

We're very blessed in that regard, and I'm not ashamed to admit our relationship to everyone and defend it.

But then again, no one would dare question a relationship with two Yamato-Class and a Nagato-Class battleship, amongst others in the list of lovers, right?"

Saratoga lifted an eyebrow to concede the point, Nagato's smile drooped into a frown as she continued with sharing her past.

"And after a few easy sorties in order to get her acquainted with how we fought battles in this day and age, I was confident enough to allow her into the backup fleet as we prepared to fight with an Abyssal known as the Armored Carrier Princess.

The Admiral made all the preparations to ensure that none of us would sink, like making sure we got enough training and had access to good equipment.

However, no amount of preparations can stop a shell to the heart, as I soon found out the hard way.

In the midst of the boss battle, despite my best attempts to remain focused, I tried to body-block every shell that was aimed at Sakawa, perhaps as a subconscious way of protecting her since I saw her much like one would a delicate flower that needed to be protected.

That was perhaps the greatest mistake of my life."

Saratoga listened silently as she was now rather invested in the story and wanted to learn how Nagato, despite being a proud member of the Big Seven and was at one time the face of the Imperial Japanese Navy and was by far the strongest ship girl Saratoga had the honor of meeting, failed to protect Sakawa.

Nagato's shoulders drooped as she continued on, looking more and more depressed as she revealed.

"The Armored Carrier Princess must've picked up on my subconscious tic, because she directed all her bomber planes in my direction, distracting me while she pointed both her 16 Inch cannons in my direction.

My survival instinct overrode my protective instincts, and I physically strafed in order to evade the incoming shells while shouting for Sakawa to duck.

But here's the first thing to note about fighting someone who has a cannon or firearm pointed at your team.

It's best not to block your teammates' view of the shooter."

Saratoga's breath stopped as she now understood why Nagato would feel extremely guilty about causing Sakawa to sink, because most of the responsibility and blame rested on her.

"It was mostly because of my inexperience in combat situations at that point of time, since I spent more time commanding from the sidelines than fight on the ocean back then because we didn't have as many fleets and as much of a surplus in resources as we do now.

And as a result, I overestimated my ability to protect her.

And…"

Nagato audibly gulped, Saratoga reading the mood as she braced herself for what the Nagato-Class battleship was about to reveal, because if it someone as stoic as Nagato was uncomfortable with sharing this next bit of the story, it had to be bad.

It also surprised her, and made her a little elated that a Japanese ship was trusting her to such an extent despite being on different sides of a World War in the past.

Nagato now sounded unlike the commanding ship girl whom she normally was, and more like a woman, as fallible as anyone else, confessing her sins to Saratoga.

"When I defeated the Armored Carrier Princess, I…

I dragged the dying Abyssal off of her dead Beast, put her in a headlock, and…

I snapped her neck with a vengeance, and emptied a large-caliber shell in her temple out of anger."

Saratoga froze up from the brutality of the move as that happy feeling immediately abandoned her, mentally grateful that she was no longer at war with the Japanese and wouldn't be facing Nagato's wrath anytime soon, almost feeling the regret in Nagato's voice as she elaborated.

"I know that it was entirely unprofessional of me to do so, and I've learnt to control my temper so as not to allow my emotions to dictate my actions like it did that day.

Because, and I've only told Admiral Mako and Mutsu about this, but…

Holding the Armored Carrier Princess's life in my hands, and killing her for the sake of revenge…

I actually _liked_ it."

Nagato turned to face a horrified Saratoga as her expression was crestfallen, expressing shame, regret and even fear at what she felt.

"I-I've never felt anything like it, and I'm thoroughly ashamed about feeling so good about myself after executing someone like that for the sake of a fallen comrade.

And despite living for so long, I've never been able to forget about how dangerously addictive it felt to kill someone like that, and it haunts me even to today…

I've tried to come to terms with Sakawa's death after I avenged her, but…

Even after the paid leave, Yahagi-san forgiving me several times over for my blunder and crying into Admiral Mako's arms as she comforted me in more ways than one…"

Nagato exhaled tiredly, Saratoga's cheeks coloring a little as she asked.

"I hope I'm not destroying the mood, but why tell me this?

It's understandable that you would talk to me about Crossroads, but why share your past with Sakawa and your personal turmoil with me?

I really mean no offense by asking this, but I'm an outsider, so why me?"

Nagato's tone shifted into more of a conspiratorial one as she added, lowering her head and looking down at the shifting ocean as she did so.

"I feel bad for being the one to betray Admiral Mako's request for confidentiality, but I think that what comes next involves you in some way, because of Crossroads."

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Saratoga's worst fears were confirmed as the battleship revealed.

"Sakawa is alive.

As a high-ranking Abyssal."

Saratoga grimaced as she warily asked.

"And you want me to watch out for her?"

Nagato nodded as Saratoga opened her eyes to look at the imperfect reflection of the moon in the ocean, hearing Nagato explain.

"The smarter, higher-ranking Abyssals sometimes play mind games with us, since they're said to harbor our resentments and regrets in our past lives.

No doubt Sakawa will have me in her sights and will use Operation Crossroads and the circumstances of her death to manipulate me emotionally, but now that you're here, I can't guarantee that she won't drag you into this."

Nagato sighed as she looked as if she were considering how to phrase her words without revealing too much, but Saratoga made some assumptions of her own as she asked.

"And is Sakawa's possible appearance linked to the worsening situation which Admiral Jackson talked about, and was why I had to stay here in order to bolster Yokosuka's air-power?"

A nod from the silent Nagato was all that was needed for Saratoga to sigh as well, hugging her knees and causing her bosom to compress, making it rather difficult for her to lean forward very far, lowering her face into her knees as she commented.

"That's all I need to know.

I appreciate you sharing your past with me and revealing such confidential information in order to give me a heads-up.

It must have been hard for you."

Strangely enough, Nagato revealed,

"Actually, I suppose after experiencing Operation Crossroads together, much like how I felt a bond with Sakawa, I felt as if I had to talk to you about this.

I understand that you feel lonely here, and I would never in good conscience allow you to go through this nightmare phrase alone."

"Because you did?"

Nagato flinching was all Saratoga needed to know that she had committed a faux pas, hastily adding.

"I'm sorry."

But Nagato shook her head slowly, allowing the tension to flow from her body as she remarked.

"You're right in that regard, so I can't fault you for that."

The ' _You still shouldn't have said that, though.'_ went unsaid.

Saratoga meekly nodded before the atmosphere became heavy again, lapsing into silence as Saratoga allowed the chirping of crickets to fill the silence, before Saratoga felt that the tension between them was too much for her to bear.

Ah, why couldn't she be out on the ocean right now, sinking some Abyssals?

"I-I have something to confess, since we're having this heart-to-heart session."

Nagato looked interested in what she had to say, her expression now shifting into one of gentleness and patience as she waited for the Lexington-Class carrier to continue at her own pace.

"You know, on the day of the Able and Baker Tests, I couldn't help but feel differing emotions from everyone, despite being made of steel.

Some accepted their fate and faced death with dignity, others were crying, or at least feeling extremely sad since as warships, we didn't have the necessary organs to shed tears.

Others were angry, like they'd been betrayed, and…"

Saratoga's throat now felt sore, like there was some sort of strange lump there, and her eyes were watering despite her attempts to remain emotionally neutral about her past.

" … And that we were being thrown away like used tissue paper, now deemed useless after serving our intended purpose, and…

*Hic*

And…"

Saratoga felt that she was losing control of her shaking body as she tried to bring her breathing under control and attempted to blink away her tears in vain, bitterly finishing her sentence.

"... And…

And despite everything we did for them, it didn't stop us from dying like dogs at the hands of our own people…

*Hic*

That hurt more than anything else!"

Nagato was silent as Saratoga leaned over and rested her head on the battleship's left shoulder, softly crying and wetting Nagato's shirt as she sobbed, feeling her heart ache painfully.

She softly asked, phrase by phrase in between sobs.

"I'm…

I'm afraid.

I'm afraid that the humans will discard us again when this war's over, like they did before...

And I know that it's wrong for me not to trust my own countrymen, but when I remember how I died…"

Shuddering in genuine fear, she asked Nagato.

"Nagato-san, is there a future for us after the war?"

Nagato contemplated the question while Saratoga did her best to bring her left hand up and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

And Nagato finally answered to the best of her ability, trying to give her own, honest opinion on things as she raised her left hand to reach behind Saratoga, bringing her in closer for a hug.

"Although I do wish for us to live in peace with humanity, I admit that there is always the off chance that we could be seen as a threat to their way of life, or even their survival despite having protected them against the Abyssal threat for two decades.

And although I also understand that a majority of both populations, human and ship girl alike, would rather live in peace than fight another war, there will always exist extremists on both sides who will always have the loudest voice and garner the most attention by playing on everyone's fears and saying that the other side is responsible for their people's woes, attempt to draw first blood and allow mass hysteria to do the rest.

After all, that's pretty much how wars start, no?"

Nodding sadly, Saratoga's spirit was now in the dumps as she lowered her head, understanding that Nagato had something else to add so as not to cause this conversation on an even more depressing note than when they first started.

"But there is hope.

The Soviets and Americans understood that dropping nukes on everyone is, and if I'll use a rather uncharacteristic but accurate word to describe it, absolutely stupid since it's a no-win situation where the only thing everyone stands to gain is radiation sickness from the fallout and a slow death.

The Cold War never escalated into the next World War, so I think our sacrifices might have meant something in the grand scheme of things in showing the destructiveness of those dreaded weapons."

Nagato then looked down at Saratoga, and she could see that the Japanese battleship had been through quite a lot in her time on Earth in the 21st century, and knew that despite humanity's capability of making great mistakes, they could also accomplish wonders.

"As to whether we can live peacefully after the war, the best words that describe my own feelings for our safety till the end of days is 'cautious faith'.

No doubt mankind is capable of extreme xenophobia, but that is because they only see the differences between them and us, not the similarities.

If we were to actively pursue peace while keeping the horrors of war in mind, I do believe we can live in peace with them."

Saratoga nodded, understanding Nagato's beliefs a little better now and deciding to put her faith in Nagato's words, that there was a happy ending for them all at the end of this war.

A girl could dream.


	27. Chapter 27 - Chemical Emotion

Junyou sat in her hospital bed, a hospital table rolled up in order to allow her to eat her breakfast as she was surrounded by the various carriers of the Yokosuka Naval Base, the Zuikaku Romance Planning Committee surrounding her and was either seated or was standing whilst leaning on the hospital walls.

Junyou's meal consisted of buttered toast, a cup of finished yogurt, a plate of rice, white broccoli and eggs with a helping of lettuce, and two fruit-flavored jelly cups with fruit slices in them, Junyou hungrily devouring them all with a small flask of whiskey to wash it all down after healing up in the docks, and sitting through an operation had sapped her of her stamina.

The fact that every carrier had eaten their breakfast and allowed her to heal faster by eating her fill was a blessing, since none of them eyed her food with overtly lustful eyes that she likely had to fend off by shielding her food with her arms, not that they'd actually ask to 'sample' her food, since they respected her need to feed herself in order to heal up faster.

As usual, someone had to run interference to ensure that Kaga was occupied, and this time, Akagi had offered to take the bullet by arranging a hospital visit on the same day which the 1st Carrier Division had a training session.

And since there were quite a few carriers in this base who had sessions 'conveniently' arranged around this week, Kaga made a hard choice by attending the training session in order to get some practice in before participating in the upcoming large-scale naval battle, although Junyou was extremely accepting of the Kaga-Class carrier's apologies since she was the one who engineered this 'coincidence'.

But Zuikaku had an annoyed expression on her face, her right eye twitching and a vein bulging on her left temple as she called everyone out on the presence of an extra carrier in the room.

And she was American.

"WHY IN THE BLOODY BLUE BLAZES IS SARATOGA HERE?!"

While pointing to the silent Lexington-Class carrier seated beside Junyou, it was understandable that the Twin Cranes might possess some feelings of animosity or at least feelings of intense rivalry for a carrier who had tussled with her and Shoukaku in the previous war along with Enterprise.

However, Shoukaku already seemed as though she were accustomed to the American's presence and didn't share Zuikaku's negative feelings towards Saratoga, so poor Zuikaku was pretty much alone in that regard.

Hiryuu lightly slapped her on the crown of her head, lifting a finger towards her lips as she remarked.

"Come on, Zuikaku-senpai.

The more carriers we have on our side, the better.

Besides, and no offense, Saratoga-san, but would you rather have a wild card that is a foreigner barging in at the wrong moment and mess up our plans?"

Saratoga nodded understandingly as she lifted a palm to rub the spot of hair on Zuikaku's head where Hiryuu slapped, earning the Shoukaku-Class carrier's ire as Saratoga saw Hiryuu's point.

"I understand, Hiryuu-san.

It is understandable that you would at least attempt to control every known factor when attempting to help a maiden win the heart of her loved one.

After all, love is fickle, and that alone is enough of a hassle to deal with as it is."

Shoukaku nodded sagely as she supported her left elbow with her right hand while her left hand was on her chin in a contemplative pose, adding.

"Yes, indeed.

But love, in a sense, is somewhat like war.

With Saratoga-san's presence here, at least on the surface, the hornet's nest will now be stirred amongst the carriers, and by extension, the entire base.

The fact that Kaga mentioned Saratoga's presence before attending the training session probably means that she aims to challenge and beat you in a 1v1, impress you and establish the pecking order here.

But is this a sign that we should take things a little slower so as not to jeopardize our chances of victory?"

But Junyou shook her head, almost seeing the golden opportunity amidst the ensuing chaos in Saratoga's wake as she lowered her utensils, gesturing for everyone to come closer as she noted.

"Nah, Saratoga's appearance may actually be a godsend.

We should try to think outside the box in order to use this seemingly chaotic and unfavorable situation to our advantage."

Gesturing for Saratoga to come closer, Junyou explained herself and the situation at hand, taking the time to observe the American newcomer up close since her eyes still weren't completely healed.

"Sorry 'bout this, Saratoga, but my eyes are still bad from my last sortie, so I need to lean in close in order to see what you look like.

Anyway, first things first, Kaga's competitiveness will hit an all-time high with Saratoga's arrival, so that's something we need to note.

Second thing, how can we catapult Zuikaku-chan into the spotlight while using current events to our advantage?"

Souryuu noted,

"Well, these days, a lot of bird carriers are taking up the training grounds to practice for the upcoming large-scale battle, so can we use that to stage a confrontation between them?

After all, I believe Kaga-senpai will want to see Saratoga-san's skill level through a duel, despite being newly spawned."

Saratoga, freezing up upon seeing Junyou's slightly damaged and dull eyes studying her facial features and being close enough to smell the stench of alcohol on the Hiyou-Class light carrier, gave the Souryuu-Class carrier an aside glance as she asked innocently.

"I-Is there really going to be a large-scale battle so soon after my arrival?

If so, then I need all the training I can get, and I need to clock in as many hours on the ocean as possible in order to gain experience quickly.

But after knowing that Kaga might challenge me to a duel in a training session…"

But Junyou had other ideas, instead rolling with the Lexington-Class's hypothetical scenario, building off of it and suggesting.

"No, actually, I think we can work with that.

After all, what better way to earn some affection points by being catapulted into the limelight and make Kaga proud by taking her place in the duel?"

Everyone's eyes turned to the younger sister of the Shoukaku-Class, and Zuikaku's face lit up as she considered Junyou's last sentence before retorting.

"Oh, no!

We're not doing things like thi-"

* * *

"I can't believe we're doing things like this."

Zuikaku had a deadpan expression on her face as she muttered under her breath, having grudgingly accepted Junyou's plan after she outlined its details for them to follow to the letter.

And now here they were, three days later, on the ocean with their equipment on them as they sailed towards the training grounds in order to participate in the large-scale training session that they had planned for everyone.

There, the carriers and light carriers could train their planes and themselves in order to prepare for the upcoming large-scale battle that was slated to take place in the Sagami-nada Sea, since carriers were said to play an important role in providing air support.

Saratoga had been training relentlessly these three days, because despite Zuikaku possessing a one-sided rivalry between them, the American carrier genuinely wanted to win this duel with the Lucky Crane, and by training herself up, it would mean that the battle wouldn't be as one-sided in Zuikaku's favor since the Kai Shokaku-Class carrier possessed a boost gauge, a vital tool in a _mano-a-mano_ duel.

Saratoga was a respectably strong carrier in her own right, but there was no substitute for practice and experience, and if she didn't go all out in the duel with Zuikaku, Kaga might suspect that something was up with them and question the victor.

The time was 8.45 a.m. in the morning, and Zuikaku was now sailing with Shoukaku, Hiryuu and Souryuu while Kaga and Akagi led the three carrier divisions toward the training grounds, where several bird carriers and Saratoga were present, helping her improve on the performance of her planes.

Kaga was looking unnaturally serious about challenging the American carrier, and it looked as if no one was capable of convincing her otherwise, since as the strongest and most senior carrier in the Yokosuka Naval Base, she saw it as her responsibility to break the newcomer in and gauge Saratoga's strength.

And that's where Junyou's plan to catapult Zuikaku into the spotlight came in.

Reaching the training grounds on the ocean, Zuikaku could see several bird carriers surrounding Saratoga, namely Zuihou, Amagi, Unryuu, Chitose and even Houshou on the ocean with the American.

Ryuujou was predictably absent since she was sunk by the Lexington-Class carrier, and she probably couldn't handle meeting Saratoga so soon and dredge up bad memories in the process.

Zuihou wore a green kimono top with her long sleeves attached over white cloth and had a lattice trimming on her cuffs, her chestplate possessing a generic camouflage pattern in order to help her distinguish her Kai form from her unremodeled one.

Her similarly green, pleated shorts reached down to the middle of her thighs, and she wore a red-striped white headband to hold up her fringe as her light-brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and she, like the rest of the bow-and-arrow carriers, wielded a red-white-striped bow in her left hand with her arrow quiver integrated into her rigging.

She wasn't very well-endowed unlike the various carriers standing beside her, wearing white socks with red slippers as she had the characters 'づほ' on the left leg of her shorts in a white font.

Zuikaku picked up on everyone's skittishness around the Lexington-Class carrier save for Houshou, who had already built up a rapport with the American simply due to her maternal aura and amiable personality which everyone could connect with.

The rest of them tried to help her by guiding her planes onto the right path towards hitting the still bulls-eye targets, the moving clay models of the Abyssals and the airborne replicas of the Abyssal bombers, but never really knew what to talk to her about and loitered around her in an awkward silence whenever they weren't needed.

Zuikaku could see Kaga making a beeline for the American, eager to challenge her in order to personally witness the ability of an American carrier, everyone following behind her as Kaga introduced herself and her fellow Japanese carriers to Saratoga.

"Greetings.

I'm Kaga, and this is Akagi.

The both of us make up the entirety of the 1st Carrier Division.

Hiryuu and Souryuu here are the two carriers of the 2nd Carrier Division, while Shokaku and Zuikaku here are in the 5th Carrier Division.

Welcome to the Yokosuka Naval Base."

Everyone gave the American carrier a Japanese bow in order to formally welcome her to the base, and Saratoga was a little embarrassed by the welcoming gesture as she put her right hand forward to wave her palm, meekly commenting.

"Oh, don't worry.

You don't have to bow… ah, you're already bowing…"

Houshou giggled as she commented on the discipline and manners of the three carrier divisions, having spent a majority of her time in Yokosuka caring for them before they came into their own as the legendary carriers of Japan.

"Oh, they're well-behaved children, Sara-san.

Don't mind them, they're just being polite."

Zuikaku, as well as every one of the arriving carriers, noted the affectionate nickname Houshou used to address the American carrier, but Saratoga nodded warmly upon Houshou's reassurance as she commented.

"Ah, I see…"

And like everyone predicted, Kaga was direct in issuing a challenge to the newcomer, at least attempting to appear as non-confrontational as possible as she requested.

"Saratoga-san, forgive me for thinking that this is too sudden of me to ask, but I'd like to request a duel with you in order to ascertain your skill and strength as an American carrier."

But Saratoga was looking even more embarrassed that the Kaga-Class carrier was giving her this much credit as she scratched the back of her head and commented, looking down at the ocean sheepishly.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call myself famous for being in any major event other than Operation Crossroads…"

Everyone looked a little perturbed at how the carrier immediately brought up Crossroads while downplaying all the naval battles and campaigns that she participated in, but Zuikaku could now detect Junyou's ship girl signature approaching them on the radar, Kaga attempting to salvage the situation by stating.

"Well, regardless, as an American, you should be a little more proud of representing your country in a foreign land.

And about that duel…"

But Junyou appeared at the most 'inopportune' time to intervene on Saratoga's behalf, shouting.

"HOOOOLLLLLDDDD IT!"

Everyone turned to see the hospitalized light carrier dropping in with her two hospital gowns covering her body, a flask of alcohol in her right hand as she hobbled towards the crowd of carriers, commenting in a lazy drawl.

"Yo, what the hell am I lookin' at here?

Some sort of 'new girl bullying' routine here?"

Everyone held their breath upon hearing that, looking between the Kaga-Class carrier and the Hiyou-Class light carrier as Junyou was indirectly addressing the stoic ship girl of the 1st Carrier Division.

Kaga, possessing quite a fair bit of patience for the hospitalized light carrier, closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking at Junyou as she asked.

"It's great to see you here, Junyou-san.

But pray tell, why are you not staying in the hospital and taking dips in the dock to recover as soon as possible?"

Junyou closed her eyes and furrowed her brows in distress, remembering the extended periods of time where she had to sit in the docks or in her privatized hospital ward by herself, with no one to accompany her save for several visits from her teammates and other carriers.

"Aww!

I just felt so lonely in my privatized hospital ward despite my teammates and several of you carriers visiting me whenever you take the day off.

And besides, when better to temporarily leave the hospital in order to hang out with my fellow carriers and the new girl than today, when you all congregate together in order to train, amirite?!"

Kaga leaned away from Junyou as she rested her head on her shoulder, desperately wanting to shake the light carrier off, but didn't want to look bad in front of everyone by treating a hospital patient with anything less than absolute patience, respect and kindess.

Junyou was obviously drinking (obviously not to the point of being wasted; Junyou knew her limit), so she had the stench of alcohol on her which made Kaga recoil.

Hiryuu raised her palms to jokingly comment about Junyou's improved vocabulary as Souryuu eased a tipsy Junyou off of her senior's shoulder.

"Woah, 'congregate'?

Get ready girls, because when drunk Junyou can still use such complicated words, I think that's a sign that the Apocalypse's nearing."

But Junyou took the initiative as she put on an innocent expression and asked the next question, knowing from personal experience that drunk people sometimes had a 'Get out of jail free card' that others didn't, at the price of being stigmatized as drunkards (not that Junyou particularly cared about her image, she had more important things on her mind which mandated her attention).

"Yo, but isn't the gap in levels too far between you two?

You get off on pickin' fights with ship girls who're weaker than you?"

Everyone's attention was drawn to her words, and Junyou gently shook off Souryuu's guiding hands in order to stand on her own two boat slippers, albeit wobbling a bit after feeling a dizzy spell coming on, elaborating as she pointed towards a silent Kaga.

"Kaga-san, no disrespect, baby, but I don't think you're suited to fight this battle."

The crowd's attention was now fixated on Kaga, the Kaga-Class carrier starting to sweat despite her expression never wavering from 'stoic hitman' as she coolly asked.

"And please enlighten us.

How am I not qualified to have a duel with Saratoga-san?

I am a proud member of the 1st Carrier Division, the most senior member of this base save for Houshou-san…"

Nodding in the light carrier's direction to acknowledge her seniority and presence, Houshou nodded back before Kaga continued whilst looking down at the ocean.

"I possess an excellent track record in both World War 2 and in the Abyssal War, and…"

But Junyou's extended hand slowly started shaking when Kaga started listing her resume before everyone, quickly transitioning into a circular motion to motion for Kaga to get on with her speech as she interjected.

"And that's exactly why!

You're overqualified to fight Saratoga, who hasn't even achieved her Kai remodel!"

Kaga stopped mid-speech, considering Junyou's words as Junyou went on the offensive and explained the situation.

"Look, I know that you want to test the power of an American carrier, and maybe you still feel a little salty after getting pwned at Midway and want to prove your superiority to a Yank here in order to establish the pecking order.

But you easily run the risk of crossing the line into being a bully lording your seniority over the newcomer with your ensemble of lackeys backing you up when Saratoga's only gotten several days of practice."

Bringing up her arms to swing them around to gesture to everyone, Junyou got everyone whispering amidst themselves as she asked, making full use of her apparent 'drunkenness' to make sure that she never came off as condescending in the process.

"Look, Sara here…"

Saddling up to the American carrier and slinging an arm around Saratoga's curled-in shoulders.

"Seems to me like she's the protagonist in some anime high school drama, and you're, no offense, a queen bitch with her lackeys behind her.

And I perfectly understand that you want to gauge Sara-chan's abilities, but you can't simply ignore the difference in power level, dominate the match and humiliate her in front of everyone, y'know?"

Kaga lowered her gaze upon seeing Junyou's point, evading everyone's gaze as she muttered loud enough for everyone's enhanced hearing to pick up.

"I didn't mean for my challenge to be interpreted that way…"

But Junyou raised a placating hand to try and repair the situation as she told Kaga about her suggestion.

"But y'know, I ain't exactly shooting down your idea of a challenge.

Giving Sara-chan a bit of a challenge isn't a bad idea, but you gotta choose the right candidate so as not to overwhelm her or make things unfair, a'ight?"

Nodding, Kaga looked to Akagi as she gave her opinion on their predicament, Junyou realizing that the gluttonous carrier giving advice would be a good idea to get through to Kaga, although it had to be presented as a natural response in response to the situation at hand.

"Well, I do believe that the both of us can't duel with Saratoga-san, because we'd crush her with our experience and superior stats.

Hiryuu-san is already Kai Ni, and she suffers from the same problem of being overqualified."

"And Souryuu?"

Souryuu herself answered honestly, raising her arms up in a faux-surrendering gesture as she noted.

"Well, the difference in experience between me and Hiryuu-chan isn't that drastic anyway, and I'm getting my Kai Ni within a few weeks, so…"

Kaga nodded in acknowledgement as she added,

"So it comes down to Shokuaku and Zuikaku, since Saratoga-san should theoretically be able to defeat a light carrier or the Unryuu-Class carriers with ease…"

While giving the pale-haired nameship carrier an aside glance, but Unryuu was looking rather nonchalant about how Kaga added the term 'theoretically' since Unryuu herself would destroy Saratoga with her merciless fighting style.

But everyone brushed that comment aside as Zuikaku raised her hand to offer herself as a candidate for the duel, Kaga slightly raising an eyebrow as Junyou gave the Shoukaku-Class carriers a big grin, knowing that everything was going according to plan as she pointed to Zuikaku and commented.

"Well, come on, Kaga.

Pick Zuikaku as your representative in this duel and let's get on with it."

But Akagi was the one to question Junyou's judgement, although this was for the sake of making the argument flow naturally in order to make Zuikaku being chosen seem like the natural choice in this situation.

"No offense, Junyou-san, but why choose Zuikaku-san and not Shoukaku-san?"

Junyou shrugged with an innocent, wide smile on her face as she leaned in towards Saratoga, feeling the American's large bosom squeeze against hers in the process as she retorted as per the plan.

"Well, because Sara-chan here's a lucky carrier since she survived the war, and we don't need no unlucky carrier to go up against her, lest Shokaku-chan's bowstring snap before she even launches her first plane and forfeits, amirite?"

Shoukaku was visibly struck and leaned back from the blow as everyone started to giggle at the thought of Shoukaku's bowstring snapping due to her bad luck, allowing Zuikaku to take her place in the duel anyway.

Unryuu snorted softly in what passed as a laugh for the aloof carrier, while Kaga respectfully hid her snicker behind a false coughing fit, and in a superb performance, Shoukaku dramatically collapsed onto the ocean surface, lying down on her side in Amagi's heavily damaged pose as her dull eyes focused on nothing, monotonously intoning.

" _Ah, Zuikaku, I understand if this is a duel between lucky carriers._

 _So please don't this unlucky elder sister's bad luck rub off on you…"_

Zuikaku exclaimed as she stood over her sister's body, trying to motivate her elder sister into action.

"C-Come on, Shoukaku-nee!

I need you to cheer me on in the duel!"

But Souryuu turned to look at Junyou, and as per the plan, she asked the next question in order to redirect Kaga's attention.

"But Junyou-san, is there some sort of reason why you're taking Saratoga-san's side, other than being nice to the new girl?

Could you perhaps be trying to get into Saratoga-san's good graces in order to get her to do your bidding and allow you to slack off?"

Junyou visibly flinched upon hearing that as everyone's imaginative minds conjured up the image of a half-naked Junyou who was surrounded by empty alcohol bottles and was absolutely wasted as a genuinely loyal Saratoga attended to her, cleaning up her room and disposing of the wine bottles while asking in a polite, respectful tone.

"Yes, Junyou-senpai?"

Junyou would receive a message for her to sortie with the 1st Fleet, and would give the obedient carrier an order as she shook her head to clear her mind while waving Saratoga away.

"Ahh, the 1st Fleet's sortieing again.

Sara-chan, go take my place in the fleet and tell 'em I'm unavailable."

Junyou, in everyone's mind, would then pour some more sake into a cup while popping open another can of alcohol, muttering with half-lidded, bloodshot eyes as she mimicked the behavior of an alcoholic mother in everyone's over-the-top imagination.

"There's a bit of blood left in my alcohol stream, and I aim to correct that.

So get moving, and you'll be sleeping in the corridor if you don't get MVP and wipe out the enemy, you hear me?!"

Before taking a shot, while Saratoga happily obliged since Junyou stood up for her in practice and gave her a room to stay in, an obedient dog's wagging tail appearing on her hind and twitching dog ears fitting on her head in everyone's mind as she cheerily replied with a bright smile.

"Yes, Junyou-senpai!"

Everyone turned back to Junyou in real time, who was visibly sweating buckets, was evading everyone's gaze as she looked around shiftily, and was wildly gesturing with her hands while epically failing to defend her case, uttering a shaky,

"Wha-Wha…

What could you possibly be talking about, Souryuu-san?

There's no way t-that could be true, I'd never stoop to taking advantage of a fellow comrade's loyalty in order to make my life easier, ahahaha…"

Everyone sweat-dropped as they gave her the 'Bruh' look, which denoted apparent disappointment and the slightest bit of disdain, Saratoga innocently smiling as she looked confused as to what was going on.

All part of the plan.

The plan was to avoid arousing Kaga's suspicion about getting Zuikaku to replace her in the duel, and the first part of the plan was to point out how unfair it was for Saratoga to go up against a far more experienced and powerful carrier without much prior training.

The second part was to ease Zuikaku into the spotlight whilst keeping Kaga's attention occupied, first on Junyou calling her out, then onto Shoukaku's dramatic response to being called an unlucky carrier and back to Junyou pathetically trying to justify her actions.

The Hiyou-Class light carrier had to deliberately ham up her acting and make it look bad in order to draw everyone's attention while the Lexington-Class carrier had to look confused despite understanding everyone perfectly, and as she predicted, Kaga was the one who tried to bring the situation under control by clearing her throat and stating.

"Well, if no one objects to the pairing, then the duel between Zuikaku and Saratoga-san will commence in five minutes.

Junyou-san will coach Saratoga-san before the battle, and I shall have a few words with Zuikaku."

* * *

"Is everything going well so far, Junyou-san?"

They were standing at a far enough distance to make sure that Kaga and Zuikaku, despite being carriers with enhanced senses, wouldn't hear their hushed whispers as Junyou nodded conspiratorially, commenting.

"Well, Zuikaku is indeed taking Kaga's place in the duel, and I think she might have a score to settle with you after the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, where you and her had quite the skirmish.

But don't worry, I believe you can take her with your skills."

Saratoga nodded as she noted the two conversing carriers off in the distance, asking.

"But Zuikaku-san is under Kaga-san's tutelage, so while I appreciate your faith in me, I need to ask if you have some legitimately good advice for me to follow?"

Junyou thought about that for quite a while, noting.

"Well, no offense, but in your unremodeled state, you're almost no match for Zuikaku's Kai remodel in terms of air-power, armor, evasion, amongst others.

But I believe you beat her in cannon range and firepower, and the amount of health you possess."

Saratoga raised an eyebrow as she dared to ask how she knew of this.

"I'd like to inquire as to how you know of this, since I don't believe you've seen me in combat yet."

Junyou waved her concerns away as she commented offhandedly.

"Well, I had all the time in the hospital to check up on both your game stats on the internet, so don't worry."

Looking down to nod slowly, Saratoga looked to Junyou again as she furrowed her eyebrows and asked.

"We have a game about us?"

Looking rather nonchalant about this, Junyou added,

"Yeah, and a Japanese anime series about us that aired early this year."

Rolling her eyes in derision as she commented.

"Totally inaccurate in how they portray the Abyssal war, I tell you.

And they say season two and a movie's coming out.

Oh, the humanity."

Saratoga lowered her head as Junyou shelved those thoughts aside to focus on the Lexington-Class carrier.

"But let's focus on you instead, Sara-chan.

I'm no coach or training cruiser, but I genuinely want you to try and win, and not to throw the match.

So here's what I want you to do…"

And whispered into Saratoga's ear about her strategy to give Zuikaku a run for her money and to give Saratoga a fighting chance.

* * *

Standing a fair distance from each other on the ocean while facing each other, Houshou stood in between them to start the match as she listed the rules.

"Girls.

This duel is between Saratoga-san and Zuikaku-san, and the match will last for 15 minutes.

However, should either carrier drop beneath the health threshold on your health-bars while in practice mode, we will halt the match to declare the opposing carrier the victor so as not to allow either one of you to sustain serious damage.

It is possible for one of you to throw in the towel if the situation becomes unfavorable, after which the battle will also end.

Let's be sportsmanlike about this, alright?"

Both carriers nodded before Houshou gently raised her right palm vertically, before cutting down in a chop and retreating while gently calling out,

"Begin!"

And Saratoga immediately turned tail and ran, with her boat slippers audibly hitting the ocean.

Everyone stopped to watch the back of the Lexington-Class carrier, who was performing the sacred art of the 'tactical retreat' as Zuikaku's mouth dropped, before she recovered and started up her boat slippers in order to catch up, exclaiming.

"Wait!

Get back here, Saratoga-san!"

The American carrier glanced behind her as she apologized in a genuine tone.

"I'm sorry!

Junyou-san told me to do this!"

Everyone turned to give Junyou the 'Bruh' look again, the Hiyou-Class light carrier looking away whilst sweating profusely, whistling a random tune in order to fill the heavy silence that was everyone giving her the stink eye.

Zuikaku tried to fire off an arrow in Saratoga's direction, but was faced with cannon fire which interrupted her form, courtesy of Saratoga's 8-Inch Twin-Barrel Cannons firing opposite of where she was running, which was towards the sun.

Zuikaku performed evasive maneuvers as she slowed down in order to aim at the retreating carrier, but Saratoga running towards the sun meant that she had to squint in order to get a bead on her, before realizing that the American carrier followed suit, slamming her boat slippers onto the ocean in order to stop in her tracks before pivoting around and pulling one of the two triggers on her Thompson sub-machine gun, speedily sending out two Grumman TBF Avengers who flew towards Zuikaku.

Understanding the lethality of the two planes, Zuikaku understood that in a one-on-one battle against an American carrier who could unload her planes quickly, there was not time to go through the 'eight stages of shooting' in Japanese archery, Kyudo.

So she grimaced as she performed evasive maneuvers while pulling out three arrows from her arrow quiver, holding them in her right hand as she loaded them one at a time while keeping the other arrows in her grasp, holding her longbow at a lower angle so as to perform an unorthodox, but often-practiced art of quick-firing.

Different scenarios required different techniques to handle the situation, and one style which quickly developed for a bow-and-arrow carrying Japanese carrier was to grab a bunch of random arrows, quickly aim one at the enemy, draw and immediately release it while preparing the next arrow.

It was often looked down upon as a desperate and an extremely ungraceful move when compared to the Kyudo style of arrow shooting, where patience, beauty and perfection were paramount, but in a war where efficiency and practicality were the deciding factors in a battle, quick-release shooting was commonly taught to make sure that every bow-carrying carrier could summon planes en masse if required.

Saratoga was surprised when Zuikaku quick-fired her arrows, the arrows bursting into flames as the Fairy pilots quickly pulled up to meet the Avengers halfway, who had already dropped their payloads into the water and were now struggling to evade the incoming Type 0 Fighters (Model 52) who hounded them.

Zuikaku strafed to the left and lifted her right feet in order to evade the torpedo salvo, but Saratoga was mirroring her movements as she sailed in a counterclockwise direction to intercept her, pressing the first gun trigger twice while turning a dial on the firearm in order to load another two planes on the flight deck of her Thompson submachine gun.

Pressing the second trigger, she summoned a Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat and a Douglas SBD Dauntless to substitute the two retreating Avengers, who safely landed on Saratoga's firearm in order to load up another torpedo.

The Avengers landed on the flight deck and stopped on the lift before Saratoga pressed the first trigger, twisting the dial and pressing the gun trigger again to retrieve both Avengers, Zuikaku surmising that the first gun trigger was to activate the flight deck lift either to load or store an aircraft, the switch was to control which lift was to be selected while the second trigger was to launch the planes.

Zuikaku repaid the favor in kind by pressing a hidden button on her longbow twice, and her arrow quiver extruded two arrows for her to grasp, aim and fire at once to summon as many planes as possible to stop Saratoga, the arrows transforming after bursting into flames like phoenixes to turn into Tenzan torpedo bombers.

But as the two Tenzan planes tried to home in onto a moving Saratoga, the Lexington-Class carrier got her cannons to depress low enough while leaning forward to help them in that regard as they deliberately fired into the ocean, producing columns of water that threw their aim off, one Tenzan losing control and spiraling into the water after failing to evade in time and flying straight through said water column.

Saratoga looked down at the Japanese Fairy which popped up on the surface of the ocean with a life-jacket around its chest, apologizing to an apoplectic Fairy who was shaking its tiny fist at her not unlike a certain World War 1 Flying Ace beagle who was cursing his mortal enemy, the Red Baron.

"I'm really sorry, Fairy-san!"

Zuikaku wasn't exactly worried about the Fairy's safety or the state of the lost Tenzan, since unmanned submarines often patrolled the training grounds in order to retrieve lost weapons before restoring them to working order, while all Fairy planes were capable of safely ejecting the pilot even while underwater.

Even so, she sailed over towards the Fairy in order to retrieve it while Saratoga was still sailing counterclockwise, and Zuikaku was starting to face away from the sun as Saratoga was beginning to look at the sun behind the Lucky Crane, but the two reloaded TBF Avengers took off from the American's firearm along with the lone SBD Dauntless dive bomber, which broke past her planes' defenses to fly towards her.

Caught in the midst of a triple-threat, Zuikaku hastily resorted to another last-resort move to save her own skin, stepping forwards as she raised her left foot backwards and posed as though she were preparing to kick a soccer ball.

Digging her boat slipper into the ocean at an angle, she followed through by thrusting her foot and boat slipper forwards, kicking up seawater as she performed a powerful kick in order to throw the TBF Avenger torpedo bombers off with the resulting spray, shouting,

"Storm Leg!"

Again, this technique was a crude, yet effective way of deterring torpedo bombers, mostly utilized by standard carriers as a last resort and was also seen as a rather unsightly move since ladies, as per human societal customs, weren't supposed to perform powerful kicks while wearing short skirts.

But then again, they were in the midst of a war against innumerable Abyssals, where they could afford to sacrifice some dignity for the sake of surviving to see tomorrow…

The two TBF Avengers performed evasive maneuvers, one banking tightly to evade the sudden spray while the other pulled up, almost grazing Zuikaku's hair as the Shokaku-Class carrier ducked in order to avoid getting hit by the careening Avenger, the Fairy ejecting before the out-of-control torpedo bomber hit the ocean.

Bending her knees, she propelled herself to the side in order to avoid the Dauntless's dropped bomb as it pulled up, the bomb detonation throwing up seawater which slightly soaked the Shokaku-Class carrier as she sailed away, untouched.

Saratoga was again surprised to see Zuikaku defy her expectations by using simple, yet unorthodox defensive and offensive moves, commenting as she evaded the gunfire of her Type 0 Fighters (Model 52) fighter planes and a torpedo that was dropped into the water courtesy of Zuikaku's Tenzan.

"How interesting, that you use everything on hand to keep yourself alive.

Is this how Japanese carriers normally fight?"

Zuikaku grimaced as she retorted,

"Well, this is how every carrier in the world's taught to fight if they want to live to see tomorrow!

It may be unsightly and crude, but it works, so shut up!"

Saratoga's eyes slightly widened before narrowing, breaking out into a small smile a she remarked.

"Well, if I can push you to the point where you're forced to use these moves against me, then it means that you view me as quite the threat, right?

I'm touched."

Zuikaku's right eye twitched as she pressed on a few buttons and pulled out the extruded arrows offered by her quiver before quick-firing them, exclaiming.

"W-Well, you're still the newcomer here, so don't get ahead of yourself!"

A Suisei Dive Bomber and a Type 99 Dive Bomber emerged, engines whirring as they flew towards Saratoga, the Anti-Aircraft cannons of both ship girls doing their best to protect their respective ship girls.

And finally, Zuikaku's planes scored a hit as Saratoga was hit by the Suisei as it came in hard and dropped its payload on Saratoga's rigging, the training bombs created to never be able to inflict a lethal wound on a ship girl as the American carrier emerged, smoking, bruised and coughing up a fit, but still in fighting condition.

Zuikaku noted that the American upped the ante by summoning two Grumman F6F Hellcats in order to fend off the horde of Japanese planes that were harassing her, and Zuikaku was now put on the defensive as she had to evade the incoming Hellcats, Wildcats and Avengers, all of which were headed towards her.

She simultaneously summoned another two Type 0 Fighter (Model 32) planes so as not to leave herself completely defenseless, and began to perform evasive maneuvers just as the Hellcats and Wildcats opened fire, preventing her from performing another Storm Leg to stop the Avengers from dropping their payloads into the ocean, using her boost gauges in order to evade the torpedoes at the last second.

But Saratoga surprised her as she charged in with all her might, ignoring the bullets of the Type 0 Fighter planes that were punching through her uniform and drawing blood in minute amounts as she raised her Thompson submachine gun, a heavy Anti-Abyssal weapon in and of itself, and attempted to melee Zuikaku.

Zuikaku was stuck in motion and had no way to evade the blow, so she raised her left arm to intercept the incoming blow before attempting to return the favor in kind with the arm which held her bow, Saratoga also grabbing her incoming in order to prevent the blow from connecting.

Now in a deadlock with both carriers attempting to physically overpower each other, Zuikaku grimaced as she saw Saratoga mirror her fierce expression, since she was an American carrier and genuinely wanted to go all-out in a fair battle against her, despite wanting to help her win Kaga's heart.

Noting the position of the three-position rotary dial at the foot of the firearm trigger, Zuikaku noted the,

'T',

'D',

'F',

Settings on the rotary dial which was set to 'D', Zuikaku remembered too late that Saratoga's Dive Bombers, which the 'D' likely stood for, were already loaded via the first trigger, and since they would be stuck to the flight deck, likely via magnetism, even when the Thompson was orientated differently, that meant…

Zuikaku could see Saratoga's slender fingers pulling on the second trigger, two more SBD Dauntless dive bombers shooting vertically upwards while the Hellcats took advantage of the opening the Wildcats had bought them while dueling with the Type 0 Fighters to make a beeline towards her.

Shit.

Zuikaku flexed her ship girl muscles in order to free herself before the Hellcats zeroed in on her exposed back and opened fire with their machine guns.

The fact that the two Dauntless dive bombers that flew vertically upwards had deliberately stalled so as to drop back down in order to home in on her, drop their payloads and pull up at the last second didn't escape her notice either.

Unfortunately, Zuikaku's 160,000 horsepower out slowly lost to Saratoga's 180,000 horsepower output as the Lexington-Class carrier slowly overwhelmed her, and Zuikaku immediately changed tactics as she brought up her armored boot in order to stamp on Saratoga's feet.

The two of tussled in a dance of death, either trying to kick at or stomp on the other's feet while physically wrestling with each other, Zuikaku feeling her two hearts working at full capacity as the sweat freely flowed from her forehead while the engine buzz of the four American planes surrounding her got progressively louder to indicate her imminent doom.

Finally, Saratoga tried to break the physical deadlock by leaning backwards, Zuikaku quickly and accurately predicting that she was going for a headbutt, understandable since the Lexington-Class carrier didn't want to get caught in the blast radius of the dive bombers as they dropped their payloads.

But it was the wrong move to use in this situation.

She felt that Saratoga was trying to shift away from pushing Zuikaku back to pulling her in while throwing her head forwards for maximum damage.

Zuikaku used this situation to turn the tables by pushing her arms into an almost-straight position while the Shokaku-Class carrier raised her left knee to allow the American carrier, who was stuck in motion, to smash her nose into Zuikaku's armored knee-guard.

Everyone audibly " _OHHHHH!"_ ed at the sound of Saratoga's nose breaking in a sickening _crunch_ , the American carrier almost dropping her Thompson submachine gun as Zuikaku, in a moment of mercy, grimaced as she threw her sparring partner out of the blast radius before emptying her boost gauge in order to accelerate from a resting position.

She barely evaded the two bombs that were dropped by the Dauntless dive bombers, although she didn't get away scot-free as the Hellcats managed to get some good hits on her back and rigging.

Their miniature bullets stung Zuikaku's back as she winced and futilely tried to swat the two fighter planes out of the air, sharply inhaling through clenched teeth as she reminded herself that these were practice rounds, and in battle, these wounds were supposed to hurt a lot more.

Turning back as she panted, she saw that Saratoga was holding her bloody nose as the blood flow was partially stemmed, dripping onto the ocean as Saratoga's pained voice was a little high-pitched since she was holding her nose.

"You…

You protected me from my own bombers…"

Zuikaku took a deep breath before remarking about how she couldn't leave her in a situation where she'd get hurt.

"Look…

Call me soft, call me weak, but you're our comrade.

I admit if you were an enemy Wo-Class, I wouldn't have done the same.

But despite what we've been through in the past, there's no point in being a total bitch and leaving you out to dry when we're on the same side now, right?"

Saratoga's eyes widened as Zuikaku warily eyed the airborne Japanese and American planes, still fighting for air supremacy as she commented.

"Well, if you want to thank me, you can start by admitting defeat, because if we were on a real battlefield, let's face it, you'd be one a one-way trip to Davy Jones' Locker right now.

You got outplayed, although I will admit that it was only because of your inexperience.

So how about calling it a day, here and now?"

Zuikaku raised her right hand in order to draw another arrow and quick-fire it, and since Saratoga previously summoned two Dauntless dive bombers to try and take Zuikaku out while danger close, she would have to wait for her Thompson to load another two planes, and Zuikaku would have already sent out two torpedo cruisers in order to drop her by then.

Saratoga exhaled through her mouth, considering the proposal as she looked down at the ocean and the drops of blood dripping into it, her internal systems stemming the bleeding and was evident as the blood flow, previously an unbroken trickle of blood, now slowed to a few occasional drops as she responded.

"Alright then.

I admit, it's my loss.

But for a newcomer, I sure gave you quite the run for your money, hmm?"

Zuikaku closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose as she lifted an eyebrow to concede the point as she used her palms to form a 'T' motion, and the planes halted their heated battle after their respective carriers had stopped the battle.

The normal landing procedure for a bow-wielding carrier was to fly towards her as she grabbed a handle beneath her flight deck to hold it out horizontally in order for the plane to land before turning back into an arrow in a burst of flames, the carrier then picking up the arrow and storing it in her arrow quiver.

The mechanism which attached their flight decks to their shoulders would maintain the previous position of the flight deck (in this case raised and positioned horizontally forwards) unless the carrier moved it again, and their arrow quivers would automatically arrange the received arrow for them.

A slightly riskier, yet faster alternative was to allow the warplane to slow down to an extremely slow speed before turning back into an arrow in mid-air, and the carrier could snatch the arrow out of the air and store it.

But since this was training, and the harbor wasn't that far away, the planes flew back towards the harbor in order to land on a landing strip there, and when the harbor helped the carriers unload their riggings, the mechanical system would arrange everything for them.

Saratoga used a bit of force in order to shift her nose back in place, the spectators all wincing again as Saratoga started bleeding again from the nose, but she looked a little better now that her nose was straight again.

Kaga walked up to Zuikaku, and the Shoukaku-Class carrier could feel her cheeks color a little in anticipation for what her mentor and rival had to say about her performance, lowering her eyes for the incoming head pat as Kaga raised her gloved right palm.

And immediately formed a blade and lightly karate-chopped Zuikaku's head.

Everyone looked on, clearly expecting a head pat and was surprised to find that their expectations were subverted, Zuikaku starting to tremble like an erupting volcano before exploding, throwing her arms into the air as a vein bulged on her temple.

" _What the hell was that for, huh?!"_

Kaga immediately went into full-on lecturer mode, explaining.

"You were easily thrown off by Saratoga-san and Junyou-san's opening move, and you were slowly caught up in their rhythm as you gave chase.

What you should have done was stay still and launch your planes, not engage in a game of tag with the enemy across the battlefield.

That is not our forte."

Zuikaku flinched as Kaga listed several mistakes that she committed, like assuming that Saratoga wouldn't be able to launch her planes while in a physical deadlock, even when she knew that unlike Japanese carriers, Saratoga only needed a few planes on her flight deck, and all she had to do was pull a trigger to launch them.

Junyou was now cringing, not expecting Kaga to be so blunt with her observations, but before she could interrupt her lecture, Kaga's voice softened as she commended.

"Well, I do admit that you and Saratoga-san are almost evenly matched, and while this wasn't the most graceful of victories, you did win.

There's a lot more you need to learn, lest Saratoga-san improve with time and learn how to counter some of your moves, but I will say this.

You pulled out all the stops in order to beat her, and I think that it was a wise decision after seeing who you're going up against.

Well done."

Kaga now patted Zuikaku on the head as she gave the faintest of smiles, and everyone could see that the Shoukaku-Class carrier was failing to contain her blush as she looked down, too embarrassed to look her crush in the eye as she meekly nodded.

Kaga now turned to look at Saratoga, noting the blood on her face as she commented on the American carrier's performance.

"You did well too.

We will be teaching you a few close-quarters combat moves that are specially developed for carriers, as well as the situations where it's appropriate to use them.

That headbutt, although potent, exposed you at a crucial moment and left you open to friendly fire.

But we can see that you're skilled, and I look forward to working with you in the future."

Saratoga's expression brightened as she broke out into a small smile, bowing respectfully as Kaga turned to Junyou, looking at her with a deadpan expression.

And after five seconds of absolute silence from her, Kaga turned away without saying a word as Junyou blinked, unsure of how to respond to such a cold-shoulder treatment from her.

But then again, in Kaga's eyes, Junyou was breaking out the alcohol when she was still recovering, and attempted to corrupt Saratoga into doing her bidding…

Kaga announced,

"We'll be taking an early lunch break before resuming our training."

As she set sail for the harbor without looking back, everyone giving the Shoukaku-Class carrier hidden thumbs ups and small, congratulatory smirks as Zuikaku performed a small bow towards the crowd of spectators and to Junyou and Saratoga to thank them for their commendations and their efforts in helping her win Kaga's heart, a reserved smile gracing her red face as she threatened to tear up.

* * *

"I dislike being dead."

Tatsuta commented as Mamiya nodded understandingly, Tatsuta having woken up and was sitting on the hospital bed in two hospital gowns which covered her front and back, the food supply ship taking some time off to accompany her.

The both of them were peeling apples with small kitchen knives that Mamiya had brought out of her apron and sleeves as a way to pass the time while being productive, the basket of apples sitting innocently on Tatsuta's hospital table.

As to why Mamiya was carrying knives in her uniform, Tatsuta assumed they were for self-defense purposes, since the food supply ship sometimes had to sortie in order to feed ship girls who were out on sorties and supply the human inhabitants on the Izu Islands and Guam, amongst other islands within the Safety Zone.

Mamiya soothingly replied,

"Well, I do believe that is the general consensus amongst ship girls.

But at least we can be resurrected via the docks, so there's a silver lining for you."

Tatsuta nodding, noting her experience while she was unconscious and recollecting a very strange dream in the process.

"When I was still trying wake up from that dark place, I felt like I was deep underwater, and the light was shining down from above the surface of the water.

And even though I couldn't move in the bottom of the…"

Tatsuta struggled to find the words to describe where she was in the dreamlike limbo before her revival, and finally continued.

"Perhaps it was supposed to be an ocean, and I was on the seabed where my warship body is currently located, but in that dream, it felt like more like a large pond which I laid in.

And I assumed myself to be at the bottom of it, immobile but conscious of my current status of being dead.

But when I felt myself come alive, the world which was the entirety of the large pond began to shift around me.

I was certain that I was still lying on the pond floor, but it felt like either the pond itself was being drained, or the ground itself which I laid on was being lifted by some unknown force.

Either way, it did not feel as though I were floating upwards as I, in a supine position, broke the surface of the pond and awoke in this hospital ward.

How strange, to think that we dream of such things."

Mamiya hummed in approval as she explained, still looking down at the apple as she dug the sharp blade into the juicy red fruit.

"Many studies have been conducted in order to understand these dreams which we occasionally experience, since quite a fair number of ship girls have all experienced the same dream.

I do believe this is a normal dream to have when you die in this life and your body is resurrected, but you remain unconscious for a while since your mind and spirit needs time to recover."

Mamiya gave Tatsuta a sad smile as she spoke from experience, recounting.

"Ah, but note that not everyone will have this dream, since my first death and eventual resurrection was quick and dreamless.

It mostly occurs after you've died for the first time, and after that, the chances of experiencing this dream again drops exponentially."

Tatsuta gave the food supply ship a small smile as she changed the subject so as not to make things awkward between them, asking the food supply ship about how her teammates were doing.

"And how is everyone doing?"

Mamiya's smile drooped a little upon being asked that, but she convinced the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser that they were mostly alive and well, while the others were on the road to recovery.

"Oh, don't worry.

Ayanami, Tenryuu and Shigure-san are all working hard in order to get stronger in different ways.

Hiei-san and Junyou-san have recovered for the most part, and the both of them are doing well enough to be up and about.

I know this because Hiei-san attended breakfast in order to talk to me about Shigure-san being alive and well even after fighting an Abyssal Princess, and took the time to show the new arrival, Saratoga-san, around.

And last I heard, Junyou-san, after downing a few drinks, went out to attend the bird carriers' training session as a spectator.

At least, that's what she said in between downing sake cups."

Tatsuta nodded idly, before registering Mamiya's words and turning to face her, asking politely.

"I apologize, but did you say that Shigure-chan fought an Abyssal Princess?"

Mamiya nodded, noting solemnly as she met Tatsuta's gaze.

"Oh, yes.

I do maintain good relations with the 8th Fleet and participate in sorties with them from time to time, so I'd know when they were sortieing.

Shigure awoke on the 15th of April, and she was in time to sortie with the 8th Fleet in order to fight a Southern War Princess on the 17th."

Giving her a small but reassuring smile, Mamiya notified her about the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's condition.

"She's unharmed, although last I checked, she was sleeping soundly in bed after she participated in two night operations within a week."

Tatsuta nodded as she lowered her head and got back to peeling the apples with the knife in her hand, deftly inserting the blade into the apple at an angle to peel the red skin off without scraping too much of the flesh off, performing this duty with machine-like precision.

She asked.

"You say that there is someone called Saratoga who was with Shigure-chan.

If I remember correctly, she is a Lexington-Class carrier, of the United States Navy."

Her expression suddenly darkened as a shadow hung over her dulled eyes and false smile, her hands moving quicker than usual as she felt herself getting agitated from a blasted American being near her teammate, asking darkly as she skinned the apple with a vengeance.

 _"Why is an American carrier doing with Shigure-chan?_

 _And why wasn't I informed of this sooner so that I could 'greet' her the second she stepped into this base?"_

Mamiya sweat-dropped as she recounted Admiral Mako's explanation over yesterday's lunch as to how the American carrier arrived at Yokosuka.

"Well, after the Southern War Princess was sunk, the spawn system messed up after the Southern War Princess deviated from her usual route.

And instead of an IJN carrier, the system chose to resolve this error by spawning Saratoga, and the 8th Fleet brought her in without incident."

Tatsuta slowed down the pace of her knife as her eyes expressed genuine surprise that Saratoga wasn't roughed up by the infamous 8th Fleet.

"Hmm.

Well, I expected the ship girls of the 8th Fleet to incapacitate her and rough her up before bringing her in.

But I suppose if she does her job well, I don't have much to say about her."

Tatsuta's smile widened as she looked down at the next apple which she picked up, her gaze darkening as she got to work on the next apple with a silent fury as she hissed with a false smile plastered on her face.

 _"After all, my issue isn't with carriers._

 _It's with submarines."_

Mamiya nodded understandingly since Tatsuta was sunk by the American submarine USS Sand Lance, while Mamiya was sunk by USS Sealion, making them rather wary of submarines in general.

Mamiya turned to face the door after hearing someone approach their room as Tatsuta's ears twitched, also hearing the familiar footsteps of a certain light cruiser approaching her room.

And as she predicted, Tatsuta was relieved to find that it was Tenryuu who walked through the door, her sister wearing an exercise singlet and shorts in lieu of her usual school uniform.

She was sweating from head to toe after some sort of strenuous exercise regime, which left her panting and wiping away the sweat on her forehead in order to make herself look presentable to Tatsuta.

Tatsuta, now breaking out into a warm, genuine smile upon seeing her sister visit her, greeted Tenryuu.

"Well, hello, Tenryuu-chan.

You seem to be quite busy with your training schedule."

Tenryuu nodded as she scratched her head, visibly restraining the urge to hug her as she remarked sheepishly.

"Well, I was worried about you, but Kiso told me that I couldn't do anything while simply waiting around for you to wake up.

She recommended that I take this time to get stronger instead of wait here in my shredded uniform and live off of hospital food like a bum.

Kiso said that it's probably what you would want, and as your sister, I knew that you probably wouldn't be happy to see me in a mess."

Tatsuta nodded in order to agree with Kiso's wise words as Tenryuu bowed towards a smiling Mamiya in order to acknowledge the presence of her senior, greeting.

"Good afternoon, Mamiya-san."

Mamiya nodded in order to acknowledge her greeting as she looked back down at the apple in her hand, a pattern beginning to emerge in her hands as she responded.

"Good morning, Tenryuu-san.

It's good to see you up and about, training with Abukuma-san in an attempt to improve your physical condition."

Tatsuta looked to Tenryuu as she asked her about the newcomer in the base.

"Tenryuu-chan, what do you think about the American newcomer?"

Tenryuu, being a ship girl who wasn't too concerned with the finer details in life, shrugged as she answered aloofly.

"Meh, I'm a little miffed about her being American.

But when I thought about it, she didn't have a choice in being created as an American, and also didn't choose to be spawned here.

So I feel like giving her a chance and cutting her some slack, since I certainly wouldn't want the Americans around me blasting me for 'being a fuckin' Nip' if I were spawned in America by some mistake."

Mamiya nodded, looking a little surprised but extremely glad that her fellow ship girls were taking this new development with an open mind, noting.

"Yes, I did talk to Houshou-san about this.

Saratoga-san feels _very_ alone in this foreign country, especially when you consider the... complicated history between our two countries.

She needs friends try their best to understand her plight and keep her company so as to help her overcome the loneliness."

Nodding, the two sisters lapsed into silence in order to relax and unwind together, and for sisters like the two of them, it wasn't necessary to talk in order to understand each other and appreciate the silent moments between them.

Tatsuta felt that Tenryuu made the wise choice in following Kiso's advice, because it was unanimously understood amongst the ship girls of Yokosuka that a major naval battle was about to take place, and a dark storm was brewing ahead.

They couldn't afford to waste any time on actions based on sentiment, and she was glad that Tenryuu had friends and mentors who could guide her on, even without her being there to keep Tenryuu's temper in check.

She wasn't under any illusion that she was invincible, as her death had previously illustrated.

She could sink on their next sortie or on the sortie after that, and despite her best efforts to keep herself for both her own and Tenryuu's sake, there was no predicting the future, and she wanted Tenryuu to be prepared.

She knew how being left alone after the sinking of a sister ship had hurt, since Tenryuu sank in 1942 while Tatsuta had sunk in 1944, and even if she were to sink, she now knew that Tenryuu would be well cared for.

Hiei,

Junyou,

Shigure,

Ayanami,

Everyone...

"... Tatsuta?!"

Tatsuta flinched as Tenryuu shook her awake, momentarily lost in her thoughts as she looked towards her worried sister, asking patiently with a gentle smile.

"What is it, Tenryuu-chan?"

Tenryuu, no longer wearing her eyepatch and mechanical ears, used both her eyes to look at Tatsuta with a serious expression as she asked in a no-nonsense tone.

"You're crying, Tatsuta.

Does it hurt anywhere?"

Blinking in confusion before realizing the moist tears rolling down her cheeks which were stretched out in a small smile, she wiped her tears as she put the kitchen knife down on the blanket which covered the lower half of her body.

She tried to laugh the entire thing off as she did so, remarking.

"Oh, no.

I was just thinking about everything I stood to lose, should the missile fly true to its target.

The 1st Fleet, the Kuma and Nagara-Class cruisers, amongst others, the Akatsuki-Class girls...

You...

Dying for the first time really puts things in perspective, I'll tell you that..."

Tenryuu tried to reach out in order to console her, but Mamiya, being a ship girl who's lived for a full decade as a ship girl, interrupted the two of them as she gave her sagely opinion on things.

"Yes, you're right.

As a ship girl, the first stage of 'growing up' is to experience death before being resurrected."

Looking down at her apple as she thought about the situation at hand, Tatsuta could see that the food supply ship was speaking from experience as she elaborated.

"As a ship girl, injuries are nothing to us simply because we can walk them off, given enough time.

But death, in some sense, reminds us that we're not infallible, and that we have a lot to lose should we sink.

But I do believe that this experience should be used to motivate us into improving ourselves in order to prevent this from happening again, simply because of how thin the line between dying and sinking is."

Tatsuta lowered her head as she dropped her smile, thoroughly agreeing with Mamiya's words, but Tenryuu sighed a little as she slapped a comforting hand on Tatsuta's shoulder, commenting offhandedly as she sighed in relief.

"Whew, so it's just Tatsuta being human?

That's good, then.

I thought that you were hurting somewhere and was trying to put on a tough front."

Tatsuta hummed questioningly as she sniffed and asked her sister about her words, giving her a tired smile as she did so.

"And pray tell, what do you mean by that, Tenryuu-chan?"

Tenryuu gave her a relieved smile as she settled down into a seat to make herself comfortable before answering wholeheartedly about how it make her feel relieved to see her sister not bottle everything up inside of her.

"Well, it kind of reassures me to know that my sister's still human, and she can still experience pain, sadness and even fear.

So when I see that my fearsome sister can still express her sadness and pain freely around me and feel more natural around our teammates instead of smiling all her problems away, as your sister ship, it makes me feel happy inside since that means you're slowly opening up to everyone."

Tatsuta's expression shifted into one of slight surprise, before she retorted with a sly smile and with half-lidded eyes.

"Ah, Tenryuu-chan, I didn't know that you were such a closet S, hmm?"

Tenryuu's face, at first trying to wrap her head around her sister's statement while reviewing her previous sentence, exploded into a crimson red as she brought up both her arms in order to wave her palms wildly, her expression now panicked as she tried her best to explain herself.

"N-N-No, that ain't what I meant!

I'm just happy that you're revealing your inner self to us and ARRRGHH!"

Realizing that her words unintentionally contained many innuendos within them to provide Tatsuta with more than enough material to work with, Tenryuu looked towards a giggling Mamiya as she asked of her senior, tears starting to form on the edge of her eyes.

"Mamiya-san!

Please stop laughing, and explain to my sister that I'm innocent!"

Before she collapsed onto her seat while letting out a defeated whine and looked like she wanted to cry, her tough facade falling apart faster than a house of cards as she covered her luminescent-red face.

But outside the door were two voices, both of them getting progressively louder and overshadowing the ship girl trio's conversation as voice #1 asked,

"...wanna decide it over rock-paper-scissors?"

"Alright, then.

No point delaying it further, doesn't matter if either one of us talks to the two of them anyway."

A period of silenced ensued before voice #2 shouted,

"YOU FUCKING CHEATED!"

Voice #1 sounded smug as he now sounded ready to screw voice #2 over, remarking.

"Well, you never said anything about no cheats, right?"

"Well, I got a fourth hand to play, here it is, fucker!"

A male cackling voice could be heard as voice #1 stopped in his tracks, mocking in a way that old friends would without any consequences as he made his way back.

"That's what salty motherfuckers play as a last resort.

Well, it ain't all bad, hanging out and talking to two ship girls instead of working in the lab all day, right?

I'll be heading back first now, hmm?"

Voice #2 sighed as he continued on his path towards Tatsuta's room, retorting.

"Whatever.

At least I got you to get some exercise after walking from Engineering to the hospital, so it ain't all bad."

Voice #1 only chuckled as he left, his footsteps disappearing down the corridor as someone knocked on Tatsuta's door, the Tenryuu-Class cruiser answering.

"Come in, please."

The human engineer Akio popped up as the door opened, the bespectacled human leaning to ask politely.

"Tatsuta-san?

Is- Oh, Tenryuu-san's here as well.

What's up, Mamiya-san?"

Mamiya slightly lowered her head in response to the engineer's greeting, Akio scratching his head as he cocked his head towards the corridor, sheepishly asking.

"So from your expressions, I guess you heard everything, huh?"

Tenryuu nodded, cringing a little after hearing the exchange between the vitriolic duo as she remarked.

"Oh, hell yeah.

You aiming to wake up the dead with your yelling?"

Smiling bashfully, Akio smirked as he raised a manila-colored folder with the red 'CLASSIFIED' stamp on it, looking down at the food supply ship as he regretfully had to ask Mamiya to leave, despite respecting her immensely.

"Heh...

Mamiya-san, I'm afraid this is for their eyes and ears only, so...

Eh..."

Mamiya nodded in acknowledgement, understanding the need for secrecy if the engineers needed to talk to the ship girl duo about classified matters as she got up from her seat, picking up the basket of skinned apples and her kitchen knives as she placed the apple which she had been working on for five minutes on Tatsuta's desk for her to admire and eat, leaning in to whisper.

"Bon Appétit."

Tatsuta and Tenryuu's eyes widened slightly as Mamiya had used her knife to carve out the pattern of a 3-dimensional rose onto the side of the apple itself, a wrapping of thin apple-red skin and light-yellow apple flesh as they formed petals and seamlessly embraced each other in a circular fashion around the rose's center to form a complete flower.

Tatsuta looked up as a lone sweat drop rolled down the side of her face, giving the food supply ship a weak smile as she remarked.

"Mamiya-san, you're making me feel bad for having to eat this work of art."

But Mamiya, looking down at her two juniors while carrying the basket of apples under her right arm, formed a fist with her left hand and brought it up to her face, twisting it a little as she held the joint of her index finger close to the side of her left eye.

And like that, she mimicked the act of weeping as she gave Tatsuta a cheeky pout, as though to wordlessly communicate,

'Tough luck.'

Before bringing her hand down and giving them all a warm, maternal smile before passing Akio and leaving through the door as it clicked shut behind her.

Akio turned back towards the Tenryuu-Class cruisers with a slight blush after watching the admittedly curvaceous figure of the food supply ship from behind as she left, Tenryuu raising an eyebrow and gaining a knowing expression as she snarked.

"Like what you see, eh?

Pervert."

And instead of denying the accusation, Akio raised his hands and the manila folder as he smirked and admitted in the face of two ship girls who possessed very sharp weapons at their disposal.

"Ok, I admit.

Guilty as charged."

But as he sat down, it was clear that the engineer was no longer in the mood for small talk as Tatsuta lost her smile, a serious expression overshadowing everyone's face as Tatsuta asked in a no-nonsense manner.

"What is this visit about, Akio-san?"

Akio put the classified folder onto the hospital desk, beside the untouched apple art piece as he opened the folder to reveal the contents inside, beginning his little speech in order to bring the two light cruisers up to speed on what he, Kousuke, Aoba and several other Fairies had been working on for the past few weeks.

"You see, we engineers, Aoba and a few Fairies have been working on a little Project during these past few weeks..."


	28. Chapter 28 - Resurrection Blues

Tenryuu listened to Akio the human engineer as he took out and spread out the papers which were inside the classified folder, explaining to the two Tenryuu-Class light cruisers about what they had been up to in Engineering with the Fairies and Aoba.

"Well, you see, we've been researching and trying to come up with explanations for how a ship girl soul works.

Because in our little project, we intend to take advantage of a rare ship girl phenomenon in order to communicate with a ship girl soul, which we believe to be both sentient and sapient, and draw more power from it in order to power what we term 'New Wave' Anti-Abyssal weapons.

This project was named Project Psyche, since 'psyche' originally meant 'soul' in Greek."

Akio now pointed to a report which detailed the death, remodel and resurrection of a ship girl, and how this sequence of events always yielded the same phenomenon.

"Listen, here's a bit of a lesson about ship girl phenomena, and how we might only be scratching the surface of what really lies within the intangible power source within your bodies.

Have you heard of the phenomenon, 'Kyoka Suigetsu'?"

Tenryuu's face scrunched up as her mind threatened to blank out should the engineer start giving her a lecture about their inner workings in order to try and teach her something about ship girl physiology or whatever.

But Akio, being an engineer who studied up on this phenomenon in order to understand what they were dealing with before they even started on this project, leaned in with a patient look as he started from what almost every ship girl knew.

"Alright, let me start from the basics.

You see, when you die and get thrown into the docks to be resurrected and repaired, your consciousness still remains in your brain as we resurrect you.

So, um, Tatsuta, might I ask if you'd had the underwater dream?"

Tenryuu looked to Tatsuta as she looked away slightly, something which Tenryuu recognized as a sign that her sister was hiding something from her, but Tatsuta nodded slowly as she gave Tenryuu a meek aside glance before explaining herself.

"Well, you see, Tenryuu-chan.

When I was brought back to life but was still unconscious in bed, I was dreaming that I was immobile while at the bottom of a large lake.

And as I was raised from the bottom of the lake, I broke the surface of the water and woke up in bed.

Mamiya-san said it's a dream we all have a chance of experiencing when we first die."

Akio nodded, gesturing with his hands as he explained.

"Well, you see, your mind may subconsciously connect the death of your ship girl self with your experience of sinking and being back down on the seabed.

And as you're being brought back to life, your subconscious relates it to the experience of your mind being brought back up from the ocean as you're reborn as a ship girl, y'know what I'm saying?"

Tenryuu raised an eyebrow, understanding the basic logic behind this dream where their minds would relate their first time dying as a ship girl with the sinking of their warship selves back in the war, and waking up after being resurrected would feel like their sunk warship counterparts being 'reborn' as ship girls.

It'd make sense that in that same vein, their minds would recreate the scenario of being at the bottom of a lake in order to simulate being sunk, and swimming back up to the surface meant waking up as a ship girl.

However, their minds would quickly learn to distinguish and separate the present from the past, hence the reason why this dream only occurred once for most ship girls.

Akio continued with his lecture, a complicated expression clouding his face as he revealed the next part.

"Well, dying means that your consciousness stays up here in your mind for about two days, after which it's transferred to the soul to be stored for another four days."

And when Tenryuu gave the engineer a confused look as to how that was accomplished, Akio gestured with a 'It's the best explanation we have' expression on his face as he elaborated.

"Think of the soul as a backup server for your body to upload your consciousness into, it's a secondary function while its primary function is to serve as a power source.

This point is important, and we'll get back to it later.

You have to be resurrected within those six days, because the Fairies' technology can't keep your consciousness tethered to this world for any longer than that.

To be resurrected within these six days via docking would ensure a 100% chance of survival with no complications, but at the end of the sixth day, your chances of survival will drop steadily until the end of the seventh day.

After which…"

Akio sharply inhaled through clenched teeth as he cringed while looking at the two ship girls, and the two of them lowered their head as they understood the limits of the Fairies' advanced technology.

A six days' grace period was actually more than enough time for the ship girls to bring their teammates back to life, no matter where they were on Earth.

Even in foreign countries and isolated locations, there were several naval installations which were built and maintained regularly by the locals in order to cater to ship girls who were sent overseas in order to fend off Abyssals, allowing them to resupply and dock quickly while in the area.

But still…

Akio's eyebrows creased as he struggled to find a way to explain the next part in layman's terms, Tenryuu beginning to dread where this intellectual conversation was headed, where things got harder to conceptualize and understand, especially for a girl of action like her.

It wasn't that she was incapable of thinking so hard.

It was just so... _b_ _oring._

"Well, from here on out, we move on to remodeling.

It's basically where the Fairies upgrade you, both inside and out.

When we remodel you, your brain has to be emptied in order to update and optimize everything up here…"

Pointing to his temple with his right index finger, referring to their minds as he explained to the light cruiser duo.

"So your consciousness has to be transferred from up here, into here."

Akio then shifted his right index finger to his heart, Tatsuta clarifying in order to make sure that they were on the same page.

"Inside the soul, right?"

Akio nodded, reiterating the fact that the soul was, in some sense, a server for them to temporarily store their consciousness in order to allow the Fairies to remodel their minds.

"Like I said before, the soul, other than powering your body, also acts like a computing server where we can transfer your consciousness into when we remodel you.

Remodeling your mental systems helps you think and react faster in combat, improves system efficiency and also helps to add some relevant modules up in here."

Akio looked down at the blueprints and the various thesis papers and reports about the ship girls, continuing his explanation.

"So for a live ship girl to be remodeled, her consciousness is transferred into the soul for the duration of the remodel, after which it's transferred back without a hitch, since it's in a controlled environment.

But when a ship girl dies and is remodeled, and if her consciousness is already inside their soul…"

"They then experience the phenomenon known as Kyoka Suigetsu."

Tenryuu and Akio both turned to look at the calm Tatsuta, who looked down as she tried to cobble together a working hypothesis from the information Akio had provided them with and various articles which she had read in the past.

"I read about this.

We get a glimpse of the world within our souls, and nearly pass on before being brought back to life.

A near-death experience, in some sense.

Am I right to believe that this is the closest and most accurate term we have in order to describe this phenomenon?"

Tatsuta finished the sentence for the bespectacled Engineer, whose eyes widened before narrowing as he nodded, lifting his eyebrows and making circular motions with his hands as he shrugged and admitted.

"Well, you're actually right in that regard.

Like I said, after two days, the consciousness is transferred into the soul, right?

If you're remodeled in those two days, nothing out of the ordinary happens.

You die, we remodel you within two days, you wake up from your deathly slumber in a perfectly healthy remodeled body.

But if you're remodeled in the four days after that, this phenomenon occurs where you appear in a dream world, theorized to be a sort of 'deeper consciousness' or something along those lines.

Because in those last four days, it's the closest you will ever be to passing on to the next life, and this near-death experience is what ties everything together."

Akio leaned in as the two Tenryuu-Class cruisers saw the seriousness in the engineer's eyes as they got to the crux of the issue at hand, and the entire reason why the Project was even conceived in the first place.

"This phenomenon was dubbed 'Kyoka Suigetsu' due to the same scene popping up every time, and will always occurs under the same circumstances, with any ship girl of any class or nationality.

It happens so often that we have long ceased to see it as a malfunction on the part of the ship girl, and a 'feature' of the ship girl soul, if we can even call it that.

And before you ask, 'Why remodel us when we're dead?', well, it allows us to dismantle you, take out all the damaged parts, and replace them before quickly bringing you back to life, and you'd be in tip-top shape without having to dock for repairs.

And replacing parts, for us, is far quicker than letting the nano-machines taking some time to repair you in the docks, you get me?"

Tenryuu, now looking intrigued, picked up the picture of a sketch which was made by some unknown ship girl as Akio gestured towards it, beautifully rendered as it depicted a calm ocean, with the full moon shining down upon the world while the pale satellite was resting on the backdrop that was the starless night sky and was reflected on the unnaturally-still ocean.

Dozens of flowers littered the ocean surface, Tenryuu eventually identifying them as the Indian Lotus due to their purplish-white tint, majestically blossoming as their petals unfurled, the beautiful flowers floating on the surface of the empty ocean.

Tenryuu commented to herself, understanding that she was stating the obvious, but was too wrapped up in trying to understand this phenomenon and how it occurred when one was on death's door.

"So, 'Mirror Flower, Water Moon', eh?

Well, we certainly got the flowers and the moon, and the ocean acts like a mirror as it reflects the moon.

Interesting.

But aren't lotus flowers supposed to grow in ponds or swamps, not oceans?"

Akio lifted his hands as he shrugged helplessly and responded with the best answer everyone had so far.

"Well, our best explanation is that it's a near-death experience, and much like a dream sequence, logic probably isn't something which can be applied here."

Humming in order to non-verbally accept Akio's admission of their limited knowledge about this ship girl phenomenon, Tenryuu continued.

"So what happens in this dream sequence?"

Tatsuta was silent as she, too, observed the picture since Tenryuu sat herself beside her sister ship, the both of them leaning in with the picture positioned in between them in order to be viewed, and Akio pointed at the picture in Tenryuu's hand as he narrated.

"You will appear on a large ocean in the middle of the night, where the shoreline will never be reached, no matter how far you sail in any direction, and none of your navigational equipment will work in this dream world.

No night stars, no 'magnetic north'.

One thing to note is the fact that the ocean will always be perfectly still in order to perfectly reflect the moon, and the moon itself will always be unnaturally close to Earth in order to shine down like a spotlight upon you.

Around you will be many Indian Lotus flowers which passively float on the surface of the ocean, and wherever you go, more will appear.

And since the ocean is calm, they don't move unless the wake of your boat slippers move them.

If you try scooping them up, they don't have plant stalks beneath them, but they can somehow still float on water.

Like I said, it's a dream sequence, so I suppose anything goes."

Stating the last point with a shrug, Akio shifted in his seat as he explained the sequence of events which would occur after a ship girl awoke on this mysterious ocean.

"When you appear on this ocean with only your boat slippers, you'll be alone in this little world, no matter how hard you look and no matter how far you sail, and the moon will _somehow_ always shine upon you like a goddamn spotlight.

But you then look down at the ocean when you sense a disturbance right beneath your feet.

You look down at your moonlit reflection in the ocean, and for a while, you think that the slight shifting of your reflection is part of your imagination, or it may be the sea distorting your reflection with minute shifts on the ocean surface.

But it eventually warps into someone who looks very much like you, but wears white clothes which will likely differ from your default uniform.

And for destroyers, she may even morph to become an older version of you, returning your downwards gaze.

Shortly after this metamorphosis is complete, her hands will then materialize from the ocean in order to reach up and grab your feet."

The two Tenryuu-Class cruisers looked up upon hearing that, surprised that a mere reflection could make physical contact with them as Tatsuta noted.

"Interesting.

Judging by their white clothes and passing resemblance to us, can we assume that they are a reflection of ourselves, albeit as Abyssals?"

Akio shrugged, revealing that they had nothing more than theories at this point in time.

"Perhaps.

There's been some speculation that like a warped mirror, they may indeed be our souls reflecting our Abyssal halves who are trapped within us, since ship girls and Abyssals are theorized to be two sides of the same coin.

They'll attempt to, and succeed in dragging you into the ocean, no matter how strong you are as a light cruiser, or even a battleship.

But before they drag you down into the abyss with them, an unknown force, generally accepted to be our restorative efforts, will drag you back up to the ocean surface, and they'll eventually let go and look at you as you float back up to the surface of the ocean and wake up in the real world."

Tatsuta nodded as she looked down contemplatively, Tenryuu giving her an aside glance as she saw that her sister was now fully invested in this intellectual conversation about unknown forces at work within them.

"So if we are to assume that they are a representation of our souls who have taken on our appearance, if only a passing resemblance and in Abyssal forms, could we see this as the soul's attempt to help us pass on?

After all, it's generally accepted that we, the ship girls, likely reincarnate as Abyssals in our next lives."

Akio nodded as he shared one plausible explanation which theoreticians had produced in order to make sense of this phenomenon.

"One hypothesis states that since the soul appears to be the one constant in the cycle of reincarnation, it's possible that the soul, in trying to pass on, is likely attempting to assimilate the ship girl's consciousness in this dream world before leaving the ship girl body.

Although, as the outcome of the dream suggests, they fail in their endeavor since we manage to resurrect the ship girl in time."

Tenryuu, remembering that they were previously talking about Project Psyche, whose goal was to communicate with the soul and draw more power from it in order to power new Anti-Abyssal technology, now saw the puzzle pieces as they clicked together in her mind, asking Akio about what they were aiming to do.

"So when you talk about Project Psyche, my guess is that you want to somehow talk to this 'ghost' in our souls?

Get her to cough up some more power for us to use, right?"

Akio nodded, now explaining the details of their project.

"Look, we have enough reason to believe that the ship girl soul is a passive source of _seemingly_ everlasting power.

Should this project succeed, it shouldn't shorten your lifespan in any way, so I don't think we have to worry about dropping dead in the near future, should we successfully draw more power from it."

Tenryuu cringed at that possibility, wondering about all the veteran ship girls who had fought in countless battles during the earliest stages of the war, and how they were all now happily retired after a maximum of 10 years of dutiful service, although others had retired before reaching that limit due to various personal reasons.

Several of them strangely chose to fight on, like Akashi of Yokosuka, who was far older than anyone in this base after living for 16 years and was now not only the resident 'centenarian' repair ship of a major naval base, but was also the flagship of the 8th Fleet.

None of them had died yet from their souls exhausting all of their energy, and the soul was supposed to 'be the one constant' in the reincarnation cycle, so Tenryuu could see Akio's point when he theorized that their souls wouldn't simply 'run out of energy' like a candle flame flickering out of existence after reaching the end of the candle wick.

Nodding grimly, Tenryuu noted something else as she put down the illustration of the dream world within their souls before asking the human engineer.

"But Kyoka Suigetsu only occurs when a ship girl is on death's door, and is close to passing on.

I think I understand your reason for choosing us because we're experienced enough to receive our Kai remodels, but I don't suppose you want us to kill ourselves before you chance it with a last minute resurrection, right?"

Tatsuta now gave Akio a saccharine smile, a shadow clouding her face as she closed her eyes peacefully and stretched out her smile before notifying.

"Ara, Akio-san.

You do realize that I recently died, and have no intention of dying again anytime soon, right?

I believe that as engineers, you should have at least found a more … tasteful way of invoking this phenomenon _, am I right?"_

Akio started sweating a little, coolly leaning back in his seat as he held out both his hands in a placating gesture before he smoothly replied, having already worked out the details as to how they were going to accomplish this.

"A-Alright, look at this blueprint here.

Like you said, here's our solution to activate Kyoka Suigetsu and meet this apparition in order to communicate with her, since we believe that she is the key to our success."

Their attention was now drawn to a blueprint of a dentist's chair with various contraptions on it in order to gain access to the soul of a ship girl in a non-invasive manner, Akio pointing at the blueprint as he explained.

"Aoba helped us out on this because she… y'know…"

Tenryuu's eyes narrowed as she remembered how Aoba had tried to gain access to the inner workings of her ship girl mind in order to alter whatever was inside, and it went terribly wrong as she was mentally crippled for life, forcing her to stay in her copper-shielded room.

"Well, whatever she previously worked on, we looked through her notes which delved into how her machine gained access to what's up here, the mind…"

Pointing to his temple before shifting his finger in order to point at his chest, Akio continued his explanation.

"But our machine requires us to gain access to what's in here, the soul.

In some sense, her research is related to what we're working on since as you know, the ship girl Trinity consists of the body, mind and soul and there exists links between these three aspects of a ship girl.

As as it suggests, there is a close link between the soul and mind, but we haven't fully understood what this link is."

"Yet."

Tenryuu raised an eyebrow as she added, and Akio broke out into a relieved smile as he looked thankful that the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser at least had some faith in them, Tenryuu scratching the back of her head as she asked.

"So I assume that this operation, since it deals with life-and-death matters, contains an element of danger and uncertainty.

Tell me, how bad is it?"

Akio's gaze lowered as he hastily added after giving Tenryuu her odds of surviving this procedure.

"You have a 30% chance of survival, although later ship girl testers will have improved odds.

We perfectly understand if you wish to turn down this offer due to your low odds of survival, since as a ship girl, you have the right to decline-"

"Alright, let's do it."

Both Tatsuta and Akio looked at Tenryuu funny as she folded her arms underneath her bosom, pulled back her shoulders and puffed out her chest in order to express her determination, stating with very little hesitation in her voice.

"I mean, we can go like, right now, right?"

Tatsuta leaned in as her smile was wiped from her face, asking gravely.

"Tenryuu.

You do realize that this is essentially a gamble with your life on the line, and you're capable of dying for real should your luck fail you-"

Tenryuu retorted, pointing out the obvious as Akio remained respectfully silent in order to allow the sisters to settle their differences in terms of opinions.

"What's a little risk of dying for the sake of more power in order to protect our comrades?

We're warships, and we've always known that we'd probably die sooner or later!

If we pass this up, we may never get another chance like this!

Don't tell me you never thought of how weak our class is compared to the Sendai or the Kuma-Class!"

Tatsuta blinked, and Tenryuu, perhaps letting her past grievances come to light, revealed a growing frustration which she always acknowledged in the back of her head, but never really had to address it until now, looking down at her lap as she did so.

"I always knew that our ship class was pretty mediocre, and I've always thought that improving our skills and physical condition were the only two options which were available to us.

But now that this path's now opened up in front of me…"

Tenryuu closed her eyes and sighed before opening them in order to give her sister ship a serious look as she expressed her honest opinion.

"I don't like phrasing it like this, but if I were to die, I probably wasn't fated to get that power-up.

But if I don't risk my life in order to gain this power-up, I'll always be haunted by the 'what-if's.

What other choice do I have if I want to become stronger?"

Tatsuta's eyes narrowed threateningly, but Tenryuu wasn't backing down this time as she locked eyes with her sister ship and expressed her determination through her fierce stare.

The two sisters engaged in an intense, silent stare-down for about thirty seconds, after which Tatsuta finally closed her eyes and sighed in order to admit her defeat, asking Akio in a resigned tone.

"I suppose you were planning to ask the both of us to sign up for this Project, which was why you looked a little relieved when you saw that the both of us were in the same room.

Right, Akio-san?"

Akio nodded as he made himself comfortable on his seat before answering honestly.

"Well, everyone knew that if we were to ask only one of you to sign up, the other would impale us all on her weapon like a Shish Kebab for risking her sister's life without her knowledge."

Tatsuta lazily lifted an eyebrow in agreement, continuing.

"Well then, when do we get started?"

Akio gave them a sheepish shrug as he admitted, previously hoping to interrupt their little stare-down in order to inform them about something.

"Well, I didn't want to interrupt your conversation and stare-down to tell you that even if you accept this offer, you'll need to wait for at least a week before we even start the trial runs.

We need this one week in order to make good on our promise that you have a 30% chance of survival."

Tenryuu sweat-dropped as she let out a disbelieving,

"Urk!"

Before recomposing herself as she replied in a slightly weary tone.

"If so, then why tell us now?!"

But Akio started collecting and arranging the various reports and blueprints in order to store them in the manila-colored folder, explaining himself in the process.

"Well, we believe that even if the both of you accept this offer and want to participate in this Project, we decided to grant the both of you some time off in order for the both of you to prepare yourselves for every eventuality.

I mean, it's 30%, and we don't want to just spring this on you without allowing you any time to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally, you know?

And like I said, during this one week, we're perfectly fine with it if you feel as if you wish to change your mind and back out.

Since, y'know, you _do_ have a right to refuse."

The both of them nodded, and when Akio was about to slot the papers into the folder, Tatsuta, looking towards Akio contemplatively with a grave expression on her face, calmly gave the engineer her answer.

"If Tenryuu-chan were to participate in this Project, then I shall join her.

And I must thank you for giving us this one week, because I need some time to prepare myself should either of us … not make it."

Tenryuu lifted an eyebrow upon hearing that, her usual demeanor returning to her as she gave her sister ship a confident smile and remarked confidently, with nary a care in the world.

"Hey, Tatsuta, don't be like that!

You know what's worse than a 30% chance of survival?"

Tatsuta still looked a little solemn about the situation after taking their odds of survival into account, asking offhandedly.

"And what might that be?"

Tenryuu replied cheekily,

"A 29% chance of survival.

And would you like to know what's worse than that?"

Tatsuta's expression lightened up as she let out a chuckle, conceding the point as she admitted with a weary smile.

"Well, you're not exactly wrong there."

Akio, now getting up from his seat with file in hand, also got a chuckle out of Tenryuu's teasing words as he gave them a small bow, a gesture which the two Tenryuu-Class light cruisers reciprocated while seated.

Akio notified them about what the Admiral had in mind for them now that they both accepted the offer to be test subjects, and how they would be contacted after seven days.

"Admiral Mako told me to tell you that if you were to accept this offer, she'd arrange for you two to stay in for the entire week.

And if anyone asks, just tell them, 'Admiral's orders'.

Wouldn't want you to get hurt, or worse should your fleet sortie again.

And Admiral Mako will get a Coordinator to send a message for you two to report to Engineering when the week's over."

His expression then hardened in a 'stern-parent' look as he reiterated the need for secrecy by cocking his head towards the 'CLASSIFIED' stamp on the manila folder which was in his grasp.

"And we trust you two to keep this a secret from everyone.

Even your teammates."

Both Tenryuu-Class light cruisers nodded firmly with serious expressions on their faces, and Akio flashed the both of them a tired smile before turning to leave the room.

Tenryuu looked down as she felt slightly apprehensive, yet excited about this new development, thinking about how she was now putting her life on the line.

But she then reminded herself that this Project was probably the first of its kind, and a golden opportunity like this was probably never going to come again should she pass it up.

She knew of her own shortcomings in terms of her stats, and this Project offered her a way to make up for it.

Put her life on the line for a one-of-a-kind power which allowed her to become even stronger and would allow her to perform at a level which was far beyond what her other ship girl counterparts in this world were capable of.

For most ship girls, it was a no-brainer.

For her, even more so.

She could do this.

* * *

Ayanami was sitting beside Saratoga along with several of her Ayanami-Class sisters and her three Sendai-Class light cruiser seniors as they occupied the games room in the evening, today's date being the 28th of April.

They watched a man sing and dance on a large LED screen before them with what seemed to be two dozen extras, the singer in question possessing a handsome face and slicked-back hair as he wore a dark leather jacket, a striped shirt beneath it, form-fitting jeans and dark shoes.

Elvis Presley was on-screen as he performed 'Jailhouse Rock' while the CD player, a slim flat metal box, kept track of and displayed the amount of time which had passed on the disc as it played the black-and-white recording of the famous American singer.

Saratoga was seated amidst a pile of CDs and CD casings as the Lexington-Class carrier scratched her head with the eraser tip of the pencil which she held, looking down at the complied list of major American events and influential Americans post-World-War-2 as she confirmed with the ship girls surrounding her.

"Alright, so this this is Elvis Presley, and according to this list,"

Gesturing to the list with the pencil in her hand.

"He was a famous American singer, along with Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and the Beatles, amongst others, am I right?"

Ayanami, seated beside the American carrier, leaned towards her in order to inspect the list Saratoga held in her hand.

And although the list was extremely simplified, it was still a somewhat 'comprehensive' list of important Americans and various significant events which shaped American history and its culture.

'United Nations (League of Nations) formation

NATO (Also League of Nations) formation

Cold War (Soviets vs. Americans; no Hot War)

Cuban Missile Crisis

Neil Armstrong/ Buzz Aldrin on the moon

Korean War

Vietnam War

2008 Financial Crisis (Great Depression)

9/11 (Al Qaeda, Osama leader)

Afghanistan War

Iraq War/ War on Terror

Soviet Union collapse

Creation/ Destruction of Berlin Wall

Elvis Presley

The Beatles

Britney Spears/ Madonna/ Lady Gaga

Michael Jackson

Stevie Wonder

Star Wars/ Star Trek (Flash Gordon(?))

Black, Women, LGBT rights movement

Muhammad Ali

Michael Jordan

Rosa Parks

Steve Jobs (Apple)

Bill Gates (Microsoft/Windows(?))

Hippie counterculture

The internet

Disney (and that one weird mouse)

The Simpsons/ South Park/ Family Guy

Titanic (Film about Jack x Rose, not ship x iceberg)

Jurassic Park

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

2001: A Space Odyssey (Not made in 2001)

JFK assassination

Martin Luther King Jr. speech and assassination

Malcolm X assassination

Charles Manson (Helter Skelter)

Jim Jones and Jones-town Massacre

Columbine Shooting

Clinton sex scandal

Nixon Watergate Scandal

Killing Osama bin Laden (Operation Neptune Spear)

Hurricane Sandy and Katrina

Black president Barack Obama'

Ushio nodded meekly, answering the carrier's question as she looked back at the TV screen.

"Yes, a-and I believe, with this, I think we've covered the basics.

I-I hope this helped ease your sense of loneliness and helped you learn a little more about your homeland…"

Naka gave the Lexington-Class carrier a radiant smile as she bopped her own head with her left fist and consoled the American.

"Don't worry, Saratoga-chan!

We, the Sendai-Class sisters, will keep you company should you require it!

I'll be there for you in the morning, and Jintsuu will replace me when I go for my afternoon idol training.

Sendai loves night battles, and since you're an American carrier with night battle capabilities, you will certainly get along well with her!"

Ayanami looked over her shoulder in order to observe Jintsuu, who was sitting in a respectful, albeit slightly relaxed _seiza_ position, while Sendai was perfectly mimicking a corpse as her splayed, prone body occupied a significant portion of the room while she slept soundly, and they were all gathered here today in order to help Saratoga learn a little more about America in its post-war years.

The carrier had already learnt about the world's various technological developments, so the Japanese destroyers and light cruisers decided that today's focus would be more on America's social, cultural and and even political developments.

They had covered several historical events and had highlighted a few important people who had influenced America's post-war history, although everyone stressed that this was far from an extensive history lesson.

Saratoga turned before nodding towards everyone in order to acknowledge their help, looking around with a thankful look in her eyes as she addressed them all.

"Thank you.

All of you.

Even though I was entirely prepared to learn about these things on my own, I must thank everyone for the amount of additional information you all have supplied me with and the amount of guidance you all have provided me with."

Shikinami waved it off as she explained, noting how their world had radically changed and they had to change their views in order to keep up with the world, lest they be left behind.

"Eh, it's nothing.

We're now allies, and we shouldn't let history drive a wedge between us and isolate each other with our xenophobia and hatred, lest we be picked off by the Abyssals, country by country.

Xenophobia will mean a lot of bad blood between every country's ship girls, and that certainly doesn't help anyone win the Abyssal war, so I'm sure everyone's trying to keep an open mind about things."

Saratoga nodded as she commented,

"Yes, but things might get rough when I meet the Atago-Class heavy cruisers and Ryuujou-san, because I bombed the former while sinking the latter."

Ayanami raised an eyebrow as she commented on the personalities of the three ship girls in question, reassuring the Lexington-Class carrier that there really wasn't anything to be worried about.

"That's not really a cause for concern, because even though Takao-san may be a little cold towards you, Atago-san's warm personality will make up for it in spades.

They're the polar opposites of each other, and I think you will get along with them, so there's that.

Ryuujou-san may need a little time to get used to your presence, and your…"

Ayanami brought her hands up to her chest before pushing them out in a _BOING_ motion while puffing out her cheeks in order to refer to Saratoga's generous bust before explaining.

"... Since Ryuujou's rather lacking in that department.

But in the end, I believe they will accept you since you're now a member of our base, and we've got more pressing issues to address.

Like, say, another war which is currently going on around us?"

Saratoga nodded mutely in response, and Jintsuu leaned in to place a silent, yet firm hand on the carrier's shoulder in order to help reassure her without saying a word.

Ayanami smiled upon seeing everyone do their best in order to help Saratoga and try to be friends with her, and was in the process of ejecting the stopped disc from the CD player when an announcement was made on the PA system and Admiral Mako's voice resounded throughout the games room, and by extension, the entire naval base as everyone looked up at the overhead speakers.

"Admiral Mako here.

Just a quick heads-up for the 1st Fleet.

The 1st Fleet is to assemble on the 14th of May in order to sortie.

Due to several complications and delays, the temporary fleet composition for the 1st Fleet will be Haruna, Naka, Jintsuu, Saratoga, Ayanami and Shigure until further notice.

A private message will be sent to you by the Coordinators before tonight as a reminder, and make use of this time to work on your teamwork, since we understand that some of you have not worked together before.

That is all."

Ayanami blinked in confusion, but Naka was the one to glomp Saratoga and Ayanami as she cheered about being in the same fleet as the both of them, squealing in glee.

"Alright!

Looks like the four of us are going to be in the same fleet for now!

Let's all do our best!"

While Jintsuu gave them a small smile, placing her palms on the floor and touching the tatami floor with her forehead, rising from her kowtow as she commented.

"I agree.

It is an honor to be a part of the 1st Fleet, and it will be interesting to witness the might of an American carrier in real time.

Let us do our best together."

Sendai was barely affected by the sudden announcement, only shifting on the floor in order to lie on her side as she muttered a satisfied,

"... Fishcakes…"

Saratoga looked down in order to contemplate the sudden announcement about the temporary roster update, as well as why she was being sent out into battle so soon.

"I heard that a large-scale battle was going to occur, and this was why everyone was doubling their training efforts.

And I think this may be why Admiral Jackson asked me to stay here in Yokosuka, so that I can help you all.

But to my knowledge, that's two-thirds of the 1st Fleet who've been replaced, and why are so many of them unavailable?"

Ushio brought up her legs to her sizable chest and looked down at her knees dejectedly, Shikinami doing her best to comfort her by giving her a back pat as she remarked fearfully.

"Uuu… I think it's because of the _Flying Dutchman_ , Saratoga-san.

It destroyed Ayanami-nee's fleet at the Battle of Mikura Jima Island…"

Everyone's eyes turned to her, and Ayanami started to sweat as she did her best to try and reassure everyone.

Fortunately, it was a skill which came to her naturally since she was the name-ship of the Ayanami-Class, and was thus responsible for leading and helping several of her sister ships who were in this base.

"Now, now.

The _Dutchman_ shouldn't be able to hurt us on land, so we have nothing to worry about right now.

It wouldn't dare to attack us where our strongest battleships and carriers are located.

It may be strong, but it's certainly not invincible."

"Strong enough to crush four fleets at once, though…"

Shikinami muttered darkly under her breath, and Ayanami's eyebrows creased in a disapproving, deadpan expression as she had told her sisters about what happened at Mikura Jima Island in confidence.

Shikinami looked away while raising her arms in mock-surrender while the Lexington-Class's eyes widened, and Saratoga's expression darkened as she leaned in to ask Ayanami for a favor.

"Ayanami-san, I'd like to review your memories of this Battle of Mikura Jima Island in order to discern the abilities of this new Abyssal enemy."

Ayanami nodded as she sent the Lexington-Class carrier the memory file in order to keep her updated and to sate her curiosity, although she was quick to tell her about another witness who could be of more use to her.

"Well, Shigure-san is a better witness, since unlike her, who was right next to the Abyssal aviation battleship as it rose from the depths, I was further away and couldn't see much.

But the destruction it can potentially cause is already evident from what I saw, so I believe I can at least help you in this regard."

Saratoga nodded grimly, and she looked down as she reviewed the memory file regarding the Battle of Mikura Jima Island while Naka placed a questioning finger on her cheek as she innocently asked.

"I understand if Tatsuta-san, Junyou-san and Hiei-san are unable to sortie so soon, but isn't Tenryuu-san training with Abukuma-san right now, and is perfectly capable of sortieing?"

But Jintsuu considered the question for some time before answering her sister with a plausible explanation.

"Well, perhaps it's because the Admiral didn't want to sortie one Tenryuu-Class cruiser without the other, since Tenryuu-san would probably be distracted with thoughts about Tatsuta-san's well being, and this might endanger her in battle."

Ayanami, after thinking about the two Tenryuu-Class cruisers, wasn't so sure about Jintsuu's theory and suspected that something might be up with the two light cruisers, but she believed that the Admiral herself was probably behind her two teammates' temporary absence from the battlefield and had a good reason for it.

So if the Tenryuu-Class cruisers were unable to answer her questions as to why they were grounded for the time being, she'd simply make sure that they were doing well before respecting their privacy.

Saratoga then looked up as she nodded grimly, now understanding how a submersible battleship came out of left field and caught them off-guard with the element of surprise, but the Lexington-Class carrier decided to try and put everything around her back in its rightful place before going for dinner, commenting.

"Well...

No point thinking about and discussing these matters on an empty stomach.

Let's put these CDs back where they belong, and let's get going."

Everyone nodded and agreed unanimously, and Ayanami helped to place the CDs back in their rightful covers before closing them and placing them back in the large drawer located inside the games room, hearing the Lexington-Class carrier address everyone with a question while they worked.

"And I'm still a little confused about this human body which we reincarnate into.

Why is everyone female?"

Surprisingly, Naka was the one who gave Saratoga an explanation which was cobbled together by various theoreticians over the years, explaining the quasi-philosophical concept behind the ship and how it related back to them being female.

"Oh, that's easy!

When you think about it, why did sailors in the past sometimes talk about their ships as though they were female?"

Saratoga considered the question as she picked up the few snack wrappers left on the floor, having brought some snacks in beforehand in order to feed herself should she get hungry, dropping them into the bin as Naka answered.

"Well, when you take away all our weapons and armor, as ships, we're ultimately vessels who ferry humans across the ocean as they eat, sleep and live within us.

In a sense, we act as incubators, sustaining the livelihood of our inhabitants with our resources and protecting them from the elements.

Unlike planes, which can only last a day at most without resupplying and for a tank, several days, ships can _theoretically_ sail the seas for several months without resupplying at a port.

And don't quote me on this, but I think the Nimitz-Class super-carriers can stay on the ocean for 70 days without resupplying its food stocks, and 90 at the maximum.

Sustaining life within our hulls for extended periods of time while our armor, and even our cannons protect them, I suppose it translates into a feminine humanoid in the eyes of our makers."

Naka then shrugged as she continued packing up the games room, noting.

"At least, that's the accepted consensus, since even our supposed makers, the Fairies, believe this to be one of the most reasonable explanations.

We always joke that if a World War 2 tank were to be theoretically recreated as a human, it'd likely come out as a boy, since the tank guns would be represented by their, you know…"

Ayanami noted Saratoga nodding a little too vigorously as her cheeks colored, Naka continuing with her explanation.

"And if you wish to stretch things even further, I suppose you can say that even the ocean, deep and dangerous it may be, is where life was first created, and where it flourished before the first fish crawled onto land.

To create and sustain life is a sacred ability, and since we were created to sail the seven seas and are in our element when we step onto the ocean, perhaps it was meant to be poetic when we are created as female humanoids in order to embody this trait.

This is one theory which has weathered many criticisms and doubts throughout the entire course of the Abyssal War to become one of the most convincing explanations we have so far."

Saratoga nodded sagely before looking up from the small stack of papers which she was arranging, looking towards everyone as she asked.

"Oh, and I must ask.

Do we have any swimming lessons, since we now inhabit human bodies?

I don't wish to be caught off-guard on the off-chance that our boat slippers are blown off by torpedoes, and I can't even keep my head above the surface of the ocean."

Shikinami answered without thinking twice,

"Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about, since our bodies float while alive and sink when we die.

Besides, I don't think you have even less to worry about than we destroyers do."

Shikinami then jerked her left thumb behind her while giving Ushio a mischievous look as she eyed her sister's abnormally large breasts, commenting offhandedly.

"I mean, you have big boobs like Ushio-chan, and they're essentially your fuel tanks.

And last I checked, Ushio-chan had no problems floating on the surface of the pool since they also act as pseudo-flotation devices."

Ushio hugged her breasts while squeaking,

"Kya!"

And was slightly tearing up in the corner of her eyes, Ayanami noting all this out of the corner of her eye along with Saratoga's slight blush as she chided noncommittally.

"Shikinami, stop teasing Ushio and Saratoga-san and get back to work."

Shikinami raised her arms in mock surrender as she looked away, a small smirk plastered on her face as she remarked.

"Alright, alright…"

Ayanami looked to Saratoga as she explained the inner workings of a ship girl, and how learning to swim wasn't very high on their list of priorities.

"Saratoga-san, our bodies are capable of passively floating on the surface of the ocean, even though we wear boat slippers in order to help us sail and walk on the surface of the water.

And if you check, the ability to swim is already pre-programmed into our minds, even before we were brought back into this world through various means."

Saratoga nodded patiently before retorting politely.

"Yes, I understand that we all already know how to swim.

But I prefer to practice this skill for real in order to hone this skill when in a controlled environment, rather than call upon this ability for the first time in my life in a time of crisis."

Everyone then looked to each other, Jintsuu remarking about how it was probably wise to at least know how their pre-programmed skills worked in practice, instead of keeping it unused in their minds until a dire occasion called for its use.

"Well, Saratoga-san does have a point.

It seems rather asinine to passively store this skill in our minds until the occasion calls for it, and panicking while attempting to use it for the first time while in the heat of battle may cost us our lives."

Naka leaned in to ask Saratoga, looking strangely enthused about the notion of having everyone take a day off in order to get some swimming lessons, and recommended the next course of action to a slightly taken aback Saratoga.

"Oh!

You should go ahead and explain this to Admiral Mako, I'm sure she'd _love_ to have swimming lessons with everyone!"

Ayanami lifted an eyebrow upon hearing that since she understood that their Admiral, upon realizing the chance to see her ship girls and girlfriends in swimsuits and bikinis, would likely get a nosebleed while immediately allowing this lesson to be carried out, possibly even taking advantage of her status as Admiral to make it mandatory for every ship girl in Yokosuka.

After explaining this to everyone, the Lexington-Class carrier flinched as she realized the possible implications, asking worriedly.

"But I don't have a swimsuit, Ayanami-san.

What happens then?"

Ushio suggested,

"Well, we can get Admiral Mako to place an order for a tailored carrier-sized school swimsuit, I suppose…"

But Shikinami waved the suggestion aside, preparing herself in order to perform an impression of the Admiral as she did so.

"Oh, puh-lease.

I think if you were to bring up this problem with Admiral Mako, I think her response would be…"

Clearing her throat, Shikinami made a slightly lewd expression and executed a passable impression of Admiral Mako's voice and mannerisms as she remarked.

"'Oh, you don't have a swimsuit?

Don't worry, my dear.

I know of this one shop in town where they sell these pretty little, and I mean _little_ little bikinis for a well-endowed girl like you to wear.

And since I pretty much determined your three sizes by ogling your body when you weren't looking, you don't have to worry about measurements.

Oh, please ignore this spontaneous nosebleed I'm getting, ehehehehe…'"

Shikinami held her nose with her right fist as her impression of Admiral Mako's lust-filled giggle was hot and bothered, Saratoga blanching as she started to sweat upon realizing what she was going to have to contend with, looking around shiftily as she asked the various occupants of the games room for help.

"W-Well, I still want to participate in some swimming lessons…

Will someone please help accompany me to the nearby town in order to get a swimsuit, preferably something modest?"

Ayanami exhaled as she looked up at the pleading carrier, accepting Saratoga's request as she slid the drawer shut after storing the CD casings neatly inside and turning back to face the Lexington-Class carrier.

"Alright, I'll follow you, Saratoga-san.

But it'll be after the 14th, since I wouldn't want to rush things when we need to focus on our training and sortie."

Saratoga nodded in relief as she bowed towards Ayanami as a gesture of gratitude, Jintsuu and Naka looking interested about this trip to the nearby town as Jintsuu politely offered.

"If you don't mind, perhaps we might be of some assistance in this endeavor of yours if we were to accompany you on this trip."

To which Saratoga replied with the same amount of respect and formality.

"I shall take you up on your offer, Jintsuu-san.

And to take things even further, we might as well get everyone to join our little trip in order to unwind after our next sortie, no?"

Naka then piped up with another suggestion for the other three ship girls in the room who were now members of the 1st Fleet, since she had never worked with either Ayanami or Saratoga.

"Well, that's a fine idea for another day, to go on an outing with everyone after the sortie!

But Saratoga-san, Ayanami-san, Jintsuu-chan, like what Admiral Mako said over the PA system, would you all be interested in some training sessions with our newly formed temporary 1st Fleet?

There's no substitute for practice, and we need to make sure that our teamwork is up to par in order to get everyone home safely, hmm?"

Ayanami nodded, now feeling the pressure pile on again now that she was going to sortie again with two thirds of her original fleet taken out of action.

But then again, looking at Saratoga, Naka and Jintsuu, she felt that things might go a little smoother this time around.

Haruna was a respectably strong Kai fast battleship, Saratoga was an American carrier, Naka and Jintsuu were strong Kai light cruisers, and Shigure had gained more battle experience after participating in a battle against an Abyssal Princess.

They could do this.


	29. Chapter 29 - The Dogs of War

Admiral Mako was together with Musashi while at a gazebo while on the 29th of April, and Musashi, being a Coordinator and one of Admiral Mako's girlfriends, was taking the time to review their plans of Project Psyche, Apocalypse and the plans for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea.

However, the last thing she expected upon sitting down on a reinforced steel seat with a leaning back rest was for Admiral Mako to sit on her lap, lean back and rest her head in between Musashi's gigantic breasts while threatening the integrity of Musashi's sarashi, looking extremely relaxed with half-lidded eyes, a stoned smile and drool rolling down her jaw.

Musashi sweat-dropped as she looked down at Admiral Mako, who had removed her peaked Admiral cap in order to fit her head in Musashi's cleavage as she asked in a confused tone.

"Admiral?

Why are you sitting on my lap and using my breasts as a head rest?"

Admiral Mako shifted while still seated on Musashi's lap as the Yamato-Class battleship inhaled slowly in order to exercise the utmost of patience with her Admiral girlfriend.

And since Admiral Mako had invited her to an early lunch break in order to take some time off and relax, they were now off-duty and were thus allowed to express their love and be intimate with each other.

Like right now.

Admiral Mako responded lazily,

"Y'know we're taking a break and can relax now, right?

And besides, you can just hold your reports up, around here…"

Gesturing to the space before the two of them as she continued.

"And we can both sit down, lean back and relax while reviewing these reports.

Everybody wins, hmm?"

Musashi was unimpressed as she deadpanned.

"But you're still using my breasts as a head rest."

Admiral Mako's expression and posture melted upon hearing this, her body slouching and relaxing as she blushed, her eyes rolling up in ecstasy as she leaned further back into Musashi's soft mounds and drawled lustfully, Musashi's breasts almost overflowing from the sides in the process.

" _Ehehehe..._

 _Oh yeah…_

 _And mommy likes what she's feeling…"_

Musashi exhaled patiently as she prepared the reports, but despite witnessing her Admiral's unprofessional behavior when off-duty, as her lover, she accepted her girlfriend's extremely easygoing personality, especially since she understood that her Admiral knew when to get serious as she held up the first report for the both of them to look at before explaining.

"Well, Akio-san reported that the two Tenryuu-Class light cruisers have accepted the offer to be test subjects for Project Psyche, and Kousuke, Aoba and our Fairies reassured us that there would be no hiccups in meeting their projected deadline.

Admiral, are you sure…"

But Admiral Mako, having wiped away her drool, composed herself and looked up at the report as she explained herself with a serious tone.

"Musashi, please.

I think that our ship girls, no matter which class they hail from, are mature enough to comprehend matters of life and death, and I think our two Tenryuu-Class cruisers have accepted the possibility of dying for real should we make a mistake.

As World War 2 veterans who were part of the Kaigun, all of you have participated in a war before this, most of you have seen combat, be it heavy or light, and have experienced loss in the process.

Even if it's a destroyer, I'd treat them as I would an adult when it comes to these matters, simply because everyone's been through their fair share of tragedy in the last war you were in.

Every ship girl holds a unique opinion and belief about what we've done in the past, so I have all the reason in the world to believe that each and every single one of you are capable of thinking and behaving in a mature and responsible manner."

Musashi's eyes widened, seeing things from her Admiral's perspective and nodding as she lowered the report, thinking about how even though many ship girls possessed very exuberant and unique personalities, deep down, they were all capable of understanding and discussing matters concerning their mortality after being sunk during or after the war, or even discussing controversial matters concerning the Axis Powers (and even the Allied powers) in order to share their opinions and be provided with a new perspective on things.

Letting her mind wander for a while, Musashi recalled reading the recordings of how the people of other countries had reacted to the then-controversial introduction of the Axis Power ship girls, and the amount of backlash they had received.

Every Japanese, German and even Italian ship girl who came before them had already expressed their unanimously-agreed upon disgust at the past atrocities committed by their respective countries, and made it extremely clear that they wished for everyone to remember these war crimes, closely working with the public in order to make sure that the ship girls never got drunk on their own power.

But it was pretty well-established from the get-go that even though the ship girls wanted to take responsibility for the past actions of their countries, they were not to be treated as a punching bag for the citizens of other countries to blindly hate simply because of their past grievances, because the ship girls wanted to be treated as their own people and not warriors who were forever burdened with carrying the sins of their past regimes.

After all, back then, they were simply warships of steel who were out on the ocean fighting the good fight with the Allied warships, not terrorizing conquered countries by throwing people in concentration camps, forcing them to build railways and go on death marches, amongst others, so the main driving question back in the day was,

Were these ship girls supposed to be held responsible for past atrocities and war crimes which they themselves never instigated, participated in, or in the case of certain ship girls, never even _knew_ about?

And being the saviors of mankind who fought the Abyssals and kept them at bay, it was eventually agreed upon that the Axis-Power ship girls would be allowed take responsibility by practicing a sort of 'self-condemnation' by denouncing and distancing themselves from the brutal regimes which they once fought for, and the other countries would cut them a lot of slack in return.

"Musashi?"

Musashi looked down at a concerned Mako, who was looking up at her while still resting her head on Musashi's bosom, and the Yamato-Class battleship sighed as she explained herself.

"Nothing, Admiral.

I was just reminiscing about our past, and how like you said, every ship girl is capable of behaving and thinking in a mature manner, since we are all war veterans.

It's just that most of us don't have to feel the weight of the sins our country has committed in the past, but while others may see this as a bad thing, I choose to see this as a positive thing."

Mako's dark hair tickled the tanned steel skin of Musashi's breasts as Mako shifted her head in order to look up at Musashi, while the battleship met her gaze as she looked down into her Admiral's eyes before continuing.

"I understand that every single one of us has been taught and fully acknowledge all the innocents who suffered and were even killed under our reign, and while we respect and remember the dead every year, I was glad that we were given a chance to…

To be absolved, in a sense, and be allowed to live as normal girls.

To be something more than simply weapons of war."

Mako gave Musashi a vibrant smile while Musashi allowed herself a break from her professional persona as she removed her glasses in order to look at her Admiral's brown eyes without anything coming between them.

She placed her glasses on the table as she looked down at her girlfriend's beautiful face with 20/20 vision, since her bionic eyes were perfectly fine and the glasses were worn for decorative effect.

Her dark-skinned, gloved hand met Mako's smaller human hand as she relaxed a little and returned Mako's smile before turning to the next report, detailing the situation surrounding Apocalypse.

"After contacting other naval bases around the world and requesting Central for any information and clues about Apocalypse without giving everything away, we found that the response we got sadly didn't shed too much new light on the situation.

We believe this is because the Abyssals have been even more careful and secretive about their classified projects after the Abyssal Princess program was leaked in the past, allowing us enough time to prepare for their arrival.

But something to note is the fact that unlike last time, where we learnt about their Princess program after an inside leak, this time, it seems as if they're trying to string us on by deliberately leaking information which they deem no longer damaging to them should we learn about them at this point in time…"

Mako hummed as she plucked at the ends of her fringe with her free hand, commenting idly.

"Well, that ain't much of a surprise now.

Since we found out that Yuubari and Sakawa were somehow promoted to the Abyssal Commander-in-Chief and Secretary respectively, I think it's become personal for us.

Certainly has been for Akashi, who's been a lot more emo than usual after learning about this, and Nagato was also emotionally affected by the news.

They're certainly playing quite the twisted game with us by giving us a 'sporting chance'."

Musashi continued as she looked at the report and explained what little knowledge they had gleamed from partially cracked encoded Abyssal messages in the past.

"Central revealed that they managed to partially decipher some of the ever-changing Abyssal code which they use to encode their communication signals back in the mid 2000's about new Abyssal types being developed.

With 'Apocalypse' being brought to their attention, and after Woxanne's warning about World War 3 occurring before the end of this year, we have enough reason to believe that alongside the humanoid Abyssals which will be remodeled into land units in order to participate in a land invasion, they may be developing Abyssal…"

Musashi lifted an eyebrow as she looked at the roof of the gazebo in order to find a suitable comparison for what was to come next.

"Princesses, or at least elite units whose strength and firepower will certainly be above the rank-and-file Abyssals and will probably be comparable to the Princesses, but are designed for land or amphibious combat.

But one question is how they wish to recreate the might and firepower of a Princess with her Beast on land without sinking into the ground due to their own weight and armor, since that's one problem which all the existing Princesses and their Beasts face, and prevents them from stepping onto land."

Mako thought about the question as she looked up at the blue sky, building off of that theory about how an elite land unit would function, theorizing.

"Well, I think they probably won't waste their time even attempting that, because the ocean is a unique environment which allows them to create large Beasts for their Princesses.

It's easy for the Princesses to manipulate the buoyancy of their bodies and footwear in order to submerge underwater and safely sail the seven seas or sail on the surface of the ocean in order to fight.

But unlike the ocean, which is a 3-dimensional environment since the ocean consists of depth along with its surface area, a land environment pretty much consists of a flat plane and hard earth underneath.

I think they'd sacrifice firepower in order to heighten mobility so as to get around quickly, although I believe they'd make up for this somehow."

Musashi blinked as she lowered the report and considered Mako's hypothesis, and how this sacrifice of firepower for mobility, in a completely different environment, would make sense from a pragmatic standpoint.

"I think I see your point.

You're theorizing that since the land and ocean are two different playing fields, there are different rules to play by.

These supposed land-assault elite units certainly require heightened mobility in order to traverse great distances quickly and easily, since they can't simply submerge in order to make a quick getaway like their oceanic counterparts can."

Nodding, Mako thought up of a comparison in order to drive the point home.

"Well, if you want to look at things from a World War 2 perspective, for powerful yet slow land machines like the Maus tank, Landkreuzer Ratte or the Schwerer Gustav, sacrificing mobility for firepower while on land just makes you an easy bombardment target.

And on land, overweight machines of doom means you can't cross some bridges, your own weight will bog you down even when on certain asphalt roads, and the constant breakdowns and aerial bombardment means it'd be a repair bucket sink.

Best to adapt your designs to a new environment by sacrificing firepower for increased mobility and evasion."

Musashi, now fully understanding where her Admiral came from, dropped the report on the table in order to pat her Admiral on the crown of her head as she cooed.

"Alright, Mako.

I see your point.

It would also be easier for the Abyssals to delegate the role of leading the front-line Abyssal assault to these elite units, like what they usually do with the Princesses.

To find out what these alternative Princess units might be, I suppose we can sortie the Infiltration Fleet in order to find out more about such things."

Mako nodded as she thought about the availability of the various ship girls who made up the Infiltration Fleet, remarking.

"Well, Goya's out with the other submarines in the Sagami-nada Sea, so I suppose Kuroshio will replace Goya.

The 1st Fleet's sortieing on the 14th of May, right?

What's the phase of the moon on that night?"

Musashi cocked her head and looked away as she quickly checked her information archives for the relevant information before answering.

"It's a waning crescent phase."

Mako then threw up her hands, one of which was still holding Musashi's gloved hand as she exclaimed.

"Then we're in luck!

Notify the two fleets later and tell the Infiltration Fleet that they're to sortie with the 1st Fleet on the 14th of May.

The 1st Fleet is to escort them in the daytime in order to allow the Infiltration Fleet to slip into enemy waters under the cover of night, and it helps when there isn't a full moon shining down on them."

Nodding, Musashi picked up the last report about the preparations for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, and explained the recent developments and updates concerning the various naval bases in the Kanto region.

"We have a few more naval bases joining us, and this brings the number of bases participating in the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea up to seven, including us.

The Kamogawa and Isumi Naval Base express interest in joining us, but they're worried that they won't be able to repair their best ship girls in time to join us, and while we've sent some supplies to help them out, they're temporarily excluded from the final list of participants until further notice.

Add the incoming Abyssal armada into the equation, and that'd be eight navies all fighting in a large-scale battle on our doorstep."

Mako nodded as she gestured at the pictorial graphs on the report, pointing a few things out before moving on to outlining her plan on how their battle plan was going to play out in her mind.

"Well, I've already gotten the help of the JSDF a long time ago, so we will possess air superiority as well as some naval and ground support in this battle.

But I think that in this battle, the Abyssals will likely send out more than five Princesses in order to take us all on."

Musashi gulped upon hearing that, her chest heaving in the process as she exclaimed in slight disbelief at the hypothesized number.

"More than five?

I know that the Abyssals have tons of reserves, but I think that five may be stretching it a little…"

Mako shrugged, caressing the battleship's hand which she held in her grasp as she commented about how the Abyssals certainly wouldn't mind sending several Princesses into the fray.

"Look, the Abyssals know that they're going to face about half a dozen naval bases since they're taking the fight to us in _our_ waters, and they would know that the entirety of the JSDF would quickly respond to their assault.

And in order to give their armada a fighting chance, they'd certainly boost both the quality and quantity of the Abyssals in their large alien ensemble."

"And do you think _The Flying Dutchman_ will appear and back the Abyssal armada up?"

Musashi could see that her Admiral seriously considered the question, mulling it over as she trained her eyes on the picture of the Kanto region and the Sagami-nada Sea, finally answering in a contemplative tone.

"I suppose the Abyssals would want to have their new symbol of power be present at the battle, but only participating as a shelling support.

We possess jet fighters, warships, submarines and missile-launching vehicles on our side, and the battle's in the Safety Zone in broad daylight, so they wouldn't want to risk getting their new toy damaged by us.

But they will still want the _Dutchman_ to be present since its vertical-launch missile system possesses incredible range, and its life-sized cannon shells deal a lot of damage to our girls."

Mako shrugged as she veered off into hypothetical scenarios and possibilities as she theorized about the capabilities of the _Flying Dutchman._

"We also can't dismiss the amount of Abyssals it can ferry to the battlefield.

So when it appears, we probably need to prepare for a second bombing phase in order to thin out the reinforcements which the _Dutchman_ brought in order to overwhelm us.

It had 'aviation battleship' emblazoned on its hull, so I've given the JASDF a heads-up about the very real possibility of facing Abyssal aircraft in battle as well as Anti-Air missiles which it can launch at us, since 'Apocalypse' means that they aren't playing by our rules anymore.

I also warned the JMSDF about the _Flying Dutchman_ 's unknown capabilities with its missiles and large-caliber cannons, which can potentially one-shot them.

I suppose we'll make preparations, and even get the submarines to lay outlying naval mines in strategic locations in order to slow down the _Dutchman_ , but I believe the spotlight will ultimately be on the Abyssal armada."

Nodding along with her Admiral's explanation, Musashi clarified as she felt a breeze gently blowing in from the ocean, the weather being rather generous today as the sun was blocked by the airborne clouds, the condensed clusters of water droplets lazily coasting along the air currents.

"So what exactly is our plan, if we have the JSDF on our side and the Abyssals have the _Flying Dutchman_ on their side?"

She could see the cogs turning in Admiral Mako's mind, probably trying to reveal some parts of her plan to the Yamato-Class battleship without compromising any sensitive elements, Musashi finally hearing her girlfriend's voice sound out while her head was still comfortably nested in between her breasts.

"Well, the first thing we need to do is to fight them here, slightly beyond the naval mine formation for a while…"

Gesturing to the area before the relatively large highlighted green area on the blue ocean in between Oshima Island and Southwest Chiba, which indicated the formation of naval mines within the Safety Zone.

Mako continued.

"After that, I plan for them to lure the Abyssals into the naval mine formation for the next part to work, as the JASDF and USAF jet fighters will fly in from Yokota, Fuchu, Iruma and Kisarazu while our carriers launch their dive bombers."

Pointing to several air bases in Japan, most of which were active JASDF air bases while one of them was a USAF base, and Musashi was slightly surprised at the next step of Mako's plan as her human Admiral explained herself.

"We need to carpet bomb the Abyssals who will be caught in the smokescreen of the ship girls, who will utilize incomplete combustion in order to cover their retreat and several smokescreen grenades we will provide them with.

The JMSDF destroyers and submarines will patrol the area around the Sagami-nada Sea and the Izu Islands in order to respond to the _Dutchman_ 's arrival, but will still be close to a port in case they get damaged mid-battle.

The JGSDF will also have several Type 88 Surface-to-Ship Missile trucks parked at the coast of Southwest Chiba and on Oshima Island..."

Pointing to the Southwest area of Chiba, near the coast which faced the highlighted naval mine formation, Mako explained how the JGSDF was going to help.

"The JGSDF told me that while the Type 88 SSM-1 trucks on the coast of Chiba will fire at the Abyssals while supply routes resupply them, those on Oshima Island will wait for the _Flying Dutchman_ to show itself before firing at the aviation battleship.

Since the Abyssals are the invaders, they know that if they don't push forward in order to try and wipe out the ship girls who will retreat back into the Sagami Bay and the Uraga Channel in order to bombard the incoming Abyssals from a safe distance, they'd never get anywhere while stuck in the Safety Zone, right on our doorstep.

The ship girls from the neighboring Shizuoka and Shimoda Naval Base will flank the Abyssals as we attack them from two fronts, and they can retreat into the nearby Suruga Bay if things go south."

Mako pointed at the two naval bases which were located in the Shizuoka Prefecture as well as Suruga Bay, which was sheltered by said prefecture of Japan.

Musashi noted something as she creased her eyebrows, pointing out the disadvantage they would put themselves in should they retreat into the Sagami Bay and the Uraga Channel, and if the Abyssals dared to call them on their bluff by advancing into their territory.

"Admiral, I'd like to point out that if we were to retreat into the Sagami Bay and the Uraga Channel, we'd be backed up against a wall even if there are naval bases which can accommodate the influx of injured ship girls, since we have nowhere to retreat to should your plan fall apart.

I hope you have a backup plan should the Abyssal armada manage to survive our initial bombardment, since things will likely devolve into a close-quarters combat war-zone, like it always has with small-scale engagements."

Mako shrugged as her tone shifted into one of a light tease, responding to Musashi's concerns as she leaned back further into Musashi's chest, the Yamato-Class battleship feeling her large breasts deform softly as they supported her girlfriend's head.

"Well, I have a secret trump card which hinges on our ship girl bait and the fact that despite getting our carriers to send out bomber planes, I need them to simply drop their bombs onto the area where I want the Abyssals to be, which is above the naval mines."

Musashi creased her eyebrows and inhaled sharply as she felt a strong chill run up her steel spine, shaking it off before asking in a questioning tone, now slightly wary about what was going on in her Admiral's mind as she asked her girlfriend about her choice of words, and how it spooked her.

"Admiral, you do know that the second you said 'I have a secret trump card', all of your Coordinators probably felt a shiver run down their spines since you probably have one hell of a plan hidden from us, right?

And is there a particular reason why we have to bait the Abyssals onto the naval mines?

They're underwater, and even though it serves as a deterrent to prevent the Abyssals from performing an underwater assault, what other use are they going to serve when they only serve as a passive defense?

Can't they just retreat from the naval mine formation and submerge into the water in order to evade the incoming air strike, even when we know that the Abyssals eventually have to advance in order to continue their assault?"

She could almost feel her Admiral give a knowing smirk to no one in particular as she coyly responded with a mysterious non-answer.

"We'll see."

* * *

Shigure had slept soundly for two days straight after the battle with the Abyssal Princess, waking up on the 20th and feeling hungry enough to immediately gobble down two breakfast platters in order to ease the pangs of pain in her stomach, replenishing her nutrient and fuel levels as her body recovered from the fatigue accumulated over two night operations.

It was over a week after awaking from her slumber, and breakfast on the 30th was a simple affair, the canteen serving simple tuna sandwiches along with a modest serving of scrambled eggs and refillable coffee.

She had received the Coordinators' message about their sortie with the Infiltration Fleet on the 14th of May, and they were to escort the Infiltration Fleet out of the Safety Zone in order for them to perform their espionage duties.

And the joint sortie got her interested in wanting to know a certain pink-haired destroyer better, for various reasons...

Having entered the canteen with her sisters in order to get some breakfast, Shigure saw Kagerou, Shiranui and Arare standing at the end of the food line, and asked her sisters as to whether they would join the Kagerou-Class and Asashio-Class destroyers during breakfast in order to try and socialize with destroyers outside of their ship class, to which they agreed.

Shigure walked up to and started talking to the silent Kagerou-Class destroyer Shiranui, since Shigure saw her as being brooding and sulky (although Shiranui denied these claims, despite never breaking her 'stone-cold killer' expression), and would likely keep what Shigure was going to discuss with her strictly between them.

Besides, she understood the destroyer well enough after reading her from a distance to know what she was like and what she would agree with, and wanted to talk to her and only her.

When Shigure made small talk by asking for her opinion on the 8th Fleet, Shiranui considered it momentarily before answering coolly, wishing to share her opinion of the 8th Fleet, but had to go off on a slight tangent before this.

"Well, I must first explain about this realization which will affect most ship girls who live long enough to contemplate the true meaning of our lives."

Shiranui looked at Shigure, explaining what might inevitably happen to ship girls who had fought this war for too long and had their spirit broken by a horrifying realization, and an important choice they would face at that point in time.

"You see, our lives are trapped in this endless cycle of life and death, between peaceful civilian life and a soldier in constant peril.

A ship girl, after fighting so many battles and being brought back to life so many times, might eventually start to think that our lives might be ultimately pointless, since we're trapped in this violent cycle until we sink for good."

Shigure nodded solemnly, understanding that this was an uncomfortable truth which might fly over the heads of newly spawned ship girls, and likely sat in a dark corner in the minds of older ship girls who were still bright-eyed and hopeful enough to believe that there was a peaceful life out there for them, outside of the battlefield.

Understandable then, that over the course of the war and after countless battles, they would become disillusioned to this notion, since being revived so many times would blur the line between life and death, souring their outlook on life and wearing down their spirit.

They would be seasoned veterans who likely suffered from PTSD-induced depression by then after fighting two wars in both the past and present, brooding about their ultimate purpose in life before chancing upon a mind-breaking revelation.

The fact that their lives, which would have been plagued with life-threatening battles, losses and major global events which shook their lives and forced them to keep adapting lest they be left behind, and all their painstaking sacrifices likely never meant anything in the grand scheme of things.

The war never seemed to end despite every ship girl around them giving it their all, and likely never will.

They would all die like dogs on the battlefield.

Shiranui continued, her sharp eyes narrowing as she too, understood the depressing weight behind this revelation as she continued.

"When a ship girl breaks down after this inevitable realization, they have a few choices regarding their next course of action.

One, they can retire in order to live a normal civilian life, which they certainly deserve after their long years of service, as their heart would no longer be in the fight, so to speak.

Two, they can commit suicide."

Shigure inhaled sharply as she cringed, but Shiranui's expression softened a little in order to nod dejectedly as she explained.

"It's rare, but it does occur when they are overwhelmed by despair and see no way out of this cycle.

Three, they can be institutionalized in the various state-of-the-art mental institutes across the country, especially those who can't seem to find a way to deal with the pressure and require professional care.

Four, they can ignore the epiphany and be content with their day to day lives, fighting until they fall for good.

It's not the best way to deal with things, but when faced with the threat of being broken by the revelation and the tragedies they've been through, it's sometimes better to choose live in ignorance as they fulfill their duty to the end."

Shiranui looked away as the queue moved forward, Shigure noting that Kagerou commanded the attention of Arare, Yuudachi, Samidare, Kawakaze and Murasame in order to pass the time, Kagerou choosing to entertain the small crowd of destroyers with impressions of various ship girls.

She was doing a surprisingly accurate impression of Nagato's stern and authoritarian, yet ultimately charismatic persona, thankfully spared from the battleship's wrath since the capital ship was somewhere else, and everyone else around her was entertained enough to treat it in good fun.

Shigure turned her attention back to the pink-haired Kagerou-Class destroyer as she listened to the last available choice.

"The fifth choice, and perhaps the choice which yields the most unpredictable results, is to essentially have fun."

Shigure blinked before slowly cocking her head in order to look at Shiranui, unsure if she heard the Kagerou-Class destroyer right.

And Shiranui, clearly seeing Shigure's expression of disbelief, shrugged as she tried to explain herself to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"Well, you see, our lives take a toll on us, and being modeled after humans, we can't handle this kind of pressure forever.

The fact that we put in all our effort, and sometimes, there's nothing to show for it except dead comrades and lost battles makes it seem as if everything we do is pointless, and there's no point in living."

Shigure then had a sort of epiphany, her eyes widening slightly as she realized the significance of the fifth choice, and the potential pros and cons should the ship girl decide to let loose and 'have fun'.

"But when we let loose, we learn to accept our lives for what they are, and do our best to have fun and be happy in spite of all the depressing things which will happen to us, to carry out these seemingly meaningless tasks and learn to actually enjoy them in the process."

"To fight everyday and try to have fun doing what we do best, lest we be plagued with suicidal depression as the alternative, right?"

Shiranui looked a little surprised at how the destroyer before her understood this unorthodox life choice so quickly, but she nodded and looked away, her expression becoming neutral again as she explained how it worked.

"Well, it's debatable as to whether this last choice changes your life for better or for worse, since we would take to battle with abandon which would endanger our lives, as well as remove any qualms we had about making the Abyssals suffer."

Nodding as she remembered the 8th Fleet's colorful personalities, she continued this discussion with the Kagerou-Class destroyer as the both of them picked up a brown-colored food tray and approached the serving table, which displayed an assortment of foods.

"But what do you personally think of the members of the 8th Fleet, if you don't mind?"

Mutely moving along with the queue in order to get her food whilst pondering the question, Shiranui finally answered with her honest opinion regarding the 8th Fleet.

"The 8th Fleet's members are unique since most of them have chosen the fifth choice in order to deal with the harsh truths of this world, with very… _interesting_ results.

And while I can say that it turns them into lethal killing machines who don't play by the rules or the meta, it has… taken a toll on their psyches."

"Cite an example."

Shiranui thought about it, Shigure noting that she was accessing her memory banks in order to find any relevant information regarding the 8th Fleet before she replied.

"Do you know of Akitsu Maru, the IJA's amphibious assault ship-slash-aircraft carrier?"

Shigure nodded, having met the monochrome ship girl and had seen her in action on the battlefield, but she was interested to learn more about the katana-wielding ship girl as she leaned in to listen.

"I heard from a few ship girls that she traveled to mainland China and various Asian countries in order to understand more about the past of the IJA.

I believe the statement she gave in court was 'to see and understand how those who suffered under us remembered this time period'."

Shigure cringed upon hearing that as she inhaled sharply, and Shiranui nodded at how bad of an idea that was, the both of them remembering the brutal reign of the IJA, where they caused the Nanking Massacre, the Bataan Death March, the construction of the Burma Railway and the Sook Ching Massacre, amongst many others.

It was justified for Akitsu Maru to want to find out more about the dark side to the reign of the Empire of Japan in order to try and understand things from the perspective of the victims.

However, being one of two ship girls of the Imperial Japanese Army, the second being Maru-yu the IJA submarine, it was easy for normally tolerant Asians to hate her guts.

And seeing that political relations between Japan and the rest of Asia were lukewarm at best, because Japan had been building up (technically rebuilding) one of the strongest naval forces in the world out of necessity, things certainly didn't end well for the amphibious assault ship.

Shiranui looked down at the food which was being distributed by the cooks of the naval base, the both of them silently holding out their trays while they moved forward in the queue as she continued.

"Well, as you can expect, she had stones and rotten food thrown at her by the resentful locals as well as receiving a lot of verbal abuse, and she was shunned by everyone there."

"And that was what drove her over the edge?"

Shiranui shook her head sadly as she refuted.

"No.

While over there, she tried her best to help enforce the law and protect innocents, which resulted in a lot of property damage, including destroyed cars when she threw herself in front of cars which were on a collision course with civilians who were crossing the street."

"And was she at least thanked for it?"

"Of course not.

They fined her for property damage and blamed the whole thing on her somehow.

But there was one particularly nasty incident where she tried busting a drug smuggling ring somewhere in the Jiangsu Province.

That's to the East of mainland China and where the Yangtze River is located, where she can sail in from the East China Sea down said river.

Anyway, some of the drug traffickers thought it would be a good idea to try and swap out the white powder which Akitsu Maru used as her makeup with powdered drugs which she would accidentally inhale or taste when she suspected that something was wrong with her 'makeup powder'.

This was done with the intent of getting her addicted to the powerful narcotic drugs which we suspect to be methamphetamine, incapacitate her with the withdrawal symptoms and eventually enslave her.

However, none of them knew that our powerful bodies possessed an enhanced capability of resisting addiction, which led to their downfall."

"Really?

Drugging up a ship girl in a hostile foreign land, expect her to not lose control of herself and pray to god that nothing goes awry with your attempt at capture?"

Shiranui nodded, continuing as she thought back contemplatively.

"Well, she ran straight into their headquarters, armed with her flaming katana and her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun in order to take them on."

Shigure, having collected her breakfast, shuddered at the thought of a drugged-up Akitsu Maru wielding her flaming katana Kagutsuchi and her 12-gauge shotgun, and was trapped in a land full of people who persecuted and resented her because of what she represented.

Not that it was anybody's fault, whether it was the civilian population who had been the victims of Japan at its worst and was understandably still resentful and even fearful of them, or Akitsu Maru, who wanted to understand her own past since she never got to choose her own identity, her own background and whether she wanted to be an IJA ship girl and likely felt alienated from the IJN ship girls, forever ashamed of the actions of the army which she represented.

She nodded slowly as a gesture for Shiranui to continue as they both sat down and helped themselves to their breakfast, Shigure remembering the mental note to talk to the Kagerou-Class destroyer, who was sent out on espionage missions, about her true objective about discovering everything which went on in this base and in this war.

"So what happened?

Did she kill them all?"

Shiranui nodded, slowly chewing the tuna sandwich which was part of her breakfast as she answered Shigure's question.

"Of course.

The drug traffickers, no matter how well-armed they were to fight a gang war, stood no chance against a ship girl who was more or less invulnerable to bullets, and was desensitized to pain due to the drugs which she accidentally ingested.

Reports suggest that she ingested more drugs as she stormed the cartel, likely some sort of psychedelic drug which sent her further over the edge during her rampage, and was eventually put down by the Chinese military and the Beijing Special Police Force, who took her down with superior tactics, numbers and firepower.

It got so bad to the point where the Chinese Army had to send in a battle tank and had to fire at her in the ensuing rampage in order to stop her.

Luckily, even in her drug-induced madness, she never harmed a Chinese civilian (other than the drug traffickers), and never killed any members of the Chinese military or the Beijing Special Police Force, the latter of which is the Chinese equivalent of the Special Weapons And Tactics Units in various countries."

Shigure lowered her gaze as she commented, now starting to see her monochrome comrade in a new light.

As to whether it was positive or negative, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer wasn't sure.

"The fallout of such an event must've been immense, seeing that a ship girl committed mass murder on foreign soil despite being under the influence of drugs, and in a country which still holds a grudge against us."

"Indeed.

There was a lot of international debate on whether to try her as a criminal and either incarcerate or scrap her, or allow her to enter rehabilitation in order to prevent her from getting addicted to the various narcotics which she ingested.

Like I said, our ship girl bodies are designed to resist addiction to narcotic substances to some extent, so even if we were to abuse any drugs or alcohol, our bodies would do its best to make sure that the withdrawal symptoms wouldn't cripple us like it normally would for a human."

"And seeing how Akitsu Maru-san is still here, did they incarcerate her?"

"Yes, and because our government and Admiral Mako pleaded leniency, she got a reduced sentence of three months after being charged with several accounts of manslaughter.

And when she came back, she was purported to have… changed."

"Must've been hard to convince the Japanese government to allow Akitsu Maru-san back into Japan, much less allow her to sortie after having a criminal record, even if it was manslaughter."

Shiranui only nodded in response, and Shigure continued the conversation.

"So the drug high and the prison experience changed her?"

"It's likely that she came across the revelation while she was under the effects of the drugs, likely brought on by despair after learning about the army which she represented, and after facing the overwhelming hatred from the locals.

It seemed as if she chose the fifth choice, to 'be happy' in spite of how she saw herself."

Shiranui used her index and middle fingers on both hands to air-quote 'be happy' before looking down and lowering her hands, using her right hand to wrap around the handle of her coffee cup.

It was an unremarkable white cup which had a few superficial cracks on it, but that didn't compromise the cup's ability to hold its contents without leaking as far as Shigure could tell, Shiranui bringing the cup up to her lips.

The coffee within the cup was steaming as a small plume of smoke was wafting from its surface, indicating its high temperature.

"She's a little… quieter now, having weaned off the drugs after a 'cold turkey' treatment in prison, and she's nice to other ship girls.

But the reason why you likely haven't seen her around is because there are several rumors about her being a shady drug dealer when off-duty.

She also hangs around and bunks with Bismarck, since they both see the similarities between them, and one of them is being the embodiment of terrible regimes."

Shigure nodded in agreement, thinking more about how Akitsu Maru might have changed for the worse since she was imprisoned by the Chinese authorities after killing the 'bad guys' while in the midst of the ship girl equivalent of a midlife crisis.

It might have been tempting for her to choose to live a free and happy life despite that traumatizing fiasco, and since Shigure hadn't seen her around despite being on the active fleet roster, it meant that she, like Aoba, was likely somewhat of a recluse when not ordered to sortie.

Shigure nodded, although she looked at Shiranui inquisitively as she asked the Kagerou-Class destroyer a question in order to get to know her better.

"But between you and me, assuming you've lived for far longer than you already have, which would you choose when your time comes?"

Shiranui thought about the question as with her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, before letting Shigure know about what she would hypothetically choose in that scenario.

"Well…

I would certainly try my best to live with that revelation, because I have to keep believing that my work, now matter how insignificant it may seem, is making a difference in everyone's lives."

Nodding, Shigure noticed that Kagerou managed to elicit a bout of laughter from the surrounding destroyers with her impressive impression of Kongou, Yuudachi and Kawakaze laughing heartily while Arare, a stoic destroyer much like Shiranui, was barely suppressing her growing smile, and Samidare covered her mouth as she giggled elegantly at Kagerou's impression.

Now that the table's attention was distracted by the name-ship of the Kagerou-Class destroyer, Shigure's eyes twinkled as she leaned in to ask a secret question.

"And I'd like to ask about something else, and this is the main reason why I want to talk to you.

I'd like to ask if you were interested in finding out whatever secret project Admiral Mako's been working on with Akashi and Aoba?"

No reaction.

Shiranui looked back at her with her hardened gaze and poker-face, considering her words as ship girls chatted and ate their breakfast around them, going about their merry business while Shigure waited for a reaction or an answer of sorts.

Finally, long after Shigure looked away and admitted defeat in the little stare-down with Shiranui, the Kagerou-Class destroyer picked up her cup of coffee again as she noted.

"You understand that this is grounds for treason, no?

Spying on our own Admiral?"

Shigure shrugged as she explained herself to Shiranui in a hushed tone, knowing that the she had a good chance of convincing the Kagerou-Class destroyer to form an alliance with her in order to uncover the Admiral's secret plans, elaborating.

"Well, it's not as if we're trying to uncover information in order to sell out our Admiral or our country, we're simply trying to find out what's going on behind the scenes in order to better understand the situation.

You understand that things are starting to spiral out of control with the advent of the _Flying Dutchman_ and various signs of the Abyssals stepping up their game.

I believe you're familiar with 'Apocalypse'?"

Shiranui's eyes snapped towards her direction as her attention was drawn to 'Apocalypse', and Shigure now knew that she commanded Shiranui's full attention upon namedropping 'Apocalypse' in order to let the Kagerou-Class destroyer know that she knew more than she let on, continuing.

"Look, as a sister ship who's protective of her sisters, I think you understand me when I say that we need to take some risks in order to find out as much as we can about what goes on in this base and make sure that they don't compromise the safety of our comrades or our sisters.

Surely you can at least understand that sentiment?"

Gulping, Shigure waited as Shiranui considered her proposal with another sip of her coffee, understanding the risks of asking someone else to help spy on the Admiral in order to learn about confidential projects, especially if Shiranui could simply pay lip service and agree with her here, and report her to the Admiral in order to stop her before she had even begun.

But despite having never talked to her before, she trusted the pink-haired destroyer before her.

She knew that Shiranui loved her sisters and seemed like the kind of ship girl to do anything for them as a well-intentioned extremist, and as a member of the Infiltration Fleet which was often sent out in order to find out more about what the Abyssals were up to, she could count on Shiranui to provide her with information so long as she did the same with anything she uncovered.

One way which she could accomplish this with someone like Shiranui was to be completely honest with her, point out the situation at hand and fear-monger a little before appealing to the destroyer's protective instincts, and the best possible outcome was for her to get the destroyer's cooperation and secure herself a source of information.

The worse outcome was that she would face a court martial and be punished by a senior ship girl, probably either Akashi or Nagato, neither ship girl being more preferable over the other.

But hey, like she said, how was she going to learn more about enemy activity if she never took any risks in order to take the first step in establishing trust with other ship girls?

And Shiranui seemed to echo this thought as she asked, although it was phrased more like a question asked in order to sate her idle curiosity instead of a question which would influence her final decision, asking.

"What's stopping me from betraying you and reporting you to the Coordinators?

From what I understand, you seem like a smart ship girl, if a little reckless in your attempts to get stronger…"

Shigure lifted an eyebrow in order to concede the point as Shiranui continued.

"You do not possess any leverage over me, and you also look unwilling to resort to force in order to extract the information out of me…

Was your plan to point things out in a way which would accentuate the negative, appeal to my protective instincts and better nature and pray that everything goes your way?"

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer froze up from the Kagerou-Class's eerily accurate description of her plans, and she could feel the sweat start to line her forehead while Shiranui now had a deadpan expression as she lightly karate-chopped her forehead, causing Shigure to tear up as she clutched at her head, whimpering.

"What was _that_ for?"

Shiranui, now picking up her utensils in order to dig into her breakfast, chided Shigure for possessing the foresight to predict how this conversation could go, yet doing nothing to at least try and avoid the worst possible outcome from coming true.

"You knew that I could betray you and tell on you as soon as you revealed your wish to spy on the Admiral and uncover whatever she's been planning.

And your plan was to count on the power of friendship to protect you from a court martial and from the likes of Nagato and the Coordinators?

I'm actually considering accepting your proposal simply out of pity for your sheer naivete."

Shigure pouted as she, too, started to dig into her breakfast in order to feed her body with the necessary amount of nutrients and fuel before attending her training session with the Infiltration Fleet, answering.

"Well, I didn't want to rely on such concepts like luck or friendship due to their unpredictability and thus unreliability, but you're a fellow ship girl.

I think it would speak volumes about my faith in my fellow comrades if I was unable to extend my offer to you without any bribes, threats or try to maneuver myself into a favorable position before this conversation.

It's best that I offer you this secret alliance on equal grounds as an act of good faith, and even though I perfectly understand the need to use tricks and dirty moves in order to get what you want, but I'd only use them on the enemy.

The only situation where I'd use these tactics against you is if our system is a cutthroat one, and we have to treat everyone, even our supposed allies as enemies, and I think you wouldn't want this, right?"

Shiranui hummed, thinking about things as she ate her serving of scrambled eggs, swallowing them before answering gratefully after realizing that a ship girl who had never talked to her before trusted her to such an extent.

"Well, being a cynical ship girl who's lived a fair bit of my life dealing with the Abyssals while hiding in the shadows, I suppose I felt a little surprised that someone whom I've never met before would trust me to such an extent.

But then again, I think that a bit of trust in your allies goes a long way.

And I'm grateful that ship girls can still trust one another like this, although whether this is a good or bad thing is still up for debate…"

Sighing in defeat, Shiranui looked towards Shigure as she accepted Shigure's offer for an alliance to both spy on the Admiral and share confidential information with each other, answering.

"In the interest of finding out everything which goes on behind the scenes in order to stay updated on the bigger picture, I suppose sharing whatever information we uncover about the Abyssals with one another isn't out of the question.

And spying on Admiral Mako may be quite the deplorable thing to do, but I will take the bullet for the sake of protecting my sisters and teammates.

Besides, I understand your potential, but you certainly need someone to guide you on the ways of this world; I certainly wouldn't want to see you die because of it."

Shigure nodded thankfully as she started on her tuna sandwich, noticing that Kagerou was now imitating the Shokaku-Class carrier Zuikaku and was displaying the traits of the 'tsundere' with Kaga as the target of her affections.

And she was oblivious to the fact that a livid Zuikaku was standing behind her as she performed her impression, the mother of all false smiles plastered on Zuikaku's face as several veins bulged from her temples and her neck along with a threatening aura emanating from her very pores, but these were ignored by the Kagerou-Class destroyer, who faced away from her.

Everyone at the table other than Shigure and Shiranui were trying their best not to laugh at Kagerou's accurate portrayal of the Shoukaku-Class carrier's blatant crush on Kaga while in the presence of said carrier, and were desperately trying their best to signal to Kagerou in order to get her to stop, but their signals weren't getting through.

And Zuikaku finally made her presence known by bringing up her palm in order to slam it down on the crown of the Kagerou-Class destroyer's head, Kagerou freezing up before breaking out into a cold sweat.

Sweat-dropping at the sight of an irritated Zuikaku leading a defeated Kagerou out by grasping one of her twin-tails, Shigure leaned in as she noted Shiranui visibly fighting the urge to leave her seat and stand up to Zuikaku for daring to harm a hair on Kagerou, sharing what she knew with Shiranui in part to distract her from the scene before them, whispering in a hushed tone.

"Well, in a conversation between Admiral Mako, Aoba and Akashi which I overheard, they were talking about how the Abyssals were developing a railgun which could warp the landscape with each shot, and how the Abyssals destroyed the island which they used for the test in order to cover their tracks.

Admiral, Aoba and Akashi cited the possibility of it being related to 'Apocalypse'."

Shigure continued as she explained herself to Shiranui, feeling a little relieved that she had someone to open up to about the downwards spiral towards disaster which she had the dubious honor of witnessing firsthand.

"I fought the Southern War Princess a while ago, and before she committed mental suicide, she revealed that 'Apocalypse was the production of new Abyssal units and weapons in order to launch another land assault, but doing it right this time.

One example is said railgun likely being mounted on a tank destroyer chassis in order to create the mother of all tank destroyers.

They wish to drag the entire world into another World War, and when the last ship girls fall and what remains of mankind is at the mercy of the Abyssals, they…"

Shigure swallowed the uncomfortable lump in her throat as she revealed their plans to exterminate mankind and wipe them all from the face of the Earth.

"They plan to reenact The Final Solution on all of mankind.

They likely plan to leave nothing behind which would indicate the prior existence of mankind or ship girls before their reign."

Shiranui silently considered the situation as she finished her breakfast, downing the last of her tuna sandwich and wiping her gloved hands together on a tissue with a grave expression on her face before answering honestly about what she had uncovered on her last infiltration operation, and what she thought about the situation.

"When we infiltrated an abandoned Abyssal base, we uncovered the receipts for 'Apocalypse'.

The amount of resources which they had transported, likely via underwater transport routes, was like nothing we'd ever seen before.

So I understand the 'Apocalypse' part of the discussion, but the railgun and the plans for a land assault are new to me.

We'll have to step up our game from here on out."

Shigure nodded grimly as she explained the need to find out what was going on behind the scenes in order to get the full picture of the entire war, and to find out any plans to combat the Abyssals, explaining herself.

"Look, if you remember, I said that there was a secret project between Aoba, Admiral Mako and Akashi named Project Psyche.

I haven't uncovered the details, but Aoba-san was called out of her copper-plated room in order to work with the human engineers, the Fairies and Akashi instead of working on the project from inside her room, so it's something very important if Admiral Mako, being the caring woman she is, had to get Aoba out of her room in order to work on Project Psyche.

Admiral Mako likely recruited her because of her research into the ship girl mind which almost killed her."

Shiranui nodded as she saw the logic in Shigure's theory, but warned her since as the name of the operation implied, they were likely delving into uncharted territory.

"Yes, but as the name 'Psyche' suggests, they might be researching into what the soul consists of, although it's a just a hypothesis based on the project name.

Even though I expect Admiral Mako to do everything by the book by respecting our rights and assessing the risks before making a decision, it's best to assume that the reason for its secrecy is because they don't want the Abyssals to find out about this, and the participants are possibly at risk of dying for real."

Shigure nodded grimly as she took a sip of the coffee in her hand before she asked a question which she had been contemplating, and narrated her thought process.

"But who would Admiral Mako choose to participate in this project, anyway?

I would understand if she had to choose a ship girl who's skilled, but wouldn't affect the base too much should the project go south…"

Shiranui then deadpanned, pointing out the announcement about the conspicuous reassignment of new ship girls to the 1st Fleet despite three of her four teammates recovering fast enough in order to attend training.

"Well, the member composition of your fleet's been rearranged despite the fact that everyone save for Junyou has recovered enough to attend training.

Do you think any one of your teammates might be involved?"

Shigure's eyebrows furrowed as she considered the question, and thought about how Junyou, Hiei and Tatsuta were still hospitalized.

But while the light carrier still had some trouble with her recovering eyesight, Hiei and Tatsuta had recovered enough to the point where they were able to attend yesterday's lightweight training session, where Tone had toned down its intensity in order to make sure that they didn't overexert themselves.

Tenryuu was training with Abukuma whenever she wasn't visiting the 1st Fleet, but could any one of them have volunteered for Project Psyche?

"I don't know," Shigure began.

"Hiei's training with the battleships while Tenryuu's attending training sessions with the stronger torpedo cruisers and Kai Ni light cruisers.

Personally, I can see Tenryuu accepting this offer in order to get stronger and overcome her weakness of being the nameship of a mediocre light cruiser class.

But I can't say for certain unless I meet them again…"

Shiranui then stopped her, pointing out the fact that they were now playing guessing games, which was a major time-waster, stating bluntly.

"Then I'll stop you there and tell you that you're now attempting to guess which ship girl's part of the project, which is a wild goose chase at this point in time when we don't have enough information to start narrowing the list down.

And at this point in time, whoever's been chosen to participate in this project is of secondary importance right now because,

One, we have a sortie coming up soon and we can't distract ourselves with these 'maybes' with so many ship girls in Yokosuka.

Two, finding out what this project entails and what it aims to do is more important than trying to figure out who's in on the project, although finding out their identities will be important when we wish to learn of their progress behind their backs."

Shigure nodded solemnly, thankful that she had a senior here who had a good head on her shoulders, reminding her of their priorities since she had likely dealt with a few tough intelligence gathering scenarios on the field for a while now.

She looked back at Shiranui, asking the Kagerou-Class destroyer as she too, finished her cup of coffee in order to revitalize herself before facing the day.

"I realize that compared to everyone, I'm rather weak since I was recently constructed.

If you don't mind, may I ask you for guidance on how to improve myself and become a better destroyer?"

Shiranui lifted an eyebrow as she noted wryly, highlighting her recent sorties and the amount of danger she had encountered thus far, either by choice or otherwise.

"Well, after taking into account the sheer amount of life-and-death situations you've been in for the, well…

To my knowledge, it's been barely a month after you've been constructed, and even as a fellow comrade, it's worrying to think that you're this unprepared…

Please do not be misled by my stoic demeanor, and believe me when I say that deep down, I'm fearing for your future."

Shigure sweat-dropped as she flinched upon hearing the Kagerou-Class destroyer's honest opinion of her and how she was a magnet for trouble, but Shiranui's gaze softened somewhat as she met Shigure's gaze and continued.

"But I understand that you've been through a lot, both in the past and the present.

And it's clear from what we've learnt so far that things will get even worse for us from now on.

Seeing that you constantly get dragged into these life threatening situations and your luck allows you to walk out of them like it was a simple breeze…"

Shigure lifted an eyebrow as she conceded the point, and understood the fact that the pink-haired destroyer didn't mince her words when she pointed things out, politely listening to Shiranui's assessment of her.

" ...I understand if you wish to improve yourself in order to perform better instead of relying on your luck all the time.

Things are changing, and whatever's coming, it might be too much of me to expect that you won't be in the eye of the storm."

Shiranui blew on the surface of her coffee cup before taking another sip of coffee while her gloved hands tightened on the cup's handle, looking at Shigure with a mysterious, contemplative look in her eyes.

"I will teach you what I know.

We have a training session after this, and I can try to teach you a few things there in order to help you avoid making too many rookie mistakes, some of which can still be committed by ship girls who've been around for a while."

Shigure graciously accepted the offer, raising her palms in a placating gesture as she remarked, expressing her gratefulness for the destroyer's willingness to help her become stronger in order to protect her sisters and her teammates.

"I understand.

I just want the both of us to help each other out, and if you have something to teach me about battle techniques and tactics, then I'll be in your care, Shiranui-san."

* * *

[Wahhh! Yu-chan!

We've been exposed!]

Sakawa was hiding underneath a table, with her knees brought up to her chest as the _Flying Dutchman_ sailed on deep beneath the ocean, the bridge being partially illuminated by the internal lighting and the light emanating from the various LED panels which surrounded the four Abyssals on the bridge.

Yuubari was sitting on her throne-like seat while facing the large projector screen, which lit up the room for the most part, and Woxanne had a nonplussed look on her face as she stood beside the Abyssal Commander-in-Chief whilst speaking to the Secretary.

The last Abyssal in the room was a pale-skinned woman, who was as tall and well-endowed as a Nagato-Class battleship as she wore a black form-fitting nightgown which had thin straps securing the dress to her shoulders, while the hem of the dark dress ended above her thighs, barely covering her nether region and whatever she wore underneath.

She possessed long, silky black hair which reached down to her calves along with two small, black-tipped horns on her forehead, and she possessed a dark metal choker with an arrowhead extension pointing down towards her cleavage.

Being the Abyssal Battleship Princess, she had four winglike tattoos on the area of skin in between her collarbone and her breasts, and had eyes with blood-red pupils which stood in stark contrast to her dark hair and pale, beautiful face, and she wore steel bands on her wrists and thighs as fashion accessories and black steel high-heels.

She stood silently behind her superiors in order to wait for them to continue addressing the plans for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea.

The four of them were listening to a report made by Woxanne, and upon learning that their code-names 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac' had been compromised, Sakawa clearly interpreted it as if she were embroiled in some great scandal.

[We can't show our faces in public anymore!]

To which Woxanne deadpanned, pointing out the flaws in her statement as she leaned down.

[But Sakawa-sama, you've never shown your face in public after your sinking and Abyssalization.

And while they know who you are, it's unlikely that they know anything more than that since their intelligence gathering capabilities are beneath ours.]

Sakawa sniffed as she looked up at Woxanne's stoic expression, rubbing away the tears which formed at the corner of her eyes as she asked meekly.

[Really?]

[Really really.]

That was the best reassurance you could get from the normally-stoic and expressionless Abyssal carrier, and Woxanne looked back up at the large screen as the Battleship Princess coughed into her fist, asking a bemused Yuubari.

[Ma'am, the plans?]

Yuubari cocked her head while she supported her chin and cheek with her left arm on the arm rest as she scrolled through the plans on the touch-pad, her movements reflected on the large screen which was reflected on the drawn metal shutters as she remarked.

[Ahh, Dyson-chan, yes.

Like what we've discussed so far, you're to lead an assault on the Kanto region, and the projected battlefield is to be the Sagami-nada Sea since it's what connects the Pacific Ocean to the Uraga Channel and both the Sagami and Tokyo Bay.

Your objective in this battle is to inflict as many casualties as possible, and to do whatever you deem necessary in order to destroy their bases which protect the Tokyo Bay.]

Nodding, Dyson walked forwards as her high heels clacked on the surface of the bridge and resounded throughout the room, reaching the steel shutters and touching the screen in order to point at the series of red lines which were drawn beforehand in order to highlight the position of the enemy's naval mines, inquiring.

[Well, we also have reports of naval mines being laid down in a large area in between Oshima Island and Southwest of Chiba prefecture.

Not to say that we don't have the numbers in order to pull it off, far from it, but are we still going with a full-frontal assault?

After all, the naval mines prevent us from submerging, and to sail above them is to enter no-man's land.

We'd either have to either advance or retreat in order to safely submerge.]

Yuubari considered the question as she listened to the tidbit of information which Sakawa let them in on, the Agano-Class cruiser highlighting the Shimoda and Shizuoka Naval Base on her own touch-pad and drawing an arrow leading from Shimoda towards Oshima Island as she commented.

[From what we've been able to decipher while listening in on their encrypted wireless communications, we were able to determine that the Shimoda and Shizuoka Naval Base are likely going to flank and attack us before retreating into Suruga Bay as an escape route.

We're also pretty certain that for a large-scale battle like this, they'd get all the human support they can gather in order to increase their odds of winning.

We estimate a 87.64% chance that the JSDF will sortie jet fighters, destroyers _and_ submarines for this battle, and especially for us, the _Flying Dutchman_.]

Lifting her left hand in order to gesture to the seated Abyssal secretary, Dyson lifted an eyebrow as she met Yuubari's glowing green gaze and wordlessly communicated her,

' _You see what I have to deal with?'_

Expression to her superiors.

Yuubari was silent as she sat on her throne, her cloak covering her figure and the darkness of the bridge preventing Dyson from seeing Yuubari's face despite the fact that her seat was illuminated by softly glowing neon blue wires and the two incandescent sapphire orbs which were at the end of both her arm rests.

Dyson was only able to make out Yuubari's glowing gaze lowering as she looked down at her touch-pad, a pale finger swiping on it as Dyson looked back at the projected screen while Yuubari highlighted a position on the ocean which was a fair distance from the Sagami-nada Sea and marking it out with a simple, hand drawn boat symbol, remarking coolly.

[I'll sortie the _Flying Dutchman_ to provide cover fire, and should they retreat into the Sagami Bay or the Uraga Channel, we can still bombard them with our vertical-launch missile system, which is capable of launching Tomahawk missiles over long distances.

As for the jet fighters, we can dock the _Flying Dutchman_ at the next Abyssal port in order to arm ourselves to the teeth with Anti-Aircraft missiles in order to give the humans pilots a good workout.

Sakawa-chan, what other weapons do we have which we can attach to the _Dutchman_?]

Sakawa looked down at her touch-pad and started searching through their inventory, and since she was the secretary, it wasn't long before she brought up a list of all available weapons which were developed as part of 'Apocalypse', answering.

[Well, we have several RIM-67 Standard ER, RIM-66 Standard MR, RIM-7 Sea Sparrow and RIM-116 RAM missile launchers, and the last two missile launchers can also double as our defense against anti-ship missiles which the JSDF will no doubt fire at us.

And to that end, I suggest arming this ship with more Phalanx or Goalkeeper CIWS turrets and perhaps even the experimental XN-1 LaWS in order to protect us, should our missiles fail to intercept and destroy any Anti-Ship missiles.

And these weapons are, of course, developed as part of 'Apocalypse' in order to aid us in our land invasion in the future.]

Bringing up several pictures of the JMSDF Kongou-Class, Atago-Class, Akizuki-Class and Murasame-Class destroyers, amongst others, Sakawa noted as she gestured to the screen.

[It would also be folly to ignore the JMSDF destroyers and submarines, so I suggest arming the _Dutchman_ with several RGM-84 Harpoon and Type 90 Ship-to-Ship Missile Launchers, as well as carrying some RIM-174 ERAM Missiles in our vertical-launch system in order to crush those destroyers.]

Bringing up the Souryuu-Class JMSDF attack submarines Unryuu, Souryuu and Hakuryuu, Sakawa continued.

[Carrying several Anti-Submarine RUM-139 VL-ASROC missiles which can be loaded into our vertical-launch missile system and arming the deck with several Anti-Submarine RUR-5 ASROC Missile Launchers in order to crush any submarines which stray too close would also be a good idea.

Wouldn't want a repeat case of Kongou the battleship, who was sunk by USS Sealion.

So which one of these weapons do you wish to prepare at the next dock in order to immediately begin refitting when we arrive?]

Everyone could almost hear the smirk in Yuubari's voice as she dryly replied.

[All of them.]

Everyone turned to her as she noted, her face partially shrouded in darkness as she explained herself.

[There's no more need for us to hide our capabilities.

We're taking the fight to them, and in order to do that, we need to play every hand we have in order to combat both the ship girls and the humans in their own comfort zone, and show them how screwed they are ever since they allowed us to finish developing 'Apocalypse'.

Sakawa, how many more Abyssals can we ferry without slowing down to a pace where even a swimming turtle can overtake us?]

Sakawa calculated the space available on the _Dutchman_ and the aviation battleship's maximum capacity before answering.

[Probably about a hundred more in order to boost our crew count, which is around 1800 strong.

But why?]

Dyson theorized as she looked at the silhouettes of the Yuubari-Class and Agano-Class light cruisers, politely drawing their attention as she spoke up.

[Well, if I'm not wrong, these Abyssals are probably the reinforcements you would bring to the battlefield, am I right?

After all, another function of the _Flying Dutchman_ is to ferry Abyssals in order to allow them to storm the battlefield and boost our numbers, yes?]

Yuubari nodded before looking back down at the touch-pad, highlighting the plan which they were to follow.

[We'll surface a fair distance away from the naval mine formation, and as we approach, we'll have our Princesses and the _Dutchman_ soften the ship girls up with an opening salvo of cannon-fire, bomber planes and missiles.

They'll likely retreat and you'll advance, and the entirety of the JSDF will come down on the _Dutchman_ by this point in time with their destroyers, submarines and jet fighters.

I'll have the _Dutchman_ draw their fire with our missiles and cannons in order to make things easier for your invasion force.]

Yuubari's glowing eyes shifting to look at Woxanne, who was standing at attention beside her as she ordered her Abyssal spokesperson to notify the next Abyssal base to get their weapons ready.

[Woxanne, use the high-speed underwater jet ski in order to sail to Abyssal Base #102F3G-Delta in order to get all the weapons we've discussed here ready to be fitted onto the _Dutchman_.

This order is priority 'Alpha', so you're free to expend any amount of resources you deem necessary in order to make this possible before we arrive...]

Woxanne finished the sentence for her as Yuubari trailed off mid-sentence, answering monotonously.

[A week from now, Ma'am.]

Nodding, Yuubari gestured with her hand as she got the Wo-Class carrier to leave the room, answering thankfully.

[Yes, thanks.

Now get going, we have a busy schedule ahead of us.]

Woxanne bowed reverently with closed eyes as she retreated from the room, Yuubari continuing her explanation of the plan to a patient Dyson and a sitting Sakawa.

[We'll play all the cards we have in order to pile on the pressure.

We'll arm our railgun attachments to be fired at the JMSDF destroyers, and let's activate our arsenal of Abyssal-customized and upgraded F-35 C Lightning ll, F/A-18 E Super Hornet and Shenyang J-15 jet fighters to be launched from the flight decks of the _Flying Dutchman_ when the time comes.

They won't even know what hit them.]

Dyson lifted an eyebrow as she noted how her superiors were pushing so hard to win this battle, remarking bemusedly.

[Well, are we going in loud?

To even go so far as to send out your aviation battleship-based, modified jet planes in order to tussle with the JASDF even before 'Apocalypse' has truly begun...]

Yuubari shrugged as she highlighted the predicted flight path of the incoming JASDF fighter aircraft and explained herself.

[If we're to strike at the Combined Fleet, which likely consists of six or more naval bases uniting their ship girls in order to oppose us, we have to crush them all with everything we've got.

We'll distract the humans and provide cover fire whenever possible, but the priority for this sortie is to deal maximum damage to them while in their Safety Zone.

And when the battle is in full swing, I delegate all the decision-making responsibilities to you, Dyson, as the flagship.]

Yuubari then requested of Sakawa,

[Tap into the human communications and send out reconnaissance submarines to spy on them, and determine exactly how many JMSDF destroyers and submarines they're sending out to greet us.

Do your best to map out their patrol routes, and we'll position ourselves strategically before the shelling phase.

Should they retreat, we'll advance, but note that Admiral Mako, who's in charge of this large-scale battle, will likely have several curve-balls thrown our way, so be sure to keep your radio on at all times, Dyson-chan.]

Dyson lowered her eyes as she nodded respectfully, while Sakawa cheerily replied.

[You got it, Pyon!]

And as Dyson lifted her gaze to look at her superior, she asked one last question about what they should do if they were to come across any injured enemy ship girls, and how they should treat them.

[Yuubari-sama.

How are we to treat the ship girls or humans whom we capture?]

A slight chuckle was all she got in return, and Dyson could almost feel the Abyssal Commander-in-Chief smiling maniacally as she responded with a fair bit of mirth in her tone, responding to her question with a chilling answer.

[Capture?

Oh no, Dyson-chan.

Like I told you, we're to deal maximum damage to them in this battle.

To that end, we're going to sortie _ten_ Princesses.

We will give no quarter in this battle.

 _Everyone will die.]_


	30. Chapter 30 - Team Spirit 2

The training ground was populated by the members of the 1st Fleet and the Infiltration Fleet, and Shigure could see that her fleet now consisted her, Ayanami, Naka, Jintsuu, Saratoga and Haruna while the Infiltration Fleet consisted of Shiranui, Kagerou, Chitose, Kuroshio, Arare and Sendai.

The new member of the Infiltration Fleet was a Kagerou-Class destroyer, and she wore the same uniform which Shiranui and Kagerou wore, which was a black vest covering a white collared, short-sleeved shirt as well as white gloves, black compression shorts and skirt.

She possessed short gray hair as a white hairpiece secured her fringe, looking forwards with emerald eyes while wearing a bright smile as she was exuberant and outgoing like Kagerou, wearing a blue neckerchief in contrast to Shiranui's red and Kagerou's green neckerchief.

She also wore light-grey socks which reached up to her calves, along with brown school shoes which were shielded by her boat slippers, and much like her Kagerou-Class sisters, her boxy rigging was attached to her back along with mechanical arms which brought up her torpedo launchers and cannons.

Her rigging was armed with a quadruple torpedo launcher and a twin-barrel cannon, Anti-Air turrets which were strapped to her thighs and another twin-barrel cannon which was slung over her left shoulder.

She was friendly to everyone regardless of ship class, chatting with Ayanami while Kagerou occupied Shiranui and Arare's attention and Sendai chatted with Jintsuu, Shigure noticing all this while she was talking to Naka about her second career as a fleet idol, Saratoga politely listening in on the conversation.

It was interesting to find out what drove her to perform as an idol in her off time in order to maintain the naval base's morale, the Sendai-Class cruiser explaining herself as they waited for the training session to begin.

"Well," Naka began.

"I know that everyone fights with all their might, and I think that as someone who has a passion for being an idol, I feel that I have a responsibility to try and relive some of our comrades' stress through my songs.

And that's why I host a concert every three months for the ship girls and sailors of this base to attend, free of charge."

Lifting an eyebrow in order to express her interest in Naka's reason behind her aspirations, Naka nodded as she turned to look at the ocean's horizon, elaborating on how her older counterparts had retired long ago in order to launch successful musical careers.

"And I understand that my senior Kai Ni counterparts have retired after serving their time, so it's clear that there is a legitimate career in singing.

But it's quite the interesting conundrum where a lot of Nakas possess the same voice, so it's difficult for a newly-retired Naka to distinguish herself from the other established Naka idols, although this can be accomplished by branching out from the over-saturated 'Pop Idol Naka' genre."

Nodding along with the light cruiser's explanation, she understood that due to so many senior Nakas retiring and becoming professional singers, it would cause a problem wherein similar-sounding ship girls who all specialized in one genre would over-saturate said genre with songs that were seemingly sung by the same person.

Fortunately, as her research showed, there was friendly competition between the various retired Nakas, because,

One, they were all retired war veterans, and were mature enough simply to be happy that they survived long enough to be able to focus on their idol career full-time after retiring from the navy.

Two, Naka was a lovable and friendly idol, and she would certainly find an upside to the situation by seeing it from another point of view, where they could perform at many concerts around the world since they could be in many places at once.

Three, there were many Nakas who had successfully branched out into other genres like rock, jazz, girl-group singing and experimental, amongst others, since as talented androids, they were perfectly capable of hitting the high and low notes and pushed the boundaries of what could be achieved in the music industry.

Naka seemed excited about being a respected singer amongst the pantheon of Naka idols some day, explaining herself to both Saratoga and Shigure.

"I suppose every Naka is created as a small-time singer, but for us, those seniors are whom we aspire to become in the future, simply because they're both strong seniors and talented singers.

It's always interesting to see how every Naka comes into her own as an established singer, and they live a modest lifestyle in order to fund the ship girl war effort and various charities with their earnings.

It's what I'd do too, in order to help as many people as possible while doing what I love!"

Saratoga nodded, now joining in the conversation as she understood Naka's motivations to some extent, but was still interested to know more about her as she inquired.

"But don't your senior counterparts feel a little too, I don't know…

Un-unique, in a sense, when you see so many clones around you, possessing your voice and looks?

I'm simply asking how you try and distinguish yourselves from everyone else when you're all essentially the same person, so please don't take this the wrong way."

Saratoga tried to ask her question in a way which wouldn't come off as insensitive, but Naka nodded understandingly as her expression softened from her usual 'bright cheery idol' demeanor to one of patience and understanding as her eyes and expression belied her three-and-a-half years worth of experience, answering sagely.

"Well, I think it boils down to a simple question.

Two Nakas who are recently built can be classified as the same person since they share the same interests, mannerisms and views.

Now raise them in separate bases, and taking into account all the events which could change them for better or for worse, after a decade of service in the navy, can you really say that they're exactly the same person?

After all, which characteristics define us as 'same' or 'different'?

Is it our looks? Personalities? Passions?

Or is it the amount of accumulated experience over time?"

Saratoga and Shigure contemplated the question, Naka appreciating the gentle gust of wind which blew in from the ocean as she eventually answered.

"Well, Saratoga-san, you're not exactly wrong when you say that we're the same person, but in some sense, it's strangely easy for the senior Nakas to tell each other apart.

This is partially because of their unique tics and mannerisms, as well as the subtle differences in their lifestyles which were shaped by their experiences, after interacting with a myriad of people and growing up differently.

So when they meet again, it's only fair to treat them as two different people.

They certainly would, since every one of their experiences would change them in order to produce two different Nakas by the time of their retirement."

Saratoga lifted an eyebrow in agreement, seeing her point as she remarked.

"So I suppose we're shaped by our experiences and our interactions to become unique individuals.

And even if there were two ship girl clones in the same base, there's no guarantee that they'll turn out to be exactly the same after several years, right?"

A vibrant smile was what they were treated to, Saratoga and Shigure feeling a little refreshed upon seeing the fleet idol show them her genuine feelings and express them so freely, Naka adding her own thoughts.

"Well, I personally feel that each and every ship girl ever conceived is unique in her own way, and that need to preserve a sense of self amongst a crowd of clones is something which is ingrained in all of us.

And for us Nakas, that desire to be unique despite everyone technically being the same person is what drives us to distinguish ourselves from everyone else while fulfilling our dreams as idols.

The result is a wide variety of unique idols who have carved out careers of their own in the music industry, and becomes a role model which every serving Naka aspires to be."

Naka looked towards the both of them as she gave them a wry smile and responded in a manner which one would use when discussing about a lifelong dream of theirs.

"I can't quite see what they see right now, since unlike all of them, who are at the top of the world and have earned their place up there, I'm starting out from the bottom like they did back then.

But one day…"

Naka raised a gloved hand as she clenched her fist, and the Sendai-Class light cruiser looked determined to rise up the ranks while following in the footsteps of her seniors, and eventually finding her own path on the international stage.

"I'm going to join them!

It's going to take a while, but my dream is to be an idol when I retire, and help energize everyone's spirit with my songs!

To stand on the national and even the international stage is but a means to an end, amplifying my voice for our comrades all around the world to hear, no matter where they may be!"

Naka broke out into a wide smile, but despite Saratoga's attempt return the smile, the American carrier found that while everyone had a dream to work towards, she was lacking a direction to begin with as she asked hesitantly.

"A-As much as I'd like to congratulate you on your dream, I can't help but feel that unlike everyone here, I don't have much to work with since my home's halfway around the world.

I'm not really sure where to begin…"

But Naka was there to help her as she raised her clenched fist in order to gesture to Saratoga as she remarked confidently.

"Well, the basic dream every ship girl has is to protect her own comrades and friends!

Look around you!

Even though we're from different countries, we're still comrade-in-arms and friends, right?"

Shigure could see Saratoga's eyes widening in surprise as she looked around in order to take in the sight of Ayanami, Shigure, Haruna and Naka, amongst others, all of whom were friends who were fighting alongside her.

Shigure leaned in to reach for Saratoga's hand, and while the little move surprised the Lexington-Class carrier as she looked down at Shigure's little hand fitting into the carrier's older, and thus larger palm, Saratoga returned Shigure's reassuring smile as she wordlessly comforted her.

Being the first friend to the American carrier had its perks, as Saratoga's dispirited tone shifted into a heartened one as she spoke to Naka, but looked down at Shigure whilst sharing her newfound goal.

"I understand, Naka-san.

Making friends with Japanese ship girls is certainly a new experience, but you're all my friends nonetheless.

I want to protect all of you, in spite of what happened between our countries in the past."

"That's a wonderful goal, but you need to become stronger in order to make that dream become reality.

In this world, you can't protect anyone if you're weak."

Everyone turned to face the incoming Tone, another senior ship girl who was close to achieving her Kai Ni remodel much like Naka.

She looked at the recently created Saratoga, stating a fact of life which every ship girl learnt sooner or later after seeing the disparity between the ship girls and Abyssals in terms of numbers and firepower.

"You're a strong ship girl with lots of potential.

But potential requires effort on your part to fulfill, otherwise it's meaningless.

Out there on the battlefield, potential means nothing, and strength, everything.

And to that end, how about we start our training session?"

Tone's expression brightened up with that last sentence as it morphed into one of excitement and anticipation, a sentiment which was shared by the two fleets who were gathered around her as they all nodded once.

* * *

Standing at a fair distance away were six Abyssal bots, all of whom were recreated faithfully in order to replicate the looks and abilities of their living counterparts as they held their position, and Tone explained the situation to them as they stood around the heavy cruiser.

"Alright, when you reach the edge of the Safety Zone in the day, it's like the American frontier, where anything beyond that area is a danger zone.

We can't guarantee that we can send out reinforcements in time in order to cover your escape or back you up in battle.

So whenever you're sailing towards the Safety Zone, you need to keep a constant eye on your radar as well as your sonar, and in the event where you meet an Abyssal fleet, you have to think twice about whether you wish to engage them."

Tone's expression hardened as she explained how the ocean was, for an Abyssal, a three dimensional playground for them to maneuver in.

"Look, Abyssals often surface in order to ready their weapons before engaging in combat, but in certain situations, especially in fierce firefights, backup Abyssal fleets sometimes try to sneak up on distracted ship girls in order to drag them down into the depths.

Based on our records, the use of this technique is commonplace in areas beyond the Safety Zone, simply because the backup Abyssal fleets can arrive quickly enough to pull this off, unlike in the Safety Zone where they have to travel a fair distance, before which the battle would be long over.

So, when you head out there, be cautious of anything on, and _in_ the ocean."

Shigure looked towards the Abyssal practice fleet, which still held their position as she noted the single I-Class and dual Ha-Class destroyers, a Ho-Class light cruiser, a Ne-Class heavy cruiser and a Wo-Class carrier on the ocean surface.

Shigure paid attention to Tone's continued explanation of the Abyssals' _modus operandi_ as she kept an eye on the enemies, noting the experience seeping through Tone's voice which was borne of years of sorties and battles.

"Every Abyssal fleet which you encounter beyond the Safety Zone, you'll have to constantly ask yourself:

'Will there be a tougher Abyssal fleet out there which I'll meet?'

Being so far away from a naval base means that you have to take your ammo and fuel reserves into account.

And even if you know that you can take down an Abyssal fleet, you may need to consider fatigue build up, the weak Abyssal fleet being a possible bait for a stronger Abyssal fleet to ambush you, or the Beast of an Abyssal Princess swimming up into your undercarriage as it tries to tear a new hole into your va-"

"Yes, yes, Tone-san.

I think we understand the dangers of sailing into the Safety Zone.

But if I may ask, can we start the training session now?"

Jintsuu interjected in order to stop Tone's language, and Tone nodded in agreement before giving a quick explanation on how this training session was going to go for the newcomers to understand.

"Well, this training session's going to be a horde-mode training session in order to see how far you can go while working together.

And if you don't understand what horde-mode is, I'll send easy Abyssal fleets to fight you, but the Abyssals after that get progressively harder to defeat."

Kuroshio, being a cheery ship girl who wanted to do her best alongside her comrades, slapped Shiranui lightly on the back and earned herself a narrow-eyed aside glance as she asked.

"So, in a sense, we just 'ave to beat as many Abyssals as possible, right?

That's what we usually do, and that don't sound too hard."

Tone lifted an eyebrow as she responded to Kuroshio's question as to what this training session was really about.

"Well, not exactly.

I understand that both your fleets aren't very strong, so while other fleets can dispatch Abyssals with ease, you need to know the limits of your capabilities in order to gauge how many Abyssals you afford to engage without succumbing to fatigue or running out of ammo.

Besides, if we train like this, we can help you familiarize yourselves with each other's abilities in the first few rounds, before we get you to rely on each other more in order to defeat stronger Abyssals."

Nodding, Saratoga asked the Tone-Class heavy cruiser as she clarified.

"But how far do you think we can go with our current fleet members, Tone-san?"

Lifting a fist in order to cup her chin as she considered the question, Tone eventually responded with a rough estimate on how many rounds they could last.

"I'd say three rounds, and I think you're capable of facing an Abyssal Demon in the fourth round and beat it."

"But not beyond that?"

Naka and Sendai pouted as Naka puffed out her cheeks while the level-headed Jintsuu held them back, Naka bringing her fists up to her chin while Sendai retorted along with a slightly miffed Kuroshio and Kagerou backing them up.

"We're not so weak as to tire out after confronting an Abyssal Demon!"

Tone raised her palms in a placating gesture as she calmed the ship girls down, clarifying herself.

"Well, it's not that you're weak, but think about it.

The 1st Fleet isn't as strong as you, and they don't need to run their stamina into the ground in their first training session together.

And sailing to the edge of the Safety Zone often means engaging in about four battles on average, so it's best to start with four rounds for now."

The four ship girls all drew back as their expressions softened, Kagerou agreeing with the logic behind the heavy cruiser's reasoning for utilizing horde mode and limiting it to four rounds.

"Urgh…

Well, I can't exactly argue with that…"

But Shiranui was the one to point out the fact that even with the 1st Fleet backing them up, they couldn't simply engage every single enemy they saw.

"Well, the current 1st Fleet is still rough around the edges, and it's out of the question to expect them to drastically improve their teamwork to the point where it matches that of the previous 1st Fleet.

When we're sailing towards the Safety Zone, we may need to utilize stealth in order to conserve our stamina and ammo if it's clear that we can't maintain our performance over several battles."

Tone nodded as she acknowledged Shiranui's point that even when horde mode meant that hordes of Abyssals swarmed you round after round, the 1st Fleet was a newly formed fleet and was the reason why Tone was going to end their training early.

"Well, this is the first time the newly formed 1st Fleet's hitting the ocean, so I'll put a limit on the number of rounds you girls will fight to four in order not to tire you out."

Everyone nodded understandingly, acknowledging their current limits as Shigure saw that the Abyssals had started moving, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer uncoupling a 12 cm Single Gun Cannon from her battle backpack as she notified everyone.

"Careful.

The Abyssals are moving."

Everyone's attention was drawn to the Abyssal Wo-Class, who was summoning her bomber planes, Chitose preparing her rigging while Saratoga readied her firearm in order to summon their planes, Tone retreating as she announced,

"Alright, everyone!

From here on out, beware of enemies coming from all sides!

Watch each other's backs, and keep fighting!"

Chitose's rigging possessed two flight catapults that stuck out from above each shoulder, dual-wielding another two flight catapults as she grasped their handles and triggers in order to launch her planes, with Anti-Aircraft turrets stuck to the front for self-defense.

On her legs were two midget submarine racks which could send out Kouhyouteki midget submarines as she possessed several more Anti-Aircraft turrets which were fitted on platforms located near her hips and armpits in order to protect her.

Her rigging was prepped with two Type 0 Reconnaissance Planes on her shoulder catapults along with two Zuiun Seaplane Bombers, sending them all out with a press of the trigger as Saratoga did the same with her Thompson sub-machine gun, Kagerou calling out to the 1st Fleet.

"Yo!

Chitose-chan's gonna send out her Kouhyouteki midget submarines, so even if you're gonna dump your torpedoes in the water, watch out for the little guys!"

Shigure and Ayanami nodded as Shigure saw the position of the sent out Kouhyouteki being mapped out by a blue submarine symbol, which differed from the symbol used to mark out allied submarines.

Firing her torpedoes along with the Combined Fleet, it was clear that this Abyssal fleet wasn't hard to beat, calling out warnings for the Lexington-Class carrier in order to make sure that she didn't get injured so soon into the battle while noting the Abyssal Torpedo and Dive Bombers headed for them.

Shigure, together with Ayanami, followed Haruna's lead as the previously silent battleship took charge of the situation and gave out orders, being a capital ship with considerable experience in both lives.

"Saratoga-san, get behind me!

Everyone of you, utilize whatever Anti-Aircraft armaments you have to deny the Abyssal bombers air superiority!"

Saratoga complied as the Anti-Aircraft cannons on everyone's riggings lit up the sky with white-hot lead, while an incoming Abyssal Torpedo Bomber was flying close to the surface of the ocean in order to drop its payload.

Naka fired at the incoming torpedo bomber with the cannons on her arms, which were set to consecutive fire in order to sustain a steady rate of fire, churning out shells in order to stop the Abyssal bomber plane.

This paid off as a shell hit the Abyssal Torpedo Bomber right on the nose, causing the steel exoskeleton to cave in and implode before exploding in a fireball of steel shrapnel as its torpedo detonated prematurely, a nearby Kuroshio shielding herself as she turned in order to allow her rigging to take the brunt of the explosion and deflect any shards of steel which flew her way as she cried out.

"Oi!

Too close, girl!"

Naka wanted to apologize, but had to evade an incoming torpedo as Shigure saw that, in exchanging torpedo salvos with the enemy, a few of the Abyssals had been torpedoed into oblivion around this point in time, several explosions rocking the ocean as an I-Class destroyer was eviscerated by an incoming torpedo.

The Ne-Class heavy cruiser weathered the torpedo, but Shigure could see that it was hurt by the resulting explosion, which scorched her entire left leg and left her limping out of the smoke as the Abyssal pointed her cannons in their direction.

Shigure shouted,

"Move!"

As she and Arare moved out of the path of the Ne-Class's medium-caliber shells, which were already flying out of the three cannon shells sticking out of each tail, six water columns towering above even Haruna as everyone shielded themselves against the spray while the Infiltration Fleet advanced.

Haruna quickly composed herself after wiping the seawater from her face, grimly ordering as her cannons pointed in the direction of the Abyssal fleet, ready to lay down cover fire.

"Everyone!

Move up and protect the Infiltration Fleet while I lay down cover fire!"

Everyone nodded except for Jintsuu, who offered.

"I'll stay behind to protect Haruna-san so she doesn't get ambushed, should another Abyssal fleet attack us from behind!"

Everyone nodded in order to acknowledge Haruna's orders, but Saratoga warned her new Kongou-Class teammate about the dangers of such an order.

"Alright, Haruna-san.

But be careful, the Abyssals may try to swarm you if you get caught out."

Haruna nodded, her attention shifting back to the Abyssals as her cannons reverberated throughout the air, Shigure's bones shaking a little as Haruna's 35.6 Cannons let fly a barrage of large-caliber shells, a cauliflower of flames and smoke erupting from the muzzles of the cannons which adorned her rigging.

Her shells hit home as she scored a hit on a Wo-Class carrier and a Ha-Class destroyer, Haruna's shell punching through the unfortunate Wo-Class's face and instantly killed her, Shigure shivering upon witnessing how powerful a battleship's cannon really was, blood, brains, steel and cerebrospinal fluid spraying everywhere as the Abyssal's head fell apart, thankfully covered by the Wo-Class's collapsing headdress.

Snapping back to attention as Shiranui shouted,

"Shigure!"

Scanning her surroundings in order to determine any threats, she saw that a torpedo was headed her way, but was still quite a ways away as she sailed away from the trajectory of the incoming torpedo, using her 12 Cm Cannon and her shoulder cannons in order to shoot at what remained of the Abyssal fleet, keeping track of her sonar in order to watch out for any potential ambushes.

And as predicted, another Abyssal fleet was trying to ambush them by sailing to where they were before surfacing, intercepting them as the ship girls were sailing towards the pretty much destroyed Abyssal fleet before them, Kagerou giving orders as the Abyssals rose from the bottom of the ocean with surprising speed.

"Evasive maneuvers!"

Everyone physically strafed as two Abyssal Ro-Class destroyers leapt up from the ocean, and several ghostly hands reached up from the ocean to try and catch their ankles, thereby trapping them and allowing their teammates the chance to take them out.

Shigure ducked as soon as she noted the raised arm cannon of a Ri-Class cruiser pointing at her as the Abyssal's head barely peeked out of the ocean, its flaming greens eyes trained on her as the muzzle flashed.

The Abyssals were rising from the ocean as Shigure noted that the Abyssal signatures of the first fleet were erased from her radar, surmising that they had been finished off.

The second Abyssal fleet consisted of a Ri-Class heavy cruiser, two Ro-Class destroyers, a Ho, He and Nu-Class light cruiser.

Everyone performed evasive maneuvers as Kuroshio, Ayanami and Arare, having reloaded their torpedo launchers in time, dumped their torpedoes into the water in order to keep the Abyssals moving even if they couldn't hit them.

Evading the cannon shells fired in her direction and sailing away from the torpedoes which were in the water, Shigure was suddenly struck with a question,

'How does an Abyssal submerge and surface?'

Now, Shigure wanted to focus on the battle going on around her, but being unable to leave a pressing question unanswered, and a lack of a information source to answer said question in order to sate her curiosity, Shigure's curious mind made a choice to believe that her teammates could handle themselves as she started pondering the question.

Firing at a Ro-Class destroyer distractedly while sailing in a meandering course, she started thinking about how the Abyssals were capable of submerging so deep into the ocean without being crushed like a pretzel, before rising again to fight the ship girls.

They _could_ behave like submarines, who shielded their insides from the harsh pressure and temperatures with their thick armor, while using ballast tanks to manipulate buoyancy in order to surface or sink.

Firing at a Nu-Class light cruiser's helmet, Shigure was inclined to believe that this wasn't the case, since this would mean that _every_ part of their body would have to be reinforced in order to resist the external pressure, something which she doubted since the eyes, amongst other human weak spots, were structural weaknesses, especially so for the humanoid Abyssals.

The 'submarine body' theory would mean that their low-pressure insides would be compromised the second they dived deep enough, and a structural weakness presented itself for the pressurized water to exert pressure on, enlarge and crush the Abyssal.

And that meant that damaged Abyssals weren't able to submerge due to the damage to their bodies, which contradicted her observations of Ru-Class battleships submerging while on her first sortie, so it meant this hypothesis was unlikely to be the case.

But the ballast tanks were still an interesting mechanism which Shigure kept in mind for later analysis.

If the 'submarine body' theory was unlikely to be the case, was it possible that they used biotechnology to engineer their bodies to be able to live comfortably under water by pumping the air from their bodies and replacing it with water, thereby controlling their buoyancy by manipulating the amount of air in their bodies as they sank or surfaced, so that their bodies wouldn't need to resist the deep sea pressure?

Shigure noted a torpedo approaching her as she raised her right boat slipper in order to allow the underwater projectile to pass by harmlessly, sailing along as she continued her thoughts, oblivious to whatever was going on around her even when a nearby water column threw seawater on her face.

It would be a mistake for her to assume that they'd go that far to copy a human's impressive, but ultimately limited survivability while they inhabited the deep ocean, which was an extreme environment in of itself, and she had to assume that a Abyssal's lungs were perfectly capable of working despite being filled with water.

For underwater cruising at several hundred meters beneath the ocean surface, they probably pumped air out of their systems in order to partially fill their ballast tanks with water.

A ship girl inhaled oxygen, which was then sent into her bloodstream via the lungs, feeding the cells of the ship girl along with glucose (and fuel in ship girl mode for a higher energy output) in order to produce energy and carbon dioxide.

And in the same vein, every breath of water for an Abyssal at cruising depth contained dissolved oxygen for their lungs to transfer into their bloodstream to in turn feed their cells.

Since they carried weapons and were relatively heavy when you considered their steel bodies and armor, they invariably sank, and the air which was stored in ballast tanks helped them cancel out their own weight with buoyancy force in order to stay at a certain depth.

But that didn't work in the deep sea, where the amount of dissolved oxygen dipped considerably, and in such extreme environments, possessing any air cavities in your system would be lethal as the pressure within would be far less than the environmental pressure, crushing you in a matter of seconds.

Another medium-caliber shell flew in her direction and caused her to flinch slightly, firing at the Ri-Class heavy cruiser with her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon and her torpedo launcher as she furrowed her eyebrows in irritation upon being interrupted, racking her mind before recovering her train of thoughts and thinking about how the Abyssals would adapt to live in the deep sea.

Perhaps by completely pumping out all the air from their bodies and causing their bodies to consist only of incompressible, solid flesh, steel and seawater, this helped them to balance the pressure within the body with the environmental pressure of the ocean floor.

Any air cavities which the human body possessed was likely removed from the Abyssal body in its design phase or was designed to be capable of being filled with water, to make sure that a lethal implosion didn't crush their steel bodies.

Shigure leaned to the left in order to evade another medium-caliber shell as she considered the first part of her question, and how oxygen would be supplied to the Abyssals while on the ocean floor where the light didn't reach, causing plant life to be scarce, which would in turn result in a lack of dissolved oxygen down there.

But wait, being hyper-advanced bionic beings, wouldn't they engineer themselves to be able to live off of other energy sources?

Due to the lack of sunlight, deep sea organisms utilized chemo-synthesis in lieu of photosynthesis to convert sulfides, methane, carbon dioxide and various natural chemicals, which were found in abundance on the ocean floor, into energy in order to fuel their bodies while surfing the deep sea, said chemicals being produced by hydro-thermal vents and other geographical features.

The Abyssals, living in an environment which lacked dissolved oxygen but had an abundance of methane gas and sulfides, would likely be able to replicate this feat in their cells, inhaling seawater to allow their lungs to diffuse these chemicals into their bloodstream, which in turn would feed these chemicals to their cells to be converted into energy via chemo-synthesis.

While their humanoid hearts would pump the blood and fuel through their bodies, their second heart would keep their core organs at a functional temperature with extremely efficient burning of fuel reserves within their bodies, while their metabolisms would slow down due to the chilling temperatures in order to conserve their fuel and nutrient reserves, similar to a bear in hibernation.

Since light didn't reach down into the abyss, they had to utilize sonar in order to navigate the dark ocean floor and may possess enhanced night vision abilities in order to pick up any light in the world of darkness which was the abyss.

Shigure didn't even notice the chaos around her as she fired at anything which was an enemy and occasionally looked up to check if any bombers were dropping their payload on her.

And if there were indeed incoming bombers, she simply sidestepped the dropped bombs whilst lackadaisically firing her Anti-Aircraft cannons and bracing for the inevitable splash caused by the detonation of the dropped payload, continuing her thought process amidst the fierce battle, whatever round it was.

Their armor would easily protect them from underwater predators as ship girl armor did for shark attacks (an increasingly rare, but still present occurrence), and she read somewhere that the Abyssals had a heightened resistance to toxins and were immune to certain underwater hazards, lest they be killed by brushing against the tentacles of some killer jellyfish.

But how did they combat decompression sickness?

Shigure noted out of the corner of her eye that the other destroyers, looking slightly worse for the wear, launched another torpedo salvo in order to greet another fleet of Abyssals.

She did the same a beat later as she evaded the incoming salvo of enemy torpedoes, thinking about the Abyssals' hypothetical capabilities.

Decompression sickness was when dissolved nitrogen was absorbed into their bodies due to the insane pressures while underwater, and if the Abyssal rose up to the surface of the ocean too quickly, the dissolved nitrogen would form bubbles in the bloodstream due to the drastic drop in environmental pressure, possibly forming a lethal air bubble in their blood steam.

Being deep-water denizens, it was likely that an Abyssal would be trained to slowly rise to cruising depth in order to allow their body to adapt to the environmental pressure and allow their bodies to expel these gases through underwater exhalation.

And in the worst case scenario where an air embolism was caused by the rapid depressurization, Shigure assumed that much like the nanobots in a ship girl's body which performed rudimentary repairs from within, the Abyssals likely had their internal air-manipulation system in place to quickly remove the air embolism from their bodies before it did any damage to their bodies.

Shigure was then distracted by someone calling out for a break, likely Tone since she was the one who called the shots in this training session.

"... take five.

You'll be facing the third round after this break, and after that, the fourth!"

Shigure looked around, and even checked her clock in order to confirm her fears.

Had time passed by so quickly while she was thinking to herself?

Everyone sailed towards her in order to regroup, and only now did Shigure see that despite everyone's best efforts, almost everyone was hurt to some extent, although thankfully not sustaining injuries which would classify them as 'medium damage'.

Naka and Sendai's dresses were smeared with a fair bit of soot and blood and was faintly charred, and while Naka's dress was slightly torn on her left sleeve, Sendai's right shoulder glove was torn as a bruise plagued her upper arm.

Kuroshio's rigging was dented, and Shiranui's rigging was slightly smoking, although Shigure could see that the Fairies on Shiranui's rigging was trying to repair the damage, and Kagerou, like Shigure, was undamaged.

Shiranui's abdomen was bleeding as a shell likely hit her on the diaphragm, and although the Kagerou-Class destroyer was still standing, Shigure could tell that it took a significant toll on her if the slight sheen of sweat and increasing rate of breathing were anything to go by.

A cannon barrel on one of Haruna's cannons was warped to the point being unusable, and Haruna herself was forced to discard her unwieldy miko sleeves in order to free up her arms, bleeding a little on her right forearm and left shoulder.

Ayanami was bleeding a little from her right temple while Arare's uniform was torn up by fighter aircraft fire, and Jintsuu was likely hit by enemy shells, because she came close to sustaining medium damage after withstanding shell impacts to her chest and stomach.

Ayanami gave Shigure a tired smile whilst greeting her with a slightly weary tone,

"That was quite the fight, eh, Shigure-san?"

Shigure could only give her an awkward wave as she sat down with the resting destroyers, consisting of Kagerou, Ayanami and Shiranui, since Kuroshio and Arare were talking to Saratoga, Chitose and Haruna while the Sendai-Class cruisers were huddled together in order to pass the time by distracting each other with small talk before jumping back into battle.

Shigure squatted down on the ocean surface along with the others, everyone looking at her with a sense of uncertainty and awe, due to both her complicated expression and her evasion skills, Ayanami taking the initiative by starting the conversation.

"U-Um, Shigure-san.

You looked as if something was on your mind just now, and even though we were looking out for you while you were brooding over something, we were awestruck at how you evaded everything which was thrown your way, as well as how you killed that Nu-Class with a headshot."

Huh.

Shigure quickly looked through her memory archives in order to verify Ayanami's statement, and she found that the Nu-Class light cruiser whom she fired at had possessed a damaged helmet.

The Nu-Class was taken out as soon as Shigure distractedly fired at the Abyssal's cracked helmet and killed it instantly, likely in part due to her luck causing her shell to hit a vulnerable area in order to score a critical strike, and while Shigure wanted to lie about her being in control of the situation, she didn't want to make others worry about her lest they get the wrong idea about her situation, answering them honestly.

"Huh.

Apparently I did.

W-Well, I was thinking about how an Abyssal was capable of diving down into the ocean floor, and how their bodies adapted to the crushing pressure and low temperatures.

My final hypothesis is that they can control the amount of water and air in their bodies like ballast tanks in order to sink or swim.

To survive in the crushing depths, I theorized that their bodies can function even when filled with water in lieu of air in order to make sure that there are no air cavities within their bodies, and their internal air-manipulation systems can protect them from a potential air embolism as they surface."

Every destroyer turned to face her as silence ensued, and Kagerou raised a hand to confirm what Shigure had just implied.

"Um, not to say that I disbelieve you, but did you say that you were thinking about an Abyssal's inner workings while in the heat of battle, and basically killed an Abyssal without being aware of it?"

Shigure could only give an awkward smile as she shrugged, weathering Shiranui's withering gaze since she knew that the pink-haired Kagerou-Class destroyer didn't hold anything back with her words and her opinions.

And when she said that she was going to teach her not to make a rookie mistake, her harsh glare was more than enough for her to realize that she had committed one, shrinking beneath her cold stare.

Ayanami was the one to come to Shigure's defense as she shielded Shigure with her left hand before defending Shigure.

"I-I'm sure that Shigure-san wanted to leave this question for later, but I think that the first few waves of Abyssals were easy enough for her to deal with, and she allowed her mind to wander.

And even though it certainly wasn't the best time and place to think about these matters…"

Shigure raised an eyebrow in order to concede the point which Ayanami made about this being a rather inappropriate time to wonder about the anatomy and inner workings of an Abyssal.

" … I do have to point out that her hypothesis is mostly correct, and she simply needs to learn that there's a right time and place for everything."

Shiranui's stoic expressions never wavered while Shigure's other eyebrow raised upon learning that her hypothesis wasn't that far off the mark, and Kagerou cocked her head in order to concede the point as Shigure heard the Kagerou-Class destroyer speak up in order to express her problem with what seemed to be the development of a bad habit for Shigure.

"I understand the need to learn more about the enemy, but there's no point in being the smartest destroyer in the world if your pretty little head gets blown apart by an enemy shell.

But I understand that you have your reasons to think about this question while evading incoming shells and torpedoes with both your luck and your evasive skills, so mind sharing 'em with us?"

Shigure nodded, the three other destroyers leaning in slightly in order to listen to her as she explained herself to everyone.

"I understand Kagerou's point when she said that I had to focus on the battle, lest I get a shell fired into my head, but I think that this question was an interesting topic to think about when considering the natural environment which the Abyssals live in.

And while I'll do my best not to do this in the future, my curiosity and the lack of a challenge in the earlier Abyssal fleets meant that I could trust all of you to keep yourselves alive.

I just never expected the time to pass by so quickly after I finished my thought processes and heard Tone-san announcing that we'd be taking a break."

Lowering her head as she watched the ocean shift underneath her immobile boat slippers, she continued softly.

"While I wish to have this question answered after training, I simply need to think about it now in order to satisfy my curiosity, otherwise this question will plague my mind for the entire session.

I may forget about this question, which is rather unlikely, or I may very well find something else which catches my interest later, forcing me to abandon this question until further notice."

Shiranui was the one to point out her flaw, her expression stern and authoritative as she deconstructed Shigure's need to sate her curiosity in order for everyone to be on the same page regarding what Shigure had to improve on.

"While I do believe that you're skilled enough to hold your own in small-to-medium scale engagements due to your experiences and your capability to respond appropriately to various situations, your greatest weakness, as you've so aptly demonstrated, is what's up here."

Raising a slightly bloodied gloved finger in order to place it on Shigure's forehead, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer crossed her eyes in order to look at her senior's finger, her expression morphing into a worried grimace as Shiranui continued her lecture on Shigure's incessant need to satisfy her curiosity.

"Unlike other ship girls who are predictably at risk of allowing their emotions to overrule their reasoning, you're slightly different from them.

You allow your imagination, curiosity and need to learn to overrule your reasoning, because for you, the prospect of pondering and answering questions in order to sate your curiosity is of higher priority than keeping yourself alive.

And that is your greatest flaw; to allow yourself to be distracted by your curiosity and the questions it presents, and how you have to contemplate and answer every question you think up of."

Slightly applying pressure on her finger in order to push on Shigure's forehead in exasperation, Shiranui exhaled in a tired sigh as Kagerou leaned in to meet Shigure's gaze before consoling her.

"To be fair, like Ayanami said, your conclusions are rather accurate, so will you please focus on the battle from here on out?"

Shigure nodded meekly, understanding that she had to try harder from here on out in order to make up for the fact that she got off light in the first few rounds compared to everyone else, who sustained some damage.

And when Tone got them to get back up in order to get back into the fight, Shigure focused her attention on the next fleet of Abyssals, facing down two Ru-Class and Ta-Class battleships each, three Ri-Class heavy cruisers, two Tsu-Class light cruisers and three Elite I-Class destroyers.

And they were to expect reinforcements to arrive in the midst of battle.

She didn't like their odds.

But as a hand placed on her shoulder slightly startled her, she immediately relaxed upon finding out that it was Saratoga who supported her, with Haruna and Jintsuu standing closely behind the Lexington-Class carrier as they encouraged.

"It's alright, Shigure.

We'll protect you."

Haruna nodded along with Saratoga, the demure Kongou-Class fast battleship expressing her determined will to protect others.

"Haruna is alright.

And because Haruna is alright, Haruna will make sure that no harm will befall you in battle, Shigure-san."

Blinking in surprise at how much her friends wanted her to be safe, Shigure swallowed the uncomfortable lump in her throat before hardening her expression, giving everyone a resolute nod.

Haruna, being the flagship of the 1st Fleet and was thus responsible for giving orders to everyone, looked to Chitose and Saratoga as she requested,

"Chitose-san, Saratoga-san, please send out your reconnaissance and bomber planes.

We'll commence our shelling phase when you get your planes close enough for a bombing run."

But Shigure then piped up, offering another option which she saw as a better alternative to Haruna's strategy.

"Haruna-san, I respectfully disagree with the second part of your stated orders.

We should hold off on the shelling phase until we move closer to the enemy fleet."

Saratoga nodded and prepared her Thompson submachine gun while Chitose's rigging readied her planes, but Kuroshio was curious about the Shiratsuyu-Class's choice to weather enemy fire in order to get closer, before opening fire at the enemy fleet.

"No offense, but what's the point in doin' that?

Why not fire everythin' now?"

But Shiranui spoke up for her, sharing Shigure's views of ammo preservation in the face of worsening odds, and a broad salvo wasn't going to cut it from here on out, Shigure keeping half an eye on her radar whilst noting Saratoga and Chitose launching their planes in the midst of Shiranui's intervention.

"Shigure wants us to conserve our ammunition.

From here on out, we need to make every shot count should we wish to save our ammunition for a stronger Abyssal fleet which we are likely to encounter beyond the Safety Zone.

We're not too badly damaged, so getting closer for a more accurate salvo won't be a problem for us."

Kuroshio raised an eyebrow to concede the point, and in the brief moment which Shigure met Shiranui's gaze, she shot the Kagerou-Class destroyer a quick smile in order to express her thanks, Shiranui recognizing the gesture with a downwards shift of her gaze before turning away, Kagerou noticing this and raising an 'interesting' eyebrow whilst looking in Shigure's direction.

Haruna looked down at Shigure, and the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer looked up at the Kongou-Class battleship in order to assert herself, and Haruna eventually closed her eyes as she nodded in order to acknowledge Shigure's suggestion, everyone noting the gesture as they lowered their cannons in order to sail up and increase their odds of hitting as many Abyssals as possible with their salvo.

Shigure looked away in time to watch the Dauntless and Suisei bombers drop their payloads, and it was satisfying to see that the upper half of a Ri-Class heavy cruiser was engulfed in a blinding explosion, while a Ru-Class battleship and a Tsu-Class light cruiser were caught in the splash damage caused by the Suisei bombers.

Haruna ordered upon seeing the bombardment phase end with moderate success, and they now had to move onto phase two, which was sailing towards the enemy whilst holding their fire.

"Everyone, move up!

Please, make sure to wait until you get close enough for a guaranteed hit!"

Everyone nodded once, their boat slippers whirring to life as they started to move forwards, Shigure barely flinching in the face of the Ru-Class and Ta-Class's large-caliber shells miss them by large and small margins, everyone performing basic evasive maneuvers by sailing in zigzag patterns and making unpredictable turns.

She kept an eye on the ocean in order to watch for incoming torpedoes, Ayanami sailing into a generous gap in between two torpedoes while calling out to Haruna, who reluctantly allowed the nameship of the Ayanami-Class to scout ahead.

"Incoming torpedo, Haruna-san."

Haruna grimly nodded as the destroyer and battleship duo sailed into the gap without much fuss, but Shigure noted an incoming shell being fired from the barrel of a Ru-Class battleship, and estimating its trajectory whilst noting Ayanami and Haruna's attention focusing on the incoming torpedoes instead of the flying shells, Shigure did the first thing which came to her mind.

She sprinted towards Ayanami and tackled her to the ocean floor, the large-caliber shell barely missing them by millimeters as Shigure felt the sonic boom and vacuum which the shell left in its wake before landing on the water, shielding Ayanami with her body.

Barely being grazed by the large-caliber shell still caused her bones to rattle as the seawater smashed into her back and engulfed them both in the resulting water column which was caused by the landed shell.

The world became a mess of entangled limbs, steel and wet uniforms as Shigure tried to get off Ayanami in order to check on her, gulping down seawater against her will as she shook the water from her eyes and pulled the soaked hair from her face in order to scan her surroundings.

A strong female hand wrapped around her armpit as she was hoisted from the ocean surface, which was still rippling due to the shell impact, and she noticed the golden headdress of her savior, Haruna lifting her with relative ease due to her overwhelming might.

Ayanami got up shakily with help from Saratoga's free hand as Haruna turned to everyone and simply ordered,

" _FIRE!"_

Before all hell broke loose and everyone fired their cannons, Shigure wincing as she heard the symphony of cannon fire resound throughout the battlefield, and while her ears possessed noise dampeners in order to protect her sense of hearing, the shock-wave of Haruna's large-caliber cannons caught her off guard and caused her to stumble into Haruna's embrace, the Kongo-Class battleship shielding Shigure with her body.

Shigure's suggestion paid off as Sendai and Shiranui's shells killed a Tsu-Class by hitting her on the forehead and right breast, while Haruna's shells heavily injured one Ta-Class battleship whilst sending the other into medium damage with help from Arare's torpedoes.

The two Abyssal destroyers were blown up by Kuroshio and Jintsuu's torpedoes as Shigure spotted one of their corpses being blown out of the water, gaining air time as the corpse fell apart and splattered blood, wires and guts everywhere, the two pieces of the deceased Elite I-Class destroyer hitting the ocean simultaneously.

Naka tanked a large-caliber shell which was fired into her kidney courtesy of the remaining Ta-Class battleship, who was then distracted by Sendai flinging a torpedo in her direction as the Abyssal ducked before the torpedo sensors detected her presence and detonated its payload.

Naka coughed out a fair bit of blood as she collapsed onto the ocean, the Abyssals trying to box them in while evading their shells and torpedoes, Tone upping the difficulty as the Abyssals were clearly adapting to their techniques and successfully hurt them by bottle-necking them with their torpedo salvo before firing at the ship girls, who were forced to sail through the gaps in the incoming torpedoes.

Shigure felt an uncomfortable feeling well up within her as she swiped the wet mop of hair from her forehead, feeling guilty about seeing Naka tank a shell, shaking off Haruna's hands in order to join the destroyers who were in the midst of battle, ordering Haruna and Ayanami.

"I'm going on ahead!

Cover me!"

Haruna was clearly less than thrilled at the prospect of a destroyer charging into the fray, calling out in vain.

"Shigure-san!"

But Shigure could hear Saratoga's voice sounding out behind her, her pace a step slower due to her larger build which meant that she could easily keep up with her, the Lexington-Class carrier announcing.

"Don't worry, Haruna-san!

I'll cover her!"

She could see that two Avenger torpedo bombers were sent out, their engines droning on and became softer upon reaching the enemy as it swooped down in a practiced run in order to drop its payload into the water.

The dropped torpedoes scared off an evading Ta-Class battleship and a Ri-Class heavy cruiser, and Shigure took this chance to sail in whilst drawing a torpedo from her launcher, lobbing it in the Ta-Class's direction.

Assuming that Shigure was as strong as Sendai or even Shiranui, the Ta-Class ducked but didn't move from her spot on the ocean, and this was a fatal mistake as Shigure's throw came up short.

The spinning torpedo landed at the Ta-Class's feet and promptly blew the Abyssal to kingdom come, Kagerou scrambling to get out of the way as she wanted to sail in close to the target in order to land a critical strike, exclaiming.

"Yo!

Watch where you throw those things!"

Shigure could only shouted out a quick,

"Sorry!"

Before being forced to dodge another incoming torpedo, pushing off her left boat slipper in order to strafe to her right as she noted that the barrel of a Ru-Class was aimed at her, ready to empty a round in Shigure's direction should she stop for a second.

A Ri-Class heavy cruiser sailed towards her, ready to fire her cannons in her direction, but she spotted Saratoga coming in fast by sprinting towards the Ri-Class while dual-wielding her Thompson sub-machine gun.

With the stock of the firearm tucked into her left elbow and her right arm on the fore-grip, she delivered a nasty blow by swinging her left elbow towards the Ri-Class's temple while wearing a fierce expression, the Abyssal's head snapping to the right as a result.

Raising a heel in order to deliver a mean kick to the Ri-Class's gut sent the Abyssal stumbling back in the process, Saratoga leapt into the air while pulling her knees in to deliver a drop kick, send the Ri-Class flying back into a waiting Sendai, who was waiting with an Anti-Abyssal knife and was poised to strike.

And as the Ri-Class stumbled backwards into the Sendai-Class light cruiser, Sendai slammed her knife into the neck of the Abyssal, and must have severed something in the Abyssal's nervous system, as the Ri-Class suddenly broke out into a fit for an entire second, before collapsing to the floor like a rag doll.

Sendai held her bloody knife in a similarly bloody, gloved hand as she readied a 14 Cm Single Gun Cannon with her free arm in order to finish the job whilst standing over the corpse of the quickly sinking Ri-Class.

This slightly unsettling scene sent chills down Shigure's spine, before she registered that feeling and suddenly felt thankful that her spinal column was still in one piece, whipping out her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon in order to fire at the remaining enemies.

Chitose was sailing in with her Anti-Air cannons all firing in moderate bursts in order to help chip in with whatever she had on hand, Shigure noting the rising Abyssal signatures which weren't there before, warning everyone as she turned to face the two fleets.

"Another fleet's surfacing!"

Kuroshio cracked her knuckles in anticipation while Kagerou licked her lips in excitement, Shiranui cracking her neck while Saratoga slammed another magazine into her submachine gun in order to reload, the previous drum magazine ejected and stored in her dress until the indicators on the magazine were in the green.

Shigure fired the remaining ammunition in her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon into the face of the moderately damaged Ta-Class, blinding her as one of her shells hit the Ta-Class's eye through sheer luck, the Abyssal bot staggering back and covering her damaged eye, an amazingly lifelike replication of what a real Abyssal would do in this situation, right down to the pained scowl.

However, a Zuiun was there to perform a bombing run before the Ta-Class could retaliate, accurately dropping its payload onto the chest of the recovering Ta-Class and damaging her enough for Jintsuu to fire a medium-caliber shell in her face, putting her down for good.

The underwater Abyssals were now less than ten meters from the surface of the ocean, and while Shigure reloaded her cannons in order to prepare for the next wave of Abyssals, she knew that the situation was spiraling out of control.

Shiranui and Naka were moderately damaged, she could see the exhaustion setting in since everyone's movements was a little more sluggish compared to the start of the training session, Shigure noting the sweat which soaked their clothes and their increased rate of respiration belying their fatigue.

Shigure could see that one Abyssal was surfacing close to her while Haruna was sailing towards her, seemingly oblivious to the threat beneath them.

But when she raised her hand to warn and halt Haruna's advance, Haruna also held up a hand in order to gesture to her, her expression expressing the fact that she knew what she was doing without saying a word, angling a cannon downwards in preparation for what was to come as Shigure could spot the pale mop of hair which was hidden beneath the surface of the shifting ocean.

Haruna fired her large-caliber cannon just as the crown of the Abyssal heavy cruiser's head broke the ocean surface, and a barrel-rolling Shigure was treated to a front row view of the large-caliber shell flying into the back of the Ne-Class's head before she fully emerged from the ocean.

The Ne-Class had decent armor which made up its skull, but that did nothing to stop a battleship's shell from punching through her head with considerable ease, Shigure unfortunately picking up on every brain bit, eyeball and drop of cerebrospinal fluid which flew everywhere as her curiosity worked against her.

She struggled to look away in order to escape the gruesome scene as the resulting fountain of blood and fuel spilled onto her, the air and ocean itself quivering from the shock-wave of the meek battleship as Haruna mumbled a sincere,

"I'm sorry."

Before sailing away, bits of brain and blood floating on the surface of the bloodied ocean as the deceased Ne-Class submerged back into the abyss from whence it came, missing a majority of its head as whatever flesh, blood and steel which made up its head fell apart like an ungraceful slow motion shot of a smashed porcelain shell, releasing its bloody and mushy contents everywhere.

Shigure could now see that there were now another two Abyssal fleets which engaged them, and this time, it consisted of two Elite Wo-Class carriers and normal Ru-Class battleships each, and another _four_ Elite Ho-Class light cruisers and Ne-Class heavy cruisers each, making up a small armada.

Fortunately, since Haruna was able to dispatch one Ne-Class Abyssal without much fuss, it wasn't exactly hopeless for them, and because the ship girls had vacated the area where the Abyssal fleet surfaced, it resulted in the Abyssals being stuck in the center of their formation while ship girls surrounded them, and Saratoga and Chitose sent out dive bombers beforehand in order to greet the Abyssals.

Anti-Air fire from the Abyssals managed to take out a Suisei dive bomber, but that didn't stop the second Suisei and two Dauntless dive bombers from avenging their fallen comrade as they dropped their payloads, a Wo-Class being protected by a Ho-Class Elite as the two Abyssal carriers sent out two Abyssal Fighter planes and Torpedo Bombers each.

Chitose was weathering the machine gun fire of the incoming Abyssal Fighter, sparks flying off of her rigging while her flame-emblazoned jacket was shredded by the minuscule yet deadly bullets as she shielded the downed Fairy pilot with her own body and rigging, wincing in pain as Sendai rushed in to help her out.

Sendai transitioned from a sprint to a stop in record time, swiveling her body to the left while pivoting on her left foot to allow her right foot to catch up as she bent her knees and swung both her arms backwards before leaping into the air.

Using her boost gauge whilst jumping in order to increase her air time, she reached towards the sky with her right hand like a basketball player attempting to block a shot, and the boost gauge came in clutch as Sendai caught the shell and exhaust port of the overhead Abyssal Fighter.

She miscalculated.

The Abyssal Fighter immediately pulled up, and even when the Sendai-Class cruiser was weighing the enemy plane down, Sendai was dragged away by the wildly careening Abyssal Fighter, screaming along with the drone of the plane's engine upon realizing her blunder as her skirt flared up with the wind.

" _AAAAHHHH!"_

Everyone was retreating to one side of the battlefield, since if they were to open fire while surrounding the enemy from all sides, they risked friendly fire since if a shell missed an enemy, it might hit an ally behind the enemy.

And when they surrounded the Abyssals in a semicircle in order to avoid friendly fire, Haruna ordered out loud,

"FIRE!"

Everyone opened fire with her cannons and torpedo launchers, Chitose firing her Anti-Air turrets and Kouhyouteki midget submarines in order to participate in the torpedo launching phase.

Amidst the explosive hemispheres of seawater caused by the torpedoes detonating their payloads in order to hurt or outright kill the Abyssals, she could see that two Elite Ho-Class light cruisers shielded the Ru-Class battleships from the torpedo salvo and protected them with their lives.

This allowed the monochrome battleships to respond in kind with a cannon salvo of their own along with the three remaining Ne-Class heavy cruisers.

She could hear someone shout,

"Evasive maneuvers!"

But she was already diving down onto the ocean much like everyone else, hearing a few unfortunate, unidentified ship girls scream out in pain as she heard the squeamish sound of a hard shell crunching steel and flesh.

She noticed a salvo of torpedoes heading towards them as she saw the wake of the incoming torpedoes on the surface of the ocean, pushing herself off with both her arms in order to roll out of their projected travel path.

Firing her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon in order to provide cover fire in order to protect those who were damaged, she could hear Tone's announcement over the radio inside her head,

"Naka and Kuroshio are too damaged to continue the battle!

Continue!"

Looking behind her with barely restrained concern for her friends, she could see that Naka's lower jaw was covered with blood as her abdomen suffered a bloody wound, Jintsuu supporting her by slinging Naka's left arm around her shoulders.

Kuroshio's left leg was engulfed in a light burn, likely as a result of a dummy torpedo simulating the amount of damage a real torpedo explosion would do whilst minimizing the amount of actual damage done, Kagerou and Arare tending to her wound while Shiranui covered them with everything she had on hand.

Shigure looked to Ayanami, and they both understood the need for them to step up their game as they sailed into the fray, Haruna's cannons and Saratoga's planes covering their admittedly suicidal entrance.

Learning from Haguro's fighting style, she knew that a horde of Abyssals could work against them, especially when you were fast enough to evade before the enemy got a lock-on on you, and having another Abyssal between you and the aiming Abyssal made them hesitate, allowing you time to sail away safely.

Shigure talked to Ayanami over the radio, expressing her intent to try and weasel her way in and out of the Abyssal horde, ordering.

"We'll soften them up with another torpedo salvo before entering, and make sure you don't get caught out."

Ayanami's response was a simple yet solid,

"Acknowledged."

As they unloaded whatever torpedoes they had left into the water, forcing the Abyssals to evade their barrage either by sailing in between the gaps in the salvo or by crash-diving.

But Shiranui joined them as she fired her own torpedoes at the gaps in Shigure and Ayanami's salvo in order to hit several Abyssals which safely evaded their initial torpedo salvo, engulfing them in another series of deafening explosions as Shigure could see the partially destroyed carcass of a Ho-Class be thrown up into the air by the shock-wave of two torpedoes combined, dousing the immediate area with copious amounts of alien blood.

The remaining Ne-Class and Elite Ho-Class Abyssals provided cover fire for the Ru-Class battleships to buy time for them to reload, and Saratoga's two F6F Hellcats covered their entrance by returning fire whilst Chitose's Suisei dive bomber delivered death from above, Shigure anxiously waiting for her torpedo launchers to reload.

She knew that her torpedoes were perhaps the only viable weapons she possessed when going up against stronger Abyssals, and upon noticing a Ne-Class heavy cruiser locking onto her, she ducked behind another Ne-Class heavy cruiser, causing the aiming Abyssal to hesitate while the other Abyssal turned to face her.

But a thrown torpedo detonated on the chest of the Ne-Class, and was enough to make everyone focus their attention, and eventually their cannons on the incoming Sendai-Class light cruiser as the damaged Abyssal bot collapsed due to its smoking upper half revealing a severely damaged Abyssal possessing a hollowed-out chest, Sendai wearing a shit-grinning grin on her face as she roared.

 _"I'm back, bitches!"_

Before jumping on the collapsing Ne-Class, firing a shell into her face before jumping off of her corpse in order to fling even more torpedoes in every direction while airborne, every Abyssal cruiser now focusing their main cannons and Anti-Air turrets on Sendai.

Haruna took this as the chance to sail closer in order to fire at the two Ru-Class battleships, being one of the few ship girls who stood a chance of taking them down with her large-caliber cannons, distracting them long enough for Ayanami to perform a drive-by shooting by sailing up to one and emptying her torpedoes into the Ru-Class's flank, sailing away as the slow battleship was engulfed in an explosion of unprecedented proportions, Shigure having never seen how big of a explosion an entire salvo could cause when _all_ the torpedoes hit.

And Ayanami was suddenly flung to the floor by the other Ru-Class's large-caliber shell, having been blindsided by the incoming shell as the Ru-Class aimed not at where the Ayanami-Class destroyer was at, but at where she would be, the nameship of the Ayanami-Class screaming,

"ARRGH!"

She hit the ocean hard.

Shigure didn't even think twice before sprinting over to Ayanami's side, ducking underneath a Wo-Class's cane as the Abyssal carrier attempted to smash her face in with a swing of her conducting cane, feeling the wind caused by the swing of the cane tickle strands of her hair as she heard someone else engaging the Abyssal carrier behind her, sliding to a stop as she got on her knees in order to inspect Ayanami's injuries.

Ayanami was instantly sent into critical damage with one large-caliber shell, breaking out in a profuse sweat as her respiratory rate drastically spiked, her left breast deformed as it flattened due to the shell impact as it left a bloody, oily crater on the destroyer's uniform.

Another announcement rang out in her head, Shigure paying it no mind since it told her the obvious, attempting to determine how best to carry Ayanami without disturbing her wounds.

"Ayanami is too injured to continue the battle!

Continue!"

Fairies were already climbing out of Ayanami's rigging while donning X-ray glasses and stethoscopes in order to access the damage, and Shigure, wanting to help Ayanami leave the area, gently carried the injured destroyer in a bridal carry so as not to cause the Fairies to fall off Ayanami's limp body.

Ayanami's eyes were glazed over, and while Shigure lowered her head after hearing a medium-sized shell fly over her head, she could see Ayanami's taut neck and jaw muscles straining against the intense pain, resisting the impulse to simply break down and start crying out in pain, Ayanami doing her best to look at her as she huffed.

"Leave me... with Tone-san...

Everyone needs you..."

Shigure, despite wanting to protest the point, knew that Ayanami was right, and she did her best to swallow the lump in her throat as she approached Tone, who was ready to receive Ayanami and carry her over to the group of damaged ship girls, where Kuroshio and Naka sat while resting up.

Tone had already treated their injuries with a small waist pouch of medical supplies which she brought to the training grounds in case of emergencies, likely predicting a few casualties today.

Giving the Tone-Class heavy cruiser a simple nod of acknowledgement before turning back to the battlefield, she could see that even though they lost three of their members, they were still holding their own as Saratoga's Dauntless dive bombers pulled up after dropping their bombs on the remaining Ru-Class battleship.

Shiranui and Kagerou tag-teamed in order to catch two Ne-Class heavy cruisers in their torpedo cross-fire, the last Ho-Class nowhere to be seen as the Elite Wo-Class was riddled with medium-shells courtesy of the remaining Sendai Sisters.

And as the dust settled, Shigure sailed up to everyone as the dead Abyssal bots collapsed onto the ocean, before slowly sinking into the depths.

Everyone was visibly worn out by now, although not to the point where they could collapse at any point due to their accumulated fatigue, relaxing their postures whilst scanning their surroundings and checking their radar for the next Abyssal wave.

Shigure felt bad about coming out unscathed again, but the reassuring hand of Saratoga resting on her right shoulder attracted her attention as she looked up at the Lexington-Class carrier, the American consoling her with a tired smile as though predicting her thoughts through her expression.

"It's not your fault that you got lucky.

You threw yourself into the heat of battle, and there was nothing you could have done to save her.

But you can avenge Ayanami-san by doubling your efforts in the battle to come."

And she raised an eyebrow in order to state a condition to her suggestion, tilting her head as she added wryly.

"Of course, personal safety is paramount.

And we are fighting an Abyssal Demon, so please be careful."

Shigure nodded, not wanting to disappoint her foreign friend as she looked around in order to check on whoever was left, her gaze resting on Shiranui for a split second longer due to their newly formed friendship and also to check if Shiranui's injuries were serious enough to warrant her aid.

Jintsuu was taking slow, deep breaths as she had her eyes closed, Sendai following suit as she had her hands on her hips and had shifted her weight onto one leg while Jintsuu was standing upright with lowered fists, but was ready to retaliate at the drop of a hat.

Saratoga suddenly looked up as her expression and posture tensed up, warning everyone about the threat on the horizon which was unlike anything she had felt before today.

"Something strong's coming this way!

I'm not entirely certain what it is, but it's certainly powerful!"

Everyone turned to look over the horizon, and even at this distance, Shigure could suddenly feel the familiar vengeful aura of hatred and destruction which radiated off of the Demon herself.

A Demon was a slightly weaker version of an Abyssal Princess, but nobody was foolish enough to underestimate an Abyssal Demon's might, since they were still capable of holding their own against entire fleets with their Beasts.

And this Demon was no different, the female Abyssal riding atop her unholy steed as they made up the two halves of the Demon, the Beauty and the Beast.

The Abyssal predictably had pale skin along with long, flowing white hair (with blackened ends) and blood-red pupils to complement it, and while she wore a form-fitting, sleeveless one-piece black dress which ended where her hips were and barely covered her nether regions, she wore dark steel cogs around her upper arms, neck and thighs.

The steel cog around her neck acted as a choker while the others held up the ends of the black shoulder gloves and thigh-highs which she wore, and she wore two dark hairpins which were placed on the mop of hair which covered her forehead.

She carried some sort of black steel skull in her left arm, possessing one luminescent, blood-red eye socket as it looked towards nowhere in particular, and immediately behind the Abyssal Demon was a large-caliber gun turret which looked a little like an unmanned machine gun, except looking more like an autocannon due to the caliber of the shells it was capable of firing.

The Beast which the Demon rode in on was hardly a looker, being the steed which the Horseman rode in to battle as it was heavily armored, possessing a triangular muzzle not unlike a crocodile with a pronounced sharp chin, and a second mouth was located where the eyes would be, possessing two rows of deformed and exaggerated human teeth as the Abyssal Demon stood within this jaw in order to ride on her Beast.

On its snout was six crimson-red exhaust holes, and propping the abomination up was two pale arms which were obviously masculine due to the sheer amount of muscle mass it possessed, clearly capable of crushing something important should a ship girl get trapped in those giant hands.

And even though an obnoxiously large attachment on the Demon's dress started from her hips and swept down in order to cover the Beast's hind and flank, it did nothing to hide the fact that it used its arms to waddle forwards like a crocodile performing the belly crawl, Shigure hypothesizing that the Beast's arms could push off the ocean surface for great bursts of speed in dire situations.

As it opened its main jaw in order to let out steam, again, much like a crocodile opening their jaws in order to prevent overheating, crimson-red steam was expelled from its throat into the atmosphere, and everyone was treated to the sight of the Beast's burning, steel-melting insides as it yawned, showing them that being swallowed by its jaws was the same as receiving a one-way ticket into the fiery underworld.

Following it were two Ho-Class light cruisers, a Ri-Class heavy cruiser and two Ha-Class destroyers, all surfacing beforehand in order to prepare for combat.

Saratoga gulped, now sweating a little as she took a step backwards, Shigure keeping an eye on her as well as the incoming enemy fleet, since this was the first time Saratoga had faced off against an Abyssal boss unit with less-than favorable odds, hearing the Lexington-Class carrier squeak.

"I-Is this what you had to face off before finding me, Shigure-san?"

Shigure lifted an eyebrow and tilted her head in order to agree, although she noted that her circumstances back then were a little different.

"Admittedly, yes, but I think that the Southern War Princess had a more menacing aura and higher stats, since she was a Princess while is this is a Demon.

And the 8th Fleet had a lot of experience in slaughtering Abyssals, so I allowed them to take the spotlight while I supported them from the sidelines."

Kagerou sighed, dreading the battle that was to come when they were short of three ship girls, which meant that their lightweight Combined Fleet was further weakened by the absence of one-fourth of its members, drawing a 12.7 Cm Twin Gun Cannon as she bemoaned.

"Well, shit.

That's the aviation battleship, Anchorage Demon, and even if she's relatively weaker than other Abyssal boss units as an old-school Demon, she's still tough to beat.

I'm not sure if we can take her down if we're down several ship girls."

Shiranui was the one to try and boost Kagerou's spirit as she prepared her torpedo launchers, looking over at her sister ship as she reassured Kagerou as best she could.

"I won't say it's impossible, but we need to step up our game if we're to survive this battle.

She possesses quite the posse and has a strong Beast to protect her in close quarters, so we need to keep our distance and take out the other rank-and-file Abyssals in order to isolate her.

And make sure that you're not caught in those huge arms."

Looking towards Saratoga and Chitose, Shiranui highlighted the two most important ship girls who were still with them, and while the destroyers and light cruisers had their torpedoes, they still needed air superiority in order to make sure that the Abyssal bombers didn't take them out with bombardment strikes.

"Saratoga and Chitose will be the most important fighters in this battle, since their fighter planes will deter the Abyssal bomber planes from dropping their payloads on us and pick us off as a result.

We also need their bomber planes to bombard the Anchorage Demon in order to take down her shields, and Haruna will also be useful in that regard with her large-caliber cannons."

Everyone nodded solemnly in order to acknowledge Shiranui's points, but Saratoga was still slightly afraid of someone else getting taken out and sent off the battlefield due to their injuries.

"But, I'm still afraid that we can't take down the Anchorage Demon even with our combined firepower and air-power, and what should we do on the off chance that we can't finish the fight?"

Shigure looked up at her friend and slowly reached for Saratoga's hand, surprising both the Lexington-Class carrier and everyone around them as Saratoga's head snapped down and met her caring gaze, Shigure assuaging her concerns.

"Don't worry, Saratoga-san.

We'll do our best, and you can count on that."

Saratoga's eyebrows creased as she still looked rather unconvinced of their odds even with two bird carriers and a battlecruiser on their side.

Shigure eventually tilted her head as she raised an eyebrow in order to concede the point, noting that the Abyssals were closing in on them as she kept their conversation short by admitting the severity of their situation.

"Well, alright.

I'll admit that retreat is an option, since the armor seems next to impossible for anything less than a large-caliber shell to crack, much less penetrate.

Since she possesses large-caliber cannons, shields and a Beast which can squeeze the life out of any one of us, I agree that we should consider turning tail and retreat like frightened little girls running away from a flying cockroach if it becomes apparent that we can't beat her."

Everyone turned to look at her with a strange look on their faces after hearing her strange analogy, but eventually nodded in agreement as they prepared their cannons and torpedo launchers, the stoic Abyssal Demon looking down at the two fleets whilst sitting on her Beast as she remarked in the classic Abyssal voice upon sailing close enough for her voice to be heard.

[You are here...]

Haruna led the charge as they prepared their weapons, staring down the Anchorage Demon as she grimly ordered,

 _"Open fire!"_

And the world was once again engulfed in a chorus of deafening cannon-fire as the two sides opened the battle with devastating cannon salvos, the recoil and shock-waves of the mass discharge of cannons causing the ocean and skies to tremble in fright as the final round began.


	31. Chapter 31 - Leviathan

Firing her torpedoes in a concentrated salvo, Shigure ducked as the ship girls and Abyssals began their shelling and torpedo salvo.

And as Saratoga, Chitose and the Anchorage Demon sent out their planes amidst the chaos, Shigure noted the Abyssal Mark ll Fighter and Dive Bomber Planes flying towards them.

Shigure heard the voice of someone crying out in pain behind her, but she forced herself to ignore them as she fired her cannons in order to distract the rank and file Abyssals, thus allowing their bomber planes to accurate drop their payloads, Haruna's shell hitting the Anchorage Demon's shields and causing vibrant red ripples to dance across the previously invisible shields.

Shigure dived to the right in order to avoid the dropped payload of the Mark ll Dive Bomber, noting through the spray of seawater as a result of the detonation of said payload that Haruna and Chitose's combined Anti-Air fire managed to take out an incoming Abyssal plane, the Dive Bomber bursting into flames as it failed to pull up in time to avoid the sudden hail of Anti-Air gunfire.

She heard Kagerou's energetic voice call out,

"That's the spirit!"

Before being forced to evade a Ho-Class's medium-caliber shell.

Arare and Sendai's torpedo salvo struck the lone Ri-Class heavy cruiser as they worked together to force the Abyssal to evade one salvo, but was then steered into the path of another salvo, and while the Abyssal heavy cruiser was engulfed in a watery hemisphere of doom, Shigure could see that it wasn't killed by the torpedo salvo.

Second and third-degree burns plagued her left leg as she stepped out of the smoke, and while charred flesh was starting to peel off of her bones, flames were dancing on her left arm cannon as armor plates fell into the ocean.

The burns caused a copious amount of bleeding as ruptured vessels oozed out blood and fuel, further fueling the fire on her boots as they slid down her thighs to be ignited by the burning boat slippers, the flames licking at the descending drops of fuel and tempted them to rise up and further burn the weakened Ri-Class's leg.

Shigure could hear somebody grimly order,

"Put her down!"

A Type 99 Dive Bomber swept down in order to carry out the ship girl's orders, but the Abyssal was clearly still functional as she raised her arms to allow her Anti-Air turrets to take out the incoming bomber, succeeding as the armor plates of the Type 99 Bomber were shot off, sparks flying before smoke quickly erupted from the fuselage as the plane was quickly compromised.

The Fairy pilot ejected from its plane and activated the parachute in its ejector seat, but the spiraling plane droned on and spilled out smoke and fuel as it spun out and inexplicably smashed into the face of the damaged Ri-Class in an unintended, yet successful kamikaze attack.

The payload which the Type 99 Dive Bomber carried detonated at point-blank range, and killed the Ri-Class as Shigure looked away from the ensuing fireball, firing a round at a Ha-Class destroyer as she noted the Abyssal's final condition.

Blood and fuel was spurting out of the Ri-Class's neck, missing its entire head save for what remained of its burning steel skull as the corpse collapsed onto the ocean surface, knees hitting the ocean before she collapsed forwards as the Ri-Class's internal systems failed and allowed the spreading flames to cremate the sinking corpse.

Haruna shouted,

"Evasive maneuvers!"

Shigure snapped back to attention and strafed in order to evade the barrage of large-caliber shells fired from the cannons of the Anchorage Demon, whose Beast extruded a few large-caliber cannons from its flank which were previously hidden by the Demon's large dress attachment, shells whizzing past them as the Demon let fly a broadside salvo along with her powerful autocannon mount.

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer turned around to find that Jintsuu was taken out before this, joining the three other injured ship girls as she saw that Jintsuu was lying supine on the ocean surface, using Naka's legs as a head rest as she took fast, deep breaths while Kuroshio applied pressure on a wound on her stomach.

Arare sailed in as the Asashio-Class destroyer covered her with another torpedo salvo, accurately hitting the Anchorage Demon's shields and causing the hexagonal plates to flare up in violent red hues as explosions of water vapor flew everywhere and drenched the Anchorage Demon.

Sailing away from the large-caliber cannons which were shifting towards them in order to avoid getting shot at, Shigure sailed towards the remaining Abyssal posse and fired her cannons along with Shiranui, Kagerou and Arare in order to try and take out the Ha-Class destroyers to eliminate the possibility of the Abyssals crippling their battleship and carriers with torpedoes, allowing them to focus on the Anchorage Demon.

This succeeded as they torpedoed the destroyers into oblivion, their exoskeletons falling apart as the explosion blanketed them with a series of devastating explosions as Arare's torpedo smashed into the flank of the pretty-much destroyed Abyssal, wiping it from the face of the Earth as Arare held up a fist and cheered lazily.

"Score…"

Shiranui warned, sailing around the Anchorage Demon along with Kagerou as she explained their next move to Arare and Shigure over the radio.

"Arare, stay back until your torpedo launchers finish reloading.

I counted the number of torpedoes which you launched, and you've fired them all.

Shigure, Kagerou and I will fire any other torpedoes we still have in our launchers to open up a path for Haruna and Sendai to engage the Anchorage Demon."

Arare retreated in accordance with Shiranui's orders, and gave Shigure a quick nod as Shigure sailed up, emptying her torpedo launchers along with the two Kagerou-Class destroyers in order to fire as many torpedoes as possible to try and break the Anchorage Demon's defensive shields.

And as expected, the Abyssal Demon winced and recoiled as the torpedoes hit their mark, the sound of something shattering signalling the destruction of the bottom layer of the shields, leaving the Beast vulnerable to torpedoes as a result.

Shigure called out to Saratoga over the radio, performing evasive maneuvers as the Beast sent out another two Abyssal Mark ll Dive Bombers in order to incapacitate them before they could take advantage of her period of vulnerability.

"Saratoga-san!

The Anchorage Demon's torpedo shields are down, and you can use torpedo bombers to try and take her down until her shields come back online!"

Shigure was then tag-teamed by the two Ho-Class light cruisers with their torpedo salvos, so that even when Shigure evaded one, she would be hit by the other, since the two Abyssals were obviously coordinating their actions to deal as much damage as possible while working together.

Performing a desperate roll on the surface of the ocean, she realized too late that this was actually a three-part plan as an Abyssal Mark ll Dive Bomber swept down for a bombing run, heading for her as its machine guns fired in order to soften her up.

Shigure put all of her energy into all her limbs as she pushed off in a great burst of speed in order to evade another attack right before the bomb detonated on the ocean surface, the high-temperature shock-wave of the explosion lifting her clean off the ocean as though a big bad wolf had blown her off her feet.

She felt weightless for a millisecond, the world shifting into a high shrill as she was showered with a powerful wave of seawater hitting her like a freight train while her ears rang with the echoes of the explosion, before gravity finally decided to kick in and drag her back down.

She hit the ocean while the thrown-up seawater threatened to drown her as a giant tidal wave pushed her into the ocean, Shigure struggling to learn how to swim in the midst of battle in order to try and swim back to the surface, tasting sweet, sweet air after accidentally inhaling seawater, causing her to hack and cough upon surfacing.

"AACCKKHHPPTT!"

And the first thing she saw was the Abyssal Demon sailing towards her, blanching and feeling the fear of being killed by the Demon settling in so fast, she instantly turned tail and scrambled back towards her retreating teammates, Saratoga's TBF Avengers dropping their torpedoes into the water in order to cover her escape as Shiranui called out.

"Be careful, Shigure.

That cannon likely won't work now, after you were dunked in the ocean and likely drenched the gunpowder.

Use your torpedo launchers from now on."

Shigure looked down at her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon, grimacing as she attempted to fire a shell and felt her stomach drop upon hearing the cannon produce nothing but a damp and hollow,

' _Click'._

But she looked down at the Fairies which were standing on her rigging as she coupled the cannon to her rigging, allowing her Fairies to fix her cannons as she noted that two of them were standing on her left shoulder, both of them dual-wielding hair dryers in order dry the gunpowder through home appliances.

Saratoga's Dauntless Dive Bombers swept down along with another two Type 99 Dive Bombers in order to destroy the Demon's shields, and Haruna was limiting her cannon fire to consecutive fire in order to strike at the same spot on the Anchorage Demon's shields repeatedly, concentrating all her damage on a single plate.

The Demon attempted to point the violent-red plate away from the Kongou-Class battleship, but with the help of Arare and Shiranui, who forced the Demon's hand with their concentrated salvo, it bought enough time for Haruna to fire another shell into the compromised plate after re-positioning herself.

And much like the dripping water which cut through stone with persistence instead of force, Haruna's last large-caliber shell broke through the Demon's shields much like a pin piercing through a bubble, smashing through the shield and barely missing the Abyssal Demon's head by a margin, her long, pale hair flaring up wildly in the wake of the large-caliber shell as her crimson eyes widened in surprise.

Everyone could hear Kagerou bemoan,

"Ah, so close!"

But as the Anchorage Demon prepared another salvo by pointing her torpedo launchers in their direction, Shigure watched out for a possible trap as she cautiously sailed in between the torpedoes whilst watching out for the aviation battleship's large-caliber cannons.

She noted how they were shifting to try and shoot them down as soon as they were bottle-necked by the Anchorage Demon's torpedoes, which forced them to sail through the gaps in between the salvo, Shiranui evading a large-caliber shell by the skin of her teeth as the shell threw up a shower of sparks upon grazing surface of her rigging.

The Kagerou-Class destroyer flinched and ducked a second late as an instinctive reflex even when the shell already missed her, Sendai covering her as she threw an armed torpedo towards the compromised hole in the Abyssal Demon's shields.

But the Anchorage Demon was prepared for this, spotting her entrance before she threw her torpedo, and the Beast's right arm tensed up in order to propel itself towards the left, gaining an incredible burst of speed as its arm muscles all activated in order to evade Sendai's torpedo.

Watching the Type 93 Torpedo detonate on the surface of the shield and cause one hell of a wave to ripple across the holographic shield was almost mesmerizing, the sheer brilliance of the fireball causing everyone to shield their eyes with a raised arm, also done in part to protect them from the scorching heat.

Sendai was then treated to the sight of the Anchorage Demon adjusting itself in order to aim its cannons at her, her expression morphing into one of shock as she barely had the time to exclaim,

"Oh, _shit!"_

Before diving to the side and putting a little spin into it in order to evade the incoming large-caliber shell which flew towards her, hitting the ocean hard as the enemy shell landed behind her and doused her in seawater as a result.

But this spectacle was all a distraction to draw the Demon's attention to Sendai, Shigure spotting a tubular projectile being flung into the air by Sendai at the last second before hitting the ocean.

The Anchorage Demon noticed the Type 93 torpedo spinning in the air, projected to land on her weakened upper shield layer and utterly destroy her holographic shields entirely, further extending the repair time and leave her vulnerable as a result.

But the Abyssals weren't known for simply giving up, the Abyssal Demon muttering a simple,

[Tch…]

And focused all her Anti-Air turrets on the torpedo in order in order to destroy it before it landed on her and detonated its payload.

But despite her best efforts, her Anti-Air turrets simply weren't up to the task of shooting down a thrown torpedo which was spinning in mid-air, shrieking as her shields caved in and allowed Sendai's torpedo to envelop her in the resulting fireball.

[Aaaaahhhhh!]

Shiranui ordered stoically,

"She's open to attack.

Sink her."

And even though Shigure and Kagerou gave her strange aside glances in order to note her determination to take down the enemy without mercy, but eventually fired their torpedoes in a salvo alongside Shiranui and Arare in order to crush the Anchorage Demon in a series of devastating explosions, Haruna chipping in with her 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannons while Chitose and Saratoga sent out as many bomber planes as possible.

The dropped bombs, large-caliber shells and torpedoes absolutely devastated the Anchorage Demon as they all synchronized their attacks to land at the same time.

And even when the Demon's Beast attempted to gain another burst of speed in order to evade the incoming barrage, they only managed to strafe into Arare's missed torpedoes while successfully evading the other destroyers' salvos.

It was then hit by of Haruna's large-caliber shells, Saratoga's Dauntless Dive Bombers and Chitose's Tenzan Torpedo Bombers, the Beast stalling in the midst of performing evasive maneuvers due to tanking the damage of Arare and Haruna's respective salvos, overwhelmed by the amount of damage it sustained as everyone looked away at the resulting explosion which would have instantly sunk most Abyssals.

But the Anchorage Demon wasn't like most Abyssals, and amidst the thick, wafting smoke and steaming water vapor which descended like fine afternoon mist, everyone could see that a red light was brightening like a red-tinted spotlight, a previously low-pitched whir increasing in intensity before reaching a crescendo.

Hearing someone behind her shout,

" _GET DOWN!"_

Everyone dived out of the way as a massive, red-colored energy beam carved a canyon through the smoke and seawater, displacing everything in its path and causing chaos in its wake as Shigure struggled to try and regain her bearings after coming into contact with an enemy weapon which she hadn't known about before.

She should have known about this, since she had prided herself on wanting to learn more about everything, but in the midst of battle, she didn't have time to reprimand herself for her lack of research on the enemy as a drenched Shiranui hauled her up from the ocean by her collar and arm.

Shigure could see that the Abyssal Demon was heavily damaged, her hair smoking, her skin charred by harsh burns and was colored with her own blood as she scowled, her uniform singed at the edges as her black underwear was visible underneath her partially burnt one-piece dress and large coattail attachments.

Her Demon was similarly hurt as its steel armor was wracked with serious cracks and holes which allowed them to look into its bleeding insides, its muscular arms missing chunks of flesh as Haruna's shell clipped it in several areas while its fingers were twitching in pain, coughing out red-hot mist in order to cool itself down after firing a hyper beam from its jaw.

Looking around, she noticed that Arare was hit by the beam, the upper right portion of her uniform top burnt off save for her training bra, the Asashio-Class destroyer missing her chimney hat as she winced while lowering her left hand which she used to shield herself, tearing up and hissing in pain.

"Ouch…"

Shigure knew that in a real battle, an attack of that caliber would have vaporized Arare's right arm and a large portion of her body which was marked out by her partially burnt uniform, the radiating heat from the beam likely searing off half of her face as the mild burn now was a stark reminder of that.

Predictably, Tone acknowledged this over the radio as she called out,

"Arare is too damaged to continue the battle!"

Everyone now knew that they were left on the ropes by the Abyssal's hyper beam which no one, not even Shigure, had expected, and Saratoga seemed to echo this thought as she asked of everyone while they all performed evasive moves in tandem, drawing their fire while Shiranui evacuated Arare to safety.

"Did anyone know what the hell that was?

I didn't know that Demons could do that, even if I understand that they're stronger than even battleships and carriers!"

Shigure shook her head despondently, telling the truth about how her first encounter with an Abyssal Princess didn't include a hyper beam being thrown their way.

"I never saw this technique being used by the Southern War Princess.

I'm sorry, Saratoga-san, but I never expected this either."

Kagerou was the one to pipe up about how this technique was uncommon amongst Princesses and Demons, and how doing their homework would've prevented Arare's injury from occurring in the first place.

"Well, some Abyssal Princesses and Demons can perform a hyper beam, and in these situations, it's best to do your homework beforehand in order to know what you're going up against.

This was our mistake, but we can cinch this victory in order to make up for it."

Shigure could see that the Demon was preparing its remaining large-caliber cannons to fire in their direction, hearing Haruna bark,

"Break!"

And everyone broke formation in order to throw off the Anchorage Demon since she wouldn't know which one of them to aim at.

But the Anchorage Demon unfortunately chose to aim at Haruna, the Kongou-Class battleship desperately trying to evade as Chitose's Model 21 Type 0 Fighter Plane tried its best to distract the Demon with its machine gun fire.

It was then shot out of the air as the irate Anchorage Demon focused all of its Anti-Air fire on the irritating fighter plane in order to avoide taking any more damage, holes being torn into its fuselage, left wing and vertical stabilizer fin in order to compromise its ability to fly.

A Fairy pilot ejected from the quickly descending plane in order not to get trapped by the seawater pressing onto the glass window of the cockpit and turn it into an underwater coffin, the Abyssal ignoring the Fairy which activated its parachute in order to focus solely on the ship girls.

Her Beast prepared another salvo of torpedoes and cannons, firing them all en masse in order to cast as wide a net as possible in order to catch as many ship girls as possible, and Haruna had to take slow steps in order to evade the torpedo salvo.

Her action of ducking saved her skin as a shell threw up massive amounts of sparks upon grazing the roof of a 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannon, a sharp, metallic screech screaming out throughout the battlefield as she narrowly avoided some sort of ammunition explosion, the dance of countless yellow sparks fizzling out upon hitting the ocean.

Shigure looked to Shiranui, seeing the look in her eyes as the Kagerou-Class destroyer met her gaze and nodded, Kagerou and Sendai sharing their knowing look as they all ran forwards, everyone else giving their all as Haruna aimed all her cannons while Saratoga and Chitose sent out every plane they had.

The Anchorage Demon responded in kind by firing all her Anti-Air cannons and charged up another hyper beam, the Beast producing more steam than usual as its exhaust ports discharged exhaust while the insides of its widened jaw brightened incrementally.

Shigure, upon hearing the Beast's high-pitched whirring reach the same crescendo before firing its hyper beam, heard Kagerou shout grimly,

"Break formation!"

Everyone strafed, some using their boost gauges in order to quickly accelerate out of the way of the hyper beam, Shigure cringing at how hot the beam was even at a distance, since even if it wasn't at steel-melting temperatures, it was still hot enough to cause minor burns on a ship girl's skin.

Hearing Haruna shout over the wireless radio, since she likely predicted that the chaos would be too loud for everyone to hear her orders, Shigure could hear Haruna's urgent voice become uncharacteristically serious as she shouted,

" _FIRE EVERYTHING!"_

Everyone did just that, the Anchorage Demon facing a triple threat of dive bombers, large-caliber cannon shells and torpedo salvos as she and her Beast desperately tried to look for an exit.

But it was not to be as the Abyssal Demon was engulfed in the mother of all explosions, dive bombers scrambling to get out of the way as everyone was forced back slightly by the blast wave which radiated from the epicenter.

The resulting fireball reached up to four meters in height, Shigure almost falling over due to the force of the blast wave as she thought that her damp hair and uniform would inexplicably be dried by the heat which accompanied it, finally seeing a figure struggling to sail out of the smoke.

Whatever internal mechanism allowed the Beast to charge a hyper beam to fire at the ship girls, it obviously misfired as parts of the Beast's upper jaw was blown right off, flames licking at the dead Beast and Anchorage Demon as the fire spread unchecked within the insides of the large alien carcass.

The Beast's fingers were twitching, its death throes playing out in a last, desperate attempt to keep itself alive as it failed to receive any orders from the deceased Demon, whose charred skin and burnt dress were nothing compared to the smoke which she exhaled through her mouth, her bloodshot crimson eyes dulling and rolling up as the Anchorage Demon duo fell as a result of its Beast losing its hold on the ocean, finally expiring after one hell of a battle.

Shigure heard everyone exhale tiredly, realizing that she let out a breath which she didn't realize she was holding as Sendai and Saratoga collapsed onto the ocean, fine misty vapor settling on the battlefield like the curtain falling after the climax and resolution to a great play, the Abyssal sinking back into the ocean to be repaired by the base for another fleet to fight some other day.

They had won.

It was by no means a perfect victory.

Far from it, it was messy and full of mistakes which could have been prevented if they were more experienced and were thus faster on the draw, like Ayanami and Arare's injuries which were the result of slow reflexes and a lack of knowledge about their opponents.

But it was a win nonetheless.

Shigure lowered her head tiredly as Tone sailed towards them in order to conclude the tiring training session, allowing them to hit the docks before going for dinner.

Their injuries weren't fatal since the amount of damage the Abyssal bots could do was toned down in order to speed up the recovery process and allow the ship girls to attend another training session as soon as tomorrow, something which Shigure was looking forward to after realizing the limits of their capabilities.

Sailing towards the edge of the Safety Zone meant that they might encounter Abyssals which were stronger than the Anchorage Demon.

And while it was best for them to avoid conflict as much as possible since they weren't the strongest fleets around, engaging in firefights with the Abyssals was seemingly inevitable, and they had a lot of training to do if they wanted to survive the upcoming sortie on the 14th of May.

* * *

Saratoga was sitting with her teammates at a canteen table during dinner, the time now being 6:43 p.m. as her fleet had recently checked out of the docks after their intense training session this afternoon.

Ayanami had taken the longest to recover, since a large-caliber shell hitting her in the chest and causing several bones to crack certainly took some time to recover from.

And while Saratoga was still a little bitter that she couldn't protect her teammates, she could at least find some solace in the fact that it was a training shell, which meant that Ayanami wasn't missing a large chunk of her chest and wasn't bleeding out too badly before she hit the docks.

She looked down at her dinner which was three bowls of instant noodles, extra servings being served to carriers and battleships in order to fill their massive appetites, the 1st Fleet happily slurping down their own serving of noodles.

It took some time for her to learn how to use chopsticks and she had considered using a fork to eat the noodles, but when in Rome...

And while it took her a while to learn how to use chopsticks, her advanced learning capabilities allowed her to pick up on its nuances fairly quickly, and she was now able to at least use them without making a fool of herself.

She was finishing her food when she saw that a group of ship girls were headed towards their table, eventually identifying them as the 8th Fleet and Bismarck, who was chatting with Akitsu Maru animatedly, the foreign battleship holding something in her hand as she looked to Saratoga, the Lexington-Class carrier realizing that she was the one Bismarck wanted to talk to, although Akashi's glance in Shigure's direction meant that the repair ship also wanted to talk to Shigure.

Pushing away her empty bowls as she looked up at the Bismarck-Class battleship, she saw that the fast battleship was elated to get the chance to talk to her, her assertive voice greeting her in German as she said what Saratoga assumed was 'good day',

{Good day.}

Before introducing herself in Japanese.

"I am Bismarck, the nameship of the Bismarck-class battleships.

It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Extending a hand to greet her, Saratoga returned the heartfelt handshake as she understood that despite being a German battleship who fought for the Nazis, Bismarck strongly disapproved of their ideology and was only wearing this uniform solely for the sake of formalities.

The 8th Fleet made themselves comfortable by grabbing nearby seats and seating themselves down wherever they pleased, Kiso sitting with Naka and Jintsuu while Akashi predictably sat down beside Shigure, Bismarck and Akitsu Maru sitting down beside Saratoga as Akitsu Maru explained their reasons for approaching her.

"We wanted to welcome you to the base.

But we realized that buying you something was rather tacky, since anyone could do that without much thought.

We decided to make something for you as a gift, even though we understand that it's a belated one.

Bismarck-chan, show her the product of our hard work!"

Bismarck nodded as she handed her the item which she held in her hand, Bismarck and Akitsu Maru giving her warm smiles as she did so.

Saratoga received a laminated piece of A4 paper, and on it was an impressive recreation of a very familiar comic cover of one of America's most popular heroes, albeit with her replacing Captain America on the hand drawn cover.

It was an accurately-rendered alternative version of _Captain America Comics #1_ , with the title being changed to,

'CAPTAIN SARATOGA'

And she saw that she was the one who was on the comic cover, punching Bismarck out in lieu of Captain America decking Hitler in the face with a nasty right hook.

She was holding a shield which was colored like the American flag in her left hand, and Saratoga, Bismarck and the small crowd of what she assumed to be German ship girls were all wearing their respective uniforms, Saratoga's fuming expression being vented through her punch to a shocked Bismarck's face, maps of America lying around the room and a live feed of U.S. munitions factories being blown up.

Two ship girls wore identical uniforms, dark blue berets and one-piece sailor uniforms with white trimmings with small anchor attachments above each thigh as well as high-collar undershirts underneath their uniforms, and they were firing a Russian PPSh-41 sub-machine gun and a pistol at her.

One possessed silky chestnut-auburn hair and similarly-colored eyes, along with locks of slightly longer hair swaying beside her face, the black ribbon on her beret reading,

'Z3'

As she fired her PPSh-41 sub-machine gun with a fierce expression, while her sister ship, 'Z1', had short silver hair and light-blue pupils, her eyes opened in surprise as she fired her pistol.

Saratoga could see that a ship girl who was dressed up like Bismarck occupied the bottom left of the cover page, wearing a peaked cap and the same red-black-grey uniform with an Iron Cross on her shoulders, long blonde hair tied up in low twin-tails with anchors holding them in place.

Standing closer to the foreground, Saratoga could see that whoever this ship girl was, she was holding a Luger pistol which was used by the Nazis in World War 2, the bullet bouncing off of Saratoga's shield as Saratoga braved the hail of bullets in order to deliver a sucker punch to Bismarck, likely chosen to be the embodiment of the Nazi regime in this alternate cover.

In a corner was another ship girl, a paler version of Bismarck in every sense of the word as her uniform was a white-red-black color scheme, a peaked cap covering her blonde hair as the dark visor almost covered her blue eyes her extended sideburns swayed gracefully, her hair also tied up in small but long ponytails behind her head.

Her uniform top was white, along with a red-white capelet with a flared-out high collar which was held together by a steel anchor and a red-black striped tie with an Iron Cross proudly displayed on it, and her black miniskirt was barely covering her jet black leggings.

Like Z1 and the ship girl in the foreground, Saratoga could see that this ship girl was firing her pistol whilst standing beside another swastika which was displayed on the wall, and was adjacent to the live feed of a U.S. munitions factory exploding.

A ship girl was seated before the screen and was wearing headsets, wearing a black-grey attire as a strangely-shaped cap which fitted underneath the headset's headband, her metallic choker extending an antenna upwards near where her left shoulder was, and her little metallic-grey jacket covered her one-piece dress and was connected to her thick shoulder-length gloves, providing protection against the chilling northern seas.

Her pale hair reached down to her elbows, and there were hints in the picture to prove that she was wearing black leggings, the ship girl facing away from Saratoga and was looking at the screen before her.

There was also a footnote which was written in the signature comics book font,

' _Also_

CAPTAIN

SARATOGA'S

YOUNG ALLY,

 **O'BANNON** '

And showed a ship girl with bright auburn-red hair reaching down to her neck, styled in a way which flared out a little before curling in a little at the ends, her red eyes shining with enthusiasm as she wore a pink-colored four-leaved clover hair pin with the captions 'CAN DO' written on it, saluting the reader with a white shoulder glove-covered hand and a brilliant smile.

Saratoga felt a sense of awe and gratefulness upon seeing that her comrades, some of whom she had never met before, had done their best to try and help her overcome her loneliness by helping out in any way they could, Bismarck tucking a hair behind her ear as she proudly explained the piece of art to everyone who gazed down at Bismarck and Akitsu Maru's handiwork with impressed looks in their eyes.

"It is quite the honor to be depicted as the ship girl who punched me in the face, even if it's in a fictional work.

We wanted to help you feel a little better even if you're alone in our base, and we wanted to recreate a famous American comic cover in your image with me and the Kriegsmarine.

This is Lebe,"

Pointing to the silver-hair little girl,

"Max,"

Shifting her finger to Lebe's sister ship, also a girl,

"Graf Zeppelin,"

Pointing at the ship girl who stood at a corner and was wearing a white-red-black color scheme,

"Prinz Eugen,"

The ship girl who shot at Saratoga's shield,

"And U-511."

And the ship girl wearing a headset and looked away at the television screen.

Akitsu Maru clapped while sitting beside Bismarck, explaining how they did their best to illustrate this picture and the ship girls in it accurately, either by memory or through the internet.

"Well, Bismarck-chan searched her memory archives in order to draw these German ship girls in all their glory.

And when we weren't sure what the American ship girl looked like, we hit the internet in order to help fill in the blanks!"

Saratoga nodded as she turned to look at Akitsu Maru and Bismarck to thank them both for their efforts to help make her feel welcome, clearly succeeding as Nagato had helped her out with her past, Shigure and the 1st Fleet befriending and working with her, and comrades whom she hadn't met yet going the extra mile to make her feel at home, even when they were under no obligation to do so.

It really touched her heart, to see everyone try to be her friend even after being their enemy in the past, something which could've driven a wedge between them before she even stepped foot in this base.

It was a legitimate fear which made her initially fearful of reaching out to anyone, but after seeing everyone genuinely try to befriend her, it really allowed her to see them in a new light and allow herself to believe in their sincerity.

"Thank you, Bismarck-san, Akitsu Maru-san.

But if I may ask, you're so familiar with how your fellow ship girls look like because you're from Germany, aren't you?

But assuming that you're from Germany, is there a reason why you're stationed here in Japan, instead of back in your homeland?"

Wrong move.

Bismarck's smile stretched a little, her right eye twitching a little while every ship girl at the table held their breath, Akitsu Maru interjecting on Bismarck's behalf to explain everything.

"Well, Bismarck was bought by Admiral Mako when her previous base's Admiral decided that she would serve Admiral Mako better than she could her German commanders."

Akitsu Maru, now looking a lot less scary than when she was sortieing due to the lack of blood on her makeup and her uniform, looked down proudly at her work and promptly changed the subject, Bismarck recovering quick enough to fold her arms underneath her bosom, puffing out her chest and shooting Saratoga a forgiving smile as the amphibious assault ship spoke.

"Well, judging by your expression, you're happy with our work.

I'm glad!

We didn't want you to feel lonely, and while some of us thought it's best to create something from the heart, we also wanted to help ease your loneliness by recreating something American, something you would be familiar with.

Kiso, being an avid comic and manga reader, suggested that Bismarck and I draw the issue cover of Captain America punching Hitler in the face, but with you and Bismarck.

Bismarck gladly allowed herself to be portrayed as the one to be punched if it would make you feel better, and I'm glad it worked!"

Saratoga tilted her head in agreement, looking at a smiling Kiso as the torpedo cruiser met her gaze and shot her a warm gaze befitting that of a caring senior, Saratoga looking the occupants of the table as she thanked them all from the bottom of her heart for doing everything they could to make her feel welcome.

"Thank you.

Everyone.

I must thank you all for doing so much for me."

But Haruna responded to that, being one of the level-headed ship girls who could be counted on to say something sensible in times like this.

"But I thought we, the ship girls of Yokosuka, are all already family.

In bond, if not in class.

I don't think there's a need to thank us for doing all this for you, since you're already one of us."

Saratoga blinked upon hearing that, suddenly lowering her head abashedly in order to focus on the 'Captain Saratoga' comic cover, a strange feeling welling up in her throat as she tried to contain her relieved smile.

It wasn't the kind of uncomfortable feeling which was soon accompanied by crying, but it was the kind which accompanied intense happiness, and while she understood the fact that they didn't think too much of this act of kindness, to her, who was the only foreigner…

Well, looking at a smiling but confused Bismarck who couldn't read her thoughts, Saratoga realized that she wasn't exactly the only foreign ship here in Yokosuka, but it was at least safe to say that she was the only American ship girl here.

She explained herself to everyone as she looked around the table, giving a heartfelt talk about how she felt.

"Well, it may not seem much to you all, but I was initially afraid that everyone would want to ostracize me for being American.

But Shigure being my friend, the carriers helping me get acquainted with how carriers of the modern age fight, and the Combined Fleet fighting alongside me to help take down Abyssals, it really means a lot to me.

Compared to what I imagine would've happened because of our bitter past together, I was really thankful that none of my fears and concerns became reality."

Naka nodded, leaning in as she consoled the Lexington-Class carrier with a sad smile.

"Well, we understand that the past should stay in the past.

You're in an almost entirely unique situation, and if we were to try and push you away, it would do nobody any favors except to weaken this base, since we need everyone to work together in order to maximize the combined potential of every ship girl in Yokosuka.

It may sound like we're repeating ourselves here, but we really mean it when we say that you're one of us now."

Saratoga nodded meekly in order to signal her understanding of Naka's words, and Akashi looked down at Shigure as she asked with a fair bit of interest in their recent endeavors.

"Well now.

Did she say that you defeated an Abyssal Demon by yourselves?

That's quite the accomplishment for a fleet that's been created recently and consists of ship girls who haven't worked together yet."

Ayanami clarified Saratoga's statement and the circumstances surrounding their victory.

"Well, we were training with the Infiltration Fleet, so our victory wasn't exactly an impossible feat for us to accomplish.

We lost a third of our members after four rounds of Abyssal horde mode, and none of us did enough research to know that the Anchorage Demon was capable of firing a hyper beam at us, which took out another ship girl."

"But you won anyway."

Ayanami nodded, and Akashi took a sip from Shigure's cup of water, earning her a sideways glance from the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer as the repair ship stuck to her word.

"Then none of it matters.

More training and sorties can help reduce the amount of casualties, but the bottom line is that you were able to kill the Anchorage Demon."

Haruna explained how they might feel that their victory wasn't truly a victory due to the condition they were in afterwards.

"We managed to sink an Abyssal Demon and many Abyssals, although I do admit we could have done so with far less casualties if we had more time to train up and improve ourselves.

We are in no position to boast of our victory when we've done so poorly, and in the presence of a superior fleet."

But Hayasui leaned to address the 1st Fleet, adding on to Akashi's words about the Combined Fleet's performance.

"You girls should learn to believe in your own abilities, take more credit for your victories and stop comparing yourself to other fleets.

You're not wrong to say that you could have done much better, but you don't consider how much worse you could have done.

A win's a win.

And Akashi-chan doesn't give out compliments so easily, so just nod along and accept it."

Saratoga and the 1st Fleet nodded in acknowledgement, the entire base's attention being drawn to the buzzing of the P.A. system which allowed either the Coordinators or Admiral Mako to talk to the entire base, Saratoga realizing it was the latter as the Admiral's female voice resonated throughout the canteen.

"Hey, everyone.

I'd just like to let everyone know that we have scheduled another land-warfare training session on the 22nd.

For those of you who either don't know or forgot what this training session is about, we're going to teach you how to swim, fire a firearm and throw a grenade, amongst others, in order to teach you the basics of land warfare."

Saratoga looked around confusedly as ship girls around her sighed, the Lexington-Class carrier asking Bismarck about what the hell was going on.

"Pardon my ignorance, but what is everyone talking about?"

Bismarck explained how because of the Abyssals unexpectedly attacking them in the past, the world governments ordered that every ship girl be taught land combat tactics and how to use a firearm in order not to be caught off-guard again.

"Well, because of the Abyssal land invasion back in 2007, the various governments of the world all mandated that all ship girls be taught how to fight like a human soldier, like learning how to swim, use a firearm and dig trenches, as well as learning how land and sea-based combat differed in order to fight on both fronts.

But since the Abyssals don't look like they've been planning another land assault for several years, these training sessions were held less and less frequently in order not to waste time teaching us things which we may never utilize.

However, it's still mandatory, so I suppose the Admiral's hosting another one of these before Central start asking questions about her not holding a refresher course."

Naka turned to look at Saratoga as she asked about how much of a coincidence Saratoga asking Admiral Mako for some swimming lessons suddenly caused the Admiral to announce that another land-combat training session be held again.

"Saratoga-san, do you think that you asking for a swimming session was why the Admiral decided to host a land-warfare training session?

I suppose it's really been a while since we've had one of these training sessions, but I remember that one thing which is taught in this session is swimming, and our request might have inspired her to hold another land-warfare training session just for the heck of it?"

The entire table looked towards her, and Saratoga gulped as she faced down twelve ship girls who awaited her answer, and she was thankful that Admiral Mako's voice was there to distract everyone as she looked up at the speakers, everyone eventually following suit as Admiral Mako asked of them.

"Well, since today's the 30th of April, so the date of this training session is scheduled to be on the 22th of May.

So take the time to pick out a swimsuit, since we'll be holding lessons in order to help teach you or help you improve your swimming skills.

We're already preparing the entire base to take a day off in order to allow us to conduct this training session for all ship girls without much fuss.

This is mandatory, so everyone has to attend."

Saratoga could feel the suffocating tension of the pregnant pause which filled the entire canteen, everyone waiting for the Admiral to say something.

And Admiral Mako didn't disappoint.

"I hereby use my Admiral powers to lay down a decree to make it compulsory for every ship class other than the destroyer class to wear a two piece bikini, or a sling bikini.

No exceptions."

Everyone in the silent canteen erupted into unsynchronized 'Aww man!'s, as though they were already waiting for the other shoe to drop the second Admiral Mako shifted her focus onto the swimming lessons, a slight commotion sounding out on the speakers before Admiral Mako spoke again, now sounding as though she were struggling against someone else as she exclaimed while being further away from the microphone,

"Nagato?!

I know you're taller than me, but I insist that you give me back my microphone!"

And Nagato's voice sounding as though she were struggling against her own commander as she spoke into the microphone.

"Belay that last order.

Admiral, stop climbing on me-"

Before the speaker cut to silence, everyone pausing for five entire seconds before resuming their respective conversations, Saratoga furrowing her brows at how everyone decided to conveniently ignore Nagato's last words as Akitsu Maru commented.

"Well, shit.

I guess we all have to go shopping for new swimsuits, because the only thing I have which comes close to being considered 'swimwear' is a striped, form-fitting top and pants."

Akashi asked,

"Is it the old-fashioned one with long sleeves and legs, and is colored black and white to make you look like a fucking zebra?"

Akitsu Maru nodded, and Akashi added,

"Oh wait.

It also makes you look like a prisoner, too."

And upon hearing that, Akitsu Maru's expression morphed into a lazy one as she broke out into an extremely sarcastic laugh while she used her gloved left hand to give Akashi the middle finger, every member of the 8th Fleet breaking out into a fit of laughter while the 1st Fleet sat around them silently, unsure of how to respond to such a joke.

Hayasui commented on how she really needed to update her wardrobe, the 8th Fleet now looking to be a little more invested in the conversation.

"Well, I have to agree with the others here.

It does make you look extremely conspicuous in comparison to, about 90 percent of the ship girl population who wears modern swimsuits.

I suppose living in a bizarre age where revealing more of your body is the norm, I suppose we have no choice but to comply."

Jintsuu explained to everyone their plans to go to the city after their sortie in order to get swimsuits in order for Saratoga to participate in the swimming lessons, leaning in as she spoke.

"Well, the members of the 1st Fleet, both old and new, are going on a trip to the nearby town in order to help Saratoga-san get a swimsuit, as well as to stock up on whatever we need.

You're welcome to join us."

But Akitsu Maru politely declined, explaining that they didn't want to bother the two fleets with their presence, explaining.

"Well, that's mighty kind of you.

But we really wouldn't want to force both your fleets to accompany us everywhere and make things awkward when none of us know how to maintain a conversation with you all.

It's best if we do our shopping by ourselves, please understand."

Jintsuu nodded in order to acknowledge this, but Shigure tried to steer the conversation back on the right track by commenting.

"Getting some more training, even if it's in the form of land-based combat, is good for us.

Not only is it a chance to learn more about new weapons and tactics, but we have powerful memories which help us recall these training sessions accurately.

It may be overkill to spend an entire day learning about the basics regarding how one should be a land soldier, but I suppose it'll be worth it."

Bismarck then questioned inquiringly, looking a little confused as to why this training session was held now, when they had to prepare for the large-scale battle that was to come.

"But why is Admiral Mako holding this training session now?

We need to train up for the large-scale battle to come, and I don't think we need to learn about these land-based combat tactics since we're not going to use them anytime soon, right?"

The 8th Fleet immediately lapsed into silence, Saratoga noting that even Shigure became deathly quiet and made things extremely uncomfortable for the rest of the ship girls at the table, the Lexington-Class carrier suddenly feeling like there was something which the 8th Fleet and Shigure knew about while she didn't.

She surmised that it may have something to do with the battle with the Southern War Princess, since she knew that Shigure was in the Backup Fleet, and it might have something to do with what they learnt in that battle which made them remain silent after listening to Bismarck's comment.

Eventually Akashi answered in an extremely cryptic tone, yet heavily inferred that the worst was yet to come, and they had to prepare for _every_ eventuality.

"Well, Bismarck.

Without divulging any classified information, I must remind you that the Abyssals haven't sprung anything new on us for almost a decade now.

I recommend that you take this training session particularly seriously."

Saratoga gulped at the insinuation, and she could see that everyone got the hint that something else may be at work here, and Kiso decided to change the subject by shifting the focus back onto the new 1st Fleet, a clumsy transition into another topic which did not go unnoticed by the ship girls at the table, but it was not an unwelcome one.

"Well, the land-based training session will occur after your sortie on the 14th of May, so you still have time to get a swimsuit for Saratoga-san, and we still have enough time to prepare for whatever comes next."

Saratoga heard Akashi leaning in to talk to Shigure privately, and she could only make out a few words which the repair ship muttered to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer,

" … not exactly wrong.

The Abyssal's body is capable of …"

Before Bismarck drowned out their voice by asking about why the 1st Fleet was sortieing with the Infiltration Fleet, asking Haruna as Saratoga politely listened to their conversation.

"And if I may ask, Haruna-san, why is your fleet sortieing with the Infiltration Fleet?"

Haruna nodded understandingly as she replied honestly, a warm smile gracing her face as she returned the battleship's gaze.

"We're to escort the Infiltration Fleet out of the Safety Zone, allowing them to perform their duties while in enemy waters under the cover of night.

We were training in order to determine our limits and improve on whatever weaknesses we might identify when we review our performance."

Saratoga nodded, understanding that whatever the Infiltration Fleet were up to, they had to be escorted out of the Safety Zone without taking too much damage. And while she wasn't happy that her teammates were taken out by the Abyssal bots, she was satisfied that they could defeat the Abyssal Demon in their first session together, something which Akashi commended them for accomplishing.

She could hear Naka commenting on their performance as she exclaimed whilst standing up, causing her chair to scrape back on the canteen floor.

"Well, I admit we could have done a lot better and could do without the high casualty count, myself included.

But we'll get better!"

Hayasui lifted an eyebrow to ask her about their ability to sortie in the upcoming large-scale battle, Saratoga noting the concern in the fleet oiler's expression as she did so.

"Well, are you capable of sortieing in the large-scale battle that is to come?

Because even though we need the extra firepower and manpower, we certainly don't want you to sortie with us when your fleet isn't strong enough to defend itself against the Abyssal armada, which will be out to sink you."

Ayanami responded, echoing the 1st Fleet's thoughts as she spoke up and explained how they intended to train some more, as their other members likely were.

"Even though we are willing to join you on the front lines, our abilities and teamwork are certainly not up to par, since we lost four ship girls while defeating several Abyssal fleets and a Demon, while I believe only Hatsuzuki-san slipped into unconsciousness in your battle with the Southern War Princess.

There's still quite a ways for us to go, and we understand our limits well enough to only request for a supporting role.

And while our fleet's composition may be temporary, I believe that our other members, Hiei, Tenryuu, Tatsuta and Junyou-san, are using the time given to them to improve themselves and become stronger."

Unryuu nodded, commenting on how they shouldn't worry about the large-scale battle when they had another upcoming sortie, and they had to focus on surviving the sortie with the Infiltration Fleet before worrying about anything else.

"You need to understand that while it's better for us if you join the battle, understand that we're not so short-staffed to absolutely require you to participate in this battle as a main fleet who fights on the front lines.

You have a sortie with the Infiltration Fleet, and you need to focus on that sortie since it occurs about two weeks from now.

The large-scale battle will occur after that, so you will have more time to improve yourselves and reconsider your final role in this battle."

Unryuu then turned to Akitsu Maru, asking her own teammate about what she had to say regarding the 1st Fleet's upcoming sortie.

"Well, Akitsu Maru?

You've given Saratoga-san a welcome gift, do you have any words to send Saratoga-san off on her first sortie?"

Akitsu Maru was then put on the spot as every pair of eyes at the table turned to her, and in classic Akitsu Maru fashion, she managed to lighten the mood by choosing to quote a phrase which might have drawn the ire of others in another situation.

However, in this case…

"What do you want me to say as parting words?

Um…

'God himself couldn't sink this ship.'?"

As Akitsu Maru scrunched up her face in a confused smile, shrugged and said the first words which came to her mind, the 8th Fleet all burst out into laughter as Akitsu Maru blurted out the words which no ship girl wanted to hear, Akashi displaying her middle finger to flip her off while wearing a shit-eating grin, Bismarck smirking as she exclaimed in German before explaining how that phrase was an omen of doom.

{My God.}

"That's one hell of a death flag to raise, especially for us ship girls who often sail the seven seas."

While Saratoga was trying to rein in her laughter as she remarked over the noise.

"I got it.

I got that reference."

And they all eventually paused their rambunctious laughter long enough for Shigure to point out to everyone, being the bright and precocious little ship girl which Saratoga had known her to be as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer remarked.

"But there's no harm in saying that phrase.

Because then we would need to watch out for icebergs, which, to my knowledge, are practically non-existent in this part of the world, a French-Canadian female singer singing 'My Heart Will Go On' on the ocean, and the ghost of Leonardo DiCaprio inexplicably calling himself 'Jack' for some reason.

All three occurrences seem highly implausible, Akitsu Maru-san, and none of us being named 'Titanic' helps us out a lot too."

But Unryuu, barely suppressing a smirk, added onto Shigure's over-analysis of Akitsu Maru's words, commenting about the new American comrade which they had brought back to this base.

"Yes.

Although with the sudden appearance of Saratoga-san, I wouldn't exactly discount the possibility of a French-speaking Canadian ship girl appearing in our base.

Lightning does strike the same place twice, after all."

Everyone burst out into another bout of lively and unbridled laughter, Kiso miming the action of flinging something at Akitsu Maru with her entire arm as she mocked in jest.

" _Get fucking owned, bitch!_

 _Ahaha!"_

Hayasui was wiping away the tears which were forming in the corners of her eyes, Akitsu Maru wearing a wide grin on her face despite lowering her gaze and lazily shifting her head about as she spoke offhandedly.

"Alright, now I just want to fucking kill myself…"

Saratoga, upon hearing the 8th Fleet's morbid jokes and Shigure's over-analysis of Akitsu Maru's comments, couldn't help but laugh along with the 8th and 1st Fleet, now understanding that eccentric the ship girls of the 8th Fleet may be, deep down, they were still human.

And even if everything about them, from their personalities to their sense of humor, was off-kilter and often deviated from the norm, Saratoga could see that their awkward but straightforward attempts to befriend and be closer to her were sincere.

And while she could do with a little less dark humor and swearing, Saratoga could start to see the beginnings of a unique friendship start to form between them.

It was admittedly lonely to be the only American here in Japan, but as a ship girl and a soldier, it wasn't hard for her to see that there was a place for her here in Yokosuka, along with other ship girls who fought alongside her.

* * *

The time was 6:30 p.m. in the Japanese island of Okinawa, an island where U.S. and Japanese forces had fought, bled and died for an outcropping of rock to the South of Kyushu back in World War 2.

It was an island which was slightly isolated from the Japanese mainland, but the one naval base which protected the Okinawa Islands were well-connected to the mainland thanks to improved internet connectivity, and had a fair amount of resources stockpiled alongside the occasional ferries which sailed in from Kyushu to keep them stocked up in case of emergencies.

Admiral Tachibana, Admiral of the Okinawa Naval Base, leaned in close to his monitor screen as he attempted to connect to his second fleet which he sent to Orchid Island, Taiwan.

This sortie was in response to a call which was sent from the island about a strange occurrence which the locals, already used to the presence of the strangely-designed Abyssals in their waters and learnt to avoid them while still sustaining their livelihood as fishermen, still found something strange enough to warrant calling in a ship girl fleet to investigate.

Being a lean man who had a five-o'clock shadow and short oily hair which was recently cut by his secretary ship Shouhou, he scratched at his stubble as he waited yet again for his fleet to get in contact with him, following a series of tried and true steps in which they would establish contact with the locals and determine the situation at hand, and relay it back to Admiral Tachibana for a quick sit-rep.

Along with being the Admiral of a naval base, he was also one of many Admirals who carried out Central's overseas peacekeeping efforts , his ship girls often being tasked with investigating any situations which were called in by the locals of other countries whenever they reported any abnormalities or strange developments.

Having been at this job for a little more than fourteen years, Tachibana Kentaro was no stranger to dealing with difficult situations, from uncooperative locals of other countries who were understandably still resentful of them due to their past, or tampered scenes where the locals unknowingly messed up crucial evidence, and they had to spend a fair amount of time recovering enough of it to bring back for inspection.

His 2nd Fleet consisted of Aoba, Suzuya, Shiratsuyu, Choukai and Nagara, five ship girls who were chosen partially because of their amiable personalities which were determined to be unlikely to cause friction with civilians of other countries, and Choukai said that they would attempt to get in contact with him at this time.

And in his second attempt to connect with his overseas fleet, he saw that the computer window flickered to life with his ship girl on the screen, Choukai standing on a beach along with a large, unidentifiable object located a fair distance behind her.

Choukai the Takao-Class heavy cruiser was wearing a sleeveless blue blouse along with a white sailor collar and red neckerchief, the uniform top exposing her tough abdomen as she looked back at the Admiral.

She wore black gloves while her long black hair reached down to her shoulder-blades, barely covering her red eyes as her glasses did nothing to hide her ruby-red pupils, and on her head was a headdress which possessed five antennas.

Four of them were sticking out horizontally and diagonally in a symmetrical fashion while a lone antenna stood upright on her crown, the entire contraption possessing loose wires to connect the various antennas to each other, and the only thing which didn't belong in her default uniform was the wireless headset microphone which she wore in order to communicate with the Admiral

And since the camera focused on her upper half, Admiral Tachibana could only see so much of her as he greeted casually,

"Hey Choukai.

How's it look down there at Orchid Island?"

Choukai lifted an eyebrow, an unspoken signal of hers to express the fact that there were no complications as she turned to look behind her and stepped out of the way for Admiral Tachibana to witness the scene, only speaking to the cameraman,

"Aoba-san, move up for Admiral Tachibana to see what the locals found.

This is obviously the work of the Abyssals, but he needs to see what the hell happened before this blue whale died and washed up here."

He could only inhale sharply as Choukai shifted her body in order to allow Admiral Tachibana to gaze upon the sight of the beached blue whale carcass, all while Aoba took up the camera and started strolling along with Choukai.

It was almost sad, gazing upon a once-majestic colossus which towered over the comparatively tiny beach umbrellas as it was reduced to a pile of dead flesh and bones, the deceased blue whale likely being an adult since he knew the heights of his ship girls well, and Suzuya standing near an inflicted wound which was taller than her by one and a half times temporarily stopped his breath.

The whale's buckets of blood had already stained the wet sand, the waves crashing in softly in order to wash some of it away as locals surrounded the corpse, attempting to salvage what they could from the dead whale without interfering with the ship girls' work as Choukai turned back to the camera in order to explain herself.

"We arrived at Orchid Island in the morning, at approximately 0943 hours, and we then contacted the locals at around 0956 hours.

We spent half an hour negotiating with the locals, coming to the agreement that we get to keep any recovered evidence for free, and we get to spend three hours studying the unusual blue whale carcass without any restrictions.

In return, when the three hours are up, the locals get to salvage what remained of the carcass even after the carcass had been here around 0125 hours last night, so some of the whale's flesh had already spoiled."

Admiral Tachibana nodded along as she spoke, trying to find the highlight of this story as he leaned back in his seat, looking at the situation from a few angles as he did so.

"Hm...

But I think I might have missed the punchline here, since whale deaths are sad, but not uncommon.

What's the problem here?"

Choukai pointed at the whale carcass, pointing out the biggest wound which was inflicted on the dead animal as the Takao-Class cruiser pointed out.

"The fishermen on the island didn't think too much of this death, but when they studied the wounds that were inflicted on the whale, they found that it didn't match any of the usual suspects, like killer whales.

Instead, they called us in when they found _these_."

And the camera was pointed down in order to focus on the two items in Choukai's hands, Admiral Tachibana's eyes slightly widening even after having seen quite a few things in his relatively long and colorful career.

The item which filled the heavy cruiser's hands actually sent a small chill down Admiral Tachibana's spine simply due to their respective sizes, something which didn't happen very often nowadays due to his 'seen-it-all' attitude which was shared by almost every Admiral which served for ten years or more.

And even Choukai, being an analytical ship girl who kept her cool with her soft-spoken voice and observant personality, was deathly silent as she presented what looked to be a pearly-white shark tooth and something resembling the end of an elephant tusk.

Or a saber-tooth tiger's canines.

Except bigger.

But the previously pale shark tooth in Choukai's left hand was sharpened to the point of almost expressing its cutting-edge through the TV screen and looked capable of cutting a dropped hair strand, its white luster stained by viscous whale blood, Choukai's glove similarly stained by the substance which dripped from the dislodged shark tooth which was extracted from the flesh of the whale carcass.

It almost eclipsed the Takao-Class heavy cruiser's adult palm, and what baffled Admiral Tachibana was how a Great White Shark's tooth paled in comparison to what was in Choukai's hand, Admiral Tachibana now giving this situation his undivided attention as he started considering all possibilities, noting the other dislodged tooth in Choukai's right hand.

It was shaped like a saber-toothed tiger's infamously long canine, about 10 centimeters of blood-soaked steel as whatever unholy creature it originated from was able to take down a full-grown blue whale, the largest animal to have ever existed.

Admiral Tachibana, placing his elbow on the table and covering his mouth in order to hide his admittedly quivering lower jaw, asking his ship girl about just what the hell he was looking at.

"Alright, Choukai.

The tooth in your right hand only seems to match a handful of the Abyssal Beasts which we've encountered thus far, and looks a lot like a shark's tooth, but larger.

I have no idea about the dagger-looking tooth, since I'm pretty certain that there are very few Abyssal Beasts which possess teeth which are shaped like that.

The presence of two different sets of teeth also doesn't make sense, since this would contradict the M.O. of one Princess or Demon per fleet, and we're assuming that only a Demon or Princess's Beast is strong enough to even hurt, much less kill a blue whale, so what're we looking at here?"

Choukai nodded solemnly in order to affirm her Admiral's thoughts, expressing her own opinion on the situation and the recovered evidence.

"Yes sir, I've considered most of those questions as well.

This…"

Slightly lifting the broken-off bloody fang in order to draw her Admiral's attention to it, Choukai continued her analysis on the curious case of the deceased blue whale which was washed up on this little island off the coast of Taiwan.

"I have been unable to determine which Beast this tooth comes from, even when its material composition undoubtedly consists of Abyssal steel.

It's an incomplete hypothesis, but until further evidence presents itself, I think we can safely say that these two sets of teeth came from two different Beasts, the likes of which we have never seen before."

Admiral Tachibana cocked his head, leaning back in his seat as he expressed a thought which came to his mind then and there, speaking into the microphone as he expressed how this attack contradicted the Abyssals' M.O..

"There's a thought which interests me, and it's how this attack goes against everything which the Abyssals stand for.

They always claim to have the moral 'high ground' by saying that mankind is a blight to Earth and the animals which inhabit it, and how our over-hunting and overpopulation threatens the lives of plants and animals, this being their main justification for attacking us.

This means that they quickly crippled our whale-hunting industry by attacking and even destroying our whaling boats in order to prevent us from hunting and killing any more whales for usable products within their bodies.

It doesn't make sense that they'd kill this whale out of the blue, since it'd contradict their own goals."

Choukai nodded as she saw things from her Admiral's perspective, looking down at the remaining piece of evidence as to what killed the largest animal to ever exist, working off of Admiral Tachibana's points as she remarked.

"Right.

And if it wouldn't make sense for a Beast to hunt for a blue whale, since it's an accepted consensus that they likely feed off of steel and fuel like every other ship girl and Abyssal, not flesh and blood.

I present one possibility for the motive of this seemingly senseless whale culling, at least until other possibilities present themselves upon further investigation."

"I'm all ears."

Looking down at the gargantuan Abyssal Beast's tooth, Choukai gulped before sharing her proposed possibility as to why the Abyssals wanted this whale dead.

"Perhaps they wanted to hunt this blue whale for no other reason than for sport.

To mortally wound it and allow it to beach itself here, for us to find."

Admiral Tachibana raised an eyebrow and muttered a slightly incredulous,

"Hm."

But to the ship girls who knew him well, this wasn't exactly an expression of disbelief, but rather a signal for the speaking party to try and convince him of their side of the argument, Choukai acknowledging this as she pocketed the saber-like tooth in order to pull out a sheath of bloody papers from her pocket, looking down at the transcripts of the conversations they had with the locals and drawing their conclusions based off the information they had so far.

"Well, the locals had tried their best to reconcile the size and shape of the jaws which would inflict such a wound on the blue whale, and one of the cleanest wounds dealt was the wound which Suzuya is standing beside.

Aoba, move up and let the Admiral see the wound."

Admiral Tachibana watched the screen as Aoba nodded, walking forward as Aoba called out to the Mogami-Class heavy cruiser with her cheery voice.

"Yo, Suzuya!

Smile for the camera, the Admiral's watching!"

Suzuya looked towards the monitor and started waving towards the Admiral, pointing at the gigantic wound on the carcass's flesh as she smiled uncomfortably, calling out to him as she did so.

"Yo, Admiral!

You seein' this?!"

Choukai continued with her explanation, the sound of flipping papers sounding out in the background as the heavy cruiser continued.

"The locals have confirmed that this triangular tooth is that of a shark, but they say that its sheer size eliminates almost every known species known to them.

The size and shape of the jaw which inflicted this wound corroborates this claim, and even when we've done the math and reconstructed the jaw which could have done this on the computer, we're hard-pressed to match it to any Abyssal Beast which we know of so far.

The jaw size and shape, as well as the shape of the teeth which they possess disqualifies almost every Beast which we know of, and those Beasts who barely fit the criteria, they possess muscular arms which they could've used to incapacitate the whale, but we've detected no bruising or contusion wounds to prove that whatever did this possessed human hands to aid in its slaughter."

Choukai turned to look at Admiral Tachibana with a grim expression as she finished her explanation.

"Whatever these two Beasts were, it's clear that they could've killed this whale in secret and never allowed it to reach anywhere close to our shores.

But they attacked this whale, chased it here and forced it to beach itself in a last-ditch move before bleeding out and allowing us to find its carcass, instead of finishing the job and dragging it into the depths…

It's sloppy work, and in my experience, the Abyssals aren't the kind to allow their work to be 'sloppy'."

"So they did it for shits and giggles?

That sounds even less like them."

"Well, lest you forget, there exists quite a few dangerous personalities amidst the ranks of the Abyssal forces, such as the Southern War Princess in all its incarnations, as well as the Re-Class aviation battleship, amongst others."

Nodding, Admiral Tachibana was already considering his next moves as he asked.

"Alright, pack up and bring the evidence back home.

We'll study it here and write a report back to Central in order to warn them about the possible presence of a new Beast and allow them to prepare themselves."

But Aoba, standing behind the camera, was the one to talk to the Admiral as she used the camera to zoom in on the shark tooth as she elaborated darkly.

"Wait, Admiral.

This tooth is confirmed by the locals to be a shark tooth, but they say that no shark which exists in the modern age possesses shark teeth this large, and they know this since they've met their fair share of sharks.

But…"

They all looked down at the two bloody sets of teeth, coming to one conclusion after realizing their current search parameters limited them to animals of the modern age, a convention might have to be reevaluated yet again when one considered the fact that they were dealing with a new Abyssal type.

"This tooth appears to match the tooth size and shape of one other species of underwater animal, but only if we expand our search parameters to include extinct, prehistoric beasts."

Admiral Tachibana gulped as he leaned in further back into his seat, feeling afraid that he was at risk of falling back and collapsing on his chair if Aoba, of all people, was going to suggest what he feared, almost whispering into the microphone.

"No way.

They wouldn't go that far, would they?"

Choukai looked down at the bloody tooth which likely belonged to an extinct prehistoric beast, although its descendants and relatives had survived into the modern age as equally fearsome, albeit downsized predators.

But that did nothing to diminish their effectiveness at hunting and killing prey, and now, Aoba was going to suggest the impossible after dismissing every possibility which they could think up of.

"Admiral.

This steel tooth doesn't belong to any Abyssal which we know of, but its general shape is extremely similar to that of a Great White Shark, albeit larger.

I have good reason to believe this is a tooth of an Abyssal Megalodon Beast."

Admiral Tachibana inhaled sharply upon hearing the words which he least wanted to hear, but knew deep down that it wasn't an impossibility.

To create Abyssal Beasts which could easily kill titanic beasts underwater...

Nothing seemed off-limits now.

This was something else entirely, a new Abyssal Beast which was out there, on the loose and could attack anyone even while underwater, a feat which few other Abyssals were capable of replicating due to their inability to attack while underwater.

"And although I don't know who controlled and ordered it to kill this blue whale, I only know that this Beast wasn't working alone.

There's another Beast out there, and they worked together to kill this blue whale, likely for sport."


	32. Chapter 32 - Mono no Aware

**Author's Note**

 _Sorry about the various notices concerning this chapter._

 _Fanfiction's chapter uploader told me that there was an error regarding the uploading of this chapter but uploaded the chapter anyway, so I uploaded it twice._

* * *

Tatsuta was standing with Tenryuu on a pier which was located at a secluded area of the Yokosuka Naval Base, the younger Tenryuu-Class cruiser soaking in the peaceful silence which lingered in between them but was occasionally broken by the rhythmic sloshing of the waves, Tatsuta suddenly finding a newfound appreciation regarding their time together.

Because if either one of them died…

No.

As morbid as she liked to be in order to remain pragmatic about everyone's chances of survival, she knew that this was a bad habit of hers where she never went the full distance to try and connect with everyone, instead distancing herself mentally and emotionally in case they lost anyone and minimizing the damage done to her psyche and morale in the process.

But even when she considered their dismal odds of survival, she decided that she would subvert this habit for once and be open with her sister, the most important person in her life.

It was entirely possible that she would die and Tenryuu would live, or vice versa, or they'd both die on the operating table and they'd only be remembered as ship girls to be added to the statistics that were recorded by the annals of history.

And in case those hypothetical scenarios came true, she wanted to spend as much time as possible being open with everyone instead of being so cryptic with her true thoughts and emotions, leaving them with an incomplete understanding of who she was…

She caught herself in time, shaking her head wistfully as she felt another breeze roll in from the ocean, chastising herself for her default outlook on life, realistically pessimistic with a generous serving of dry wit to help her deal with life.

' _Look at me._

 _Being told I'm being given semi-reasonable odds of surviving and I'm already talking as if the worst was an inevitability._

 _Not surprising, when you realize that 70% chance of dying is more likely to occur than the 30% chance of survival._

 _And when you consider the fact that_ both _of us have to survive this…'_

Noting that Tenryuu was now looking at her, she prepared herself for her sister's questions as she gave Tenryuu a wry smile, starting the conversation.

"Well, Tenryuu-chan?

I know that look well enough to understand that you have questions.

Feel free to ask me anything."

Tenryuu, having taken off her eye-patch beforehand in order to enjoy the view in its entirety, was able to look Tatsuta in the eyes as she asked without restraint or tact.

"I also know that look on your face well enough to know that you were thinking about death, or at least entertaining some pretty morbid thoughts.

And I understand that accepting the procedure had you thinking of our mortality, hmm?"

Tatsuta lifted an eyebrow and conceded the point, not putting it past Tenryuu to be capable of reading her rather accurately, answering truthfully as per her latest motto to be transparent with her sister and teammates.

"Well, yes.

I was thinking about the chances of us both surviving the procedure.

This isn't the same as a battle, where certain factors are at least within our control.

This is the same as the people back in medieval times leaving their fate to the gods, and our powerlessness infuriates me to no end."

Tenryuu nodded, looking rather somber about the entire situation as she watched the shimmering ocean on the 2nd of May with her two good eyes, having taken off her eye-patch before this.

"Well, I understand where you're coming from.

Recently, I've slowed down after accepting the offer to take the chance to really think about the possible ramifications of my death…"

The younger Tenryuu-Class cruiser's head snapped to the left so quickly, Tatsuta briefly wondered if she might get whiplash as her mind caught up to her subconscious reaction upon hearing Tenryuu talk about her own death, computing Tenryuu's words as she chided.

"Tenryuu.

Don't say that."

But Tenryuu looked towards her, grabbing Tatsuta's shoulders and slightly spun her so that they were facing each other, Tatsuta's fierce expression giving way to a slightly surprised one upon seeing Tenryuu be so assertive all of a sudden.

She knew that she was going to see the mature side of Tenryuu show itself, an occurrence which even Tatsuta rarely saw since Tenryuu was the kind of ship girl who buried her thoughtfulness and insightful nature underneath a facade of bravado and boasts.

"Tatsuta.

I'm old enough to understand that if it's my time to go, I'll accept it.

But that doesn't mean I'm not scared of dying.

I'm afraid of losing you, the Admiral, as well as all the friends which I've made so far.

The 1st Fleet most of all."

Tenryuu released her gloved hands as she lowered her gaze, looking thoughtful about their situation as Tatsuta listened attentively to every word she said, since it was possible that she may never get to hear her sister's voice again, one way or another.

Shit, there she went again.

"I've been thinking a lot about our lives, how one of us may live while the other dies, and how I would deal with something which was out of my control.

And I think I've come to a conclusion on this.

I promise, Tatsuta.

If I'm the only one to live through this, I'll strive to live on, no matter what."

Tatsuta then leaned back as Tenryuu leaned in, Tatsuta seeing the determination in Tenryuu's wide, shining eyes which belied the hidden strength and conviction behind her thoughts and beliefs.

"Don't get me wrong, Tatsuta.

I would never want to live in a world without you, but we have to be realistic.

On the off-chance that, touch wood, you die for real, I want to promise you this before I sit myself down on the operating chair.

I will do my best to keep living on, no matter what.

I'll mourn you and pay my respects, but I know you, and I know that you wouldn't want me to chain myself to the past and allow yourself to be a burden, right?"

Tatsuta looked down at the floorboards and the ocean beneath them, knowing that Tenryuu had spent enough time with her to know that the last thing she would want to be was a burden to Tenryuu and chain her down, either on the battlefield or in her memories.

She nodded in order to acknowledge Tenryuu's accurate prediction of her wants, allowing her sister to continue her heartfelt monologue.

"I also understand that you must have felt unbearable pain when I sank back in the previous war…"

Tatsuta winced, looking away and becoming deathly silent as she remembered how she felt back in the war when Tenryuu sank, and how it changed her for the worse since she was pretty much sailing through the war without much of a purpose by then, with no sister to protect and rely upon for protection.

It was strange though, how she could feel those emotions back then even when she was a simple vessel of steel and fuel.

But being conceptualized on a blueprint and being given a name, being created by builders before being released into the ocean in order to sail the seven seas and fight like hell before sinking, it was not unlike the life and death of a human, so perhaps it wasn't out of the question that in that state, she might be able to think and feel, albeit at a rudimentary level.

Tenryuu continued,

"And while I can't understand that pain, I want you to know that I want what's best for you."

Tatsuta met Tenryuu gaze, and she could see that knowing her odds of survival really made her sister consider the worth of her life and her relationship with everyone else.

And while Tatsuta understood the possibility of dying, she was glad that this allowed Tenryuu to be honest with her, and she indulged her pessimistic mood one more time to say that even if she were to die, she wouldn't regret it after seeing Tenryuu be so honest with herself and shared her thoughts so freely with Tatsuta.

"I won't tell you what I want you to do, like keep yourself alive and don't kill yourself out of grief, since I have no idea how painful it feels to have a sister ship die on me.

So I'll just say that whichever path you choose, I'll respect it nonetheless."

Something within Tatsuta's heart twisted uncomfortably upon seeing Tenryuu give her a sad smile which was quite uncharacteristic of her, and while she wanted Tenryuu to be honest with both Tatsuta and herself, she didn't like seeing Tenryuu be sad or morose.

And while she teased Tenryuu about liking it when she saw her panicked or embarrassed expressions, it never extended to pained or sad expressions where she knew that something was eating at her from the inside, and she knew that it certainly hurt her sister to implicitly say that she would understand if she chose to take her own life after surviving while Tenryuu died, solely out of grief.

Tatsuta looked away, thankful that her hair managed to hide her slightly watering eyes from her sister even though she knew that Tenryuu would've picked up on her developing habit of not meeting other people's gazes, especially her sister's, when she wanted to say something heartfelt.

"Well, you've said your piece.

Now it's my turn."

Inhaling, Tatsuta appreciated the sight of the soothing ocean waves and the light breeze hitting them, feeling the slight taste of salt in the air and hearing the rhythmic ebb and flow of the waves which all ship girls were familiar with.

"While I admit that the thought of taking my own life has crossed my mind if I were to survive while you died, I have given it some thought during these past few days.

And I think that while it is a possible course of action for someone like me to take, I will say that it will be the last thing I will do.

Killing myself simply because I survived while you died would be an insult to your memory, and I also understand that deep down, you really don't want me to kill myself, right?"

Tatsuta met Tenryuu's widened gaze as she stared her down, and eventually, Tenryuu relented as she looked away abashedly with a slight blush on her face, Tatsuta smiling knowingly as she looked away and continued.

"The grief…

I admit, it is a powerful force which compels you to do things in the heat of the moment, but I want you to know that, touch wood, if you were to die, I will live on."

Tatsuta stepped in, now turning the tables as she leaned in and lifted her gloved hand to tenderly grasp Tenryuu's cheek, shifting the orientation of her sister's head in order to look her in the eye as she explained herself.

"I've also been considering the worth my life, and how I wouldn't want to destroy everything which I've built up so far.

Hiei, Junyou, Shigure, Ayanami…

The Sendai, Kuma and Nagara-Class cruisers…

I don't want to lose them all like I did last time.

And like you said, I will remember you in my heart and mourn your loss.

But as a soldier, I will march on."

Tatsuta's smile was long gone, her expression tranquil yet focused as she expressed the fact that while she was prepared for the worst, she certainly wasn't giving up hope on the situation.

"Relax.

I've already done this before, remember, Tenryuu?

Just rinse and repeat."

Tenryuu's face scrunched up into something unreadable upon witnessing Tatsuta's dark sense of humor at work, and Tatsuta's face relaxed and shifted into a wry smile as she continued.

"Don't worry, Tenryuu-chan.

I, too, want us to be well and alive at the end of the procedure, but I understand that there's a good chance that anything can happen.

And I will remember you…"

Tatsuta released her hold on Tenryuu's cheek in order to hold both her cheeks, intentionally focusing her eyes on nothing in particular as she channeled her inner Gasai Yuno and whispered in an overzealous manner.

" … _in my own special way."_

Tenryuu's mood lightened upon seeing Tatsuta return to her usual self, sharing with her how she wanted to be remembered as they indulged in this morbid conversation.

"Well, if you do, please don't worship me by building a shrine and inviting ship girls to worship me at the church of 'Our Venerable Hero, Tenryuu-Sama' or whatever, that's so goddamned cheesy.

I want to make a distinction while I still can between being revered and being worshiped, and I certainly wouldn't want the latter to occur.

Being worshiped sounds so boring, where you don't have to work to gain everyone's love and admiration, and they put you up on a pedestal and bow before you everyday, never daring to look you in the face.

The former, however…"

Tenryuu looked away, Tatsuta lowering her hands as she gave her sister an aside glance, noting the wistful look in her face as she wondered about what it was like to be revered and how much pain and loss one had to endure in order to reach a point where one was revered by everyone as a hero.

"It's quite the ordeal to be a hero, since you're expected to soldier on and be a shining beacon to everyone, weathering the losses and the pain with nary a sign of cracking.

And even though I can't be that strong right now, I feel that I'm on the right track, taking reasonable risks to become stronger while understanding the need to keep myself alive.

After all, you can't help and save anyone if you're dead."

Tatsuta nodded, looking away as she wondered about things, letting her mind wander while she rested her forearms on the wooden railings of the pier as she did so.

"Hmm, but I suppose no matter how revered of a hero you may be, everyone must die one day, yes?

And even if your legends live on, without you being present to keep those stories and rumors about you alive, wouldn't they will stop being passed down from person to person, effectively allowing your legacy as a hero to end eventually?"

Tenryuu joined her as Tatsuta could see that her sister leaned forward, her elbows resting on the wooden planks which made up the railing as she continued her train of thoughts, adding her opinion to it in order to share her thoughts with Tatsuta.

"Well, you're not wrong there.

Even stories can stop being passed down, and will eventually cease to exist.

But there's a sort of beauty in that, no?"

Tatsuta gave her sister an aside glance, and saw that Tenryuu met her gaze as she gave a sagely smirk, Tatsuta appreciating her sister's rare displays of insight as she heard Tenryuu speak about how mortality could be seen as something beautiful.

"I personally think that impossibly beautiful we ship girls may be, I can't help but feel that our beauty is much like a plastic flower, something which can never die.

And I know that this was a point in the 'debate-for-the-hell-of-it' intellectual debate about whether the ship girls can actually be classified as 'alive' in the conventional sense, if we apparently cannot die as a result of senescence.

And if we didn't have a war to fight with the Abyssals, would we have continued living on until the end of time, save for the occasional maintenance of our bodies?"

Tatsuta raised both arms in faux surprise, lightly teasing her sister as she normally did in a tone which conveyed her playfulness and non-aggression, even though she knew that Tenryuu would never take these playful jabs to heart.

"Oh my, Tenryuu-chan.

Using complicated words like a proper, elephant lady now, hmm?"

Tenryuu chuckled upon noting a certain nameship's mistake in attempting to use complicated words, looking away with an amused smile on her face.

Watching her sister lower her head, Tenryuu's expression now shifted to look genuinely morose while brooding over this topic, continuing on while Tatsuta respectfully listened to her sister.

"I feel that even though it's natural for us ship girls to feel that living forever isn't something out of the ordinary, but I think it's more apparent when you retire and start a family of your own, since you will likely outlive your spouse and your children, and perhaps even your grandchildren…

It feels really sad, when you think about it."

Tatsuta's expression drooped as she considered how her future might turn out, watching her loved ones die a slow and painful death and not being allowed to die with them save for suicide, which was an extremely tasteless way to go after surviving two wars.

Nodding in order to acknowledge Tenryuu's words, her sister noted her nod before she continued with her little monologue.

"I think that death is a love-hate relationship for us ship girls, because even though we die very often in times of war, when we live in peacetime, it's next to impossible for us to die due to our superhuman bodies.

It's rather ironic, don't you think?"

Tatsuta lifted an eyebrow, asking with a fair bit of interest.

"Hmm.

Well, what do you think best describes death, then?"

"At the risk of reminding you of our country's dumber tactics, I suppose dying's a bit like falling cherry blossom petals."

Tenryuu's expression soured as she rolled her eyes derisively, Tatsuta understanding that being a caring ship girl despite disguising it poorly with her cool and aloof facade, Tenryuu was extremely disapproving of how their government convinced their doomed pilots and soldiers to sacrifice their lives wantonly and recklessly under the pretense of 'pretentious, pseudo-philosophical bullshit' of 'honor in death'.

Even though Tatsuta could still see Tenryuu's bitterness regarding their past and the asinine tactics their past commanders encouraged to in order to maintain their warped version of 'honor', her expression still softened enough to allow her to focus on the present.

"Personally, I believe there's no honor in dying by your own hand for whatever reason, and for the life of me, I simply can't understand why I should kill myself over a mistake, for reasons like 'honor' and pride and the like.

I mean, the one way you can recover from that shame is to fight twice as hard in order to make things right, so why should I kill myself and leave this world as a disgraced warrior without being given a chance to restore my lost honor?"

Tenryuu sighed, and Tatsuta could see that this was a sore point for Tenryuu, and despite knowing that her sister's headstrong and 'never-say-die' attitude was going to come into conflict with their culture's themes of self-sacrifice and choosing death in order to restore lost honor, to think that she would go on a small rant on it…

It was a side to her sister which she had never seen before, and it helped her learn more about Tenryuu and understand that she wasn't going to commit seppuku anytime soon.

"Well, that aside, I understand that the greatest death, at least for a human, should come at the end of a long life, to die with dignity after fulfilling all your duties like raising your children well, experiencing love and loss, amongst others.

I mean, at that point, it's sad, but I suppose you can see it as a perfect time to die, much like a cherry blossom tree which blossoms and falls like clockwork every year, having lived its entire cycle without interruptions, and at that point, there's nothing more which you can ask for.

Any earlier than that, it's a pity because you haven't accomplished everything you sought to do, and any later, it just becomes a stretched out goodbye which makes it painful for all parties involved.

You understand me?"

Tatsuta nodded as she considered the question, and understood that Tenryuu wanted to do right by everyone and leave this world on her own terms (without resorting to suicide), but for them, it wasn't easy to do so since their steel bodies aged far more slowly than a human's, so it was understandable that Tenryuu would dislike this aspect about themselves since they would outlive several generations of their descendants.

To watch them all wither away while you lived on…

She wasn't sure if she wanted to romance a human if she knew that she would eventually attend the funerals of her husband, children and grandchildren while looking pretty much the same as she did right now a century later.

Tenryuu saw that Tatsuta was pondering Tenryuu's words, and she tried to improve her sister's mood as she slowly spun around in order to lean back on the wooden beam which doubled as a railing, shooting Tatsuta a wry grin as she consoled.

"Well, don't worry, Tatsuta.

I don't have a death wish, and I certainly don't want to find a 'meaningful death' on the battlefield or whatever.

In my opinion, whoever lives at the end of a battle's the true winner.

I just wanted to express my opinion of death upon feeling the deadline inching closer.

And because I know that death is a possibility, I want to be closer to you and share my thoughts with you, even though I know that you may think distancing yourself from others is going to soften the impact of your loss in any way."

Tatsuta lifted an eyebrow in order to concede the point, once believing that if not a lot of people knew her personally, it wouldn't matter much to them if she were to leave them abruptly.

But even though she saw the practicality of such a move and wanted to convince herself that this was the right thing to do for everyone's sake, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to carry it out for real and heartlessly push everyone away, isolating herself in the process.

Was this normal for her?

Or was she developing in an unusual way unlike other Tatsuta clones in other naval bases, where she was slowly defrosting and couldn't bring herself to do the things her other clones would. simply because she wasn't becoming… _depraved?_

Was that the right word to describe what she could become?

She wasn't sure what to think concerning this line of thought, but her attention was drawn back to Tenryuu as she continued her little speech.

"Well, it's heartening to see that you don't actually intend to do that.

I know you, and while I accept the fact that you can be a bit cold and impersonal at times, I feel relieved to find that you're opening up to everyone else."

Tatsuta then met Tenryuu's gaze, and she could see the determination in Tenryuu's eyes as she was silenced by her sister's next words.

"That's why, Tatsuta.

Even though I understand that death is a possibility in this upcoming project, I don't want to die just yet, because I want to be with you all the way.

I can't guarantee or promise anything concerning the outcome of this procedure, but there is one thing I can promise.

Whatever happens, I will never stop doing my best to survive, so that I can wake up and see you again.

That's why if you're to wake up first, please be the first thing I see when I open my eyes.

Please."

Tatsuta gulped upon hearing Tenryuu's words, not just because those words were from her heart and thus carried power and conviction behind them, but also because Tenryuu was pretty much making it clear that she wanted to survive in order to see her.

Her.

Oh sure, Tatsuta knew that Tenryuu wanted to see everyone again, but being her sister likely made her the most important thing in Tenryuu's world, which was why Tenryuu wanted Tatsuta to be the first thing she saw upon waking up.

Tatsuta was unsure of how to respond to that heartfelt expression of sisterly love, so she responded the only way she knew how.

She leaned in to touch foreheads with Tenryuu and caused their sizable chests to press against each other in the process, her sister's cheeks coloring a little while her determined expression gave way to an embarrassed one as she stuttered.

"W-What're you doing, Tatsuta?"

And Tatsuta's cheeks stretched in a wry smile as she looked right into her sister's yellow pupils and teased.

"Well, you were thinking so hard about these morbid and complicated topics, and I was getting worried if your computerized mind might overheat from the stress of pushing your mind to the limit, so I had to check if you were overclocking…"

Tenryuu snorted as she broke out in a smile which Tatsuta would cherish forever, the nameship of the Tenryuu-Class cruisers gently pushing her forehead away with a gloved finger as she responded in kind.

"Well, I also need to check if your cool and distant heart is warming up in light of recent events, for your own sake.

 _Itadakimasu!"_

As she glomped Tatsuta and shoved her face into a slightly surprised Tatsuta's cleavage, before muttering as her breath tickled Tatsuta's skin through her uniform.

"Warm… and hella soft…"

Tatsuta couldn't hold back her laughter anymore as she stroked Tenryuu's hair, laughing gently at her sister's antics and realizing that working at Mamiya's canteen helped to break down the facade of false smiles and the distant attitude simply because she had to work constantly while interacting with others, leaving no time for such things.

Interacting with her teammates and the ship girls of this base exposed her to new and interesting personalities and allowed her little time to be alone with her dark thoughts, which actually helped her to open up to others instead of pushing them away, and Tenryuu being there every step of the way definitely helped anchor her psyche.

She knew that the smile on her own face was a genuine one, free of all pretense as she thought about what was to come.

Certainly, she understood that the numbers didn't lie, but that didn't mean that she was going to simply roll over and die in the upcoming one-of-a-kind procedure.

' _And even if I die,'_

Tatsuta thought wryly as Tenryuu gave her the cutest and most innocent of gazes upon coming up for air and looking her dead in the eye in the process, her head still slightly squashed between Tatsuta's breasts.

' _I won't have too many regrets._

 _I accept either outcome.'_

* * *

Hiei was wearing her exercise outfit which consisted of a singlet with her name, 比叡, on it along with exercise shorts and shoes, and she was heaving as she utilized her arms to perform pull-ups at the pull-up station while Kongou watched on silently from a bench, observing Hiei's exercise regime during her break.

They were at the indoor exercise grounds which was situated inland in order to protect its users from the elements, its thick roof providing its occupants protection from rain or shine.

Normally, Hiei would do this in order to impress Kongou whenever her elder sister observed her training sessions, but she surprised herself today by only focusing on improving herself for the sake of her teammates in order to protect them from whatever the Abyssals threw at them next.

Eventually, Hiei heard Kongou tell her something, pausing as she felt buckets of sweat trickle down her skin, her singlet clinging to her body and making it rather form-fitting as a result, but she ignored all these as Kongou left her seat and approached her with a towel and a water bottle in hand.

"Hiei.

Let's take a break, you've been exercising for an hour straight."

Hiei thought about rejecting her sister's suggestion, but eventually acquiesced upon feeling her muscles burn up as she let go of her grip on the handlebar before nodding towards her sister, her short hair shaking wildly since she wasn't wearing her headdress and caused drops of sweat to hit the floor as she met her sister halfway.

"Yes, Onee-sama."

She gratefully accepted both the bottle of water and the towel as she wiped the sweat from her face, gulping down the cool water as she felt the soreness in her muscles become apparent after exerting herself for so long without activating her ship girl mode.

It was equally difficult for her to exercise with her ship girl mode on, but since her weight would increase drastically upon activating her ship girl mode, it would require a stronger pull-up station in order to support her weight, and that would require more resources to create them, resources they couldn't afford to spare.

She could hear Kongou's voice as she rubbed her face with her towel, Kongou sounding rather subdued since Hiei knew that her sister was energetic and spontaneous, but was also capable of being elegant and ladylike since she was created in Britain before being sent to Japan, and even insightful and profound in rare instances when she allowed herself to ponder about their true nature and their ultimate purpose in life.

"Let's sit down, Hiei.

I want to talk to you about something."

Hiei nodded acceptingly, the two Kongou Sisters walking over to the bench as they sat themselves down, Hiei watching Kongou's face intently as she waited for her sister to begin the conversation, and Kongou didn't disappoint as she began.

"Hiei, I want you to know that I love you."

Hiei blinked as she processed her sister's words, before focusing her gaze on her sister and asking her to either repeat herself or elaborate on her words.

"I-I'm sorry, Onee-sama.

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean.

Would you mind either repeating or explaining yourself?"

Kongou's smile stretched upon hearing that, and Hiei was slowly starting to piece things together in her mind as her heart sank, Kongou choosing to elaborate as she leaned in to make herself heard.

"Hiei, I stand by what I said, because if there's one thing I want you to take away from this conversation, it's that I will love you forever, because you are my sister, desu.

I wish to talk to you about your love for me.

The romantic kind."

Hiei swallowed the lump in her throat, looking away and suddenly feeling rather self-conscious about the sheen of sweat on her skin and her less-than-presentable state right now as her cheeks colored, stuttering in embarrassment.

"I-I don't know what you mean, Onee-sama."

While inwardly cursing, her thoughts running through her mind in a frenzy as she wondered about how Kongou found out about her romantic love for her own sister.

' _Damn._

 _I thought I hid my love from Onee-sama well enough, so how…?'_

But her attention was drawn to Kongou's soft chuckle, and this wasn't the usual kind of hyperactive or lady-esque laugh which she was accustomed to, but was the kind which an adult would use in order to express their mirth when dealing with children and being amused by their antics, making Kongou sound her age since she was one of the oldest ship girls of World War 2.

"Oh, Hiei.

I've noticed the way you look at me when you thought I wasn't looking, longing for me to return your love, yet understanding that my love for Admiral Mako is genuine and respecting my feelings.

And for that, I thank you."

Kongou then scooted over in order to hug Hiei tightly, surprising her as she didn't want to blemish her sister's perfection in any way, gently attempting to pry herself away from Kongou as she exclaimed softly,

"O-Onee-sama?!

I'm still sweaty!"

But Kongou persisted, the headstrong personalities of both sisters surfacing as Hiei strangely found herself trying to get out of her sister's embrace while Kongou was equally obstinate in being close to her as she tightened her hug, Hiei eventually losing her balance as she called out upon feeling their center of gravity shift once Kongou leaned on her.

"Onee-sama.

I'm losing my balance…"

As they both tumbled onto the floor, Hiei feeling a strong sense of deja-vu as Kongou was lying atop her and almost looked as if she tackled Hiei to the floor, what with her arms wrapped around her suggestively as Kongou's face was pressed into Hiei's bosom.

The both of them blushed in unison, separating themselves from each other and furiously patting themselves down as Hiei sat herself down in a _seiza_ position, while Kongou chose to seat herself down in a ladylike manner as she folded her legs with her right leg underneath her left thigh and her left leg sticking out to the left.

A pregnant pause hung over them for a while, the two of them choosing to use this time to cool down and compose themselves before pretending that the previous incident never happened, Kongou glossing over that incident awkwardly as she continued, the both of them staring straight forward with straightened backs and flushed cheeks as they conversed, unable to meet each other's gaze lest they be reminded of that unintentionally intimate moment.

"A-Anyway.

As I said, Hiei.

I want to thank you for understanding."

Hiei's gaze lowered as she expression drooped, since deep down, she already knew that things would eventually come to this as she understood the relationship between Admiral Mako, Kongou and herself.

She had always tried her best not to interfere with Kongou's relationship with Admiral Mako, but she knew that she always wanted to believe that she had a chance to win Kongou's heart by sweeping her Onee-sama off her feet with her charm.

But reality set in as she slowly realized that this was no different from a child's wish upon a shooting star, and Kongou's Burning Love for their Admiral was romantic, while her love for Hiei was sisterly love.

Kongou continued, both of them looking away as they found that this was the best way to share their true feelings with each other, and Hiei could hear the regret in her sister's voice for not being able to reciprocate her romantic feelings.

"I'd like to take this time to talk to you about our relationship, and how I'm sorry I can't love you in a romantic sense.

I'm sorry."

Hiei closed her eyes, already expecting this ever since Kongou announced her relationship with Admiral Mako, and while she was genuinely happy that her sister was able to find happiness with someone who truly loved her, she knew that in terms of romance, Hiei never stood a chance.

"I've always known that you loved me as more than a sister, and even though I wished to share my love with you and Admiral Mako much like how Admiral Mako loves so many ship girls at once, I want to be honest with you, Hiei.

You're my sister, and I don't wish to lead you on by keeping our relationship vague and not addressing your romantic love for me despite being your elder sister."

Kongou was now addressing her as an equal, and was now acting in such a mature manner, Hiei barely registered the fact that Kongou had dropped her 'desu' verbal tic in order to get her point across without destroying the mood.

"Hiei, you've been around for a while now, and I can see it in your eyes that you're working hard to protect your fleet, instead of trying to impress me like you always did in previous training sessions."

Hiei choked on her own spit upon hearing that, coughing into her fist as Kongou giggled and waited for her to catch her breath and clear her throat before speaking again.

"I always noted that you pushed yourself even harder while in my presence, and I remained silent in regards to your admittedly adorable attempts to impress me.

But today, I could feel that even though I was here, I was simply an afterthought in your mind as you focused on your fleet while you strove to improve yourself.

And don't get me wrong, I'm actually happy that this was the case…"

Hiei turned to face Kongou as she feared that Kongou would be miffed after realizing that she was ignored, but Kongou's face was instead glad, almost proud of her, the words coming of her mouth matching her expression as she continued.

"I was always afraid that I would be the center of your universe forever, and that would mean that no one else would matter as much as I did to you.

But you now have stronger enemies to face, and other ship girls whom you want to protect.

I could see it in your eyes that you were thinking of protecting the 1st Fleet and us, the Kongou Sisters in that order, right?"

Hiei nodded, unsure of how she was to feel about putting her teammates before her sisters, but Kongou sounded approving of this as she elaborated on how a Kongou-Class battleship should be like.

"That's great.

I daresay that from now on, when you reunite with your fleet when you've fully recovered, you will likely spend more time with them than with us, and you may be understandably worried about being more concerned about them than about us, but that's to be expected.

We're the Kongou Sisters, and you can depend on us to take care of ourselves.

But the 1st Fleet is newly formed in comparison to the other established fleets, and it's natural for you to worry about them."

Hiei exhaled upon agreeing with Kongou's perspective, and realized that while she could depend on her sisters to defend themselves in times of crises, she was hesitant to say the same for the 1st Fleet, even though they had a lot of potential and could do so much better given enough time and effort.

The downside was that they were still inexperienced, and she knew that she had to become stronger in order to protect them from the Abyssals, without suffocating them with her protectiveness and allowing them to develop their abilities on their own and learn to trust them like she did her sisters.

But Hiei and Kongou had to settle the last thing which tied them to the past, in order for her to focus on the future while fully understanding where she stood in regards to her teammates and sisters.

Hiei closed her eyes, inhaling deeply and centering herself in her mind in order to sort out her thoughts before opening her eyes in order to look forward, speaking from the heart about how she felt about this.

"I will admit, Onee-sama.

I've been dreading this conversation back in the day, shortly after your announcement regarding your relationship with the Admiral and before the formation of my fleet.

And back then, I always hoped that this illusion of me convincing myself that I could win your heart back would last forever, and I wanted to become stronger in order to make it a reality.

But looking back at the past me, I suppose I was like a child receiving Christmas presents and believed that Santa existed, but I then hit a certain age where I slowly began to suspect that Santa didn't really exist, but secretly wanted to believe in it for a little longer before reality set in."

Kongou snickered upon hearing her analogy, but Hiei couldn't help but also smile after hearing her sister's amused giggle, trying to remark in a serious tone about how apt the analogy really was.

"It's true, Onee-sama.

As hopeless as it seemed for a fairy tale to come true, I wanted to indulge myself for a little while longer and pine for your affections from the sidelines.

But I understand that by stating that your love for me will likely never become romantic, I suppose it hurts, but…"

Hiei exhaled again, her heart hurting a little, but not exactly the kind of pain which dug at her heart and made her feel bitter at the world.

It was the kind of pain which accompanied awaking from a pleasant dream, and finding that reality just wasn't the same as your dream-world, no matter how hard you worked to make that dream a reality.

And it was because deep down, you always knew that the dream was impossibly sweet such that when you realize that it will never come true, it temporarily leaves a sour taste in her heart.

"Well, it's not just pain.

I also feel disappointed, like I could have done something different to win your heart.

But I suppose that was the point."

Hiei turned to look at her sister, realization dawning upon her as her expression softened and she expressed her understanding of Kongou's reasons behind talking to her right now.

"I suppose if you never explicitly state that your love for me will only be sisterly, I would have maintained this wishful thinking in the back of my mind until the end of time.

And even though I'm disappointed, I suppose it's the answer I deserved to hear all this time."

Kongou's eyes widened, before closing as she nodded slowly while speaking in a grateful tone, looking extremely glad that this conversation went rather well.

"I'm glad, Hiei.

I did this because I didn't want to hurt you any more than necessary, and even though I am your elder sister, Hiei, I must thank you for being so understanding, desu."

She bowed towards Hiei while still seated, causing Hiei to become rather embarrassed at how her sister was expressing her gratitude in a manner which Hiei rarely saw outside of a handful of people who had done everything to deserve such a genuine expression of thanks.

But Kongou's expression drooped again, looking forward as she shared with Hiei how everything was going down the crapper with the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea coming up at roughly the end of May, and anything ahead of that was an incoming storm which they had almost no way of predicting what would come next.

"I'm glad that you're training so hard, because I've heard things about the Abyssals, and all of them unsettle me, Hiei.

The Battle of Sagami-nada Sea is just the beginning, since I understand that _The Flying Dutchman_ destroyed your fleet…"

Hiei's eyes widened slightly as she felt a chill run down her spine upon remembering how the Abyssal aviation battleship destroyed them at Mikura Jima Island.

And even though she hunched a little and brought her shoulders in due to fright, she found that Kongou leaned on her in order to provide some warmth so that she wouldn't feel alone, Hiei reluctantly allowing her elder sister to do so since she was still sweating a little.

Kongou continued,

" … but I'm glad that you're using this experience to fuel your desire to become stronger, because I think that whatever's coming next certainly requires us to become stronger if we're to even survive, desu.

And that uncertainty is part of the reason why I wanted to talk to you today."

Hiei lowered her gaze as she now understood why her sister wanted to talk to her about her unresolved feelings regarding Kongou, since they may never get the chance to do so when shit hit the fan and they were too busy dealing with the Abyssals to be able to talk like this again.

Kongou's hair tickled Hiei's drying skin as she rested her head on her bare shoulder, Hiei hearing the tiredness in her sister's voice after worrying about and preparing for what was to come, remarking.

"I can't guarantee that I can protect you or get the chance to talk to you like again, Hiei.

But I want you to know that no matter what happens, I love you anyway, desu."

Hiei stayed silent, but deeply appreciated how her sister went so far to take the initiative to talk to her about her feelings, since she wanted Hiei to focus all of her attention on what was important and not be distracted by the small details.

She didn't want to disappoint her sisters, but more importantly for her, she also didn't want to disappoint the 1st Fleet, a second wind stirring within her to motivate her to do better.

* * *

" …and the preparations, as per Admiral Mako's instructions, are being carried out as we speak."

Iowa was sitting in the canteen of the San Francisco Naval Base with Admiral Jackson as they both relaxed over a cup of coffee on the 2nd of May, the both of them updating the other of the situation as per usual.

And since Iowa was in on the loop about the likelihood of an impending land assault, she was speaking to her Admiral about how the development of Anti-Abyssal firearms was coming along.

Admiral Jackson was sipping his coffee, and Iowa furrowed her eyebrows as she asked her Admiral about what she was supposed to tell the others regarding why they were diverting so much resources into Anti-Abyssal weapons development.

"And I'd like to ask before anyone asks, Admiral, but others are picking up on the fact that we're using a lot of resources for Anti-Abyssal weapons development and are doing more expeditions than usual as a result, even though we're stuffed with resources…

If they're to ask me about why we're doing this, what do I tell them if you made it clear beforehand that we're never to use 'Ask the Admiral' to avoid being questioned?"

Admiral Jackson shrugged nonchalantly, taking another sip from his cup of coffee as he made up an offhand explanation which would reveal little to nothing to others, yet allow them to be prepared for what was to come as he explained.

"Well, tell them that we're… taking precautions.

After all, it's been 10 years since the Abyssals have changed up the game with another 5-Year Plan, and we need to prepare ourselves in any way possible.

Tell them that, hmm?"

Iowa nodded, but was still trying to wrap her mind around the possibility that the world would be engulfed in another world war, asking her Admiral out of curiosity.

"Admiral, if 'Apocalypse' is going to drag the world into another world war, please tell me why we aren't simply notifying and warning every single country under the sun about this?

We can't simply leave 'em in the dark, right?"

Admiral Jackson lowered his reports, giving Iowa an 'Are you serious?' face as he patiently explained how spectacularly that course of action was going to backfire.

"And then what?

Tell 'em we found a couple of receipts and plans which could have easily been faked, and be laughed out of their office as fear-mongers or attention whores who are trying to hoard resources.

Add this to the fact that we can't send spies in to gather information about the Abyssals since they're living in, I don't know, Atlantis…?

Or what did you girls call it back then?

'Bikini Bottom', back when Spongebob was still a thing?"

Iowa lifted an eyebrow to acknowledge the in-joke that since the Abyssals lived on the ocean floor, their spawning point-slash-base of operations was jokingly and colloquially dubbed 'Bikini Bottom' by everyone, before it was eventually accepted as one way to refer to the underwater land of the Abyssals alongside the more official-sounding 'Atlantis' and the dreaded 'Davy Jones' Locker'.

"Anyway, what we need right now is more evidence to prove that 'Apocalypse' is real, since I know that you know that humans can't always be relied upon to make rational decisions which would upset the status quo for the worse.

You really think that living under the impression that there was no war for 10 years and another 10 believing that it's not their war to fight, you think _anyone_ wants to be told that they're going to have to start making preparations for another world war against alien invaders?

By God, _The Flying Dutchman_ made enough of a fuss with one appearance, you think the old crones behind our governments want to saddle up for a land assault without proper evidence to prove beyond a shred of doubt that it's anything but imminent?"

Iowa lowered her head despondently, understanding that not everyone was capable of thinking straight when under pressure or were facing threats to their way of life, but Admiral Jackson's tone lightened as he snapped his papers straight and returned his gaze towards its contents, letting Iowa know about their next course of action.

"Relax.

It's not all hopeless, simply most of it.

Admiral Mako's sending out her Infiltration Fleet into Abyssal waters to find out more about 'Apocalypse', and if it's successful, we can call for an overseas conference to convince everyone about this and bring them up to speed on things.

She recommended that I carry out a land-assault training session in the meantime in order to prepare ourselves for what's next, so I suppose we'll do that.

Wouldn't want our girls to pick up a firearm when we get attacked and the first words which comes out of their mouth is,

' _How the hell do I use this?'_

Shit, I'd rather just surrender and attempt to parley with the Abyssals if that were to really happen, instead of getting steamrolled."

Iowa nodded as she made a mental note of that, asking her Admiral about what he was reading and how it had commanded his attention for some time.

"Admiral, if I may ask, what's that you're reading?

You've been staring at it for a while now."

Admiral Jackson then passed the reports over to Iowa, narrating as she lowered her head in order to read the words and inspect the pictures which were sent from overseas to them.

"A few days ago, a blue whale was found dead, sporting wounds larger than battleships are tall, and these…"

Gently placing his index finger on the two bloody sets of teeth which were recovered from the carcass, he continued grimly about their hypothesis on how the blue whale met its demise.

"These are the steel teeth which they managed to recover from the whale carcass.

We're hard pressed to match these two teeth with any known Abyssals, especially the one shaped like a dagger.

They hypothesized that two new Beasts killed this whale for sport, and one of them was theorized to be a Megalodon, since this tooth is shaped like a Great White Shark's tooth, but larger.

The possibility of this new Beast being linked to Apocalypse has not been discounted."

Now pointing to the diamond-shaped steel tooth which filled the ship girl's bloodied hand, Iowa gulped as she wondered how her armor would fare against this new Beast.

Admittedly, as a battleship, her armor was nothing to sneeze at, but looking at the cutting-edge of the tooth belonging to a supposedly extinct predator which was remade in steel in order to pierce ship girl armor, she was starting to possess a healthy amount of self-doubt about the strength of her armor trying to protect her against _that._

Looking up at Admiral Jackson, she asked warily.

"So what're we going to do about this, Admiral?"

But hoping for reassuring answers didn't get her anywhere, Admiral Jackson relaxing his tense stance in order to sink into his chair as he responded in a defeated tone.

"Not much, unfortunately.

We can equip our ship girls with Anti-Submarine Depth Charge Launchers in order to try and provide some sort of defense against this and plant some underwater naval mines in order to deter them, but what else can we do?"

Iowa was dumbfounded as she leaned forward with an incredulous expression, asking disbelievingly.

"But, we're not going out to hunt this…this _thing_ down and kill it?"

Admiral Jackson shrugged as he shared his little session with Admiral Mako yesterday, and how they 'planned' to deal with this.

"Well, we wouldn't want to waste our fuel on useless 'fishing trips' for enemy Beasts which can simply wait us out and force us to waste our resources in trying to find them.

So Admiral Mako's suggestion in our talk yesterday was to send out Essex, and I mean Essex the carrier, mind you, arm her with harpoons and make her wear one hand puppet on each hand.

One'll be called Ahab, and the other, Ishmael."

Iowa managed to rein in a snicker at the thought of her comrade being sent out to hunt an Abyssal Beast the old-fashioned way, since her similarly-named predecessor was reportedly sunk by a whale and inspired the novel, Moby Dick.

Gesturing to Admiral Jackson with a barely-held-together poker face, she gave her commander a tight smile as she asked politely.

"And what was your response, Admiral?

I'm pretty sure you have a better plan than that."

Admiral Jackson somehow managed to say his next words with a straight face, turning to face Iowa and looked her dead in the eye as he explained.

"Why, of course.

Invest our resources in Anti-Abyssal shark-repellant Bat-spray."

Iowa couldn't hold in her laugh anymore, bursting out in one soft bark of laughter before trying to compose herself, Admiral Jackson looking at her in a nonplussed manner as she brought her voice under control and coughed into her gloved fist, before uttering in an overtly serious tone in order to try and recover the situation.

"Um…

T…That sounds like a great idea, Admiral."

Thankfully, her Admiral remarked coolly about the situation even though he maintained his poker face, looking more tired than anything else the closer Iowa looked.

"It's alright.

We both had a good laugh too.

Not a whole lot we Admirals can do, other than plan ahead and give out orders."

Iowa nodded solemnly, looking down at the report sent over by the Japs about a new wave of Abyssal weapons and Beasts headed their way, and before her was only a single puzzle piece amongst many others which they hadn't even uncovered, much less made sense of.

She dared to ask her Admiral, just in case he knew about something which she didn't, and being the Admiral whom she knew best, she hoped that her Admiral would shed some light on the situation and make her feel a little better.

"Admiral…

What're we dealing with here?"

Unfortunately, it was not to be as Admiral Jackson's expression soured, looking down at the report and at an enemy which had the advantage of both superior numbers and the ultimate defense against invaders and most forms of espionage as they lived on the ocean floor, where no man or ship girl could reach without the risk of dying simply due to the harsh environment.

"I don't know.

Whatever this is, it's hidden in the depths where we cannot reach.

But even though we are almost incapable of uncovering what their secrets are, we can at least try to prepare ourselves to try and respond quickly to whatever they throw at us.

Getting ourselves some weapons is one thing, and if they want to take the fight to us, we need to be ready."

Iowa nodded, Admiral Jackson leaning back in his seat and sipping from his cup of steaming coffee as he continued.

"She also told me to be prepared for land Beasts and Princess expy elite units which will command the rank-and-file Abyssals, since if the command structure ain't broke, they probably ain't going to fix it.

It's just that the land Beasts will prioritize mobility over firepower, since last time we held off against a land assault, the Beasts of the Princesses were too heavy and couldn't move on land, so I have no doubt that they've already rectified that weakness during this past decade.

I want us to be prepared for total war, or risk complete annihilation."

Iowa's expression darkened upon remembering how she learnt about the American _Blitzkrieg_ , and how the Abyssals destroyed everything on the East Coast through sheer numbers despite bringing their unwieldy ship cannons on land and making them slow and easy targets as a result.

But she held her tongue, instead choosing to nod quietly as she respected her Admiral enough to hold off on the inquisition for now, allowing the atmosphere to settle back down as they leaned back on the back rests of their seats in order to cool down before trying to figure out the shit-storm that was the Abyssals and 'Apocalypse'.


	33. Chapter 33 - Night Stalker

Shiranui was sitting with Shigure in the canteen after another grueling training session, and since the ship girls of both fleets knew that Shiranui and Shigure had found a friend in each other, they allowed the duo some space to themselves as they ate their dinner on the 6th of May after holding out against six rounds of Abyssal bots, albeit with several casualties.

Shiranui had made a mistake by getting her rigging nicked by a large-caliber shell, causing it to deform spectacularly as her HUD announced that her rigging was no longer functional after doing some calculations in its training module and simulating real-life damage.

Of course, being a training shell, she was thankfully not set aflame since it hadn't punctured her rigging like an enemy shell would, and she was simply brought out of the battle by Tone, sulking about having been taken out so easily.

Shigure had also taken some damage, a medium-caliber shell hitting her in the gut as it sent her flying back half a meter while the wind was knocked out of her early in the third round.

She had to spend the rest of the third round coughing and wheezing while solely performing evasive maneuvers to try and recover enough stamina to continue on to the fourth round, where Tone pulled her out of the training session when it was clear that Shigure had suffered some internal damage.

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was hit in the solar plexus, causing her to curl up on the ocean surface as she coughed uselessly while shells whizzed past her and torpedoes narrowly missed her, and Shiranui's trembling fists and dark expression was an indicator of her genuine concern for her newfound friend as Kagerou was forced to haul her around in order to protect Shigure from enemy fire.

They were now at Mamiya's Canteen, eating their servings of steamed dumplings with a bowl of refillable mushroom soup, and Shiranui finished everything on her tray as she talked to Shigure about what they were going to do next, giving everyone an aside glance beforehand to make sure that no one would overhear their treasonous talk.

"We should listen in on the Admiral's briefing on the 8th in order to ensure that we're kept up to date on the naval base's most recent events."

Shigure nodded, Shiranui noting how the destroyer was trying to rein in a cough even after she had docked in order to repair whatever damage she had sustained, swallowing uncomfortably as she nodded and took a sip from her mushroom soup, tearing up at the corners of her eyes as she tried to put up a strong front.

Admirable, yet foolish.

"Yes…

So…how are we to do that?

I believe the briefing room is devoid of any electronics which can be hacked in order to listen in on the briefing.

The vents around the base seem too small for anyone, even a destroyer, to squeeze into in order to prevent anyone from crawling around inside them."

Shiranui nodded, understanding that the briefing room was swept for bugs before every meeting, and while it was a little paranoid of them to assume that the Abyssals were capable of listening in on their meetings, it was common for these top-secret briefings to be conducted via pen-and-paper, before the relevant information was transferred onto their encrypted servers.

But the briefing room was where the Admiral held her meetings with her closest ship girls, only allowing the essentials to be written down by the Coordinators as whatever was discussed in there was top-secret and would only leave the room in the forms of a written note or a memory.

"There won't be any electronics in the briefing room to be hacked, and neither one of us is in the inner circle of Admiral Mako's confidantes and thus won't be invited to the meeting.

But I have one way to listen in on them."

Shigure's eyes widened, and she leaned in as she munched on a dumpling, her eyes twinkling with interest at what Shiranui was about to propose.

And by the looks of her expression, she wasn't disappointed as Shiranui explained.

"We need to bug the one person which they wouldn't suspect would have a listening device on them, and respect too much to bother searching.

Admiral Mako herself."

Shigure's eyes widened, but she kept her breathing steady in order not to disturb her breathing, or God forbid, cough out loud, which would draw the attention of the other ship girls at the table and interrupt their conversation, and while Shiranui disapproved of her overbearing curiosity, she did appreciate her attempts to be useful or avoid hindering her in any way.

Shiranui continued, seeing that Shigure understood how matters of espionage were her specialty and allowed her to take the stage, something else which Shiranui learnt to appreciate in others after working with various other ship girls.

"We will need to avoid ship girls and sailors who are on the night watch at the Staff Building in order to plant the listening devices tomorrow night, and we need to retrieve the devices after the meeting before any ship girls who are part of the laundry duty find it."

Shigure nodded grimly, understanding the difficulty of the task at hand and how they were to go about it, but Shiranui sought to correct something, lest Shigure get the wrong idea.

"Of course, when I say 'We', I mean me.

I'll be infiltrating Admiral Mako's quarters alone."

And there it was.

Shigure's expression dropped any of the enthusiasm it previously contained as she looked absolutely dumbfounded while she wondered what Shiranui was talking about.

She clarified, explaining how they were given a day off tomorrow in order to prevent the two fleets from overworking themselves, and Shiranui wanted Shigure to use this time to rest up.

"Tomorrow is a day off, and I need you to use every moment to rest and regain your stamina if you're not training to improve yourself.

You will do this while I infiltrate the Admiral's room tomorrow night in order to bug each and every one of her blazers,

Laundry day will be near the date of our sortie.

I'll enter the laundry room in order to retrieve the listening devices, since Kagerou's part of the laundry detail and I can make up an excuse to get in, but there's no getting around the fact that Admiral Mako's blazers are safely in her closet, and I'll have to enter her room in order to bug them."

Shigure's eyes lowered, Shiranui understanding that Shigure was trying to set her priorities straight, since she wasn't very experienced compared to everyone else and had to use each and every available moment to improve herself, while Shiranui would do the heavy lifting for now.

She explained this as she looked to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer,

"Right now, I'm the one who has enough experience to carry this out by myself, and it's best that I work alone when it comes to espionage missions.

Later down the road, when you become stronger, I can allow you to do the heavy lifting while I work in the shadows, as I always have.

But you need to become stronger in order to make this a reality.

I will do this alone, and you need to rest up in order to attend the next training session."

She could see that Shigure wanted to protest, but knew better than to talk back to a ship girl who knew what she was doing, and Shiranui continued in order to reassure Shigure that she would be alright, since she was part of the Infiltration Fleet.

"Don't you worry.

I, Shiranui, will not make a mistake while on an infiltration mission.

I'm a stealth expert, and no one would expect a ship girl to spy on her own Admiral.

No one would be taking their security patrols that seriously since it's Admiral Mako which we're talking about, and they'd certainly wouldn't expect a ship girl to be sneaking into her own Admiral's bedroom for nefarious purposes.

Not if they didn't do anything to deserve it."

Shiranui's expression darkened upon uttering that last line morbidly, and she could see Shigure gulp nervously at the insinuation that there were Admirals in the past whose personalities and tactics were less-than-savory, and their ship girls had a bone or two to pick with them as a result.

But Admiral Mako was respected and loved, so in everyone's mind, no ship girl would dare to slip into her room for anything other than to sleep with her (and not always in a romantic sense, especially for destroyers), right?

Shigure looked away, Shiranui surmising that she was trying come to terms with her lack of skill which sidelined her for now, and how she had to take the time to rest up and train in order to be of use down the road, when she attained her Kai Ni.

She was like Kagerou in that sense, Shiranui thought.

' _Always wanting to help others and pushing herself even further in order to do so._

 _I suppose headstrong, overly compassionate ship girls who care more about others than themselves will always exist in almost every ship class.'_

But the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer turned to look back at Shiranui, looking as if she understood what needed to be done since she was mature enough to know that Shiranui would do what Shigure couldn't do, and Shigure will eventually do things Shiranui couldn't hope to do, and they should develop their own skill sets at their own pace, remarking.

"Fine.

Do what you have to do, and don't get caught."

Shiranui nodded grimly, thinking about how ship girls like Kongou and Inazuma were let into the Admiral's bedroom after a cursory body search to sleep with the Admiral, the former because Kongou was Admiral Mako's girlfriend and the latter because Inazuma often slept easier while in the presence of the Admiral.

Any ship girl who wasn't radioed through by the front door security was arrested and detained until they were acquitted several days later, and they'd receive a week of extra duty.

But she had no choice but to sneak in undetected with several listening devices on her in order to plant them in Admiral Mako's blazers, since she would be searched if she was to approach her Admiral's room in any other way and certainly arrested for attempting to bug the Admiral, facing life in military prison before God-knows-what.

Shiranui thought.

' _I'm not that bad of a stealth specialist myself._

 _But that simply won't cut it anymore._

 _To be a ghost is not enough, since being caught on the fringe of rewound surveillance footage and obscure photos is disgraceful by my standards._

 _I will become something more, by allowing others to see less of me._

 _I swear it on the honor of the Kagerou-Class.'_

* * *

Shiranui was sitting at her bed, enshrouded in darkness as she strapped her black beanie over her pink hair, this being one of her most conspicuous features which would make her stick out amidst the darkness like a sore thumb.

She was wearing dark clothes which matched her 'edgy' and 'brooding' personality as described by Kagerou, something which Shiranui disagreed with but never really tried to disprove.

And right now, she needed dark clothes in lieu of her usual uniform, which consisted of white cloth which might reflect any light which was shone her way and attract unwanted attention to herself.

Running through her plan one last time, she was to sneak past the everyone who was on guard duty tonight while keeping her ship girl mode deactivated in order to avoid being detected, sneak into the Staff Building (which was close to the Administration Building), enter Admiral Mako's room and plant listening devices into her clothes in order to listen in on her next meeting.

She would sneak into the laundry room at a later date in order to retrieve the listening devices, and the fact that Kagerou was part of the laundry detail made things easier for her.

No one would be the wiser if she succeeded.

If.

She found out that tonight's security detail in the Staff Building would be Akatsuki, Kitakami, Nagatsuki, Yura and Shouhou, and it was entirely possible that she would meet other ship girls who were patrolling throughout Yokosuka.

But she knew what she was doing, and she knew she could pull this off.

Slipping off of her bed, she could feel her silent sneakers hit the floor as she walked over to Kagerou's bed with nary a peep, watching her sister's peaceful sleeping face as she leaned down to kiss her beloved sister on the forehead, whispering tenderly.

"Sleep well, Kagerou."

Before leaving the room, making sure that none of her sisters were woken up by her on the off chance that they felt her moving by their beds.

Closing the door quietly, she looked towards the nearest window as the corridor she was standing in was dimly lit to provide some illumination without disturbing everyone's' sleep.

Checking to make sure that no ship girls or sailors were nearby, she hopped out of the dormitory as she made her way over to the Staff Building, located right beside the Administration Building so that people like the Admiral could stay at the former while working at the latter.

The Staff Building was where officers and guests stayed if they were sent here for whatever reason, and since they were visitors and needed lodging but still had to work, they could opt to work at the office cubicles within the very same building where they stayed while being a stone's throw away from the Administration Building.

Shiranui kept a low profile and avoided the main roads as they were illuminated by lampposts, watching out for human sailors who were patrolling the base on their security-modded golf carts and hid in nearby bushes whenever she heard one approach her.

Despite it being nighttime, the naval base was far from silent as crickets chirped, trees rustled, lampposts hummed while insects buzzed around them incessantly, and Shiranui was familiar with all these sights and sounds as she made her way to the Staff Building where Admiral Mako lived in.

She knew of a pipe which she had found around the back of the Staff Building and could easily climb despite being slightly heavier than an adult human, and for once, she was glad to be a destroyer instead of a heavy cruiser or a battleship, whose weight and armor would make this feat impossible.

Squatting behind another bush as the night blanketed her and kept her concealed against the pitch-black darkness, she noted that Kinu and Hibiki were patrolling the outside perimeter of the Staff Building.

While she was capable of incapacitating larger ship girls, she certainly didn't want to knock anyone out because of how difficult it was to knock someone out without either killing them or causing a commotion, and also because if she were to activate her ship girl mode in order to give her an edge, she would be identified as someone who wasn't on the patrol roster, and the everyone would be on her in an instant.

She waited for them to pass before crossing the road, knowing the location of the surveillance cameras around the base since she, while suffering from bouts of mind-numbing boredom in her past, fantasized about sneaking through the naval base like a spy and uncovered the location of every surveillance camera in the base as a way to pass the time as well as for future reference.

How it helped her now, to know that the main door and every window on the first floor was closely monitored, and the fire exit which she previously considered was also monitored by security cameras.

Coming up behind a dumpster which hid her from a security camera which overlooked the rear exit, she climbed upon its tough cover in order to reach the ledge which she was to get up on in order to reach the steel pipe, after which she could climb up to the second floor and enter via a window.

She had to be careful, though.

The hallway where the window was located was watched by a surveillance camera which swiveled in a 90-degree angle in order to survey two hallways.

Timing was important, and another patrol group which consisted of Mutsuki and Asashio which patrolled the two buildings was bound to approach her in about 13 seconds, and she needed to get to the window before they spotted her.

Heaving as she climbed on the metal pipe, she was glad that she wasn't going to fall to the ground anytime soon as the metal which made up the long pipe creaked in protest upon supportting her weight, but there was no sound of popping nuts and bolts as she made her way up to indicate that it would let her down, in this case, literally onto the concrete below as she reached the second story window.

She slightly opened the window as she brought out her own identity card, wiggling and eventually slitting it in between the button sensor and the window in order to prevent the button sensor from detecting that the window was opened in the first place.

Despite their attitudes being a little lax regarding security, patrol rounds were almost clockwork in both their timing and routine, and an opened window without a patrolling ship girl being nearby would send the entire building into high alert.

Shiranui observed the distant surveillance camera, and after waiting for another three seconds while making sure that no ship girls were approaching her, the surveillance camera spun around to observe the other hallway as the motor beneath it whirred, allowing her to slip in unnoticed as she closed the window behind her and deftly pulled her card out whilst simultaneously shutting the window, being meticulous in covering her tracks.

Sneaking underneath the camera in order to slink out of its field of vision, she remained on the move since she knew that patrolling ship girls were likely on their way, and she would rather not risk anyone seeing her in the first place.

The building was still populated by patrolling ship girls and sailors even in the dead of night, and she climbed the stairs in order to reach the third floor while completely ignoring the elevator, since the ding of the elevator would draw people's attention to it…

Wait a minute.

Shiranui stopped in her tracks, before backtracking and looking at the imposing steel doors of the elevator, considering the change to her plans and how it might be worth it to draw their attention to an arriving empty elevator in order to allow her an easy route to the Admiral's room.

But she eventually shook her head, understanding that even though it would allow her an easy route into the Admiral's room, the ship girls might be alerted to the possibility of an intruder's presence, and it would be harder for her to get out of the building.

Shit, she could hear faint footsteps coming her way.

Gotta keep moving.

While crouching, she sneaked up the stairs to the third floor as she was glad that their radar didn't work as well indoors, and while they had night vision, they didn't possess electromagnetic or thermal vision.

And while she wanted to activate her ship girl mode in order to use her night-vision, she, like the other ship girls in this building, kept it deactivated, but for entirely different reasons.

For the patrolling ship girls, they didn't want to unnecessarily waste fuel for an entire night, and for her, she didn't want her ship girl signature to be picked up by everyone.

Hearing the barely-audible shuffle of another ship girl, she kept moving down the silent hallway as it was flanked by imposing lockers which lined the hallway and silently watched over her progress like monoliths passing judgement over her actions while a window in the distance provided some light.

And as she looked around the corner, she pulled back her head as she saw that Kitakami was standing further down the corridor, and was looking towards her.

The only reason why she wasn't spotted was because the Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser wasn't using her night-vision, and Shiranui was experienced enough to know to only peek beyond the corner with one eye and not her entire head, which might have been picked up by her senior.

But another ship girl was approaching her and cornering her, and the fact that the line-up of lockers were the only things preventing her from being seen..

And while the length of the hallway fully enveloped her in darkness with only a window casting a light at the end of the 'tunnel', she didn't want to risk being spotted by the approaching ship girl as she slipped into a locker, partially because she didn't know the combination to every locker, and also because the window would illuminate her silhouette and allow her to be seen as she attempted to pick the lock which belonged to a nearby locker.

Swiveling around to look at the rubbish bin standing conspicuously behind her, Shiranui exhaled exasperatedly as she lifted the cover of the bin, tiptoeing as she placed herself inside the bin which was thankfully cleared by the cleaners before their shifts ended, but still possessed the slight stench of festering leftovers, insects which were sent into a flurry of movement by her actions, an evaporating puddle of unknown liquids which seeped out of discarded drink cartons and cans, replacing the cover after squeezing into it with relative ease.

Shiranui centered herself mentally and tried to blend into her surroundings, grinding her teeth as she thought about how she was taking one for the team by hiding in a rubbish bin of all places, and how she expected Shigure to repay this favor in kind later down the road.

' _To hide in a rubbish bin, of all places…_

 _Someone owes me, big time.'_

But she noted that a destroyer, judging by the volume and rhythm of her footsteps, passed by her as Shiranui held her breath, and she identified Nagatsuki greeting Kitakami upon finishing her patrol.

"Yo, Kitakami-sempai.

I'm back, so you wanna go on your rounds?"

Kitakami, known for being rather cool and aloof towards destroyers, replied lackadaisically as Shiranui heard another set of footsteps move away from her position.

"Ahh, ahh, whatever.

Hold this spot while I make my rounds, and wait for Shouhou to take over your spot."

And Shiranui considered the situation as she sat in the rubbish bin, tuning everything out as she reconsidered her plans to get inside Admiral Mako's room.

The vents around the base were created to be smaller than a destroyer and were filled with fans and filters in order to prevent ship girls like her from entering them, and even if she was to enter one, the grates at the end of the vents needed time to open, time she might not have.

The Admiral's bedroom had no windows and was located at the center of the building in order to protect the Admiral from outside attacks in case of an Abyssal assault, so while she would eventually find several points of entry, she had to find and time them appropriately.

She decided to bide her time, reviewing her memories of the Staff building and possible entry points, including the door to Admiral Mako's room.

Hey, sometimes the easiest way in was the one which no one expected others to use, and while it was difficult for her to enter through the front door, it wasn't impossible.

Ship girls were still human, and someone either had to get a drink or go to the toilet, and while they would get someone else to cover them, it still allowed a small window of opportunity for her to take advantage of.

Light fixtures were either set to low illumination or turned off, so while she had to contend with the possibility of being seen, she wasn't exactly worried about other ship girls spotting her, and as she made sure that no one else was approaching her location, she slipped out of the rubbish bin and placed the cover back on in order not to arouse suspicion.

She made her way down the corridor, feeling rather confident that no one would see her as she detoured around corridors which she knew were observed by cameras and avoided ship girls as though they had the Bubonic plague, now entirely focused on finding more about the happenings in this base by listening in on her Admiral's meeting.

It was immoral and unprecedented, but Shiranui didn't care much for such things.

Sure, she loved her Admiral, and even though she understood that it was wrong, she wasn't going to use this information for nefarious purposes, so it wasn't _entirely_ wrong.

And even though she was going to exploit the fact that Admiral Mako trusted her ship girls to the point where she didn't keep an extensive security detail to protect her at night, she still appreciated Admiral Mako caring for them all, regardless of class.

Her love and respect for Admiral Mako meant that she wasn't going to betray her or do anything of the sort, and in her eyes, that meant that what she was doing wasn't wrong, simply because she wasn't intending to do anything bad with the obtained information.

Not the best way to justify her actions, but whatever.

She rounded another corner when she remembered that closer into the Staff Building, infrared cameras would be used to tighten security, and a few lights would be kept entirely lit at certain hallway junctions in order to deter people like her.

Shit.

She didn't possess any sort of jammer to jam them and allow her to sneak past unnoticed, and she was going to have to find a way around them.

But there was a silver lining in that some rooms weren't locked since locking and unlocking every door in Yokosuka was a chore if it had to be done everyday, and she had some leeway in that she could find a room to sneak into in order to wait for a ship girl to pass by her.

Shiranui peeked around another corner, and her memory served her well as she saw that this lit corridor had an infrared camera watching over it, and Shiranui considered a way to either get through or around this.

To allow herself some time to think, she entered a nearby room labelled 'STOREROOM' which was a large closet where paint, cleaning chemicals, unused furniture and the like were thrown and sorted out before being taken out whenever they were needed.

She remembered that climbing out of a nearby window on this floor would allow her to enter a office window on the fourth floor, where she heard several people stroll around up there.

Likely human sailors on guard duty.

From there, she would breeze across the fourth floor in order to climb back into the third floor, where she would then be on the other end of this hallway, bypassing the blasted camera.

Shiranui figured she would find another way around this hallway and the camera, opening the door and mentally thanking the maintenance staff for oiling the doors regularly and preventing any complications from foiling her plans.

Briskly creeping over to the window while crouching, she looked out the window in order to check for patrolling ship girls and humans, and she opened and shut the glass window after replicating her card trick on the button sensor, standing on the small ledge while hugging the outside of the Staff Building behind her.

A breeze tickled strands of her hair as she exposed herself to the elements, and she inhaled the cool night air as she started shimmying on the precarious ledge, somewhat worried that either someone would spot her and raise the alarm or she would slip on something, fall to her death and be resurrected in handcuffs.

There was a built-in crevice above her, and she slowed her breathing as she decided to go for it and spun around on the ledge, slapping her gloved hands on the crevice as she started to sweat, shimmying along the building as she found the window which she remembered leading into an office which belonged to a logistics officer.

The windows on this floor weren't monitored by sensors, because who in their right mind would climb up and into a building through the fourth floor?

She was glad to be rid of the minor vertigo which she felt when on the outside of the building, entering a small office which consisted of a office desk and chair, files which lined the shelves and said desk, and a few framed photos of a well-shaven military man with his family of four, a wife with two daughters.

She approached the office door as she brought out a hairpin which was reconfigured into a pick as well as a small, flat piece of steel which would act as a torsion wrench, and after half a minute of messing with the lock, she unlocked it with relative ease as she dared to slide the handle of the door down without much fuss.

Checking her surroundings, she didn't have time to lock the door behind her from the outside as she heard the faint yet familiar footsteps of military boots hitting the marble floor.

Time to get going.

If the third floor was where the Admiral and other officers stayed, the fourth floor was where some of their offices were located.

A swiveling security camera watched over the window which she wanted to enter on the third floor, and she had a small window of opportunity to climb out from the fourth floor, drop down to the third floor without dying, replicate her card trick on said window and get in before anyone saw her.

No pressure.

It wasn't too hard to traverse the fourth floor since there were only three patrolling sailors here, and she was coming up on an office space with various 'L-shaped' cubicles, providing more cover than the hallway on the third floor, weaving in and out of them as she spotted the three guards for tonight.

All of them were tanned, wore navy uniforms and were armed with a flashlight and combat baton, and while one of them was strangely wearing shades while indoors at night, another was fanning himself with a cap which he took off and the last was a discount Hiroyuki Sanada, the three of them sitting at a T-junction near the windows.

And as they split up without a word after having done this for several rounds, Shiranui hid beneath a desk as Shades moved past her desk while the light beam which emanated from his flashlight danced across the floor, slipping out behind him and making sure that Hat Man wasn't going to turn back and spot her as she approached the T-junction where the sailor trio split up.

Following discount Hiroyuki Sanada at a reasonable distance while keeping track of Hat Man and Shades, she slowly slid open the window behind him while making sure that it didn't make _any_ noise and alert anyone.

And she was out.

Closing the window behind her, she spotted another patrolling golf cart which was approaching her location in about ten seconds, the moonlight was illuminating her figure and made detection easier for them.

Gotta keep moving.

She puckered up her mouth and inhaled in order to prepare herself for the drop, and she let go in order to catch the previous crevice which led around the sides of the building near the third floor, and she barely caught it with her gloved fingers, feeling the sharp ache shoot up her fingers and hands as they supported her entire weight.

Gotta keep moving.

She dropped down onto the same ledge beneath her and shimmied over to the window at the edge of the building, spotting Shouhou's dark hair and ahoge moving away from her as she peeked inside the third-floor window, fumbling to get it open with her card before she got caught as she attempted to get some life back in her trembling fingers in order to pull her into the building.

Three…

Two…

Slipping in with no time to spare, Shiranui hurriedly closed the window behind her and hid beneath a swiveling security camera as a shiver ran down her spine, sweat coating her skin as she brought her breathing under control and waited for the other foot to drop.

Because if a sailor had happened to look up and had spotted her climbing in, she expected either,

A) The alarm to sound,

B) A flashlight beam to dance across the window which she climbed in from, or,

C) Shouhou moving back towards her as she was notified of a possible intruder where Shiranui reentered the building over the security earpiece.

Any combination of the above was entirely possible.

But the end never came, and Shiranui, despite maintaining her stoic demeanor, wiped the sweat from her face as she saw that Shouhou rounded another corner and disappeared, and she saw that the security camera was pointed somewhere else, so she made her way around the third floor of the Staff Building.

Passing by the lit corridor and the unmoving camera which watched over it, she bypassed the obstacle as she braved another lit corridor while she watched out for any patrolling ship girls in case she had to duck for cover before they realized she was there.

The corridor leading to Admiral Mako's room was, as Shiranui remembered, monitored by an infrared camera and was guarded by Yura as she stood underneath a lit door.

Shiranui could flip the light switch and attempt to sneak past Yura, but the camera was the main problem here since she didn't have a jamming weapon on hand, and its infrared capabilities meant that it could see her even in absolute darkness.

Shit.

She wasn't sure what to do, but Shiranui brainstormed for a while as she tapped into her prior knowledge of the building and considered possible entry points, eventually remembering something as she sneaked over to two elevated small windows which led into Admiral Mako's toilet.

And this time, she was given a small, but existent window of opportunity to infiltrate her Admiral's room while another swiveling infrared camera looked away briefly.

She tested the window as the camera looked away, but was greeted by the tired creak of the metal joints as they moved again after years of inactivity.

And even if it was a minor squeak, it sounded as if it were the goddamned Krakatoa eruption amidst the relative silence of the Staff Building, and Shiranui fully expected someone to hear her actions as she breathed in through clenched teeth and hit the floor with nary a squeak from her sneakers, hiding behind a corner while waiting for the worst.

But after ten seconds of inactivity with a lack of alarms going off or footsteps increasing in volume as ship girls and sailors alike approached her location in order to investigate, she waited for the camera to look away again as she leapt up to the window and tried again, taking the time to ease the window open without making too much noise.

And right as she felt like letting go and waiting for the surveillance camera to turn away again before climbing in, she heard Yura approach her location (again, judging by where the sound came from and by the volume and rhythm of the steps), sounding as if she was checking a minor disturbance and not exactly rushing to find an intruder.

But if Shiranui was to let go now and attempt to wait at the corridor, she likely would be noticed by the Nagara-Class light cruiser.

Oh, _joy._

Shiranui heaved as she used all her arm muscles in order to pull herself in, her arms burning due to the exertions of strength as she breathed in heavily, a layer of sweat permeating her skin and face as she controlled her breathing upon tumbling into Admiral Mako's bathroom, lest she wake her Admiral up as they were now in adjacent rooms.

Looking around her and spotting the usual toilet paraphernalia which the Admiral used, Shiranui braced herself as she silently opened the door and laid eyes upon Admiral Mako's room.

She inhaled sharply upon seeing posters of ship girls being plastered on every wall, spotting everyone from Yamato, Nagato and Ashigara to Kai Ni Shigure and Yuudachi, Kaga, Shimakaze, Kongou, Atago and Takao, amongst others, all posing luridly and wearing titillating outfits and bikinis while taking up almost every square inch of wall and ceiling in the room.

Figurines of a large number of ship girls and other 'Ecchi' anime and manga lined the various shelves and were housed within glass boxes, Shiranui being able to identify a few characters like Mai Shiranui from King of Fighters, Hestia from DanMachi, Rias and Akeno from High School DxD, various girls from Queen's Blade, One Piece, Rosario Vampire, Monster Musume, Freezing, Dead or Alive, amongst others, all placed on them.

Admiral Mako specifically wanted figurines of females who possessed fully-developed bodies, and a lot of the figurines featured women with clothing damage or were in various stages of undress.

All of them had large breasts and were posed to emphasize and draw attention to them or their butt, legs or their sinfully curvaceous figures, and whatever scraps of fabric which covered their skin was enough to be considered merely indecent at the very, _very_ best.

Shiranui's cheeks colored, and she looked away as she felt slightly ashamed to be in here, and averted her eyes from the pantheon of figurines as though it were almost sinful to even peek at them, watching Admiral Mako's bed be populated by plush toys, cushions, bolsters and three dakimakuras of Nagato, Mark II Iowa, and Musashi, all posed suggestively and were in various states of undress on the pillow covers as they surrounded a sleeping Admiral Mako, her commander sleep-talking delightedly in her sleep with a stoned smile on her face,

"Ehehe…

Boobies…"

While she hugged her body pillows and pressed them against her face.

Shiranui blushed even harder upon hearing Admiral Mako express her transparent love for the large, jiggly parts of the female anatomy even in her sleep, which was why she had a lot of heavy cruisers, carriers and battleships as her lovers instead of destroyers and light cruisers.

But she also understood that this was partially because Admiral Mako saw a fair majority of the light cruisers and all of the destroyers as her children.

And even if she could see the former and the Kai Ni forms of the latter as possible romance partners, she often kept it as a parent-child dynamic unless the ship girls in question explicitly asked Admiral Mako to take their relationship to the next level of their own volition.

She looked over at _ohfuckme._

Shiranui closed her eyes and quietly exhaled for an entire second, cursing mentally upon spotting something which she thought she had left well alone in a dark, untouched corner of her mind, as did everyone when they first entered this room and laid eyes upon the six-leveled shelf filled with several hundred doujinshis.

Four-fifths of which, were about them.

Every ship girl of _every. Single. Nationality_ , but the IJN in particular.

To think that there were some of them about her…

Shiranui shuddered, and pried her eyes away from the shelf as her blush peaked at a crimson red while she wiped the embarrassed sweat from her face, remembering too late the one rule when visiting Admiral Mako's room, that much like the sun, you couldn't look at any one particular thing for too long, lest you slide down the slippery slope into perversion and indecency.

She quietly slid open the closet door, sitting herself down in the cramped space as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a zip-lock bag, inside which were her listening devices which she had bought in the past as part of her 'spy craze', before the days of the Infiltration Fleet when she was interested in being a spy and wanted to sneak past patrols and surveillance cameras in order to carry out her duty.

While she wished she could use these against the enemy, she opened the bag and rolled the miniature device around in her hand and considered the recent turn of events, thinking to herself.

' _I'm sorry, Admiral.'_

She knew just were to plant them, namely the insides of the collar, because Shiranui was afraid that Admiral Mako might slip her hands in her blazer pockets and discover them if she planted them inside Admiral Mako's pocket.

Hardly anyone would think to search underneath their collars on the off chance that someone wished to search her Admiral.

Although if they were to use handheld metal detectors…

Shiranui shook her head, realizing that she had no time to spare as she flipped up the collar of Admiral Mako's white blazer, applying the quick-dry glue which she knew would do its job and could be washed away easily, and even if the device was found, Shiranui made sure to wear gloves and put them in a zip-lock bag in order to prevent a strand of her clothes from being entangled in the device.

But upon grabbing the relatively thick fabric which made up the blazer's sleeve, she felt something small and hard in the blazer's cuff, and Shiranui was confused as to what it was, flipping open the flap of the cuff in order to dig out whatever was inside.

In it was another listening device.

Was it the Abyssals?

Her heart froze, but she kept her shaky breathing under control as she tried to convince herself that even if the Abyssals had come on land and bypassed all their defenses, it wasn't exactly feasible for one to sneak past all the patrolling ship girls and sailors-

Which she just did.

Shiranui softly smacked herself on her forehead upon sabotaging her own attempts at reassuring herself, before focusing on the listening device itself.

She couldn't identify any distinguishable traits in its design to even start hypothesizing about who the culprit was, so Shiranui expected that any search into whoever planted this wouldn't turn up any results, and if she asked anyone to trace whoever was at the other end of the line, she would end up implicating herself.

Shiranui crushed the listening device in her hand, checking the Admiral's other three blazers for them.

Yep.

Whoever did this had the same idea as her, to bug all of Admiral Mako's blazers with listening devices in order to maximize the chances of successfully listening in on the meeting.

And Shiranui, knowing that she wasn't going to find whoever bought or created these listening devices even if she kept them, crushed all but one in between her index finger and thumb, dropping them into her pocket as she successfully bugged her Admiral's clothes.

She left one untouched as evidence to be used in a investigation in the very distant future, but more immediate concerns had her shelving this thought for now.

Whoever it was who also wanted to listen in on Admiral Mako's conversation, she put an end to it.

It was possible that whoever bugged Admiral Mako's meeting likely wanted to use it for nefarious purposes, but Shiranui knew that because she wasn't using whatever information she would learn for any shady business, she wasn't in the wrong.

Right?

* * *

"Shiranui-san?"

Shiranui shook her head as she awoke, having dozed off for several seconds after she returned too late to the barracks last night and was only able to get a couple of hours' worth of sleep before being forced to wake up in order to face the next day.

Kagerou didn't help much in that regard, her sister's vibrant smile enchanting her as she woke Shiranui up and helped dress her hair and got her breakfast.

She was now sitting with Shigure at a bench near the Administration Building, having chosen this bench partially because it was reasonably close to the meeting room, and there weren't any security cameras nearby.

Today was the 8th of May, and they were listening to this conversation before attending their next training session which was scheduled shortly after this.

The downside to staying up late in a child's body in order to conduct spy business was that fatigue and drowsiness set in quickly, and while she had Shigure wake her up when she dozed off, it was rather irritating when she saw how weak she was compared to the other ship classes.

She nodded in order to placate Shigure, and they sat together in order to listen to the Admiral's meeting which the Coordinators, several ship girls like Aoba, Kongou, Yamato and Akashi, amongst others, were going to attend.

Shiranui activated the earpiece which was connected to the listening device, and although the transmitted voices were a bit muffled due to the location of the listening device, they could identify distinguishable voices which were conversing with each other before Admiral Mako entered the room.

Silence ensued, and Shiranui assumed that Admiral was sitting down as the destroyers listened intently to the Admiral's meeting, Admiral Mako starting the briefing by explaining how they were to go about things.

"Well, everyone, welcome to the meeting.

As you're all aware, nothing we speak of should leave this room unless it's authorized by me.

We'll be talking about Project Psyche, then the land assault training session, and then the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea.

I believe you all received copies of a dossier explaining Project Psyche, so if any of you want to debate with me the morals of performing this procedure on a ship girl despite getting her consent, can it _please_ wait until after the meeting?"

Shiranui could pick up a few sighs throughout the room, and she gave Shigure an aside glance as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer mouthed,

" _What?"_

She raised a palm in order to get Shigure to be silent for a while as she heard their Admiral ask for another ship girl to take the floor.

"Aoba, if you please."

The scraping of chairs could be heard, and they heard Aoba speak out in a room full of ship girls, something which Shiranui assumed the Aoba-Class cruiser to be incapable of after returning from her treatment in the mental institute and had holed herself up in her room ever since, stunting her social skills.

A surprise, but an unexpectedly pleasant one.

"W-Well, the preparations for Project Psyche are almost done, since we've installed fail-safes on the chairs in order to make sure that they don't die-"

"And yet you estimate that Tenryuu and Tatsuta have a 30% chance of survival?

No offense, but what _exactly_ do those fail-safes do?"

Shiranui could identify Ashigara speaking up and asking the tough questions, and the instant Shiranui heard the Tenryuu Sisters being mentioned and their chances of surviving whatever 'Project Psyche' was, she gave Shigure an aside glance.

And she saw it.

Shigure's expression shifted from inquisitive to horrified in an instant, and she was leaning forward as Shiranui could see her trying to consider what to do in order to keep her teammates alive.

Shiranui was put on the spot right then, and she made a call which she knew that upon looking back, she wouldn't be sure if it was the right thing to do, simply because her actions in these social situations were occasionally spontaneous and sent people mixed signals.

She reached out in order to grab Shigure's hand, if only to comfort her and get her back on track as quickly as possible, this being a common tactic used by Kagerou to cheer her up, and Shigure's head snapped to look up at her and _Ohareyoueffingkiddingme._

Was Shigure tearing up?

Shiranui's expression expressed nothing but awkward concern and she was entirely aware of it, trying to comfort her without saying a word as she divided her attention between returning Shigure's worried look with a 'reassuring' expression by her standards, and listening to Aoba's justification.

"-and you must understand, we're dealing with technology which is far beyond our understanding.

And even though the Fairies are advanced engineers, they say that since we're messing with settings which we don't understand the functions of, 30% is already considered very generous.

We're taking a reasonable risk, and I understand your concerns.

I don't want to risk Tenryuu-san and Tatsuta-san's lives either.

But if it's not them, who else will step up to the plate as willingly as they did?"

Several exasperated sighs were heard, and Admiral Mako intervened in order to explain to everyone how this would work out for them if it were to succeed.

"Look.

The ship girl soul is a powerful energy source, and if we can tap into it and draw more energy from it, we can potentially bring about a new age of Anti-Abyssal technology since we can funnel the power from the soul into cutting-edge Anti-Abyssal weapons."

Shiranui's nose scrunched up upon hearing that, almost disbelieving of what she just heard as she considered her Admiral's words, but she heard Musashi ask a question about the procedure.

"Pardon me, but is there any chance we can allow other bases and more ship girls to take part in this procedure, should the boys in Engineering improve the odds of survival?"

But she heard Akashi speak up, being a senior in this base who was probably in on Project Psyche, since Shiranui surmised that such a dangerous Project required someone with nerves of steel, who knew what she was doing and knew how to take reasonable risks.

"Well, about that…

We can't raise it any more than 30% at the moment, so that's one broken promise on our part…"

She heard Admiral Mako hum understandingly, as though saying, ' _Eh, you tried.'_ without saying a word.

"Besides, we have the best engineers and Fairies in this base, and we can only guarantee a 30% chance.

Do you really want to see the odds other naval bases would promise if they were to try and replicate the procedure?"

The room became unnaturally silent, and even though the destroyer duo tried to listen for any sounds of life, it was clear that everyone had no counter to Akashi's grim observation, and the repair ship continued on to list the possible ramifications of letting everyone gain this power without keeping track of them all.

"Besides, what's to say that there are absolutely no side-effects at all?

To our understanding, Kyoka Suigetsu is a near-death experience where we see our souls personified in our image, and who's to say that our souls won't try to kill us or take over our personalities in order to 'help' us pass on, hmm?

If Tenryuu and Tatsuta are to lose control of their powers due to any short or long-term complications or suffer from any aftereffects, we need to keep this contained.

We'll do our best, but since we're toying with things that're almost beyond our understanding, we can't allow other naval bases to get their hands on something we don't know everything about."

Shigure gripped Shiranui's gloved hand a little tighter, and despite her best attempts to keep her expression neutral, Shiranui could see that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was struggling with her emotions, and Shiranui kept silent since she didn't know what to say in these situations.

She only knew to keep silent, and hope that her presence was enough to provide some comfort as she heard Akashi talk about how this procedure was akin to a secret, and how it was best kept within a small circle of confidantes.

"And if we're to allow everyone to know of this technology, what if they successfully replicate it, but fail to protect their assets and allow their modified ship girls to be sunk and captured by the Abyssals?

Each 'New Wave' ship girl we lose is one more which is Abyssalized and turned against us, so it's better that we are the ones to own any and every New Wave ship girl out there, hmm?"

Noting that 'New Wave' was likely the term which was used to describe the ship girls who survived Project Psyche, Shiranui listened on to Nagato playing Devil's Advocate, although she sounded as though she wanted to do anything but.

"Besides, if we are to consolidate our New Wave ship girls in one base, it would be easier for us to house and protect them all rather than have them scattered throughout Earth, as they may fall victim to the Abyssals' concentrated effort to take them all down should they become the hunted.

We may be able to trust the stronger bases around the world with this technology, because they have enough manpower and firepower to defend their assets.

However, Akashi is right in that it would require months, if not years to make sure that this procedure doesn't backfire and harm our ship girls in the long run."

Grunts of reluctant approval were heard throughout the room, and Aoba laid out the schedule which they were going to follow.

"We're finalizing the preparations, and we'll perform a check-up tomorrow...

Um, i-it's all non-invasive, I can assure you of that."

Aoba hastily reassured everyone in order to prevent anyone from getting the wrong idea.

"We want to make sure they are in tip-top condition before the procedure.

We'll have them perform several dives and keep them under heavy observation throughout the entirety of this month.

At the end of May, we can release them and only have them come in for occasional check-ups while observing them from afar.

We'll make sure they don't push their powers too far, because even though we don't know the possible symptoms of overexertion, for everyone's sake, we'd best keep ourselves in the dark about this, lest we violate the rights of the Tenryuu Sisters, yes?"

Murmurs of agreement were heard all around, and Shigure exhaled sharply as the women in the meeting changed the subject, Kongou speaking in an uncharacteristically serious tone about the land assault training session.

"Admiral, we have begun preparations for the land assault training session, what with the various Anti-Abyssal weapons with rubber and paintball rounds, entire buildings being vacated in order to allow ship girls to train in them, and getting soldiers from the JSDF to teach our ship girls, desu.

All of this is in preparation for Apocalypse."

Admiral Mako nodded, addressing everyone as she discussed one topic which the two destroyers were interested about.

"Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat this, girls.

We have enough reason to believe that a land assault campaign, which the Abyssals dubbed Apocalypse, is imminent, and will likely be a precursor to World War 3.

And even though we have the Infiltration Fleet trying to find out what the Abyssals are up to, we need to prepare ourselves in any way we can.

Admiral Jackson is manufacturing the Anti-Abyssal firearms in America to be sent over at a later date, and we've told a handful of Japanese Naval Bases about this, so expect us to slowly ramp up the Anti-Abyssal weapon production behind the scenes for now."

"And is there a reason why we aren't telling everyone about this, desu?

I would think that if World War 3 were to break out, we need to warn everyone about this, no?"

Kongou expressed the thoughts of almost all the ship girls present, but Akashi put an end to anyone hoping to ask this question, retorting with her sharp tongue and harsh tone.

"And you think anyone wants to hear this, hmm?

We'll be laughed out of the room and labelled as attention whores if we announce this before we gather enough proof, or we could incite a national panic in which everyone rushes to buy emergency rations and medical supplies like it's Black Friday in America.

You want to see our citizens scramble and trample over each other in attempting to hoard as much resources as they can get their hands on in a life-or-death situation?

Especially when we warn everyone about the next imminent World War which comes in the form of 'Apocalypse', and not allow the government enough time to draft a response plan to combat the ensuing public chaos?

I wouldn't put it past them to panic like crazy and only look out for themselves when their lives are at stake."

Another bout of awkward silence ensued, Shiranui sweat-dropping as Kongou eventually spoke out in a barely-audible tone due to the placement of Shiranui's listening device.

"You didn't have to put it like that, desu…"

Admiral Mako coughed into her fist, and tried to get the conversation back on track as she talked about the costs of such a training session.

"Well, we've cut a reasonable check to the JSDF for them to send their best trainers.

We need ship girls to move things out of those buildings and make sure we don't get hit too hard in terms of logistics when we vacate those buildings in order to train our ship girls.

I've also cancelled some of the expeditions before this, and they'll get some time to recover before attending the training session.

I'd rather hold off on attaining resources and allow all our ship girls to attending one training session, rather than hold a second training session for the ship girls who missed the first one on the 22nd."

Sounds of agreement were heard throughout the room, and Shiranui planned out their schedule as she learnt of all these.

She would infiltrate the laundry room with Kagerou's help in order to retrieve the listening devices, and after that, she would go on the sortie with the 1st Fleet on the 14th of May, and the land assault training session on the 22nd.

After that, they would have to prepare themselves for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, and beyond that, they would spend every second preparing for a possible land assault and eventual World War 3.

Well, things were going to be a little more hectic from now on, that's for sure.

She gave Shigure an aside glance and saw that despite looking worried about the future, Shiranui was providing her some comfort with her stoic and unshakable demeanor which helped anchor the frightened Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's spirit despite learning that her friends had a 30% chance of survival in some obscure military project which they had volunteered for.

The fact that she was sitting a little closer to Shiranui didn't escape her notice, and they focused on the conversation at hand while the Admiral moved onto the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, and their overarching strategy for the upcoming large-scale battle.

"Well, one thing I'd like to update everyone regarding the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea.

The Kamogawa and Isumi Naval Base just confirmed with me that they would be participating in the battle with us, along with the Kujukuri Naval Base further up North of Chiba sending two fleets to try and chip in however they can.

So that brings the number of participants in this battle up to twelve, including the JMSDF and the Abyssal armada.

Concerning our strategy…"

Rustling of papers could be heard, and Shiranui surmised that they could be maps of the Kanto region, since they would need a map to plot out their movements.

"The initial part of the battle will occur here, before the formation of naval mines.

The First Strike Group needs to engage in battle with vanguard of the Abyssal armada here, and they are predicted to suffer the highest number of casualties if things get out of hand.

We won't leave them out to dry, of course, since we'll have battleships and carriers providing mid and long-range support respectively, but they'll have to hold out until the second stage of the plan."

Admiral Mako then went into a little more detail about how even though the First Strike Group will have to risk their lives on the field, she needed it for the next stage of her plan to work.

"Look, it won't be 'Charge of the Light Brigade' kind of odds, but we need to send out the best ship girls with the best equipment in order to ensure that they possess reasonable odds of survival in order for them to live long enough to retreat and bait the Abyssals into the mines.

We will get the First Strike Group to retreat into and beyond the naval mine formation, and this is very important, because _all of them_ need to be outside of the naval mine formation in order for this to work.

This will be part one and two, the initial battle and the retreat-slash-bait.

The smokescreen and the incomplete combustion which the retreating First Strike Group will throw up in their wake will force the Abyssals to decide if they would risk sailing above the mines and into the smokescreen, or delay their invasion as we pepper them with long-range cannon fire from the battleships, which will stand behind and provide cover fire as the First Strike Group retreats."

Admiral Mako then probably took up something, likely a marker, as something squeaked in the room while everyone kept silent, and Shiranui was now fully invested in the briefing as she listened to the Admiral's voice, the listening device thankfully positioned next to Admiral Mako's mouth to ensure that a relatively clear voice was transmitted.

"The battleships will cover their retreat, and when the Abyssals move into the smokescreen, we will strike them down with the battleships which'll stand here as well as the Second and Third Strike Group with their torpedo launchers, which will stand here and here.

Jet fighters will fly in and bombard the Abyssals from the mainland, and we'll time this to be part of a massive three-pronged attack as Shizuoka and Shimoda attacks from the West, while Kamogawa and Isumi will attack from the North East, and we'll attack them head on.

This will be part three, the bombardment phase."

Admiral Mako then lowered her voice in order to talk to the ship girls in a trusting tone, and Shiranui was interested in what else Admiral Mako had in store to add to her admittedly solid strategy, to the point where she likely kept it from even her most trusted ship girls until now.

"And…

I'd really appreciate it if you kept this next part of the plan secret, even more so than the plans to the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea."

They both heard a distant and muffled,

"Yes, Ma'am."

And Shiranui leaned in close to Shigure in order to propose a theory as to who this voice belonged to.

"It's likely Yahagi, since she writes the minutes to most of the meetings.

Whatever this next part is, Admiral Mako doesn't want it to be written down."

Shigure nodded, the both of them turning their attention back to Admiral Mako talking about how she had sent the submarines off in the middle of the night about a month or so before this.

"I sent the submarines off as I ordered them to plant the mines in the Sagami-nada Sea.

However, I did it in the middle of the night as I didn't want anyone to know that we made some modifications to the naval mines."

Shiranui scrunched up her face questioningly while assuming that everyone else in the room did the same whenever Admiral Mako did something which no one expected, and whenever she did so, it was in a way which the ship girls weren't always prepared for.

"I assume you all know that unlike the usual naval mines which are tied down to the ocean floor by steel chains and an anchor, our new naval mines, which were developed twelve years ago, are kept in place by six propellers which are stuck to its six axes around its spherical body.

It marks its true position using latitude, longitude and depth as well as relative distance to other mines in order to prevent them from drifting away due to underwater currents or animals brushing past them.

To give some context, normal mines have an anchor which the mine is attached to via a metal cable or chain, in order to cancel out the buoyancy force of the mine with the weight of the anchor."

Shiranui hummed in understanding while Shigure eagerly nodded as the two of them, being ship girls who had been through one naval war and was currently participating in another, knew how such things worked as they were often used in naval wars in order to discourage ships and submarines from travelling into certain areas.

Admiral Mako continued the small lesson on their newly developed mines, and how they were going to play an integral role in the upcoming battle, explaining.

"Well, in the newer naval mines, we integrate the 'anchor' with the mine, and if you imagine the inside of the mine as two hemispheres along with the payload, the top hemisphere is filled with air and the bottom half is affixed with weights to balance out the buoyancy force with the excess weight.

The reason why they aren't laid down everywhere on the ocean is because if they're laid down in the middle of the ocean instead of near important locations, the Abyssals can sail around them, thus defeating their purpose.

Without the restriction of the maximum length of a cable holding them back and limiting their usability, these naval mines can be placed at almost any depth en masse.

And, um, those weights that're supposed to hold them down?

I had them modified to come off at the push of a button."

Shiranui eyes widened as she connected the dots in her mind, lowering her head and rubbing her face with her gloved palm as she groaned tiredly.

"Shit…"

And after one entire second of looking down at the ground, Shigure seemed to mirror her movements as she heard the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer bemoan upon coming upon the same revelation of what Admiral Mako's plan was.

"Aw…"

Admiral Mako explained her trump card and how she was to use the underwater mines in order to destroy the Abyssals using a method which no one had thought to use on such a grand scale.

"W-Well, we are to drop these weights from the mines in order to allow them all to float up to the surface if the Abyssals are to advance and sail above them.

The Abyssals will be bombarded by the battleship shells, torpedoes, jet fighters firing their JDAMs, our Fairy planes dropping their payloads ala carpet bombing, and the rising minefield beneath their feet.

How's that sound?"

Shigure, sounding extremely worried about the detonation of so many explosives on the battlefield, turned to face her as she asked Shiranui about this.

"Shiranui-san, the power behind an explosion of that caliber…

It's enough to wipe out a significant portion of an entire armada if we play our cards right, but-"

Shiranui, her expression now a dark poker face, raised a palm in order to silence Shigure as she heard Admiral Mako talk about what came after the devastating stage three, after the Abyssals were hit from the front and the sides by the ship girls, the top by the fighter jets and bomber planes, and the bottom by the rising mines.

"After that, it's stage four, and it's basically a free-for-all where everyone just dogpiles the Abyssals and throws everything they have at them.

I don't really have much of a plan for this part of the battle, but I've been notified by the USAF in Yokota that we'll have F-22 Raptors, Mitsubishi F-2 and a C-130 Hercules backing us u-"

"Um, Admiral?"

Ooyodo cut in with a polite interruption regarding the last plane which her commander stated, seeking to correct her.

"The C-130 Hercules is a transport aircraft which is part of the 36th Airlift Squadron, which is stationed in Yokota.

The Yokota USAF was talking to us about the Lockheed AC-130U gunship, the attack variant of the C-130 Hercules which was sent to us by the United States and Lockheed Martin as a package along with other jet fighters back in 2006 to help us in the Abyssal War."

Admiral Mako could only utter an acknowledging,

"Oh."

Before she responded in classic Admiral Mako fashion by simply going.

"What she said."

Everyone exhaled loudly through their noses in slight exasperation, as did Shiranui and Shigure upon witnessing Admiral Mako's clumsy conversational skills at work.

Shiranui then heard Yamato, with her polite voice possessing a quality of soft yet powerful authority which resonated throughout the room, asked about how Japan managed to get their hands on American planes from a company whose list of clients were mostly Americans.

"Um, Admiral?

I understand that Lockheed Martin only sells their products to American clients, so how did these planes come into our possession?"

But Nagato stepped in to explain how 'alien invasion' and 'possible human extinction' meant that they had access to several American vehicles of war, although certain conditions still applied.

"With the Abyssal War threatening America and its allies around the world, namely us, I suppose the defense contractors saw this war as the exception to their rule and sold us their products, with one of the conditions being that the maintenance crew and pilots be all-American, since I suppose they only trust people vetted by them to fly their own planes.

They check them every month to make sure that every screw and nut within each and every plane is accounted for, but they do come in handy in situations like these, when you need air superiority to influence the tide of large-scale battles."

Musashi then commented offhandedly,

"Well, I suppose in spite of the strict regulations and inspections they subject their overseas units to, as though they can't trust us not to accidentally crash their planes or break off a stabilizer fin, at least they're making a genuine effort to provide support by lifting the ban on their 'American-only' weapons for us and certain countries around the world.

I don't mind all the fuss over who owns the planes, so long as whoever flies them helps us win."

Akashi continued the conversation in order to get it back on track, as she explained how the American fighter jets might have to be called in to back them up in case one particular adversary showed up.

"Well, we'll be warming up their engines in order to prepare for the arrival of the _Flying Dutchman_ , which is a very potent adversary which we need to watch out for.

The likelihood of the Abyssal aviation battleship appearing in this battle is pretty high, partially because we're one of the naval bases which is on the Abyssals' shit list, and Yuubari will certainly want to watch over her armada and aid in their invasion.

She will likely be on the Abyssal battleship and spectate the battle from afar as the commander-in-chief, while the _Dutchman_ fires at everyone."

Shiranui noted the repair ship's subtle shift in tone, and this was not lost on everyone in the room as Ooyodo calmly asked.

"Akashi, are you alright with confronting Yuubari and taking her down, despite your past relationship with her?"

Shiranui was somewhat surprised at the insinuation that Akashi was in a relationship with Yuubari before she sank, and might have to face off against her on the battlefield.

She sank less than a decade ago, and the same Abyssalized Yuubari was now spearheading the invasion of the Abyssals against mankind?

Who the hell appoints an Abyssalized light cruiser to the position of Abyssal high command this easily?

But those questions would be left unanswered for now as Akashi answered without a shadow of a doubt, as though she had considered the possibility and had come to terms with what she had to do.

"Yeah, no doubt about it.

I'll lop her head off and keep it with me, so that the Abyssals never recover it and make her work against us."

A third bout of intense silence was dropped upon everyone by the Akashi-Class repair ship, and Shiranui wasn't exactly sure what to make of a ship girl being so casual with killing her former lover and keeping her decapitated head around without breaking a sweat over the moral quandaries regarding such a course of action.

Shigure also looked rather surprised, and even a little horrified upon hearing the repair ship say this so casually, and she could hear Admiral Mako sharing the urgent need to move onto another topic along with everyone who was present in order to avoid dealing with the sheer awkwardness that was forced upon them by Akashi.

"W-Well, I suppose that concludes a majority of the topics which are to be covered in this meeting.

So, to summarize, Tenryuu and Tatsuta are to be brought in for the rest of May, and we'll give them checkups before and after the dives in order to make sure that Project Psyche doesn't cause any side effects, either immediate or delayed.

For the land assault training session, we'll hold it on the 22nd of May, and the goal is to help ship girls prepare for Apocalypse, and eventually World War 3 by manufacturing more Anti-Abyssal weapons and gaining the cooperation of all the other countries if we can find enough evidence to convince them without a shred of a doubt that Apocalypse is real.

For the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, we're to have four stages of battle, where the first is to clash, the second is to retreat and bait.

The third is to devastate them with attacks from all directions, including the bottom via the rising mines, and the fourth stage is a free-for-all fuckfest where we take out everyone who's left with help from the entirety of the JSDF.

Any questions?"

Shiranui supposed Ashigara was the one who raised her hand, because her Admiral then asked of the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser,

"Yeah, Ashigara?

What's your question?"

Ashigara asked unabashedly about something which was somewhat related to the final topic, but wasn't about the battle itself.

"Can we choose to call the upcoming large-scale battle 'Battle of Twelve Navies'?

I mean, it's three syllables shorter, and it's an easier way to call the clusterfuck that is going to be ten naval bases and the JMSDF dogpiling the Abyssal armada, so why not?"

Nagato deadpanned, sounding incredulous at how the heavy cruiser felt the need to even ask this question, asking flatly.

"Seriously?

Did you literally ask a question about what we're supposed to call the battle, of all the things we should focus our attention on?"

"Yes, I literally did.

Literally."

Ashigara responded dryly, and Shiranui could hear Akashi complaining about how everyone in the room was absolutely insufferable.

"Fucking hell.

Everyone in here's so fucking cancerous, blatantly misusing 'literally'-"

Shiranui turned off her earpiece by that point in time, and gave Shigure a look in order to get her to do the same, talking to her about what they were to do, or more accurately, _not_ do for now in light of recent developments.

"Look, Shigure.

I need to be honest with you.

Regarding Project Psyche, I don't think we can stop Tenryuu or Tatsuta from participating in it, because if we're to do so, Admiral Mako will know that the reason why we would know about Project Psyche in order to stop the Tenryuu Sisters in the first place is if we somehow learnt about it through underhanded and certainly illegal means."

Shiranui's eyes narrowed as she leaned in to address a worried Shigure who looked down at the ground, clearly contemplating the thought of rushing into the Admiral's office and demanding that she spare her teammates' lives, or something along those lines.

"Shigure.

I infiltrated the Admiral's room in order to plant those listening devices.

If you are considering barging into the Admiral's room in order to ask her to stop Project Psyche, I urge you to reconsider, lest we both be thrown into military prison and be punished for our infractions."

Shigure looked away in shame, and Shiranui knew that she hit the nail on the head regarding Shigure's thoughts, but she also understood the need for Shigure to contact and talk to her teammates without accidentally spilling the beans, and she relented as she gripped the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's hand a little tighter, attempting to relax her expression in order to flash Shigure a small, reassuring smile before continuing.

"But…

I understand if you wish to talk to them before they go for the procedure.

And I will allow it if you talk to them without making them suspect that we know what they know."

Shigure's near-crying expression morphed into a somewhat surprised one as she met Shiranui's gaze, and the Kagerou-Class destroyer quickly dropped her smile, now being the one to look away as she looked away and felt slightly abashed as she had a slight heart to heart with Shigure.

"Look, I'm not entirely heartless.

They're your teammates.

And while I stress the importance of not being a complete idiot by shouting from the rooftops about how Project Psyche is bad for your teammates and getting us both arrested, I won't stop you from talking to them before the worst happens."

She could see the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer wrestle with her emotions in trying to come to terms with Shiranui's reasonable requests and compromise, still looking extremely reluctant as she acquiesced and agreed with Shiranui.

"I… I suppose I have to, don't I?

You've taken one for the team, and I need to do the same."

Shiranui nodded as she closed her eyes, and Shigure broke out into a small, sad smile as she looked to the Kagerou-Class destroyer and pointed out.

"You know, Shiranui-san.

You often look so stoic and unflinching, when you smile, it really has the effect of looking surreal as it is a rare and wonderful phenomenon, and looks as if it takes a Herculean effort on your part."

Shiranui's eyebrows creased, and she lifted her gloved right hand in order to pinch Shigure on the nose as a minor punishment as she remarked dryly.

"Naive, and cheeky.

Annoying, too."

And Shigure's voice became a little more high-pitched as she gesticulated wildly with her hands, tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she squealed.

"Ah, waah, Shiwanui-shan!"

While Shiranui thought about the name-ship of the Kagerou-Class, and how in some sense, these two ship girls shared some passing resemblances.

' _Kagerou gets on my nerves with her boundless enthusiasm, and Shigure does the same with her uncontrollable sense of curiosity, and they both possess the cheek to shoot back at me._

 _Must my life be plagued with ship girls who worm their way past my stoic demeanor so easily with their quirks?'_

She sighed, but didn't exactly mind their company as she knew that she secretly found those traits and habits endearing if they learnt to moderate and control them instead of the other way around, as Shigure demonstrated in the training session a few days ago by allowing her thoughts and curiosity to occupy her attention in mid-battle.

And Shiranui, upon considering the series of upcoming battles and events which were going to shake their world, found herself feeling that a second wind lifted her spirit as she wished to do better despite her limits holding her back.

All for the sake of protecting her sisters and friends and preserving the illusion of peace, if but for a little while longer before all Hell broke loose on Earth.


	34. Chapter 34 - Complicit

Shigure was trying to find Tenryuu and Tatsuta, desperate to say anything resembling parting words to them before they participated in whatever Project Psyche was, risking their lives and possibly dying without her being at their side.

She wasn't exactly certain what the Project was about save for researching on the ship girl soul and utilizing its energy reserves, but all Shigure cared about right now was the odds of her friends surviving, scientific curiosity be damned.

30% was far too low for her liking, although the soldier in her understood that sacrifices were inevitable in war, and the Tenryuu-Class cruisers had chosen to volunteer for this procedure and were told of their odds beforehand as per their rights to know what they were getting themselves into before making their choice.

There were talks of becoming stronger, and she understood how the Tenryuu-Class light cruisers might want to improve themselves in order to keep themselves relevant in the long run, since their stats aren't impressive and they didn't currently didn't possess Kai Ni remodels.

After listening to the Admiral's meeting and her talks of Project Psyche, she knew that she had little time left before the two of them left for Project Psyche (OK, she knew they went for their checkup tomorrow she still had an entire day left, so she was overreacting a little).

And even though she had talked to her teammates before this, when the Tenryuu Sisters had sought out the members of the 1st Fleet in order to have a good chat with them a few days ago, she wanted to talk to them again after knowing they may die in this upcoming Project.

Although it made sense for them not to tell anyone of Project Psyche and their odds of not returning, the entire Project was likely top-secret and forbade them from even mentioning it to others, and they likely didn't want their last conversations with their friends to be sappy and filled with choked tears and goodbyes.

All so reasonable, but she just couldn't bring herself to see it that way.

She was now in the light cruiser section of the barracks, and she saw that Tenryuu and Tatsuta were leaving their room in order to do something or another.

Not on her watch.

Shigure ran forward and tackled Tenryuu in a tight embrace, since she understood how Tenryuu, after dealing with the Akatsuki Sisters, would respond better to this hug than the aloof and mysterious Tatsuta, squeaking out,

"Tenryuu-san!

Tatsuta-san!"

Tenryuu, slightly surprised by the sudden appearance and hug, looked down with her one eye as she ruffled Shigure's hair with the tenderness of an experienced guardian as she comforted the seemingly-distraught Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"Woah, there, Shigure.

What's wrong?

You feeling alright?"

Shigure looked up with tearing eyes, all while knowing that this would get the two sisters to lower their guard, and she began lying through her teeth about her concerns regarding the light cruiser duo.

"N-No!

Everything's not alright!

I had a nightmare last night, and…"

She swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked down and started covering up her recent activities with Shiranui, and had made up a lie shortly before this in order to express her concern for their well-being clearly without explicitly referring to anything specific regarding their future endeavors.

This way, she could justify her sudden outburst of emotion without requiring her to engineer a real-life event to explain it away.

And what else would accomplish that better than a nightmare?

"I had a nightmare, wherein the two of you disappeared after I came back from a sortie.

A-And no matter how hard I looked around the base, I couldn't find any traces of you two, as though the both of you had disappeared from the face of the Earth…"

She could notice Tenryuu looking at Tatsuta warily, and knew that although they were somewhat on guard after hearing how eerily accurate Shigure's 'nightmare' seemed to predict the worst possible future, they weren't exactly suspicious of her.

She may not be speaking the complete truth, but her words conveyed her feelings without revealing how she learnt of their situation as she continued.

"Because of this nightmare, I-I can't help but feel that I'm going to lose you both, and I don't want that!

I don't want the two of you to leave!"

Shigure looked up at the both of them with doey eyes, genuinely feeling as if she was to cry anytime soon and making it very apparent to them.

But it was Tatsuta who responded to her words, albeit taking a surprisingly mature tone instead of the gentle one Shigure was sure Tenryuu would go with, speaking in an equally cryptic tone about what they were going to do next, and how they might not return at all.

"That fear is not unfounded.

We've been chosen to be experimented on in order to be achieve a… remodel of sorts."

Tenryuu's gaze morphed into one of worry, and her tone broke down to reveal a deep-seated panic about revealing Project Psyche to an outsider.

"O-Oi, Tatsuta!

We shouldn't be telling others-"

"…of Admiral Mako's attempts to help us attain our Kai Ni remodel?"

Tatsuta smoothly interrupted her elder sister's sentence in order to explain herself, and left the two members of the 1st Fleet dumbfounded as Tatsuta played Shigure's game.

"Well, the development of a new Kai Ni remodel is fraught with danger and the possibility of death, since we're attempting to tinker with our own bodies in ways no one has ever attempted to before.

The Admiral, despite her best attempts to push our engineers and Fairies on to improve our odds of survival, has warned us that there is a distinct possibility of us dying for real."

Tatsuta looked Shigure in the eye, and she had to look away morosely as Tatsuta stated the facts and their odds of surviving this procedure.

"I want to tell you that it's alright, that we will come back safe and sound, but I don't want to lie to you about our situation."

Shigure cringed upon hearing that last line, understanding that much like how Shigure wanted to express her concern without exposing her situation, Tatsuta was also trying to be as truthful as possible without giving everything away, and it hurt the both of them to try and tiptoe around each other despite wishing nothing more than to come clean with each other because of the sensitivity of the situation at hand.

Tatsuta continued with a rather somber tone,

"I won't lie to you that we're coming back for sure, partially because I know that you are mature enough to see through such blatant lies, and I can only ask of you to know this before we go.

We want to come back.

To be with you, Junyou, Hiei, Ayanami and everyone else in this base.

We will do our best, but we cannot guarantee our survival, and if we are to die, I want you know that we tried."

Shigure withered, looking down at the floor as her shoulders slouched in defeat, but Tenryuu patted her on the head as she looked up to find Tenryuu giving her a mature, yet cheery and genuine smile as she stated bravely.

"Maa, don't worry too much about it, Shigure!

Much like what Tatsuta said, even though I can't guarantee that I'm gonna come back, I want you to be strong in knowing that I'll do everything within my power to make it back to you, alright?"

Shigure nodded sadly after she considered their words for a moment, because she understood that the two Tenryuu-Class cruisers were strong-willed and understood their situation well enough to know that they still had a fighting chance.

But she wasn't exactly sure how the procedure in Project Psyche worked other than utilizing high-level technology to assess the ship girl soul, which was an enigma in its entirety due to the fact that the engineering prowess required to create one was beyond even that of the Fairies, as the little engineers only knew how to summon them from…

Wherever they came from, which added to the mystery behind one of the biggest driving forces within the ship girl body.

She looked up at her two teammates as she expressed her reluctant understanding of their situation and how they wished to become stronger, and while she understood the logic behind their wish to become stronger despite their limits holding them back and acknowledged that their odds of survival weren't abysmally low, she still wanted her friends to be safe.

"I… I just…

I don't want you two to go.

I understand that your odds aren't hopelessly abysmal, and I understand that recent events necessitate taking a few risks in order to become stronger, but still…"

Tatsuta nodded, understanding the reference to the Battle of Mikura Jima Island and how it spurred them all on in order to become stronger, and she leaned in to look Shigure in the eye as she explained their reasons for risking their lives to become stronger and be the pioneers of a new wave of technological developments.

"Look, like Tenryuu-chan explained to me, being part of this project means that we can get to become stronger earlier than any of our counterparts in other bases.

And even though dying is not a preferred outcome, we understand that this risk is par for the course in order to help develop a new remodel for others to receive down the road with better odds of surviving this procedure.

I appreciate your concern, but since you understand that we need to do this to become stronger so that we can protect everyone else, I implore of you to let us go for this procedure."

Shigure nodded again, knowing that she never really stood a chance in getting the both of them to pull out of the Project, but she wanted them to know that she wanted them to come back, wanted them to be safe after finding out about what they were about to go through and could happen to them, looking down as she talked about how she understood why they had to do this.

"I understand that you two have decided on this course of action, and I trust that you two have already considered and understood the consequences and have accepted them.

And while I disagree on how you two didn't really tell any one of us about participating in this procedure, risking your life and making things extremely awkward for the other sister should one of you not make it, I suppose I can't fault you if you don't want to make your last conversation with everyone a sad goodbye with tears and hugs.

I-I'm sorry for ruining that…"

But Tatsuta and Tenryuu's expression relaxed as they leaned down, the nameship of the Tenryuu Class patting her on the head as she cracked a wide smile and remarked.

"Ah, why would we feel that a friend expressing her heartfelt concern is anything but endearing?

I'm glad you're opening up to everyone, and it's great to see that someone wants me to come back alive.

I certainly hate disappointing people, so believe me when I say that I'll do my best!"

Shigure couldn't help but break out into a relieved smile at how even though she was facing unfavorable odds, Tenryuu and Tatsuta had understood that while their odds weren't great, it wasn't entirely hopeless either, and Tenryuu put Shigure's concerns to rest with her confident smile and softer, but much more mature and therefore reassuring demeanor.

She nodded, and Tenryuu turned away as she headed towards somewhere, turning back to address a still Shigure with her parting words.

"Well, even though I understand the fact that I may not return from this procedure, I don't want my last words to sound sad and all and make you feel depressed, so I guess I'll see you when I see you, hmm?"

Shigure blinked, before nodding slowly and acknowledging Tenryuu's wish to keep their last conversation upbeat and at least bittersweet in its happiness rather than outright sad and depressing, and Tatsuta looked to her sister as she commented soothingly in order to get Tenryuu to do as she said.

"Tenryuu-chan, go on ahead.

I wish to say my parting words to Shigure in private."

Tenryuu nodded, and gave Shigure a small salute with her index and middle finger as she turned and walked away.

Tatsuta turned to look Shigure in the eye after Tenryuu was out of earshot, and began her little speech on how her concern, despite never standing a chance in convincing her to change her mind, was still thankful for Shigure expressing her wish for them to come back alive.

"Shigure-chan.

I thank you for caring so much about our well-being, and being so understanding of our need to surpass our current limits in order to protect you all.

I understand that I'm not the kind of person to express my own feelings honestly, so please bear with me for a while."

Shigure nodded as Tatsuta's smile diminished in intensity, yet became even more genuine as she continued her speech and lowered her gaze, inadvertently looking away as she did so.

"While I genuinely don't wish to leave you all, my odds of surviving this procedure isn't very optimistic, although it's not hopeless.

I accept all possible outcomes, but even though we didn't tell you all about participating in this top-secret procedure which might kill us, Admiral Mako did allow us to write letters to all of you, and would keep them until we died, whereupon she would send them to you, and Admiral Mako would formally apologize to you all at that point for causing our deaths.

We don't wish to send these letters out to you when we still have a chance of surviving this procedure, and make things awkward for everyone if we were to live after sending you such a depressing letter."

Shigure pointed out in a calm tone as she reminded Tatsuta about how they agreed to the procedure after being properly informed of their odds.

"Well, for something like this, Admiral Mako must've told you about your chances of survival, and it isn't exactly fair for us to blame Admiral Mako for your deaths if you've already been informed of your odds and agree to participate in it anyway."

Tatsuta's smile became rather sad as she asked Shigure a question on the likelihood of every ship girl in this base sticking by that logic when a close friend was ripped from their lives.

"Well, I wouldn't put it past other ship girls who are more emotional and highly value their relationships with others to do the opposite.

And who's to say that even those whom you know to be level-headed wouldn't be affected even more negatively in the wake of a friend's death, no?"

Shigure nodded sadly as she knew that ship girls were partially human, and would react differently to the passing of others depending on how close they were to the deceased and how they took the news.

Some might shake their heads and mourn the waste of another life, others might break down and cry, others might find someone to blame for the cause of their friend's death, and Shigure found it hard to predict how everyone would react to the news of their friends' deaths, as much as she wanted to know how everyone would react in certain situations to prepare herself accordingly.

"I… I understand."

Tatsuta gave Shigure a wry smile, and turned away to join Tenryuu as she parted with the sad, yet accepting Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer with her final words.

"Well, much like what Tenryuu-chan said, see you when I see you."

Before turning away and walking off into the distance.

And although Shigure was sad to see her go, she knew that the two of them had already made their choice, and she shouldn't overstep her boundaries by whining like a child in attempting to get them to stay.

But the next exchange took her entirely by surprise as Tatsuta stopped and muttered something loud enough for Shigure to hear as she looked at the stopped Tenryuu-Class cruiser's back and her purple mop of hair.

"This is just my women's intuition at work here, but…

Was it _really_ a nightmare which drove you into seeking us out today, Shigure-chan?"

Shigure flinched just as Tatsuta turned around to observe her, and she barely maintained her facade as she started to sweat underneath Tatsuta's scrutinizing gaze, and she swallowed the lump in her throat as she gave an awkward smile and answered.

"O-Of course, Tatsuta-san.

Why would I ever lie to you?"

And almost cringed at how bad of a liar she was when trying to lie to her friends's faces.

After about five seconds of silence and a tense smile from her, Tatsuta gave Shigure the warmest smile she had ever received from the Tenryuu-Class cruiser as Tatsuta simply responded.

" … I see.

Let's hope that you no longer have these nightmares, and that my intuition is wrong, hmm?"

Shigure responded with one hell of an awkward smile as she tried her best not to cringe at her own attempts at selling her own lies.

"Thank you, Tatsuta-san.

It's not going to help much, but I will pray for your safe return."

Tatsuta nodded, her silky, short hair bouncing along with the motion as she turned to catch up with her sister ship, and Shigure dropped her smile in order to smack herself in the forehead when Tatsuta left the immediate vicinity.

' _Well, that went well.'_

Shigure knew that even though Tatsuta might be onto her due to her own inability to keep a straight face while telling a lie to her own friends, but because her 'nightmare story' only had her word to go on, this meant that she was safe for now since Tatsuta couldn't prove anything.

She got her feelings across and managed to express her wish for them to come back despite perfectly understanding the fact that they made their choice to deliberately risk their own lives in order to get stronger, and she had to respect their choice despite disagreeing with the 30% chance of survival.

It was infuriating, almost maddening, to be powerless in times like these when she had to essentially wait around for things to happen and she couldn't do anything to change the outcome, in this case because she had no say in who could and couldn't participate in Project Psyche.

She shook her head despondently, knowing that worrying about things that were beyond her control wasn't doing anyone any good, she had to protect those around her by training to become stronger and do well in the upcoming sorties and battles.

Everyone was doing the same, and she turned away in order to head towards the training ground, since there was a training session immediately after this.

It hurt, to learn to accept reality for what it was and the limits of her influence and capabilities, but it also allowed her to realize that she had to focus on what mattered the most in the here and now and work hard within those capabilities and limits in order to protect as many of her friends as possible without overexerting herself, because she was no good to anyone as a fatigued wreck.

* * *

Shiranui was walking with Kagerou on the morning of the 12th of May, and she had everything in place in order to pull off her plan to retrieve her listening devices from the used blazers of Admiral Mako.

Kagerou was part of the laundry detail, and this meant that she was one of several dozen ship girls and sailors who had to deal with the used clothes of a little over a hundred ship girls in Yokosuka and the three hundred-plus workers maintaining the base.

And considering the amount of burnt and destroyed clothes after every sortie, it meant that close to fifty baskets' worth of clothes had to be processed by the washing machines which were placed in the laundry room.

Shiranui mentally ran through her plans in order to make sure that she knew the plan by heart and could improvise on the fly.

She had deliberately left her keys in her skirt when she threw them into the laundry basket to be brought into the laundry room yesterday, and she was to ask Kagerou to let her into the laundry room in order to let her find her keys.

While she was inside the laundry room, she was to search for her Admiral's blazers in order to retrieve the listening devices before any one of the ship girls on laundry duty found them when they started throwing the clothes into the washing machine, or found them when they detached from the blazer as the glue which was used was water soluble, allowing the glue to be washed away by the washing machine in order to erase the evidence.

Now, she knew that other ship girls would be in the room as they moved everyone's clothes around and prepared them to be thrown in the washing machines, and while it would make things a little harder for her as she would have to hide her activities from everyone, but it was not impossible as she was used to sneaking her actions past other people.

And while sneaking around in broad daylight was a novel idea for someone like her, who was used to utilizing the night and the shadows for cover, she wasn't going to leave things to chance simply because she couldn't learn to sneak around during the day.

Time to kick things off.

Patting her skirt pocket, Shiranui stopped as she pretended to look surprised at the lack of keys in her pocket, and she turned to face her sister in surprise as she feigned surprise concerning the absence of her keys in her pocket where she kept them in order to access her locker.

"Ah, Kagerou.

I forgot that I left my keys in the dress I wore yesterday.

It's now in the laundry basket and waiting to be thrown in the washing machine, and I need it in order to access my locker before our training session later."

Kagerou stopped as she turned back to face Shiranui, and she could see that Kagerou was interested in helping her find her lost keys.

Great.

"Oh, is that so?

I might be able to help you with that in order to half the time taken to find them.

Besides, I was headed there anyway to help the others, and you can accompany me there.

Might have to hold off on the breakfast, though."

Shiranui gave her sister a smile which was not entirely insincere, since she never passed up a chance to shower her Kagerou-Class sisters with shows of affection, but this time, it was laced with a fair bit of deception in order to get her sister to go along with her plans.

It hurt, but she bit down and endured the twinge of discomfort in her heart as she replied with a thankful,

"That would be appreciated."

Turning the corner in order to head for the laundry room, Kagerou was discussing how even though she had to help the other ship girls in the laundry room before going for breakfast and their training session, she could provide a second pair of eyes by performing a cursory search within each basket.

The washed clothes required a large swath of land in order to dry some of them, since using the dry-cleaning machines to do the bulk of the work would be a waste of electricity, and Shiranui knew that the laundry room had another door at the end of the room which led outside to a cleared piece of land beside the barracks in order to facilitate easy movement in and out of the laundry room when they had to dry their clothes.

The washing machines weren't in use yet, because Shiranui had done some research to know that the others came in to start washing the clothes at around 11 a.m..

It was now only 8.34 a.m. and gave her some time to search through the baskets in order to find her Admiral's clothes and finish her mission before the girls on laundry detail were done with moving the baskets and headed out for breakfast.

She saw that Kikuzuki, Sazanami and Shirayuki were in the room, making her work a little harder and the odds of being caught higher.

She never expected her work to be easy, but was it too much for her to ask for a freebie and let her get through one mission without so much fuss?

Kikuzuki was a Mutsuki-Class destroyer, and she was dropping another basket of clothes onto the floor in the room as her long, snow-white hair temporarily covered her orange-beige pupils, her sharp eyes shifting to look at the two of the Kagerou-Class destroyers as they entered the room in order to acknowledge their presence, her all-black sailor uniform being a rather common color palette shared by her sister ships, and her long sleeves were rolled up to prevent them from getting in the way of her work.

On her dark-grey belt was a badge in the shape of a yellow crescent moon which was present on several of her sisters, and her skirt almost reached down to her knees as she had the body of a child, and what Shiranui assumed to be stockings were reaching up her skirt in order to provide her complete protection against the elements.

Shirayuki was part of the Fubuki-Class destroyers, and wore her white-blue short-sleeved uniform as she wore a blue dress and a white shirt with a blue sailor collar and cuffs at the ends of her short sleeves, being rather nondescript in design and appearance.

Her brown hair was in short twin-tails, and her appearance was meant to invoke 'everyday beauty' as her ship class's beauty was a little rarer amongst the ship girls in that their looks weren't exactly striking thanks to their commonly-colored hair and eyes, and the one ship girl in the room who came anywhere close was Kagerou with her auburn brown hair with pale purple eyes.

Being the respectful ship girl that she was, Shiranui could see that she gave them a small bow and a kind smile, which Shiranui and Kagerou acknowledged and returned in kind.

Sazanami had pink hair much like Shiranui except being a tad duller in tone, and much like Shirayuki, her sailor uniform was one of the more common white-blue color schemes for destroyers, white short-sleeved shirt with blue sailor collar and neckerchief, her blue sleeve cuffs had a white ring running around them, and she had a blue pleated skirt partially covering her thighs.

Her short hair was tied up in short side-tails, and were held up by two reddish marbles on each side of her head which acted as hair bands, while a badge which was of a lighter shade of red was stuck to the right of where her bellybutton would be.

She was the only one to have a smile on her face, because Kikuzuki was solemn and moody while Shirayuki was polite and unassuming as she gave people a warm smile when they appeared, but kept her expression neutral whenever possible in order not to overexert her cheek muscles.

Shiranui could empathize with that feeling.

But Sazanami was cheery as she shot them a warm smile and lifted an eyebrow in their direction in order to greet them non-verbally, and Shiranui returned a small nod in her direction in order to be polite.

The washing machines which surrounded them were large in size and were positioned to the point where she was still confident that despite the entire room being lit, with enough discretion and taking up a decent speed in searching for her Admiral's clothes, she could still pull off her mission without alerting anyone.

Kagerou held the door open for her even though there was a door stopper placed there by the destroyers to prevent it from closing in the first place, and Kagerou interlocked her fingers in order to crack them as she pushed her arms out, speaking out loud in order to talk to Shiranui and everyone in the room to let them know of Shiranui's reason for being here.

"Well, let's start looking for those keys in your skirt, hmm?"

Sometimes, she understood how other people talked about how they wanted to throttle their own siblings over the most trivial of things, despite loving them with all their heart.

Right now, she understood that feeling better than anyone else as she mentally grumbled about how everyone would probably start helping her look for her skirt out of the genuine kindness of their hearts and would make her job a lot harder, since her skirts would be found sooner and she would have to end her search early.

Cue mental sigh.

But she nodded in understanding as she looked around at the dozens of baskets, all choke full of used clothes from the Yamato-Class battleships to the Yuugumo-Class destroyers, and she walked towards a basket in order to pretend to search for her clothes, while actually keeping track of the destroyers in the room and looking for the white fabric which made up Admiral Mako's blazer.

Sifting through various clothes, she was thankful for both wearing gloves to avoid direct contact with everyone's sweaty clothes and the fact that Kagerou motioned with her head to indicate to her that she would help everyone move baskets around while searching within them for her skirts.

At least it would mean that she had some privacy in her search, and wouldn't have Kagerou looking over her shoulder every so often.

Thank god for small mercies.

She knelt in a corner as she lifted the clothes of a sailor while she continued her search through the used clothes of the workers of the naval base, which would include Admiral Mako.

She knew that their clothes were categorized into their ship classes in order to try and make the sorting process easier when the ship girls responsible for their laundry could quickly sort their clothes out as one particular ship class per basket.

Thanks to being a destroyer and the sheer number of destroyer classes in the IJN, it was no wonder that many of the baskets present contained the used clothes of destroyers from the Shiratsuyu-Class all the way to the Asashio-Class.

She knew that even for the three other destroyers who were present in the room, it would take some time for them to find her clothes, and she thought ahead of time to throw all her unused spare clothing into the pile in order to buy her a few more seconds if needed.

And in this line of work, several extra seconds could change everything.

The downside was that she had a training session today, so if she sustained any damage to her body and clothing, she had to borrow clothes from one of her sisters, or walk around with shredded clothes until her laundry was returned to her, since the docks repaired their body but not their uniforms.

She found no trace of Admiral Mako's clothes, but she looked through the crisscrossed strips of plastic which made up the baskets in order to provide some ventilation for the used clothes to dry after being thrown inside them, knowing that while the three ship girls would have a hard time searching through the baskets of destroyer clothes, she had to contend with several hundred sets of clothing belonging to officers, sailors, cleaners, cooks, etc.

It wasn't hard for her to distinguish and eliminate the baskets which contained the clothes of the cleaners, miscellaneous staff and rank-and-file sailors, and she saw that the amount of clothes belonging to officers in the logistic and administrative line of work filled three entire baskets, stuffed to the brim with their white blazers, singlets and trousers.

Diving into one basket, she dug through the various uniforms of the workers in this base and dumped everyone's clothes onto the floor, and even though she didn't want to do this to everyone's belongings, a moment of hasty treatment of her superiors' clothes was a simple price to pay to avoid being caught and thrown into military prison to be interrogated.

Not in this basket.

Shit.

She spun around in order to grab everyone's clothes and hastily threw them back into the basket, stuffing them inside the basket and putting her weight on it in order to fit them all in the basket, and she immediately moved onto the next basket.

Lifting a sailor's uniform revealed that lady luck threw her a bone as she could see that Admiral Mako's sleeve was peeking through the pile, and she doubled her efforts to clear the basket in order to get to her Admiral's clothes, one for each day and three spares being kept in case of emergencies.

To her knowledge, those three extra sets of clothes weren't thrown into the pile if they weren't used at all, so that's another burden lifted off of her shoulders.

Dumping everyone's clothes on the floor, she found two of Admiral Mako's blazers entangled in a distorted hug with each other, and she separated them in order to flip their collars and locate the listening devices which were planted in three of the seven blazers.

One had a listening device while the other didn't, and Shiranui gently plucked the listening device from the fabric in order to make a clean break and leave nothing but the water-soluble glue behind, and dumped the two of them onto the floor in order to continue her search as she pocketed the dislodged listening device.

The clacking of baskets hitting the floor could be heard, and she knew that the others were probably searching for her clothes while moving the baskets into the room, and she knew that she had to hurry up with her mission lest they search through the Kagerou-Class's skirts (and thankfully several of her sister's' clothes were similar or identical to hers in design, thus buying her more time), find her keys and search for her in order to let her know of their successful find.

Throwing another sailor's uniform behind her, she found another blazer belonging to Admiral Mako, but she was disappointed to find that it didn't contain her listening devices, and she discarded it onto the floor beneath her as she found her Admiral's trousers.

She had to move faster.

Another two blazers found, and she found one more listening device as she started sweating from the exertion, despite the fact that the room was air-conditioned in order to make the drying of clothes in this room easier along with the dry-cleaning machines helping to accelerate the drying process.

One last listening device and she was home free.

She found another two blazers strewn atop each other, lifted their collars in order to peek underneath them and find her listening devices, dropping them in disappointment as she searched for the last two blazers, having found five out of seven blazers.

She could hear a pair of footsteps hitting the floor as they increased in volume, Shiranui starting to sweat as she found yet another blazer near the bottom of the clothes pile, hastily flipping up the sweater in a practiced motion as she saw the glue applied in order to hold the listening device in place.

And the damn contraption failed on her as the listening device fell to the floor just as Kagerou rounded the washing machine.

Shiranui instantly and instinctively dropped the blazer in her last-ditch attempt to cover up the fallen listening device, and her heart dropped along with it as she snapped her head up in order to look at Kagerou, praying that the listening device was covered up by the blazer in time.

She gulped as Kagerou notified her of their successful attempt to find her belongings,

"Yo, Nui-Nui.

We found your skirts and your keys.

It was quite the ordeal, with several sets of your clothing being thrown into the baskets, but we did it!"

Lifting a familiar pair of keys held together by a metal ring, her sister continuing in a confused tone as she looked at the Admiral's clothes which surrounded her.

"Why're you searching the Admiral's clothes for your keys, you know these baskets are filled with sailor and officer clothes, right?"

Shiranui nodded dumbly, trying to recall the lie which she was going to tell her sister when worst came to worst, and she had to lie through her teeth about her activities if someone began to suspect she was up to something.

But Kagerou leaned down in order to pat Shiranui on the shoulder, her expression becoming one of patience, understanding and kindness as she smiled, although there was the teasing look in her eyes which Shiranui had learnt to identify and watch out for as she heard her sister speak.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Nui-Nui.

I understand that this is a phase which a lot of ship girls go through, so don't worry.

You're not alone."

What?

Just… what?

Shiranui was confused about what her sister was talking about, and that made her wary of what her sister suspected she was up to as she leaned down in order to grab Admiral Mako's jacket.

Right as Kagerou knelt down in order to join her by grabbing the left sleeve of the strewn blazer, tugging it as she innocently asked Shiranui, seemingly ignorant of the devastating secret underneath.

"Would you like me to help you with that?"

Shiranui blinked, before shaking her head as she gently grabbed Kagerou's hand with her left hand while using her right hand to grab where the listening device was underneath the blazer, speaking in a patient tone in order not to arouse any suspicion.

"I…

I made this mess, so don't worry, Kagerou.

I know how to clean up after myself."

Kagerou's smile drooped, but reformed itself into an understanding one as she released her hold on Admiral Mako's blazer and conceded.

"Yes, I understand.

If you say so."

Shiranui nodded, and Kagerou stood up and left her alone with the Admiral's clothes as she cleaned up behind her, taking deep breaths as she stabilized her breathing and kept her hands steady after almost being caught by her own sister.

That encounter was too close for comfort, and despite not truly believing in such things, she thanked whatever god watched over her and prevented her from getting caught by her sister, since it would be one embarrassing and humiliating spectacle if Kagerou, her favorite sister, was the one responsible for apprehending her.

She was wrong.

The embarrassing spectacle was to come later.

When the four of them went for breakfast after finishing the preparations for the laundry washing later in the day, they stepped into the canteen as Shiranui noted that Shigure was sitting with her fleet, the 1st fleet finishing their breakfast just as they came in.

And upon stepping into the large room which housed a significant portion of the ship girl population, Kagerou's face broke out into a shit-eating grin as she placed her fists on her hips and shouted while addressing the entire canteen.

"Hey everyone!

Nui-Nui likes to sniff the Admiral's used clothes in the laundry room!"

Everyone was immediately silenced by this, turning to look at her with judging eyes as Shiranui froze up as everything clicked together in her mind.

Kagerou thought that she was sniffing her Admiral's clothes because she was going through some sort of phase, where she was romantically obsessed with the Admiral?

That explained the entire 'I understand' thing, then.

Everyone's muttering was then silenced by Admiral Mako, who was looking down as her face became a luminescent red due to her blush reaching critical levels, and she had both her hands stuffed in between her clamped thighs as she fidgeted and stuttered awkwardly.

"W-Well, if you insist, Shiranui-chan…

I suppose I can send you some of my discarded clothes as 'material' to help you through your sleepless nights…"

Everyone gave her the 'Bruh' look, as though appalled and even disbelieving of their Admiral's perversion as Shiranui inhaled exasperatedly, giving Kagerou the stink eye and was rewarded with Kagerou flashing her winning smile as she knew that it would defuse Shiranui's mood and allow her to be let off the hook for her teasing as Shiranui thought to herself.

' _God?_

 _Remember me thanking you for watching over me?_

 _Well, if you actually exist and are up there watching down on little ol' me, I would like to take my thanks back because I have reason to believe that you're looking down and laughing at my plight as though you're watching a damned sitcom.'_

She sighed as her cheeks colored, and she hunched her back while walking over to the breakfast queue, and the two things which prevented her day from going to complete shit so soon into the day was Kagerou's winning smile and the fact that she didn't have to worry about her listening devices being found anymore.

* * *

The Sagami-nada Sea was silent on the 12th of May, especially since it was in the middle of the night and the lone ship in this part of the ocean was still, motors cut in order to prevent it from being potentially picked up by any Abyssals in the area, and even though they were well within the Safety Zone, the submarines aboard the large ship still possessed a healthy dose of paranoia of being spotted as they performed their duties.

Iku looked up at the container-ship-turned-mine-laying-vessel while floating on the surface of the ocean, feeling at home in the saltwater which supported her and kept her afloat as the temperatures tonight were cool, and she was well aware that these temperatures would be considered freezing for a human, and that their submarine bodies and its various abilities helped them to survive and thrive in the depths, where no ship girl was capable of traversing.

She communicated with her fellow submarines in order to drop the next naval mine into the ocean for her to activate and plant, holding up her remote for Goya to see as she did so, the pink-haired submarine leaning forward on the ship's railing in order to look down at her.

"Yo, Goya!

I need the next mine down here, asap!"

She could hear Goya's voice speaking to her over the shifting waves which surrounded her and the winds which whipped around her head and attempted to separate her drenched hair strands from each other with little success.

"Alright!"

And she could see that the converted container ship eventually ejected another naval mine through the side of its gargantuan hull, the naval mine plopping into the ocean as she felt the ripple of the ensuring wave gently push her to the left before she started swimming towards the naval mine.

The container ship's gigantic cuboid container on the deck contained a lot of the naval mines which were aboard the converted container ship.

And much like a gacha machine, the submarines who were on duty to watch over the ship's activities were tasked with working the system in order to drop another mine into the ocean through tubes which ran throughout the interior of the container ship and led to the large holes at the sides of the hull, which were elevated above water level.

Reaching the mine and lifting her remote, she scanned the mine as it bobbed up and down on the ocean as the air tank within it was fully filled in order to counteract the weights on the naval mines, which were installed in lieu of the anchor and chain on older naval mines.

Hearing the beep of the mine in order to signal its activation, Iku felt safe in its presence as she knew that the only thing which could set it off was a nearby Abyssal presence, so suffice to say, it wasn't going to detonate at point-blank range anytime soon.

She used the 'Mark set-point' and then the 'Down' button on the remote in order to set a reference point which was the surface of the ocean, and the mine was lowered into the frigid ocean as air bubbles seeped out of the small holes in the mine's shell.

Guiding the naval mine down manually as she kept a hand on a handle which was incorporated into the surface of the mine, she looked down at the pitch-black darkness of the ocean depths and heard Hachi's voice resonate in her head over the radio as it provided her company in the silent ocean which was the Sagami-nada Sea, population: 1.

"Alright, Iku.

We'll be setting this mine down at these coordinates which I'm sending you."

Iku responded with a muffled,

"Aye."

As she received a series of numbers over the wireless radio, punching those numbers into her remote in order to enter the coordinates where they wanted to plant the mine, pressing the 'Confirm' button as the six rotors on the naval mine started to whir, more air bubbles pouring out of the various 'pores' in droves as Iku swam alongside it.

Scanning the naval mine with her remote meant that she temporarily paired them up as the mine was activated, and the mine would transmit its current coordinates to the remote and the distance to its intended target, being guided along by the rotors and the air tanks within the mine to move it in terms of coordinates and depth respectively.

Another naval mine popped into view amidst the relative darkness of the night sea, subtly making its appearance much like a nocturnal beast slipping out of the shadows where it belonged as Iku activated her night vision, her legs scissor-kicking slowly in order to keep moving.

The mine was primed and planted, and she could see another window pop up on her remote as she saw the coordinates of this other mine appear on the screen, and the relative distance of the moving mine and the planted mine as reference.

Another specter appeared from the darkness gracefully like a mermaid swimming to the surface, and her slightly grainy and radiation-green appearance in Iku's eyes was attributed to her night vision mucking up her vision despite allowing her to see better underwater.

Nimu was surfacing, and her long, light-brown hair was floating about in the ocean and trailed behind her not unlike a bundle of tentacles and oral arms swaying behind a jellyfish's main body while she swam upwards, meeting her halfway in the process.

Her swimsuit was identical to Iku's in that it was a blue school swimsuit with her name, 'I-26' on a name-tag on her respectably-sized bosom which was struggling to escape the confines of her restrictive swimwear, and she wore a brown jacket with a white sailor collar on it, flaring out behind her as the properties of the ocean made it look as if she was weightless.

Her hair was held back by a white-blue headband and was tied up in two ponytails, and she gave Iku a warm smile and a small wave as she passed by Iku, and Iku reciprocated the gesture as they both knew that the ocean was a lonely place.

They often liked to greet and smile at each other while underwater in order to alleviate the boredom and the lack of human company deep underwater.

And save for the myriad of underwater animals which occasionally passed by them, there really was nobody down here who would converse with them, making the deafening silence and the overwhelming darkness of the abyss almost intolerable as they only had their thoughts and their wireless radio to entertain themselves with.

Now, as steel submarines back in the day, this didn't really affect them as they had their crew within them, and they were only able to feel these things on a rudimentary level, thus alleviating the feeling of loneliness felt then.

But as humanoids, these feelings isolated them and slowly eroded at their psyche the longer they dived underwater and heard the loud yet empty sounds of oceanic currents rushing by them as a piss-poor excuse for ambient noise replacing the noises of human civilization.

They constantly heard the metronome-like ping of their sonars reaching out into the nothingness and returning next to nothing, translating the titanic volume of the ocean which enveloped them and took up slightly over 70% of the Earth's surface, slowly feeling your steel body warping and compressing the further you stared into the abyss which all around you and fell further into it…

Iku shook her head out of her thoughts, wondering if she could ask for a break as submarines sometimes needed in order not to go insane from the isolation and danger of depth charges and torpedoes being rained from above, as other submarines unfortunately did when they cracked under the stress of war and far-from-ideal working conditions and had to be institutionalized.

In fact, the isolation was one reason why Iku felt like she had to act the way she did on land, being lewd, outgoing and completely unafraid of skinship with everyone else, because deep down, she felt as if she needed the attention as a human being.

Other submarines were content with simply being in the company of other ship girls when off-duty, and Iku could respect that, but for her, she craved the attention and interactions which she could receive when behaving like that, because when sortieing, she felt as if she were absolutely and completely dead.

Not in the conventional sense, mind you.

But in times like these, when you had no one to talk to and accompany you except the sound of your own breath and your thoughts, it was like being buried alive and left for dead, and she couldn't feel herself as anything resembling herself while sortieing as there was no 'other people' for you to bounce your personality off of in order to affirm your identity.

The constant threat of being blown up by either depth charges or torpedoes didn't help either, and they sometimes had to play a game of 'Catch The Sinking Teammate' and had to look into the dead eyes of their teammates.

If they even had them anymore, as Maru-yu once corrected Imuya and silenced the submarines for a good ten seconds with that horrifying image being seared into their minds.

That maddening isolation drove her to seek out everyone's attention with her developed body and loose attitude not unlike that of a harlot, since everyone would at least pay attention to her and help make up for the lack of human interaction in her sorties.

Was it the best way to deal with things? Maybe not.

But everyone was understanding enough to know that their job was tough, and even though everyone rolled their eyes at Iku's antics, she knew that they knew that it was her way of coping with things, and receiving any form of attention, good or bad, from her fellow comrades and her Admiral (who was easy enough for someone who was as well-endowed as her to please) was one way for her to recover from the soul-crushing work they had to perform on sorties.

She really felt as if she needed that break now, and Iku noted that the mine was nearing its intended destination as the rotors slowed.

It stopped as it reached its inputted coordinates and knew where it was relative to the other mines in the area, and Iku scanned the mine again in order to confirm its position and disconnect the pairing before letting go of the remote and allowing the retractable coil to reel the remote back onto the belt which they wore while on mine-laying duty.

Wouldn't want to drop anything into the ocean and waste time trying to search the ocean floor for it with the help of an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, hmm?

She could almost see the dull hemispheres of other mines which were placed at depths which were lower than the mine which she had just planted, and those mines which were planted on the ocean floor or close to it were either of the traditional 'anchor-and-chain' kind, or had one of the submarines use an extendable robot gripper toy to grip the handle on the mine.

They would then dive down with the mine to the maximum depth which they were comfortable with reaching, lest they implode from the pressure of the ocean acting on their bodies.

Using the gripper toy, they'd lower the mine to a depth which was beyond what submarines were capable of reaching, but was beyond what the 'anchor-and-chain' mines were capable of reaching in order to prevent Abyssals from attempting to swim through the gaps in the naval mine formation, using the electronic interface on the electronic gripper to confirm the mine's coordinates before unpairing the mine from the remote.

Thinking back on things, perhaps submarines being chosen to be mine-layers was always meant to be, since they were capable of diving and priming the mines at depths which were dangerous to humans.

They could facilitate an efficient and fast system of planting mines underwater, especially the new batch which didn't contain an anchor and chain and were thus slightly harder for humans to plant.

And perhaps it was a slow, slippery slide down the slope of insanity that was war, but while submarines in the past were reluctant to do this job because of the risks involved, they were slowly desensitized to these matters as the war went on, partially because it gave them something else to do down in the depths, where boredom could drive them up the wall after prolonged periods of deep diving.

The detonation of a naval mine also produced one hell of an explosion, and the submarines eventually learnt to associate an underwater explosion with a dead Abyssal, and learnt to look forward to a bigger explosion which would kill more Abyssals who were attempting to sneak around underwater.

Perhaps this was them attempting to look for a passing and ephemeral beauty within a majestic and violent explosion, which annihilated and purged everything in the area in order to serve as a cleansing agent of sorts, amidst the bloodiness and ugliness that was war?

Perhaps.

Besides, they could help out some more with their diving abilities, so why not?

Diving back up towards the surface, Iku was a little excited to see how this battle was going to play out for real, because she knew that the Admiral had modified these mines so that their weights would come off and allow them to float up to the surface as their discarded weights wouldn't be there to hold the mines in place, and their air tanks would provide the buoyancy force needed for them to surface.

She spoke into her radio in order to talk to the submarines who were on the converted mine-laying ship in order to confirm with them what they likely already knew, double checking as they didn't want any miscommunication when it came to explosive hazards.

"Girls, we have this mine in place.

I'm coming up in order to plant the next one, and we'll rotate after that.

Four hours of doing this crap gets to you eventually."

And she could hear Maru-yu speak up over the radio, likely getting ready for her turn at a dip as she spoke.

"Acknowledged.

I'm on my way down now.

You can use the railing lift in order to hoist yourself up."

Turning off the radio, she headed to the surface as she saw that the gargantuan underside of the ship's hull had cast a shadow on the ocean itself, and couldn't be missed as she had already detected it as a fat blip on her sonar, allowing her ample time to avoid it and avoid smashing her head against the hull as she broke the ocean surface, her lungs clearing themselves of water as they tasted cold, fresh air entering them, enriching her cells with delicious oxygen.

Perhaps she was different from her fellow submarines, like Hachi, who preferred reading, and Goya, who liked going on more missions with her fellow ship girls in order to alleviate her loneliness, but for her, she felt at home while commanding everyone's attention in almost any way possible.

It was a constant reminder to herself, for herself, that she wasn't going to become an unperson anytime soon, to be forgotten by everyone as if she had sunk and had fallen back into the abyss, to fade from everyone's memory as her name was crossed out from a dwindling list of ships, which they were subjected to in the past.

Iku was Iku, but without everyone else being present underwater to see, hear, and acknowledge her in their minds as Iku, did being 'Iku' matter anymore in the vacuum that was the ocean depths?

Was she reduced to nothing by the nothingness which enveloped her down there, as if she was no different than the sunken submarine which her name and past were derived from?

She had an inkling of what the answer to that question was.

And it frankly terrified her.


	35. Chapter 35 - The Better Part Of Valor

**Author's Notes**

 _Sorry for the massive delay, guys._

 _Tfw your waifu Nagato gets a Kai Ni. FeelsGoodMan._

 _Now we need the other waifus of the Nagato-Class, Takao-Class and Yamato-Class to get their Kai Ni remodels, and only then will the Holy Trinity be complete._ _( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_

* * *

Haruna was standing amidst the members of the Combined Fleet as they stood at the harbor on the 14th of May at 7.30 a.m. in the morning, waiting for the Admiral to arrive and brief them on the specifics of their mission before sending them off.

Since this sortie was projected to last the entire day and night, they had gathered here shortly after eating a sumptuous early breakfast before this, and they were going to receive combat rations in order to feed them during the sortie.

Hiei and Junyou were present since they were members of the original 1st Fleet, and the two of them were understandably worried about the new 1st Fleet going on their first sortie to the edge of the Safety Zone.

She could see that off to the side were the bird carriers, Junyou, Saratoga and Chitose, talking to each other about what drinks they were going to indulge in after coming back from their sortie, Junyou having already warmed up to the former and was close to the latter through their drinking sessions.

Haruna was standing amidst the group of ship girls who were gathered around Shiranui as Kagerou tried her best to comfort her crestfallen sister, Haruna and Hiei listening on with a fair bit of mirth at what the name-ship of the Kagerou-Class was like to tease her sisters in such a way.

"Well, look, Nui-Nui.

I'm sorry about telling everyone that you sniffed the Admiral's used clothes.

When we come back from this sortie, I'll gather the Kagerou-Class destroyers and get them to put these rumors to rest once and for all, alright?"

Shiranui looked up at her sister, a light blush forming on her face as she admitted what Admiral Mako did last night, and how she was unsure of how to respond.

"A-Admiral Mako sent me her underwear in a pink, heart-shaped box with a note that said,

' _To help you sleep at night.'_

I took a look inside, and immediately closed it when I saw that it was the naughty kind of lingerie, with heart-shaped holes in the translucent fabric."

Everyone was silenced upon hearing this, and Kuroshio was the one to say that even as a rumor which was started as a somewhat-harmless joke, this was going a little too far and had to be stopped as soon as possible.

"Well, I think that it's certainly time to stop.

I think we all had a good laugh over this, but now it's now getting out of hand and has to stop before it goes any further than this."

Shigure nodded as she leaned in to speak her mind, being a ship girl who was smart enough to think things through and was wise beyond her years despite still possessing several childish traits belonging to someone of her age.

"Yes, although I do believe that the alternative could also be an option.

Rumors like these come and go in a naval base full of females.

If we were to go out and try to quash these rumors, it might cause the Streisand Effect and lead others to believe that in our blatant attempts to stop these rumors, there must be a kernel of truth in what Kagerou-san said about Shiranui-san and might instead take these rumors seriously.

We need to see if this rumor will die off and be forgotten if left on its own before making a choice to step in and intervene.

Since we all know that Shiranui-san isn't that kind of girl and that Kagerou may be the kind of ship girl to take things a little too far in her jokes despite meaning well, I don't believe that anyone would think much of this one particular rumor, no?"

But Kagerou scratched her head as she shared with everyone what she saw on that day and causing everyone to cringe at how transparent Kagerou could be with secrets.

"But it's hard to argue that case when I saw Nui-Nui being surrounded by Admiral Mako's clothes and was holding her blazer…"

But Kuroshio smacked Kagerou on the back of the head as she retorted dryly.

"Alright, keep this up in front of everyone, Kagerou-chan, an' Shiranui-chan'll have to either live like a fuckin' _hikikomori_ or scuttle herself out of shame.

She was searching the laundry room for her keys, right?

It's our job as sisters to stick by her, proclaim her innocence and insist that it was a misunderstanding, no matter what.

You're not helping anyone by running your mouth in front of everyone."

Everyone nodded understandingly upon hearing that and seeing how embarrassed Shiranui looked about this entire debacle and just wanted it to be over with.

And although Haruna genuinely felt bad for the pink-haired destroyer's predicament, she was more interested in how Shigure went about the situation maturely and explained her side of the argument in a mature and adult-like manner.

Haruna had experienced her fair share of combat and loss during World War 2 and was thus empathetic to people's internal turmoils, and while she was glad that Shigure was opening up to everyone and wanted to know them better, she felt that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer might have to face her past and come to terms with what happened to those around her.

It would be a difficult path to walk for the little girl, and would include opening several emotional scars and a lot of crying, but if her actions at Battle at Mikura Jima Island were anything to go by, she needed some sort of closure one way or another.

She was interrupted by Hiei speaking up in a subdued voice, and since they were standing on the fringe of the gathered Combined Fleet, they could hold a conversation and get some privacy since everyone's attention was diverted away from them.

"Are you thinking about something, Haruna?"

Haruna nodded, looking over at Hiei as her attention shifted onto the headstrong sister of the Kongou-Class battleships and shared her concerns about Hiei herself, since she knew that her sister had been through quite a lot in this past month.

"Well, I was worrying about Shigure-san and how her past might haunt her for the rest of her life unless she confronted it and got some form of closure.

But now, I'm a little more concerned about you and what's been going on in your life thus far."

Hiei's eyes widened in surprise, but she lowered her head slightly as she looked away and allowed Haruna to express her concerns.

"You got destroyed at the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, and even though I'm glad that you've recovered, I can't help that part of the reason why you're sending us off today is because you're worried that we might be attacked by the _Flying Dutchman_ again…"

Hiei nodded silently, and Haruna took that as a cue to continue on as she looked down and spoke her mind about another matter which had her concerned about Hiei.

Namely, her broken heart.

"And something else which I heard Kongou nee-san talk about was her talk with you, and her cordial rejection of your feelings.

I may be poking my nose into things, but I'm worried that you might still be feeling the sting of the rejection of your unrequited love, even after having a heart-to-heart to Kongou nee-san and coming to terms with the outcome, from what I heard."

Hiei considered her sister's words before replying, looking rather understanding of why Haruna would worry about these things.

"Well, I'd like to settle the second matter first, because that's a little more personal and it's something which you would clearly be more worried about, since I know that you're the caring and motherly wallflower of the Kongou Sisters…"

Haruna hummed in agreement and nodded in order to concede the point, and Hiei continued on and reiterated the points which she had discussed with Kongou.

"Like I discussed with Onee-sama, I understand that these unresolved feelings may hold me back, especially since Onee-sama is now in a relationship with Admiral Mako and I may be distracted by thoughts of winning her affection back.

Onee-sama said what she had to say in order to make our position as lovers clear, that it was never going to happen, but she still loved me as a sister anyway.

There was no other way to say it, and I admit, I still feel rather sad about the outcome, but I know that Admiral Mako genuinely loves Onee-sama, and I am happy for them."

Haruna looked down at the floor, thinking about how understanding Hiei was about their sister's romantic relationship with the Admiral, her expression becoming rather morose as she asked quietly.

'B-But, can you truly bury those feelings for Kongou nee-san?

I'm asking as a concerned sister who wants what's best for everyone, and although I know that Kongou nee-san will be happy with Admiral Mako, what about you, Hiei nee-san?"

Hiei shrugged as she looked up to the sky, contemplating their capacity to love and the sheer number of possible candidates for them to be attracted to.

"Well, we're created to be bisexual, so we can like a person of either gender.

There's more than seven billion people on Earth, so I think there should be more than enough humans whom I can be attracted to, and Onee-sama is certainly not the only person whom I'm capable of loving romantically."

Haruna nodded in an accepting manner upon hearing her sister's train of logic, and Hiei moved onto Haruna's next concern as she looked out at the ocean and wondered about what was in store for them out there, waiting to ambush and sink them without a second thought.

"And regarding the first point about my concern regarding your first sortie, you're not wrong there.

Everyone, especially the seniors in this base, can feel that things are sliding out of control, and the _Flying Dutchman_ is just the first of many strange occurrences which point to something much larger behind the scenes.

The land assault training session which came out of nowhere, the _Flying Dutchman_ , the strange occurrences around the world which has got everyone talking in hushed tones…

Maybe I'm just paranoid, but when something as large as the _Flying Dutchman_ can sail around without much interference and surface wherever it wishes in order to devastate whomever it has in its sights…

I don't want you to go through any of that.

I shudder to think what else lies out there in wait, waiting for some kind of signal from whoever commands them, before unleashing their might upon the entire world."

Haruna looked away, understanding that Hiei fought for her life at Mikura Jima Island, and had a rough understanding of just how intense the battle was, Haruna hearing everything from missiles to life-sized large-caliber cannons and spawning Abyssal hordes…

It was all horrifying, and Haruna understood that Hiei, as a protective sister who also wanted what was best for her, didn't want her to risk sinking in an engagement with some new Abyssal weapon or Beast, but…

Haruna inhaled deeply before looking at her sister, rebutting Hiei's point as she knew she had the right to do so, since she was a Kongou-Class battleship just like Hiei.

"I'd like to debate that point, Hiei nee-san.

While I understand that you're concerned about me as a sister, I am a Kongou-Class battleship just like you, and I am no pushover.

I've been through my fair share of battles and experienced losses, so I like to believe that despite being, well, the 'caring and motherly wallflower' of the Kongou Sisters, I can hold my own in a fight.

Despite my best attempts to not repeat this phrase too many times, I want to tell you that I, Haruna, will be alright."

Hiei looked a little surprised at how assertive Haruna could be when pushed, and Haruna wanted her sister to know that she, like every other ship girl, had been through one war and was fighting in another, and her soft and amiable personality did not translate to weakness on the battlefield.

Eventually, Hiei nodded as her expression relaxed into one of relief, and Haruna now saw how Hiei had grown as a ship girl and as a woman since these experiences, although they took their toll on her sister, helped Hiei to become stronger as the disastrous Battle at Mikura Jima Island only served to push her on to become stronger.

Kongou's rejection of Hiei's feelings helped to firmly establish their sisterly relationship with one another and allowed her to mature as she had Kongou help her deal with rejection by talking her through the process and why they couldn't be together.

Admiral Mako then chose to arrive on the scene, bringing Nagato with her as she hailed everyone and excused their bows in her direction before getting down to business with the Combined Fleet.

"Well, good day, girls.

I suppose you all had your breakfast, because this sortie's going to take all day and night, which is why I had Mamiya and the supply Fairies prepare combat rations for you all to carry into battle.

For this sortie, the Infiltration Fleet is going to search Aogashima Island, which has been quickly abandoned in the exodus early on in the Abyssal War, where we had to evacuate citizens who lived on isolated islands like Guam and Ogasawara Island."

Nagato stepped up to the plate as Admiral Mako handed over the role of explaining the situation to a ship girl who easily commanded their attention and was experienced in giving them briefings regarding their mission objective.

"We've received some photos via satellite surveillance which shows that they've been using it recently as a testing ground for some new weapons, which is likely the result of their Five-Year Plans.

Even though we've scared them off the island with the South's last push into the Pacific several weeks ago, we're still certain that the Abyssals still have some valuable intel left on that island for when they come back to reclaim the island for their use.

In case you're wondering why the Abyssals haven't immediately reclaimed the island, it lies in a no man's land of sorts between the Safety Zone and the Abyssal frontier, where any Abyssal activity on that island can be easily dispelled since fleets can be rerouted from the still-populated Hachijou Island and be within attacking distance of Aogashima Island.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the abandoned Ogasawara and Palau Islands as well as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, since they're located further into the Pacific Ocean and are currently untouchable.

It's a new moon night coupled with good weather for these few days according to the weather forecast, so there shouldn't be any complications in your sortie."

Haruna nodded, understanding that the governments of the world were faced with a dilemma early on in the war where they had to either ignore the lives of the citizens who lived on islands located beyond the Safety Zone, or help them immigrate to either the mainland or an island located near the mainland in order to provide them protection, at the cost of maintaining complete secrecy regarding the existence of ship girls _by any means_ , at least until the time was right.

Guam was a little tougher to vacate, since it was difficult for the Americans to transport more than a hundred thousand American civilians across the Pacific by 'cruise ships' and transport aircraft runs over a period of several years, the former of which required the grudging assistance of Japanese ship girls to ensure the safety of their citizens across the perilous ocean.

Islands within the Safety Zone were protected since they could be reached in time, but for these outlying islands, it was an entirely different matter as disruptions to their livelihood would affect them adversely, and the world governments couldn't simply leave them to their fate as it would present a major PR problem later.

Hey, not the best reason to save people, but they did save hundreds of thousands of lives so that they didn't have to perform any massive cover-up or try to justify the deaths of these citizens when they revealed the ship girls to the world.

Hawaii and Okinawa were amongst the very few islands who were exempted, not just because of their population size, but because they were large enough to allow naval bases to be stationed there, being self-sustaining to the point where they only required the occasional supply ship to replenish their resources, and could hold off an assault long enough for reinforcements to arrive, as evidenced several times in the past.

Nagato continued, Haruna noting an incoming torrent request from the Nagato-Class battleship and accepting it to find a map of the Izu Islands on her HUD, several mapped-out paths to Aogashima Island as well as the recorded routes of Abyssal patrol fleets.

"Sailing to Aogashima Island is projected to take about twelve and a half hours, ten hours to Hachijou Island and another two and a half to Aogashima Island.

But since we don't want to tip our hand too early and allow them to know our destination before we reach it, we're going to have to take several detours before reaching Aogashima Island in order to buy more time for the Infiltration Fleet.

This way, the estimated time of arrival is increased to sixteen hours, and you'll reach Aogashima Island in the dead of night if you sortie at around 8."

Nodding, Admiral Mako looked every one of them in the eye as she explained the plan to them and how they planned to reach the island without having the entire Abyssal armada on their tail.

"Look, we've plotted out most of the Abyssal patrol routes, and they're marked out in red on your map.

If you encounter them, you can either defeat or evade them, and you can update the map to see what other routes you can take to either engage or evade approaching Abyssal patrol fleets.

When night comes, the 1st Fleet will patrol the area and distract the Abyssals with hit-and-run tactics while the Infiltration Fleet searches the island for intelligence."

Admiral Mako then shared with them another part of the plan which was an unexpected surprise to the Combined Fleet, but certainly not an unpleasant one.

"We'll do our best to send out another fleet in a few hours to back you up at night.

They'll take the expressway towards Aogashima Island with no stops, so don't worry too much about backup since the Abyssals will be convinced that they're dealing with two fleets initially, then one fleet when the Infiltration Fleet goes on the island, and then _boom!_

They find themselves facing three fleets all of a sudden.

We did our best to try and predict where the Abyssal fleets would go when you engage more and more enemies, and we'll do our best to map a new course which will allow you to encounter as little Abyssals as possible while keeping your true destination vague.

When the Infiltration Fleet's done, pack up, regroup with the backup fleet and run home."

Kuroshio raised her hand, curious about why they couldn't simply use planes to fly them over to Aogashima Island and make their job a lot easier.

"I'd like to ask.

Why can't we be flown over the island in a transport plane and parachute down onto Aogashima Island in order to finish the mission sooner?

It'd help us save on fuel and time taken to arrive at the destination, so what's stoppin' us from hopping on a Hercules transport aircraft and jumping out near the island?"

Admiral Mako considered the question, before lifting her hand and holding out her palm in order to answer bluntly regarding the loss of a certain airplane last year.

"I'll answer that question with another question.

Do you think anyone dares to risk flying another plane over an open ocean after Flight MH370?"

Everyone's spirits sank after hearing that, and Admiral Mako tried to console the crestfallen Kuroshio while reminding everyone that the Abyssals were capable of anything.

"It's not a bad idea, Kuroshio.

But you gotta understand, ever since the loss of that Malaysian airplane, everyone's been blaming the Abyssals for it and are hella paranoid about losing another plane over the oceans since then.

And since the military can't guarantee that the Abyssals won't shoot their airplanes down while they fly over the Pacific Ocean, they won't sanction any flights beyond the Safety Zone, and even then, it's under very specific circumstances and if the odds look favorable."

Nagato intervened in order to speak up for Admiral Mako, and how they did their best to persuade the JASDF to help provide an airlift with little success, due to one particular enemy vessel which made one hell of an entrance.

"While we're on the topic, _The Flying Dutchman_ is a wildcard whose capabilities we're not entirely certain of, since we believe it hasn't shown all of its tricks yet.

Even though Admiral Mako argued that the _Dutchman_ would be preparing for the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea and wouldn't be patrolling the seas to sink one measly airplane with its missiles, the JASDF were adamant about not risking it since we have no concrete evidence to back her guess up."

Reaching out in order to ruffle Kuroshio's hair, Admiral Mako commented on how she appreciated the Kagerou-Class destroyer thinking up of ideas to circumvent the enemy fleets entirely in order to keep everyone safe.

"Well, I personally don't think the big bad boat is going to come and terrorize you all; It's got better things to do than sail around aimlessly for fleets to terrorize, and don't think of that as an insult to your abilities, there're simply far more important battles it has to prepare for.

Thanks for the suggestion though, I appreciate you looking out for everyone by exploring every possibility."

Admiral Mako then stood up straight in order to address them all as she said some parting words.

"Just be sure you watch out for each other and come back alive, because I'm not entirely sure if we can push our luck with these kinds of sorties.

The thing is that if we haven't found much regarding their activities for the past ten years, I'm afraid they may lure us into a trap by making us think that we're on a roll as we learn more and more, and we may stumble into a trap when we try to stick our necks out too far out of curiosity.

So be doubly cautious this time, and don't be afraid to retreat if things spiral out of control."

Everyone nodded grimly, understanding that this sortie was a big deal, and had to be handled with the utmost care while other fleets were out doing their own thing, and the Admiral wanted them all to come back alive in order to prepare for what came next.

* * *

Haruna was out on the ocean, equipped with her rigging and several day's worth of combat rations, steel and fuel on her body, courtesy of Mamiya who had packed these rations in a tactical combat vest and thigh utility pouches to be worn by whoever was tasked with carrying combat rations into battle.

Haruna was tasked with this responsibility since she was a fast battleship and flagship, and since being a battleship meant that your cannons did the bulk of the fighting, she was the ideal candidate to carry the bulk of the Combined Fleet's rations as the vest and pouches would hinder everyone else, who was of differing ship classes and relied on mobility to function in combat.

The Fairies were able to downsize an entire meal's worth of nutrients down to chocolate-bar sized combat rations to allow a ship girl to feed an entire fleet with rations which could be fitted into combat vests and thigh pouches, and the Fairies' specialization at miniaturization prevented them from having to haul a burlap sack full of food around to achieve the same end.

Inside her pockets were several cans of fuel which were to be used during emergencies, because even though the Admiral had allowed them to drink two days' worth of fuel before this in order to complete the sortie, she couldn't factor in every possible scenario which could occur to them.

Nobody wanted to run out of fuel during their retreat back to Yokosuka after unexpected battles caused them to burn more fuel than usual, so Haruna and Sendai, being the flagships of the two fleets, were responsible for carrying fuel cans for dire emergencies.

Haruna had previously accepted the combat ration Fairy into her rigging upon wearing the combat ration vest, a female Fairy who possessed dusty army-green hair tied up in a ponytail with a pink scrunchie, and a white gown covered her body as the food supply Fairy had rolled up her sleeves before this while she held a tied-up container full of rice.

She held a rice paddle in her minuscule hand in order to distribute the rice to other Fairies for them to eat, although Haruna wasn't exactly sure how their tiny bodies would be able to process the food within them, even if the rice grains were shrunk down in order to fit into their small mouths.

Right now, they were sailing towards Aogashima Island without any detours so far, since they had left the Yokosuka harbor a few hours ago and were headed towards Hachijou Island, whereupon they would attempt to run circles around the Abyssals, or as Admiral Mako suggested, to avoid them altogether.

Even though the 1st Fleet had trained for more than a week on how to engage hordes of Abyssal, in war, discretion truly was the better part of valor, and even stronger fleets sometimes chose to take a detour and circumvent a powerful secondary Abyssal fleet in order to deal with their primary target.

They hadn't engaged in battle with any Abyssal fleets so far, but if they had to do so, the subsequent enemy fleets would certainly be prepared for their arrival, and detours would have to be made.

To pass the time, Haruna was talking to her teammates while keeping an eye on her sonar and radar, and she had to thank her Fairies for helping to share the burden by watching her environment for any movement, allowing her to focus more on Shigure's question about her.

"I heard that when the Kongou Sisters went their separate ways, you chose to focus on being a healer.

Did you train under Akashi-san?"

Haruna shivered upon recalling the repair ship, and she shook her head vigorously in vehement denial as she explained how she got her training from the hospital orderlies instead.

"Oh goodness, no.

I was reluctant to train under Akashi-san because we suspected that our personalities, perspectives and standards would clash, which eventually came true as Akashi-san was unrelenting in her training and demanded perfection in learning first-aid skills, having written me off as too 'soft' to be a surgeon.

I eventually had to receive training from the human orderlies in the hospital, who were admittedly less proficient than Akashi-san, but were entirely capable of teaching me first-aid, which was all I needed to stabilize the conditions of those who are wounded on the field."

Nodding in understanding, Shigure looked up at Haruna as she asked in a genuinely curious tone, wishing to know more about the Kongou-Class battleship.

"I know Akashi-san well enough to know that she's pretty demanding in her lessons.

But may I ask of you to humor me and explain what part of her teachings caused you to stop learning things from her?"

"Hmm...

The reason why stopped my sessions with Akashi-san was because even though she was an effective teacher, she would say certain things without any tact, and most of the time, they'd make sense.

Like how surgeons need to be perfectly fine with inflicting temporary pain on someone, cut them up without feeling emotionally attached to their suffering in order to promote recovery, and after some thinking, I'd eventually see where she was coming from, but still…"

Shigure nodded sagely, looking as if she understood where Haruna was coming from as she remarked.

"But you couldn't bring yourself to think the way she does, to think of the patient as a slab of meat to cut up and stitch back without empathizing with it?"

Haruna sweat-dropped as she answered in in response to Shigure's comparison,

"Well, the thing is that I believe Akashi-san wouldn't disagree with that comparison, that the dead and dying who are put on the table to be operated on are no different than a butcher with a carcass.

But unlike a butcher who kills and dissects, a surgeon is to heal the patient with her cuts and stitches.

You must steel your heart in order to accomplish this, and although I may be able to do many things for the sake of winning this war, cutting up my teammates is not one of them."

Shigure cocked her head, looking rather curious as to what the reason was behind Haruna's reluctance to hold the operating knife and perform the cut.

"Is this reluctance because of your disdain for the bloody and 'icky' stuff in operations?

I understand if you might have some reservations, since gore isn't for everyone…"

But Haruna gently shook her head, feeling an ocean breeze tickle her hair and cool her sweaty skin as a result of the stuffy combat vest which she wore, feeling the need to correct Shigure's assumption.

"Not exactly.

I don't have much of a problem with blood and guts, because I've seen my fair share in my life as a ship girl.

But I just can't bring myself to cut a teammate up, and Akashi and I both know that I empathize with others too easily to be able to operate on anyone.

I eventually became more and more unnerved by how coldly Akashi-san saw everything and everyone, to the point where I was uncomfortable with learning anything from her."

Shigure now looked rather down, looking rather understanding of Haruna's plight as she shared with her how she had seen the 8th Fleet fight up close, and how it changed how Shigure saw her counselor and friend.

"Well, I can empathize with that.

To see how Akashi-san is capable of such violence…

I think she uses her medical and anatomical knowledge to heal allies and hurt enemies, and even though I'm appalled at how casually she treats murder…"

Haruna breathed out a little harder in an attempt at a smile as she retorted about how little the killing of Abyssals mattered to them.

"Well, technically, we're all somehow alright with killing Abyssals without question, so perhaps murder comes easily to us all, and there only lies one difference between ship girls like Akitsu Maru and Akashi-san, and us."

Shigure lifted an eyebrow and conceded the point, surprising Haruna a little as she expressed a fair bit of knowledge about what would eventually happen to every ship girl.

"Enjoying what we do.

Unlike them, who let themselves go and don't pretend that they're anything other than bloodthirsty dogs of war on the battlefield who serve any purpose greater than satisfying themselves, we exercise restraint and convince ourselves that we're doing this, all for the greater good.

It's sad to see them as they are, but I don't regret being their friend in order to help them out in any way I can."

Haruna lifted an eyebrow and looked at the all-encompassing ocean as she continued, thinking about the repair ship and her fleet of deplorable ship girls who were absolutely terrifying, yet somehow pitiable in their own way.

"I want to help ship girls in ways other than the battleship's way of simply destroying everything which can hurt my teammates, because if one of you gets injured in battle, I at least know what to do when the time comes rather than stand by uselessly and watch you die.

But…"

Haruna cringed as she remembered how callously Akashi-san treated everyone's lives despite claiming to 'care about them in her own special way', and decided to spare Shigure most of the details regarding the repair ship's misanthropy and pessimism as she continued.

"But I don't want to learn from someone who uses the medical knowledge she knows for nefarious purposes, I personally feel that it defeats the point when you cross that line.

Am I too naive and idealistic to think like that, Shigure-san?"

And strangely enough, despite believing that the analytical Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer would shoot her views down as being too unrealistic or impractical for a soldier, Shigure managed to somehow agree with her in some sense but also allowed herself to view things from another perspective, answering a very curious Haruna.

"I agree with you in terms of morality, that doctors who use their medical knowledge to kill are worse than murderers, but I think we should try to see things from another point of view.

I've talked to the 8th Fleet, and they say that because of their lack of natural fighting talent, they have to resort to the lowest of lows in order to stay relevant in battles, instead of being a burden to everyone outside of their respective fields of expertise.

They said that ship girls like me, who are gifted not with talent but with potential, don't have to worry about such things, especially since we have Kai Ni remodels and can become far more than anything they can hope to accomplish.

Despite being who they are, I suppose they want to matter as much as we do, and to see the lengths which they're willing to go to in order to accomplish that should be seen as proof of their conviction."

Haruna blinked, shifting the combat ration vest which rested on her torso as she thought of Shigure's words, and how the ship girls of the 8th Fleet were struggling in their own way.

True, she had thought of things what way, understanding that the 8th Fleet, for all of their flaws, were able to become one of, if not _the_ highest-performing auxiliary fleet in the world, and the amount of effort they must put into maintaining that standard in spite of their less-than-stellar stats must be staggering.

And the fact that a lot of them had been through rough periods in their lives would have almost had Haruna agreeing with Shigure, but still…

She looked down at the destroyer and expressed her views on the 8th Fleet, and how their _modus operandi_ came into conflict with her world view that ship girls shouldn't find pleasure in taking the lives of even their enemies, as it was a slippery slope down into the darkness which was depravity and even full-blown madness.

"I'm sorry.

But even though I can respect the amount of effort they put in, it's the way they operate which truly disgusts me, because even though we ship girls are imbued with a somewhat apathetic attitude towards killing Abyssals, it's a far cry from the 8th Fleet, most of whom take pleasure in killing Abyssals and possess a cavalier attitude towards everything, even their own lives.

They joke about killing themselves so often and so easily, I often feel uncomfortable around them as I believe many other ship girls do.

And the things I hear about them…"

Haruna shook her head, knowing herself to be above sharing unconfirmed rumors as they might strain relationships regardless of whether they were true or not, and Haruna kept it to a simple discussion on the _modus operandi_ of the 8th Fleet as she concluded this topic of conversation.

"That's all I'll say about them.

I shan't talk about the rumors surrounding them, because I respect them enough as soldiers to not attack or compromise their reputations with unconfirmed rumors."

Shigure nodded, moving the conversation back on track with the next question as she asked about something which Haruna never expected.

"I'd like to ask you about something else in order to shift the focus of this conversation back to you.

Why is it that people often regard Hiei-san as the Emperor's battleship, but not you?

To my knowledge, you once served as the Emperor's Special Ship, ferrying him across all of Japan several times, no?

Is there a reason why you relinquished that title to Hiei-san?"

To say that Haruna was surprised was a bit of an understatement; she was floored by a question which few people, even her sisters, thought to ask.

She hurriedly looked away and stared at the shifting ocean as she considered the question at hand, thinking about why she was content to allow Hiei to take the title of 'The Emperor's Battleship' without putting up a fight, especially when she had a fair chance of usurping that title when she was once crowned as the Emperor's Special Ship and had also carried His Majesty across the ocean a few times.

Eventually, she turned back to look back at Shigure as she gave her answer, and how because of her personality, she was content to take a back seat and allow her sisters to take the spotlight.

"Perhaps…

Perhaps it's because of my wallflower personality, which makes me reluctant to take up such a pompous title which means little in this day and age.

But I also wish for Hiei to bask in the limelight as 'The Emperor's Battleship', because I'm worried that if I'm to take that title from her, she might not have much left to her name save for her love towards Kongou nee-san.

And even that's…"

Haruna sighed, not having expected such a tough question from Shigure, but then again, the little destroyer was rather thoughtful and introspective, and Haruna surmised that she had done a fair bit of research on their history and wanted to ask her this after knowing that Hiei was more renowned for being the Emperor's Battleship instead of Haruna, who had received an official title as the Emperor's Special Ship.

She continued her explanation about her unconscious choice to not compete for a title and potentially strain their sisterly relationship in the ensuing fallout.

"I'm the polite, caring and empathetic one amongst my sisters, so when I was faced with the choice of being acknowledged as the Emperor's Battleship in lieu of Hiei nee-san, I didn't want to take that aspect of my sister's legacy and reputation away from her.

Back then, what Hiei had going for her was her love for Kongou nee-san, her headstrong attitude and her reputation as the Emperor's Battleship.

I wanted to allow her to use this title, which is admittedly a thing of the past, and build her confidence off of it in the present.

And while I understand that she's outgrown the need for mere titles, I just couldn't bring myself to contest with her for the title of the Emperor's Battleship."

Shigure nodded, taking up a thoughtful look as she considered the team dynamic between the Kongou Sisters, and how Haruna was concerned about Hiei's ego as the most empathetic one amongst them in contrast to the leader Kongou, the headstrong and loyal Hiei and the analytical Kirishima.

"So you didn't want to cause a rift to tear you two apart due to the conflict caused by a contest over a title which doesn't really do much for you all save for allowing you some bragging rights about something which is no longer a thing.

An interesting answer."

Haruna nodded, looking away as she explained how she saw their relationship and how perhaps separating the Kongou Sisters was for the best.

"I admit, it was sad when Kongou decided that the Kongou Sisters had to disband in order to make a name for ourselves, and I was aghast at the mere thought of it.

But I suppose it was for the best, because back then, we only knew how to build off of each other's personalities and develop a sisterly dynamic to the point where we wouldn't be seen separated from each other, increasing our dependence on our sisters' company.

And that was the problem which Kongou nee-san saw, that we had to grow into our own and not just be respectable battleships in our own right, but also elegant women or 'ladies' who could stand on our own two feet.

Right now, we're doing our best to become stronger and specialize in different areas of expertise, like how Kirishima nee-san is working as a Coordinator, I'm working as a part-time medic while Kongou sails with the hard-hitting 7th Fleet and Hiei sails with the 1st Fleet.

Although I'm standing in for Hiei nee-san, she's taking the time to train herself up in order jump back into the fray, and she is extremely driven to protect you all.

So please allow yourself to depend more on your teammates, Shigure-san.

They're just as dedicated as you are when it comes to protecting everyone."

Shigure looked a little surprised at the conviction behind Hiei, and perhaps even Haruna's desire to protect her, and she looked down with a small, tired nod as she admitted how she wasn't the only ship girl who wanted to protect everyone.

"I think I understand.

Everyone wants to protect their teammates, so I suppose that we sometimes need to split up in order to pursue different paths to strength, and when we regroup as a team, we'll have become stronger in unique ways.

Tenryuu and Tatsuta are off somewhere getting stronger,and so are Hiei and Junyou as they train with battleships and carriers respectively…

I suppose… I can try to place some faith in their abilities."

Haruna nodded as she was glad that they had come to an understanding, but was then interrupted by a red blip showing up on her radar as her Fairies warned her about a possible enemy confrontation.

Both she and Chitose tensed up and prepared for combat as she warned the Combined Fleet about the incoming threat of an approaching Abyssal fleet, and how they should go about this battle since Admiral Mako had taken this Abyssal fleet's patrol route into account and had given them two courses, to either engage or circumvent them.

"Everyone, an Abyssal fleet is approaching us.

A quick vote on whether we should fight or flee?

While I'm certain we can take them, they don't seem to have noticed us yet since none of the Abyssals are carriers, so rerouting our current course to preserve the element of stealth is still a possibility."

Sendai's hands hovered over her torpedo launchers in preparation for combat as she expressed how they might have to fight their way through in order to draw their attention.

"Well, we're carrying spare ammunition, so ammo shortage isn't exactly a major problem right now.

And even if we're to run into complications before nighttime, our backup fleet can simply lend us more ammo and steel patches in order to reload and recover respectively.

We can also try to lead them on as the Abyssals would actively search us out, after which we'll split up at night in order to distract them for a longer period of time."

And Shigure pointed out something regarding how Sendai could talk about confronting them so easily when she wasn't tasked with the tougher job.

"I'd like to point out that _we're_ the ones tasked with distracting the Abyssals while you're the ones who get to go on Aogashima Island.

So you might feel that attracting their attention wouldn't be all bad, but I respectfully disagree, since we're the ones who will come under fire at night, even though we're going to receive reinforcements later in the night."

Sendai simply raised an eyebrow in order to concede the point, and Jintsuu cast her vote in favor of being discrete, since it would allow them to preserve the element of surprise for a little longer.

"I think that it's best for us not to engage this Abyssal fleet, because the subsequent Abyssal fleets which we engage might discern our true abilities, the more we attempt to engage them in battle.

If we keep to ourselves for a little while longer, they have to work with rough estimates of our capabilities based on our previous sorties, and we would be able to surprise them with our true capabilities based off of our teamwork.

If they learn that we can take out an Abyssal fleet which possesses an intermediate-level threat to us, they would reroute weaker Abyssal fleets and only send high-level Abyssal fleets to deal with us."

And Saratoga asked about her statement as she flicked the safety switch on her Thompson sub-machine gun, getting ready for a possible firefight.

"And how accurate are their predictions of our capabilities?"

Haruna answered that as she mentally ordered her Fairies to be on standby in the meantime, preparing herself for the worst-case scenario which was a possible firefight with the Abyssals, as did all ship girls with their respective class weapons.

"Well, from what I heard, the Abyssals maintain a mental network to make sure that even if we defeat this fleet, they would send a recording of this battle with their dying breath to their superiors in order to determine our threat level, and they'd divert fleets who're too weak to even slow us down away from us.

Of course, this process is carried out extremely slowly since the ocean is just _that_ large, and there're too many fleets being sent out every day for them to make these decisions quickly and precisely, so it'll take a while for these orders to be received and carried out.

But we do catch whispers in the air for weaker Abyssal fleets to keep track of our movements the further we sail into the Pacific, because even though the Abyssals like throwing numbers at their problems, they aren't so stupid as to send out low-ranking Abyssals to be slaughtered senselessly.

They prefer to let the stronger Abyssals have their chance to try to take us out, and if that fails, they'll have already gathered enough Abyssal mooks to make a difference and push us back, if not sink us outright through sheer numbers."

Inhaling deeply after reciting something which she learnt from her lessons, she understood that Saratoga was new here and might not know how the Abyssals worked, requiring a quick lesson from her before making an informed decision.

Naka became the voice of reason as she broke up the discussion by addressing her sister and explaining how it was better for them to be discrete for as long as they could.

"Well, Sendai.

Even though we trained together for a while, the new 1st Fleet isn't very experienced compared to other fleets who are occupied either with training or sorties of their own, so I think it's best for us to lay low for now.

That way, we can make less mistakes compared to when we engage every single Abyssal fleet in sight and become fatigued, leading to more mistakes."

Sendai muttered an understanding,

"Fine, fine, I understand.

I'm itching for a fight, but I suppose not everyone can last through the day and night if we're to take everyone on."

Haruna exhaled slowly, the tension diffusing somewhat as Haruna spoke to everyone while she consulted the map on her HUD.

"Well, the Admiral and the Coordinators expected us to meet this fleet, and since we're choosing to not engage them in battle…"

She saw the HUD change to point in a direction adjacent to their original course, which allowed them to sail past the Abyssal fleet without getting within firing distance and allowing the Abyssals to open fire on them, everyone changing their course in order to sail in the direction of the pointer which directed them to a GPS checkpoint marked out by latitude and longitude.

However, everyone's tense posture and the fact that their hands were now much closer to their weapons in order to quick-draw them didn't escape Haruna's notice, understanding that everyone was on edge and knew that in this sortie, an unavoidable battle was to occur eventually.

No amount of stealth was going to keep them safe and undetected for long the further they sailed to the edge of the Safety Zone, beyond which was an ocean infested by Abyssals who wouldn't hesitate to sink them and halt their progress, and everyone was understandably wary of every single Abyssal in their vicinity as they would either serve to warn others of their presence or hunt them down, warranting their paranoia and fear in order to simply stay alive.

* * *

Haruna and company had been sailing for a few more hours now, and it was currently 3.12 p.m. as they approached one of the most important checkpoints in their meandering and ever-changing course towards Aogashima Island.

Before them was the silhouette of Mikura Jima Island.

Haruna was holding Shigure's hand in order to comfort the distressed destroyer as they sailed towards the place which had traumatized the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

But despite her best assurances that Haruna would be alright, she had heard from Hiei that her own doppelganger from the Miura Naval Base was devastated in this battle, so wearing the same face and possessing the same behavior (they were doppelgangers, after all) might diminish the effectiveness of her assurances.

Cue mental sigh.

Her combat ration vest felt a wee bit lighter, since everyone had already taken their lunch by swallowing half of a chocolate-bar-sized ration, and her Fairies were now working a little harder after ingesting a filling meal supplied by the food supply Fairy.

The sky was becoming a little more cloudy than they would have preferred, but it served as a bit of relief from the summer sunshine as they sailed forth, Haruna suddenly detecting a new Abyssal presence in their area.

And it was headed straight for them.

Her cannons bristled in anticipation as she tensed up again in preparation for combat, this time feeling that a battle was unavoidable as Chitose warned everyone about the incoming threat.

"Girls.

I sense another Abyssal fleet making a beeline for us.

And right now, I can identify three Ri-Class heavy cruisers, one Wo-Class carrier, two Ho-Class light cruisers and four Abyssal destroyers.

They seem to know we're here, and seem determined to stop us."

Sendai sighed as she pulled out a torpedo from a launcher which was strapped to her hips, leaning forward in anticipation while her face morphed into her dead-serious game face as she remarked.

"Well, it's been a good run, but it would be foolish of us to think that we could finish the entire journey through stealth alone.

I personally think that for a fleet as big as ours, to go without fighting a single Abyssal fleet all the way up to Mikura Jima Island is rather impressive, but it's time to whip out the torpedoes and the cannons, because I feel that we can't run from this one."

Everyone was uncoupling their cannons from their riggings in order to prepare for battle, and Haruna tightened the straps on her thigh utility pouches while understanding that in addition to being a battleship, she was carrying their combat rations and had to keep herself safe, lest a cannon shell fly in her direction and spoil their rations, leaving them hungry for the rest of the day.

The fact that she was carrying several cans of fuel in her pockets turned her into a walking safety hazard which could be lit aflame should a torpedo or shell hit her in the right spot, and the only silver lining was that she was a fast battleship and thus possessed decent armor and speed in order to handle anything which was thrown her way.

The destroyers and light cruisers in the Combined Fleet unleashed a devastating torpedo salvo as the aiming reticles of her 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannons all focused on the Abyssals in the distance, yelling out her command in part to warn her teammates of the discharge of such powerful cannons.

"Fire!"

She was thankful that her ears possessed mufflers in order to help mute the volume of the cannon blast which shook the very air around her, something which she was accustomed to as did every battleship worth their salt, waving away the plumes of smoke in order to watch out for enemy attacks.

The Abyssals responded in kind by sending out two Abyssal Dive Bombers and a Mark II Torpedo Bomber in order to intercept Chitose and Saratoga's Ryuusei and Dauntless Bombers, everyone scattering without a word as enemy shells rained down upon them, the Abyssals squeezing off several shots before being devastated either by the torpedoes, the bombers' dropped payloads or the hail of shells which landed in their general area.

She sailed forward in order to shield Shigure and Kuroshio with her body, holding up her arms in an 'X' shape before her vest as small and medium-caliber shells harmlessly bounced off of her skin and rigging and throwing up sparks in the case of the latter, letting out an involuntary,

"Tsk!"

After feeling the sting of the _mostly_ harmless shells as they stung her arms and face not unlike bee stings, understanding that while her rigging and skin armor was tough, she was not invulnerable and could be worn down if she took too many shells while deluding herself into thinking that these shells couldn't do anything to her.

She smacked away the minuscule smoke plumes which wafted from her arms as the small steel pellets were crushed against her skin, some even punching holes into her miko uniform, although since she was a battleship, there was no blood being drawn as her skin armor did its job well.

Haruna could hear the shock of the destroyers behind her stemming from seeing a battleship protect them when she was carrying valuable cargo, Kuroshio exclaiming as the shells which came into contact with Haruna's skin and rigging hit the ocean like dead flies dropping dead upon hitting a bug zapper racket.

"H-Haruna-san?!

You should stand behind us, you're-"

Haruna turned around and remarked hastily, sparing no time for niceties in the heat of battle as she kept an eye out for incoming torpedoes while revving her boat slippers.

"Please don't treat me like an invalid just because I'm carrying precious cargo!

I'm a Kongou-Class battleship, and even though these shells may hurt you, they are as harmless as bug bites to my armor!

Haruna is alright, please continue!"

Kuroshio's eyes widened at the slight aggression which had seeped into Haruna's voice, but her gaze eventually settled into a determined one as she teased.

"Alright.

Follow us through the torpedoes, feel free to tell us to slow down if you can't keep up while carrying those."

While pointing to Haruna's weighty combat ration vest, or for all she knew, the Kagerou-Class might also be pointing at her sizable chest in order to lighten up the mood, sailing away with a cheeky smile plastered on her face while Shigure stepped up and thanked Haruna.

" … Thank you for that.

But please, watch out for yourself."

And Haruna took the time to turn the phrase back on her, narrowing her eyes and looking Shigure dead in the eye as she remarked.

"And _you_ watch out for yourself as well.

Please, there is nothing for you to prove, since you've given your all the last time you were here."

Shigure flinched, and she knew that she was spot-on with her assumption of what Shigure was thinking about as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer gave a small, yet respectful bow before turning away and sailing off into the distance.

Haruna tailed her, ready to catch the destroyer should she fall in battle and watching on as white-hot steel flew past them with varying accuracy, knowing that the chaos of war would throw off any ship girl or Abyssal's aim, and only a handful of ship girls could hit every shot fired from their handheld cannons after years of persistent training to become dead-eye marks-women.

Watching the silent yet deadly torpedoes sail by her without detonating, Haruna released a breath which she didn't know she held as she then heard the buzz of an oh-so-familiar bomber plane approaching her, and she looked up to find an Abyssal Dive Bomber performing a bombing run and targeting either her or Shigure.

In a break from her polite persona, she cussed mentally upon facing her repressed fear of bomber planes or any aerial threats after the Bombing of Kure, thinking,

' _Why, oh why, did it have to be bomber planes?_

 _Motherf-'_

Before she abruptly ended that train of thought and caught the back of Shigure's collar, scanning their surroundings for a safe area of undisturbed ocean before using her battleship strength to toss her out of the projected radius of the explosion, jamming her left boat slipper into the ocean in order to come to a stop as the payload dropped from the sky like a bird's dropping falling from the heavens in order to devastate whoever was beneath it.

Her rigging shielded her from the brunt of the explosion, hunching and bringing her shoulders in to keep the combat rations on her vest dry as she pushed off of her left feet in order to propel herself backwards, feeling the drops of water become pseudo-bullets as they scattered and hit her at velocities which could injure a human.

The volume of the explosion was also nothing to sneeze at, understanding that a human who took her place on the battlefield would either be killed ten times over, or be deafened and injured by the shock-wave of the blast as she wiped the seawater from her sleeves, readying her cannons as she looked around for Shigure.

Sure enough, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer looked like a drowning cat despite appearing rather thankful for Haruna preventing her from sustaining potentially lethal damage, and they regrouped while the others had gone on ahead as Haruna felt the need to apologize, but Shigure must've seen her remorseful expression as she idly waved off her concerns and casually stole Haruna's line.

"I… I'm alright.

Shigure is alright.

Please… continue."

Haruna nodded grimly as she turned back to the battle at hand, watching Sendai fling a torpedo into the Ho-Class's helmet as though it were an explosive kunai and ducking as the armed torpedo detonated at point-blank range, engulfing the Abyssal's body with a roaring _whoosh_ of fuel-fueled fire as it burst into flames from the top down.

Fat drops of blazing oil erupted and poured down its neck and non-existent head alongside blood and other unidentified liquids as its arms scrambled in its death throes, refusing to die as it clung to its last vestiges of life before collapsing onto the ocean like a puppet which had its strings cut.

Haruna fired at a Ri-Class cruiser in order to distract it from Kagerou and Shiranui, who were peppering the increasingly annoyed Abyssal with their paltry handheld 12 Cm Single Gun Cannons, allowing a nearby Jintsuu to perform a drive-by shooting by dumping her torpedoes into the water and sailing off while looking away from the explosion which swallowed the Ri-Class whole and gave the two Kagerou-Class destroyers some breathing room.

Haruna could only hear Kuroshio shouting,

"Hell yeah!

Cool ship girls don't look back at ex-"

Before Haruna was distracted by a shell whizzing past her head, inferring that Kuroshio meant to finish the sentence with 'explosions'.

Right then, she felt an ominous shudder shake her entire world as a sharp pang of pain radiated from the back of her skull, throwing her head forward as her mind buzzed and tingled from what she assumed was a shell hitting her in the back of the head.

It was likely a destroyer's shell, since a cruiser's shell was capable of sending her into a mild coma while a battleship's shell, well…

If not for the fact that she was a fast battleship, Haruna was sadly confident that whoever took her place might be sent back to the base in a body bag.

' _If that's the case, better me than them.'_

Haruna thought grimly as she attempted to balance herself by holding out her arms, and she vigorously shook her head in order to clear the massive headache which was plaguing her mind after being shot in the bloody head.

God, all these combat rations, and not a single aspirin pill?

She could feel a hand grabbing her arm, and Haruna could hear a light cruiser, judging by the tone of the voice, shout into her ear as she was led away.

"Come on!

You need to retreat to a safe area, you're currently not in your right mind to fight this battle!"

Another ship girl pushed against her rigging as she heard and felt another dropped payload detonate about ten meters to her left, flinching as she activated her boat slippers to sail away while her mind cleared enough to see a wobbly sight of Naka pulling her away from the heat of the action.

But she gently pried Naka's fingers from her arm as she cleared her mind with a shake of the head, looking down as she attempted to tune out the ringing noise which still plagued her mind and the slight double vision of the Sendai-Class light cruiser as she responded darkly.

"Haruna… is alright.

Turn me back, we can finish this fight."

Kagerou sailed up behind her, having done her best to push Haruna out of the line of fire despite her status as a destroyer, and it was commendable of her to attempt it despite its futility as the name-ship commented on her injuries.

"You sure about that?

You got shot in the head, and even though it was a destroyer's shell…"

Ah, so that's what it was, an Abyssal destroyer sneaking up from the ocean and shooting her in the back of the head.

Sure, the skin armor on the back of her head wasn't exactly the toughest, but that weakness was compensated by the reinforcement of their steel skull in order to protect their head and brains as previously demonstrated, Haruna reaching up to check the severity of the wound.

A chill was sent down her spine as another wave of pain radiated from the epicenter of the affected area, and she winced in pain while Naka and Kagerou mirrored her expression, Haruna bringing her hand forward to see a sizable stain of crimson fluids smeared on her palm along with some strands of hair stuck to the viscous blood.

Wiping it on her large miko sleeve, her mind came into focus thanks to the rush of adrenaline in her body, looking down at the duo with an intense stare which bore into their concerned eyes as she kept her combat-ready expression as neutral as possible while she remarked.

"I. Am. Alright.

We need to back everyone up, and I suggest that you two cover your ears for this next part."

They did as they were told, and Haruna fired as soon as her mental firing module locked onto and calculated a 65.2% of hitting a meandering destroyer who was lurking on the ocean surface, the sheer proximity to the discharge of a large-caliber cannon almost blowing Kagerou her off her feet.

The shell flew true as it didn't even slow down while it punched straight through the I-Class Abyssal, the fish-like destroyer being forced into the ocean by the momentum of the shell before being eviscerated by a glorious explosion from within.

Haruna's skin tingled while another shiver ran throughout her entire body from the excitement of scoring such a devastating direct hit, looking down at the two members of the Combined Fleet as she reassured them.

"As you can see, I'm still combat-ready.

Now, shall we?"

They both nodded, still looking a little shaken by the reverberating shock wave which no doubt shook their bodies and souls to the very core, Haruna taking the lead with her cannons blazing while Kagerou and Naka took up the flank and fired their torpedoes at whomever they could target.

She sailed straight for the Wo-Class carrier, since she knew that Chitose and Saratoga could shut down any other Abyssals if not for the ever-present threat of the Wo-Class's Abyssal Fighters, and she aimed her cannons at the Wo-Class as the Abyssal stood at a distance and away from the main battle, her aiming reticles lining up slowly on her figure.

The Wo-Class eventually noticed her approach and evaded in order to throw off her aim, since the direction where the slow-as-molasses cannons were pointing at were a good indicator of where their shells were going to fly, and unlike small and medium-caliber cannons, Haruna couldn't manually aim her cannons and had to depend on her rigging to do the job.

Their aiming reticles were unlike those of other ship classes, and were most similar to those on grenade launchers in First-Person Shooter games, where the cross-hairs pointed to the North, East and West as per usual.

But to the South of the reticle were several lines of diminishing length in order to allow the Fairies and ship girl to gauge the distance to target, take into account shell velocity and the projected bullet drop in order to estimate the odds of hitting a target after locking onto them.

It would almost be impossible for the chances of hitting the target to be 100% (save for a point blank attack) since factors like the instability of the shifting battlefield that was the ocean, wind velocity and the evasive capabilities of every Abyssal would affect the chances of a hit or miss.

She chanced it with a 26.3% chance of hitting the target, her cannons resounding throughout the battlefield as the shell barreled on and hit the ocean as the Wo-Class twisted out of the way and safely evaded the shot.

But while Haruna was disappointed at the outcome, she saw her chance to press the attack as the Wo-Class was thrown onto the ocean surface by the rough waves caused by her shells hitting the water, and she sailed forth with her game-face on and showing no intent to hold back.

Now, ship girls and Abyssals alike were seasoned fighters, and Haruna knew that in training, part of the 'curriculum' was to condition the fear out of each and every one of them as it would cause them to freeze up on the battlefield instead of doing something to save their skin.

But there was nothing quite like seeing a battleship, even if it was a Kongou-Class battleship, charging you with all her cannons reloading and ready to fire again, while knowing that your pathetic cannons weren't going to even dent her armor…

She banked on the fact that the Wo-Class would freeze up and not move, and her expectations were subverted yet again as the lying Wo-Class scrambled back from the advancing battleship, and eventually got to her feet as Haruna got within about two meters from the retreating carrier, and saw something blur from the peripheral of her vision.

Catching it in time with her left hand to discover that it was the Wo-Class's conducting cane used as an improvised weapon, she ducked just as the Wo-Class resorted to Plan B and fired her pod cannons, barely missing her cheek by a millimeter as it tickled her skin and threw up her hair.

Unleashing a bestial growl through clenched teeth, Haruna lifted her right hand and sliced down at the conducting cane, shattering it in two with her formidable battleship strength focused onto the blade that was her right hand just as the Wo-Class tried everything from hair-pulling to kicking at her legs in order to bring her down.

Dropping the remnants of the conducting cane into the ocean, she dealt a harsh left hook to the Wo-Class with her freed-up left hand and caused the Wo-Class to fly back and release Haruna's hair, Haruna having felt the resounding crack of something, likely the Abyssal's jaw, either fracturing or dislocating, neither of which was a pleasant experience.

She leapt forward in order to deliver a vicious flying knee to the downed-but-not-dead Wo-Class in the face, further driving the Wo-Class back as she slammed her kneecap into the nose of the injured Wo-Class with the speed and strength of a fast battleship, being rewarded with an ominous _crack_ of a shattered nose as she was notified that her cannons were reloaded.

Angling her body downwards in order to allow her cannons to point at the downed Abyssal, she stared into the eyes of the Wo-Class, seeing that the stoic Abyssal was expressing the most amount of emotion she could muster in the face of death, taking in everything from the blood which seeped out of her nose due to her flying knee strike to the saliva dripping from her fractured jaw due to her left hook.

All of that was gone the instant she fired at the Wo-Class at point-blank range, knowing that such a devastating cannon salvo at such a close range would be akin to a magic trick, wherein the dissipating smoke would reveal the disappearance of the Abyssal in question.

Yep.

The Abyssal was devastated by eight large-caliber shells at point-blank range and was set aflame by the holes which were torn into her body as she was missing her shoulders, left hip and leg, her head and right breast.

Haruna could have watched the smoldering wreck sink back into the ocean depths, but she had already turned away in order to face the remaining Abyssals.

One Ri-Class and a Ho-Class light cruiser was left, and Jintsuu was dealing with the latter as she fired her handheld 14 Cm Single Gun Cannon into the Ho-Class's helmet, grazing and cracking the helmet in order to allow Naka to do the same.

The aspiring idol had more success in that regard, because the cracks caused by Jintsuu's shell allowed Naka's shell to pierce the armored helmet and caused the Abyssal's head to fall apart as her shell forced shards of the shattered helmet into its skull, guaranteeing death as blood, cerebrospinal fluid and brain matter was scattered everywhere like a popped water balloon unleashing its disemboweled contents everywhere.

Saratoga skidded on the ocean as she performed a sliding tackle in order to trip up the lone Ri-Class, allowing Chitose's Type 99 Dive Bomber to streak down and drop its payload on the prone Abyssal the instant Saratoga scrambled out of range, pulling up at the last second as its engine whirred from the exertion while a fireball enveloped the doomed Ri-Class.

Haruna could see the Japanese rising sun imprinted on the Type 99's silver hull and wings, barely noting the 'EII-206' imprinted on its vertical stabilizer in a red font, and the '報國-52' on the aft of its hull with her eyes' powerful zoom function before it flew out of sight.

The Ri-Class barely survived the Type 99's bombardment as it emerged from the smoke, roasted flesh slipping off of steel bones as her eyes were dulled from the searing heat, fire consuming the glowing Abyssal from within as fuel reserves went up in flames and repair systems failed.

Second and third-degree burns plagued her body from head to toe, and her arms were nothing more than bloody stumps after Haruna assumed that her arm cannons blew up from the explosion igniting the gunpowder stored within them, causing one hell of an explosion which took off her arms and left them as bleeding stumps which blood and flaming fuel free-flowed out of.

And after three seconds of stumbling around blindly (likely literally), she exhaled her last breath of smoke before her eyes rolled up as she expired and collapsed onto the ocean, and Haruna sighed in relief after they had defeated all the Abyssals near Mikura Jima Island.

Looking at the sinking Abyssals around them, she heard Sendai remark on hard-earned victory at the expense of losing the element of surprise and stealth.

"Well, looks like we've made a mess of ourselves here.

If they didn't know we were here before, they certainly do now.

I suppose we should start sailing away from here and start re-routing our course from here on out, hmm?"

Haruna nodded as she patted her combat ration vest down, understanding that she had to keep these rations safe in order to feed her teammates, and they still had a long way to go before allowing the Infiltration Fleet to land on Aogashima Island without the Abyssals hounding them.

After that, she had to fend off Abyssal attacks until reinforcements arrived, whereupon they would turn the tables on the Abyssals by regrouping with the Infiltration Fleet when they were done and make a break for Yokosuka before tomorrow night.

No pressure.


	36. Chapter 36 - Shadow Dance

It was now 7.27 p.m. in the evening, and Sendai was now getting into her element as the sun went down, flinging another torpedo into the chest of another Ri-Class heavy cruiser as she backtracked and retreated from the advance of the third Abyssal fleet which they had engaged today.

Her technique of throwing torpedoes was something which was invented in the past by ship girls who were frustrated with the slow speed at which the torpedoes traveled underwater and allowed Abyssals some time to evade, and thinking out of the box allowed them to use their body strength to fling their torpedoes at a higher speed with their arm strength.

This technique allowed her to take out the Abyssal Ri-Class as the torpedo detonated despite the Ri-Class evading and avoiding the brunt of the explosion, but was still caught in the resulting explosion as the torpedo hit her shoulder and engulfed the Abyssal in a devastating fireball, the flames licking several strands of her hair and set her black mop of hair on fire.

Sendai had to shield her eyes as the epicenter of the explosion radiated from the Ri-Class's left shoulder and seared off half her face, and she could hear the Abyssal scream in an unholy, banshee-like voice upon being afflicted with second and third-degree burns on the side of her burning steel body.

 _[AAHHHH!]_

Sendai shot at an approaching Ta-Class and forced the fast battleship to shield herself as the flames in the Ri-Class were extinguished after the hurt Abyssal dunked herself into the ocean in order to save herself, Sendai hearing Saratoga remark with a fair bit of concern in her voice as two Abyssal fleets approached them in order to intercept and stop their advance.

"Shit!

These Abyssals are rather persistent in stopping us!"

And Sendai could hear Kagerou reply dryly in response to the number of Abyssals sent to stop their advance.

"Three Ri-Class and two Ne-Class heavies, two Ru-Class and Ta-Class battleships _each_ , and five He-Class light cruisers.

If I weren't scared out of my mind, I'd feel rather proud that we're taken so seriously to the point where they sent so many Abyssals to stop us!"

Jintsuu grunted in response as she carried Arare on her back, the Asashio-Class destroyer having been hurt by a stray medium-caliber shell as it clipped her in the left shoulder and sent her flying.

She was riding piggyback on the Sendai-Class light cruiser's back, lashed together with steel wires to Jintsuu's back and hips in order to allow her to face where Jintsuu was facing while being strapped to her back.

A steel patch was already placed the treated wound courtesy of Haruna in order to help her recover, and she was trying to contribute in some way as Arare used her working arm in order to hold a 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon beneath Jintsuu's armpit, erratically firing her cannons at a He-Class light cruiser in order to help out even after being injured.

Chitose had been temporarily knocked out in her attempt to defend Haruna by body blocking a shell, and even though she had regained consciousness, she had to be guarded by Saratoga and Ayanami while she recovered enough to the point where she was combat-ready again.

Sendai spoke over the radio as the sounds of cannon fire and explosions would drown out her voice even if she yelled until her lungs gave out.

"Well, I'd say that we're pretty fucked, so anyone got a way to unfuck us?"

And Haruna stepped up to the plate as she responded coolly.

"Do not worry.

More than one, Haruna has eight."

And fired all four of her 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannons in every direction before her and shook the seas in the process, scoring a direct hit on two He-Class cruisers and a Ta-Class battleship, a shell glancing off of a Ru-Class's cannon stack and struck a Ne-Class's tail.

Haruna managed to instantly sink a He-Class light cruiser and a Ta-Class battleship, and critically wounded the remaining Ne, Ru and He-Class Abyssals as she decapitated one of the two bestial tails of the Ne-Class, caused the Ru-Class battleship's cannon stack to stop working as smoke wafted from it ominously after the impact, and the remaining He-Class's arm cannon went up in flames as the Abyssal attempted to use the hard shell around its cannon to shield itself, underestimating the penetration capabilities of Haruna's large-caliber shell and paying the price for it.

Sendai saw Shigure fire torpedoes at the afflicted Ne-Class Abyssal who was downed and was clutching the bloody stump where her dismembered tail was supposed to be, clumsily evading the torpedoes with all the finesse of a limping drunkard as the Abyssal attempted to reach down into the ocean and fish out her missing tail.

Only to be shot in the face by Naka with her 14 Cm Single Gun Cannon, being sent flying as Naka blew the smoke which was wafting from her cannon barrel while she commented on Haruna's tide-turning play.

"Wow, Haruna-chan!

That's certainly worthy of an MVP move when we go back home!"

Shiranui then sailed past her, arming her torpedo launchers as she agreed with her before reminding them of their true objective.

"Focus.

That was an excellent move, but we need to protect Haruna since she needs to reload her cannons, and mustn't be hurt because of the rations which she carries."

Kagerou pouted a little as she revved her engines and sailed behind Shiranui, firing her torpedoes in specific directions in order to disperse the crowd of Abyssals and allow for easier targeting, since the torpedoes would bottleneck them.

"Aww, Nui-Nui, you're no fun!

Let's dispose of these Abyssals together, shall we?"

Sendai pulled out another two torpedoes from her launchers as she flipped them and held them in a reverse grip, sailing forward and backing the Kagerou-Class duo up while noting Shigure following closely behind her, and she felt the setting sun empower her as she felt more and more excited about the night battles which she would get to fight in before stepping onto Aogashima Island.

Flinging a torpedo at a Ta-Class battleship, the fast battleship put her fast speed to good use as she pushed off her left feet and achieved a strafing speed which a slow Abyssal battleship would be hard-pressed to replicate due to their heavy equipment, safely evading the hurled Type 93 torpedo as it plopped into the ocean behind her.

She fired her cannons as she sent another Abyssal Reconnaissance Fighter out to join the one currently dog-fighting Saratoga's F4F Wildcat Fighter Planes, which were attempting to deny the Abyssals the ability to get a bird's-eye-view of the battlefield and control the flow of the battle by making informed decisions regarding their movements to push the ship girls back.

Shigure, Shiranui and Kagerou's Anti-Air 10cm Twin High-angle Gun Cannons barked in order to take out the Abyssal Reconnaissance Fighters as they evaded torpedoes and cannon fire, and one of the Abyssal Reconnaissance Fighters was hit in the underside several times as it caught on fire and began a downward descent towards the Combined Fleet.

Saratoga strafed in order to evade the kamikaze attack, smacking the flames which were passed on from the Abyssal Fighter's trailing fuel fire onto her dress before she snuffed out the flames with her palm, grimacing in pain after being scalded.

Sendai noted that there were now one light and medium-damaged Ne-Class heavy cruisers, two Ru-Class battleships in which one had a non-functional cannon stack, a Ta-Class fast battleship, four He-Class light cruisers and two Ri-Class heavy cruisers remaining.

Need to stall for time until the sun disappeared over the horizon…

Saratoga sent out two TBF Avenger Torpedo Bombers in order to join the two F4F Wildcats, who had already taken out the Abyssal Reconnaissance Fighter with their teamwork and were now focusing their machine-gun fire on the Abyssals, allowing Sendai to fire her 14 Cm Single Gun Cannon and hit a He-Class light cruiser in the left collarbone.

She noted that Chitose was wobbling while she took up the rear so as not to make herself an easy target as she shakily sent out two Suisei Dive Bombers and Ryuusei Torpedo Bombers, looking rather fatigued with her forehead creasing with sweat as she struggled to stay up.

Sendai braved enemy fire as she ran up to the Ru-Class battleships, whose billowing smoke emanated from their cannons as their ejected shells tickled Sendai's ponytails, feeling them flaring up and sending chills down her spine as she evaded by blitz-hopping from side-to-side and dumped the torpedoes in her launcher into the water as soon as the Ru-Classes missed all their shots, although Sendai had to give them some credit when one of her large-caliber shells hit the water and almost tripped her up.

Boy, that would have opened up a whole other can of worms.

She watched the fireball devastate the Ru-Class battleship and erase her from the equation, deliberately standing with her back to the sun in order to throw the Abyssals' aim off while she noticed another barrage of large-caliber cannons being fired from behind her shortly after Haruna's trademark,

"Fire!"

She saw that the large-caliber shell finished the job by taking out the damaged He-Class light cruiser who was sailing a little slower than usual after Haruna's previous shell damaged its arm cannon and rendered it almost unusable, punching through its chest and guaranteeing its death as it collapsed on the ocean like a cavalry rider falling off of his collapsing horse, the Abyssal and motorcycle-esque half both unable to function as the former had a hole where its humanoid heart was supposed to be.

A second shell punched through the knee of a Ri-Class heavy cruiser, Sendai watching as the large-caliber shell smashed in and eviscerated the kneecap of the Abyssal, culminating in a morbidly beautiful explosion of steel bone fragments flying everywhere like a frag grenade explosion before the strip of flesh which connected her lower leg to her thigh was burnt off by the growing fire which erupted from the gaping hole which was located where her knee was supposed to be.

Collapsing in pain, the crying and seething Ri-Class was put out of her misery as Kagerou's torpedo hit her prone body and made her disappear behind a spray of water, blood, fuel and flames while Sendai exhaled in relief upon seeing Haruna come in clutch in their time of crisis.

The last shell glanced off the Ta-Class's shoulder armor, throwing up a vibrant shower of sparks behind her as both Haruna and the Ta-Class looked surprised at the near-miss, the Abyssal discarding her cracked shoulder guard which held up her cape and was left with her sailor uniform top and dark thong, with her alien rigging located around her hips.

Saratoga's two TBF Avenger Torpedo Bombers dived down in order to drop its payload into the water, and was greeted with a hail of Anti-Air fire courtesy of every single Abyssal on the battlefield, and one of them spiraled out of control after a Ri-Class fired into the ocean and produced a water column which one Avenger flew through and made it spin out before hitting the water.

Sendai noted that on her radar were two signatures of downed Fairy pilots, surmising that the absence of a Suisei bomber and Wildcat were the reason why two floating signatures were present even before the Fairy pilot ejected from its cockpit as his plane hit the ocean.

Shells whizzed across the battlefield in both directions, and she heard another ship girl cry out in pain behind her as she turned back to see Shiranui flying back, barely turning back forward in time to hop over an enemy torpedo before boosting across the battlefield as she flung another two torpedo at two He-Class light cruisers, one for each Abyssal.

One managed to inexplicably shoot down the incoming torpedo, producing a loud explosion whose blast wave displaced the ocean underneath it in a small bowl as the Abyssal achieved the million-to-one odds of hitting a thrown torpedo on the warhead with a shell, detonating it prematurely and saving its skin.

The other Ne-Class light cruiser wasn't so lucky as the torpedo hit it on its flank, carving a flaming, spherical void into its body as the Abyssal howled in pain, using its arms to push it under water and douse the flames before they lit a fuel reserve on fire, disappearing in a billowing plume of boiling steam as Sendai heard someone scream.

 _"AAAHHHH!"_

While an explosion sounded out behind her.

Oh shit.

No one screamed like that unless someone was either dead or dying.

And especially since ship girls were mostly hardened soldiers, it had to be serious.

Whipping her head around, she could see that an aghast Chitose had taken off her blazer and was using it to smother the flames which danced on the back of a ship girl, and Sendai's heart sank as she kept low and looked around to deduce who it was.

Kagerou and Kuroshio were protecting Shiranui, who was clutching her limp left arm with some sort of broken bone or dislocation at her shoulder joint as the Kagerou-Class trio inched towards the downed Fairy pilots in order to retrieve them, cannons blazing all the while.

Arare was still strapped to Jintsuu's back, both Asashio-Class destroyer and Sendai-Class light cruiser firing as the former's arm was healed up enough to dual wield a 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon and a 12.7 Twin Gun Cannon and provide Sendai's sister with a second pair of arms and weapons.

Naka was with Saratoga as the latter rushed over to the injured ship girl whom Chitose had in her embrace with a horrified expression, and it finally clicked in Sendai's mind regarding the identity of the injured ship girl.

Shigure.

Sendai closed her eyes as she swallowed the lump in her throat, centering her heart and mind as she allowed the twilight sky to envelop her and calm her down.

Most people knew her to be a night battle idiot, but there was something about the night which, to her, made her prefer it over daylight battles.

If the day was to give way to the darkness which was the night, part of the reason why she liked night battles so much was because of the phrase 'darkest just before dawn'.

Since night battles took their toll on everyone even though she liked night battles, it inspired her to do better so that the sun would rise upon their victorious battle, and not the corpses of her teammates.

Shigure was injured, and Sendai, even though she knew that they had to play things safe in this sortie, knew that when night came, she was in her element as a nocturnal ship girl and could go all-out in order to protect everyone, consequences be damned.

Her spirit now quadrupled in intensity due to her love for night battles and desire to get revenge for Shigure's injury, pulling out two torpedoes and held them like kunai knives in a reverse grip as she bolted forward, understanding that in the nighttime, accuracy of ships on both sides were worsened due to lack of sunlight which illuminated their targets, and the moonless night did nothing to help them improve their odds of hitting them.

Just the way she liked it.

She called out over the radio as she informed the Combined Fleet of her plan to devastate the enemy in close quarters.

"Everyone.

I'm going to get in close and flank them in order to destroy them from the inside, so provide cover fire, please.

I'd also like to thank everyone for being so patient with me, the Night Battle Idiot has awakened!"

But Chitose was still concerned about her safety, especially since she would be danger close as the ship girls would be firing in her general direction.

"Are you sure about this, Sendai-san?

You'll be fighting while danger close, since we'll be firing shells and torpedoes in your direction, and you might be caught in the crossfire…"

But Sendai grinned, in part due to her gratefulness for Chitose's saint-like personality and caring nature which allowed her to watch over her comrades with a motherly concern, and because she knew that despite Chitose's concerns, she was the night battle idiot.

They couldn't hit her even if they all turned on her.

Sendai was in her element during the night, and like the incorporeal yet ever-present darkness, she was nigh- _untouchable_.

"Don't worry.

I'm the Night Battle Idiot, I know my way around in the darkness.

I need you all to keep firing your cannons, and stop them from using their night-vision to find me."

She could see the flash of cannons on both sides as she ran in a semi-circle in order to avoid running into the cannon-fire of the Abyssals.

She knew that during night battles, the use of night vision was discouraged as one's light-sensitive night-vision-enhanced eyes would be affected and overwhelmed by the bright muzzle flashes more than a normal eye would, and staring into the chorus of bright spots which were the result of muzzle flashes and spectacularly bright explosions with one's built-in night vision activated for too long might eventually lead to blindness, which required a prolonged dip in the docks to repair.

As Junyou-san demonstrated in the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, when staring into spotlights with her night-vision activated blinded her.

She remarked after keeping track of the enemy composition and those who had perished in battle,

"To my knowledge, there's one Ne-Class and Ri-Class heavy cruiser, one Ru-Class battleship, a Ta-Class fast battleship and two He-Class light cruisers remaining.

Don't worry.

With me here, we'll be able to take 'em all down in five."

A moonless night blanketed her and concealed her approach as she ran up to the flank of the remaining Abyssal fleet, holding her torpedoes as she ran into the fray and expected the Abyssals to be confused as to who's shooting them up from within their ranks, and she flung her two torpedoes at the heads of the Ru-Class battleship and the He-Class light cruiser respectively before slipping away.

The Abyssals were distracted by the explosions which radiated from the torsos of their teammates, allowing her to avoid attracting their attention as the Ru-Class's flaming, shattered skull hit the ocean after her torpedo detonated at point-blank range and caused her skull to cave in from the resulting blast wave.

The He-Class light cruiser managed to squeeze off a shot in her direction before expiring, clearly an action performed in its death throes as the remaining Ri-Class heavy cruiser noticed her presence due to the stray shell flying in her direction, shouting urgently as she pointed her arm cannon at Sendai.

[There she is!

A ship girl!]

But two Dauntless Dive Bombers saved her ass by diving in their direction despite the hail of Anti-Air cannons which lit up the night sky, dropping their payloads as they detonated on the ocean before the Ri-Class's feet and on the Ri-Class's stomach.

Disappearing within the fireball and the resulting blast wave, the Abyssal heavy cruiser was devastated as the explosion took off both her legs and a large portion of her hips, the smoke dissipating to reveal half of a Ri-Class remaining on the battlefield, blood and guts flowing out from the cross-section of her lower torso and was splayed out on the ocean as the Ri-Class's mouth was agape, attempting to gulp down oxygen like a fish while she sank.

The two He-Class cruisers turned on her, forcing her to keep moving as she used the darkness and chaos to mask her movements to some extent, blind-firing as she saw another ship girl approach them.

Naka smoothly evaded a medium-caliber shell which was headed straight for her head, almost causing Sendai's heart to skip a beat as Naka held a torpedo in her hand, jumping up and performing a running vault in order to jump above the He-Class and the torpedoes which it fired.

She braced herself against the Abyssal light cruiser's Anti-Air turret fire to throw the torpedo in its hand towards the other He-Class which followed closely behind, detonating on the surface of what passed as the motorcycle fairing and windscreen and disabling the He-Class's mode of transportation.

Using the momentum from her jumping front flip to land behind the Abyssal which she vaulted over, Naka spun around while pushing off of her boat slippers and used her boost gauge to put some distance between them as she fired into the back of the Ne-Class and sailed away.

The Ne-Class was set on fire from behind as its motorcycle-esque transportation vehicle careened out of control, the flames trailing behind it and taking its toll on the Abyssal as Ayanami narrowly avoided a head-on collision, only being grazed on the arm after strafing out of the way and was flung on the ocean while clutching her left arm as the Ne-Class crashed and burnt a fair distance behind her.

Shiranui had fired a torpedo after Naka's thrown torpedo had disabled the Ne-Class's transportation-vehicle-lower-half, Sendai shielding her face and pulling back a little as the resulting explosion lit up the battlefield due to the explosion of Shiranui's torpedo, cursing due to the unexpectedly bright and hot mini-nova which would have no doubt overwhelmed those who had their night-vision on.

"Shit!"

Sendai prepared her cannons in order to fight the remaining Ta-Class battleship, who had somehow remained untouched throughout the entirety of this battle, but she only saw the back of her sailor uniform as she evaded Haruna's cannon shell and performed a flawless swimming dive into the ocean in order to escape the battle after the Combined Fleet had whittled down their numbers despite taking several casualties, deciding to cut her losses by retreating as Sendai heard Saratoga call in order for them to regroup, do a headcount and assess everyone's injuries.

"Everyone, on me.

We need to assess everyone's condition and decide our next course of action."

Exhaling in relief, Sendai sailed back towards the Combined Fleet as she observed the members of the Combined Fleet and their respective injuries.

Ayanami was hurt from the immolated He-Class's hit-and-run as it must've struck her on the arm with a glancing blow, but she was otherwise in pretty good condition.

Kagerou and Kuroshio were alright, but Shiranui must've dislocated her left shoulder, since her left arm was almost non-functional as Kagerou tenderly moved Shiranui's fingers and arm to help regain the feeling in her hand, while Kuroshio was working out a way to shove the joint back into the arm socket.

Naka's dress was partially torn due to the amount of Anti-Air fire which she attracted while airborne, and in her hands were the three retrieved Fairy pilots, cuddling up in her cupped hands as she waited for Chitose and Saratoga to retrieve them.

Jintsuu was panting rather heavily after carrying Arare on her back for a majority of the battle, although the silent Asashio-Class destroyer had done her best to chip in by providing extra firepower despite suffering from a wound similar to Shiranui's, and Jintsuu had soldiered on by carrying her downed teammate without a word of complaint.

Chitose, Haruna and Saratoga were treating a critically wounded Shigure, having had one of her legs blown clean off and was lying in a prone position on the ocean as Haruna tended to the burn wounds on her back.

And those burn marks didn't look like the kind you'd get when you grazed a boiling kettle, it looked like the kind which someone had to stand in a furnace or be hit by a flamethrower for several seconds to sustain, popped blisters likely a resulting of thrashing around on the ocean as parts of her skin were simply scorched off and exposed raw, tender and swollen red flesh which decorated a large area on her back.

Her tear-stained cheeks were a testament to how she did her best to endure Haruna's first-aid treatment, and the burnt remnants of her uniform were likely discarded, as was her training bra, since they were considered restrictive wear which would complicate the severity of the burn and the resulting swelling.

Saratoga was holding the remnants of Shigure's smoking battle backpack, with Saratoga's Fairies using fire hoses to hose down the destroyed battle backpack while treating the Fairies which maintained Shigure's battle backpack.

When Sendai asked Ayanami about what happened to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, Ayanami looked rather crestfallen as she replied gravely.

"Well, when a medium-caliber shell and torpedo looked as if it was going to hit Chitose-san, Shigure blocked both attacks as the torpedo blew her right leg off, as evidenced.

And I suppose the enemy shell must've hit something vital in her battle backpack, because it spontaneously combusted and set Shigure's back on fire.

Even though Chitose threw her into the water and used her blazer to smother the flames on Shigure's back while Haruna ripped the battle backpack from her back, she was still burnt pretty badly and is likely taken out of the fight for good."

Sendai turned back to Haruna as the Kongou-Class battleship attempted to gently lift a limp Shigure after treating Shigure's wounds with whatever little medical supplies she had on hand, using strips of her large miko sleeves to bandage the wound while Chitose used her blazer to cover Shigure's burnt back.

Shigure winced pathetically, a dying whine escaping her lips as the injured muscles on her back were strained by the motion, and Haruna was speaking to Chitose while doing her best not to complicate a weeping Shigure's wounds.

" … used the water-skin in our rigging to wash her wounds, and I've applied several layers of steel to facilitate faster recovery.

But the fuel which I burnt in my rigging in order to boil and sanitize seawater to apply over the burn needs to be cooled down before it can be used.

We're not too far from Aogashima Island, so I suggest shuffling the fleet composition around to prioritize the wounded being carried on the island to prevent them from getting shot at."

Chitose nodded, looking around as she discussed who should be sent onto Aogashima Island either to carry out their reconnaissance mission or avoid participating in any more battles, and who should be sent out to engage the Abyssal fleet.

"Well, Shigure-san is unable to fight on, so I suppose she'll have to be brought on land to avoid being injured any more than she already is.

I can take her place by adding some firepower to the patrolling fleet as well as utilize my Kouhyouteki midget submarines in battle.

Arare-san will be going on the island since she's hurt, and even though she may have healed up a little after applying steel patches to the affected area, we can't take any chances since her performance might be affected by her wound.

And since Saratoga-san is capable of performing night battles even though she's a carrier, she'll be invaluable in the upcoming night battles."

Hmm, so Saratoga, despite being a carrier, was capable of night battles?

Sendai's breathing became heavy with excitement upon hearing the prospects of being buddies with a new night battle lover alongside Yuudachi, but she channeled her enthusiasm towards more productive thoughts as she raised her hand and spoke to her seniors.

"Well, I don't mind patrolling the surrounding oceans for Abyssals to sink since I'm the Night Battle Idiot, and no one can deny my enhanced performance when the sun goes down.

So, Sara-chan, you're capable of night battles, hmm?"

Sendai walked up to the Lexington-Class carrier, looking rather impressed that American carriers, unlike Japanese carriers, were capable of fighting in night battles, and she would be integral in keeping night-battling Wo-Class Abyssals off their backs.

"Those planes of yours are capable of flying at night, and it was thanks to you that the Ri-Class was taken out before she got a bead on me."

Before taking on a smug tone and remarking coolly.

"I could've totally taken then all on by myself, though."

Followed by a collective eye roll from everyone who knew her well enough, including her sisters who have had to deal with her love of night battles for a good majority of their lives.

But no one had anything to say in order to shoot down her suggestion, and Jintsuu commented on how the search on Aogashima Island might not need as many ship girls as they thought, and could thus spare more ship girls for the defense of Aogashima Island.

"Well, we need more ship girls to defend Aogashima Island and buy more time for the ship girls who are searching the island, so splitting up the fleet into a composition of 5:7 in favor of patrolling the waters isn't out of the question.

So for those who'll go on land, it'll be Shiranui, Kagerou, Kuroshio, Shigure and Arare.

Sendai and Chitose-san will be temporarily transferred over to our fleet in order to patrol and fend off any Abyssal fleets around Aogashima Island."

Everyone nodded as they understood what they had to do, but Shigure's attempt to get their attention succeeded in the form of a gurgle which caught in her throat, and she was held up by Haruna as though she were a cat, supported at the armpits and held up for all to see as the destroyer flimsily shielded parts of her chest where the makeshift bandages didn't cover as she stuttered.

"Um…

I don't think that these bandages… cover enough of my chest…

Do you think…"

Sendai noted that Shigure's condition had improved marginally as her internal repair systems had stopped the bleeding where Shigure's leg stump was, and her tear streaks had partially dried up to allow her cheeks to stretch out into what could pass as an awkward smile.

And Shiranui was the one to respond dryly, noting the lack of anything for a destroyer to cover up as she leaned on her good arm on Kuroshio's shoulder.

"What, you want a bloody sarashi to cover up your non-existent destroyer chest?

Oh, please get off your high horse, Shigure.

We're all girls here, and as destroyers, we both know that we have nothing to expose in the first place as prepubescent children."

Everyone stepped back as they covered their mouths and stretched out their,

" _Ooooohhhhhh!"_

After Shiranui delivered a witty retort which went both ways, and she knew it as Shigure managed something resembling a laugh amidst her tearing sobs, and Shiranui's cheeks were taut as she suppressed a smile.

Kagerou's smile widened as she remarked about something which she felt was inappropriate to say, and probably even felt a little guilty about it, judging by her tone.

"Well, Nui-Nui, when you said that, I felt like calling out 'BURNED!' or 'ROASTED'.

But considering Shigure-chan's injuries…"

Kagerou inhaled sharply through the clenched teeth which made up her smile while everyone scrunched up their faces and gave the name-ship of the Kagerou-Class a 'What the hell?' look, Kagerou shrugging in a 'What you gonna do?' manner.

Sendai raised an eyebrow at the relationship between the Shigure and Shiranui, as well as the morbid humor which was thrown around despite the rather intense injuries which Shigure had sustained, and as Kuroshio sailed forward in order to gently clasp Shigure on an unaffected spot of skin to carry her to Aogashima Island, Sendai's senses sharpened as she looked around and kept her body tensed up to respond to any Abyssal threats at the drop of a hat.

Sure, she couldn't get to go on the island to search for evidence of Abyssal activity, but if she knew that she could be of more use to everyone while sailing on the oceans and sinking Abyssals at night, she would gladly fling torpedoes at enemies all day and night to send the Abyssals back to Bikini Bottom, where they belonged.

* * *

Shiranui had discarded her boat slippers and rigging at the harbor on Aogashima Island before stepping onto land, and Kuroshio had helped Shigure do the same with the remaining boat slipper which was on her left leg.

Shiranui was currently carrying Shigure on her back after Kuroshio had checked her wound at the harbor and had soaked it with Haruna's small pot of water which she transferred from her rigging to Kuroshio's, and Shigure was quite the trooper as the water trickled down her back and must've been excruciating as it rolled over raw and swollen flesh, but as a soldier, Shigure didn't cry out in agony or do anything of the sort, internalizing all of the pain and remaining silent.

The extra cans of fuel had come in handy as it allowed Shigure to burn a little more fuel to keep herself warm and overcome the symptoms of shock, and even though Shiranui had offered to lend her vest to Shigure in order to cover herself up, Shigure politely declined as she now had enough makeshift bandages covering her torso to not require Shiranui's vest, allowing her to focus on the island's geography.

Aogashima Island was quite the interesting land formation as it looked as if a mountain or volcano had collapsed in on itself and formed a caldera, so the fringes of the island possessed sharp cliffs and tall ridges while an outcropping of land on the far end of the island was where an abandoned village was located, and that was where they were headed.

Admiral Mako surmised that whatever weapons they must've transported onto the island for testing, they wouldn't have wasted time in trying to move it into the caldera, since the ridges were too steep for large and bulky weapons to be transported up and down without the risk of incurring some damage, and testing would likely be done at the village, which was built on more even ground.

The satellite photos corroborated this hypothesis this as the Abyssal signatures had suddenly popped up from the ocean before being flown over to the village, and while the intensity of these signatures indicated that something huge was being moved, never once did any of these signatures move up the ridge into the caldera, since they would risk dropping it and damage parts of the weapon in the process.

The road circumventing the caldera had a sharp cliff dropping down into the ocean on one side, while the other side of the road was filled with plants and weeds which were left unattended and attempted to reach out lazily towards the cliff-side.

A rusting guardrail shielded road users from the cliff side in a line abreast formation, having been exposed to the elements for roughly two decades and was diminishing in effectiveness due to rust.

Along the way, Shiranui talked to Shigure and shared the Abyysal readings which they picked up and what they were to expect.

"From what we were able to gather from recent Abyssal activity on the island, the Abyssals have been most active in the village on the other end of this island, and we've even detected use of 'fireworks', probably field-testing their weapons on abandoned human settlements.

That's the thing about Admiral Mako's briefing, she needs to keep it vague in order to keep the 1st Fleet in the dark about Apocalypse, and what she failed to mention was that there was a lot of movement around Aogashima Island.

Something flew onto the island and unloaded something large, which ran around the abandoned village and caused explosions with its weapons, before packing up and flying back into the ocean in order to submerge back into the depths."

Shigure lifted a tired eyebrow as she acknowledged Shiranui's secret briefing, and Shiranui continued as she had to keep Shigure occupied and not let her slip into unconsciousness, which would open up a whole new can of worms.

"This road leads to the village and circumvents the caldera which makes up the majority of the island.

And according to my limited knowledge of geography, I believe a caldera is a volcano which collapsed in on itself, which explains these ridges and sharp cliffs surrounding the bowl which made up the collapsed volcano with a small hill in the middle.

Going by the estimated size of what the satellites picked up despite the Abyssals doing their best to cover up their activities, these new weapons are roughly the size of Abyssal Beasts and are certainly larger than any humanoid Abyssal we know of thus far."

Shigure seemed to consider her words for a while as Shiranui focused on putting one foot before the other in order to double time it to the village where they would find some answers while their teammates held off the Abyssals, and the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer exhaled tiredly and only deigned to ask one question.

"I don't know, I'm too tired to think when I just had my entire back scorched by the flames of Hell before this.

I just have one question, and it's that whatever this new weapon is, why couldn't they have just plopped it on the harbor and moved it up the road which we're walking on right now?"

Shiranui considered the question, looking around at the road which they were walking on in order to reach the village at the other end of the island, noting that the road was now a single-lane road, a path which would cause a large vehicle to leave a mark of some sort on the environment, perhaps crumpling the guardrail due to difficulties in cornering or chipping off parts of the rock walls with its armor.

But no matter how far she walked, she found little evidence to suggest that this was the case, which meant that they couldn't transport the testing vehicle or weapon on these roads, because it would be too large to fit and would likely fall off the side of the road when rounding any sharp corners.

She shrugged while making sure not to accidentally smack Shigure on the chin with her shoulder as she answered bluntly.

"These roads aren't ideal for large vehicles to traverse, what with the risk of dropping it over the cliff since the guardrail would provide as much protection as a wet tissue paper in trying to stop an armored vehicle from rolling off the side of this road."

Shigure responded, Shiranui noting that her response was getting a little haggard from fatigue due to her injuries as she hypothesized.

"Here's my next question.

If it's so big to the point where it can't fit on these narrow roads, how can it fit on a flying vehicle which can somehow take off in the middle of the ocean?"

Shiranui nodded, understanding the risk of theory-crafting without having visited the scene beforehand as she remarked.

"I don't think we should theory-craft too heavily right now, lest we try to twist the evidence to suit the theory instead of changing the theory to suit the evidence.

All we know is that they didn't use this road to transport the weapon, since it was too large and heavy to risk being damaged on such a treacherous road.

We need to go into the village in order to find more evidence and make our assumptions from over there, not from here."

Shigure nodded tiredly, collapsing onto Shiranui's left shoulder as the pink-haired Kagerou-Class destroyer focused on the end of the road which stretched out before her, the backs of Kagerou and Arare leading her on while the occasional twinkle of white on the pitch-black horizon reminded her that time was short.

* * *

"Wow.

What the hell happened _here?"_

Shiranui, Shigure, Arare, Kagerou and Kuroshio had reached the village on Aogashima Island, and it was absolutely devastated after some sort of explosive weapon demolished every building in sight, from buildings being knocked over to some other buildings being blown up with no rhyme or reason.

Arare walked up and inspected the destroyed buildings while Kagerou looked around and pointed at a destroyed building as she theorized about what destroyed it, noting how the debris was flung across the area in a flowering pattern, which might insinuate a strike from above which hit the building and blew it up.

"That building looked as if it was blown up by something from above, possibly penetrating the building's roof before detonating its payload.

Judging from the satellite photos which we received before this, I'm starting to suspect that they might have used a missile or rocket to hit it from above, like the V-1 Flying Bomb or something.

And if they were field-testing some sort of land vehicle for _that_ , I'm not surprised that field-testing some sort of explosive weapon led to this level of destruction."

Shiranui nodded, testing her sore left shoulder after having Kuroshio shove it back into the socket in order for her repair system to fix the damage done to her nerves and muscles.

She knew that in the presence of a resting Shigure, Kagerou had to speak in code while referring to Apocalypse since in her mind, Shigure was ignorant of and wasn't cleared to hear anything pertaining to Apocalypse, not knowing that she had listened in on Admiral Mako's meeting and knew a fair bit about it.

Arare was looking at another building which had also been blown up after something hit the side of the building, allowing the mountain of rubble to spill over onto the road like a small landslide while leaving what remained of the second floor of the building intact, the steel I-beams and rebar sticking out from the concrete like crooked, dead fingers and bone pushing through the cold hard concrete in this garden of death.

A demolished building had been knocked over to the side and was now leaning on another building which was still standing despite taking a fair bit of damage, but was starting to show signs of crumbling and wear and tear due to the elements.

After passing by these two buildings, Kuroshio marveled at the amount of damage which was done by what the Abyssals had designed, giving Shigure an aside glance to make sure that she was out of earshot before speaking to Kagerou and Shiranui.

"Well, even though these buildings aren't exactly the pinnacle of infrastructural engineering since they're pretty old, but the fact that these buildings are blown to smithereens and gave the ruins of Dresden a run for its money means that these missiles or rockets are nothing to sneeze at.

I mean, they're built by the Abyssals, but I'm not exactly sure if they're playing by our rules anymore, so if this Apocalypse is coming, and this shit is what we're dealin' with…"

Kagerou shushed her in order to get Kuroshio to stop snowballing on with negative ideas even though her own gaze looked rather concerned, and she strolled over to where a plot of land had some sort of track imprinted on it, motioning for them to come over while looking down and squatting in order to get a better look.

Shiranui looked back to confirm with Shigure that she was going to be alright for the duration of their investigation as she left her friend in a sitting position near a piece of wall which still stood strong, and a weak nod from the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was all she needed to turn away and take off in Kagerou's direction.

Something had flattened the vast stretches of vegetation which had populated the land, and even though these tank track marks were partially washed away by the weather, she was still able to see that the weight of the vehicle left deep tracks which weren't disappearing anytime soon.

Kagerou looked back to the leveled village, recalling the orientation of the buildings and the direction in which they were hit as she hypothesized.

"Well, I think that there's a good chance whatever tracked vehicle rode around here fired a rocket or something into the village in order to take out the buildings downrange like a shooting range.

But how could a tracked vehicle get on this island?

Satellite shows that the Abyssals haven't heavily renovated Aogashima Island as heavily as they did with Ogasawara Island and Guam due to its proximity to Hachijo Island and Japan compared those other islands, so they couldn't have transported whatever left these up the roads we just walked."

Kagerou continued on about how a tracked vehicle coming on this island didn't make sense, the three Kagerou-Class destroyers and lone Asashio-Class destroyers now being cut off from the entire world thanks to the isolated island's unique environment and the lack of illumination via the moon.

"I mean, the road which we used to access this village seemed a little too narrow to fit a tracked vehicle, especially the single-lane corners with the steep walls on one side and the nigh-useless guardrails on the other, it would mean that guardrails should be crumpled due to their attempt to turn the corner without dropping off the cliff side.

If I recall correctly, I don't remember such conspicuous indicators of a tracked vehicle being driven across those roads, if the width of these tracks are to be believed."

Shiranui gave her opinion, reminding them of their own little classified briefing before the day of the sortie where a declassified version was given to the Combined Fleet, and the mysterious signatures which they had picked up.

"Well, in our secret briefing with the Admiral on the 13th, remember how some sort of signature flew up from the ocean and unloaded another Abyssal signature on the island which likely caused all this?

Due to the lack of runways on the ocean, I think it might be an Abyssal helicopter which was built as a part of Apocalypse in order to transport the tracked vehicle here.

It doesn't seem entirely impossible for them to do that."

Kuroshio lifted an eyebrow, uncertain of how helicopters were capable of lifting a fully armored vehicle as she asked her sisters.

"Wait, I'm not entirely sure if helicopters can lift tracked vehicles, even though I understand that helicopters have come a long way ever since the Kayaba Ka-1 Autogyro…"

But Arare pointed out something which she had learnt after reading up on what the greatest machines of today could achieve.

"Actually, that's entirely possible.

The Mil Mi-26 Helicopter, which is made by the humans, can lift an entire plane.

A tracked vehicle wouldn't be out of the question, especially since the Abyssals specialize in technology which works after surfacing from the ocean.

They might've surfaced near the island, waited for the motor to kick into high gear with flotation devices to keep both helicopter and vehicle afloat, and lifted off to head for the helicopter landing pad on this island."

Kuroshio lifted an eyebrow as she observed the meek Asashio-Class destroyer and inquired good-naturedly about how she knew of that tidbit of information.

"No shit?

How'd you know of that, doesn't seem like the kind of thing which would seem relevant to anything we do."

Arare shrugged as she looked away, elaborating as she felt a little embarrassed at everyone's attention focusing on her, since even in the Infiltration Fleet and amongst her sisters, she was the quiet wallflower who never said much and mostly kept to herself.

"I read those 'World's Fastest Planes' or 'World's Best Tanks' lists quite often to find out how humans push the limits of what's possible, and I remembered that the now-defunct Soviet Union produced some insane vehicles, like the Mil Mi-26 Helicopter and the Antonov An-225.

Besides, it's the age of the internet, which makes these things easier to discover and learn, and with Apocalypse looming in the distance and the sudden interest in recreating human vehicles ala the _Flying Dutchman_ , I thought it was best to find out a little more whenever I can."

Lifting an eyebrow in order to accept her teammate's interest, Kagerou pointed in a certain direction as she consulted with her map of the island and the orientation of everything relative to their current position.

"Alright, so the tracks lead from over there, where, according to the maps we have of this place, I believe the heliport is located."

Kuroshio looked around at a building off in the distance, pointing at how that building was simply smashed apart as a cavern was carved through the building, and the deeply-imprinted footprints which led up to it.

"Well, whatever this weapons is, do you think it's capable of charging that building and knock it down like that?

That doesn't seem like the work of any vehicle, so what gives?"

Kagerou stood up and strolled over towards where the building was, and Shiranui was starting to become a little worried for Shigure's well-being as she strolled over to the wall where she left Shigure, which was quite a ways back.

She made sure to leave Shigure behind at an area of the village which was completely trashed save for the lone wall where Shigure leaned on for support, because Shiranui felt that completely demolished buildings were _slightly_ safer than partially demolished buildings, as it was asinine to not expect the latter to come crashing down unexpectedly after their structural integrity was compromised.

Noting that Shigure gulping down air as she bit down slowly on a chocolate-bar-sized ration which was provided to them courtesy of Haruna shortly before splitting up to head for Aogashima Island, Shiranui slowed down as she approached the destroyer, looking away from her leg stump as she commented.

"We've found some tank tracks and have come to the conclusion that some sort of powerful helicopter, likely created as part of Apocalypse, transported some sort of rocket launching vehicle onto this island and blew it to kingdom come.

There also seems to be some sort of building which was knocked over, not through explosive power but through sheer physical force, and I believe I saw some animal footprints leading up to it.

And while I wish to visit the site where the evidence is located, I don't want to leave you behind unattended, and I'll bring you over to a closer location so that I can reach you quickly if anything goes wrong."

Shigure nodded, looking thankful for Shiranui's thoughtfulness as she displayed a tired but genuine smile, Shiranui's eyes narrowing at how the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's face was looking rather wan and her skin was caked with sweat as the burn injury and the missing leg took its toll on her.

Admirable, yet so foolish.

" … Thank you.

Please be gentle with me."

Before her doey, innocent eyes widened and she raised her arms like a child in order to allow Shiranui to carry the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer on her back.

Her cheeks colored a little at Shigure's wording of her request, and she squatted down in order to carry her friend on her back as she felt the warmth of the Shiratsuyu-Class's bare torso pressing against her back, Shigure's tired sigh sounding out in relief as she exhaled into Shiranui's ear while she hugged Shiranui from behind.

Add that to the fact that Shiranui was holding her by the butt in the piggyback pose, and it felt rather soft in her gloved hands…

Shiranui's blush intensified tenfold as she shook those naughty thoughts from her mind, feeling extremely hot on the inside as she blamed the visit to her Admiral's room/love nest for making her think such lewd thoughts, lowering Shigure down on another wall as she commented.

"Look, I have to leave you here so that we, the Infiltration Fleet, can talk about sensitive matters without an outside presence forcing us to speak in code.

I'll return for you and fill you in later."

And she had to look away from Shigure's grateful smile as she turned away and shook the blush from her face before jogging and meeting up with her Infiltration Fleet teammates at a relatively large clearing of land.

She slowed down her jog just as her heart dropped upon seeing the gigantic, circular footprint of an elephant which was about four centimeters deep, along with the four stubby toes which elephants had as she heard Kuroshio's steps slow down behind her, looking down at the footprint of the Beast as she gently laid down her booted-up laptop and knelt down to feel the soil where the Beast had stepped on, muttering.

"Kagerou, help me get the depth of the footprint.

I'll test the soil, and Shiranui will estimate the diameter of the track at its furthest points."

Kagerou nodded as she knelt down and leaned into the small pit which was the footprint as she stuck the tip of her index finger into the bottom of the footprint and estimated its depth while using the length of her finger as reference.

Shiranui stood over the two of them and looked straight down at the footprint while doing calculations in her head, slowly ambling around the footprint in order to minimize the chances of an error popping up in her measurements if she was to only view the footprint from one point of view.

She called out her measurements,

"74.3 centimeters."

While Kagerou wiped the dirt from her gloves as she followed suit.

"Depth's about 4.32 centimeters."

And Kuroshio typed in those numbers as she spoke out loud in order to keep her sisters informed of how the calculations on the laptop was going to play out.

"Well, thank goodness we have _some_ internet access here, we can search the average size of an elephant to base our calculations off of.

Accounting for the toughness of the soil, recent weather patterns throughout the last month and the very generous assumption that an elephant's weight is distributed almost equally amongst its four legs, we only need to wait for a while to allow the laptop to account for errors, we'll get a good estimate of this Beast's size.

How did it get on the island, though?"

That question went unanswered as Shiranui stepped into the remnants of the smashed in building, marveling in fear and awe (but mostly fear) at how something could body slam a building into the current state it was now, debris replacing the blood which was splattered around the corpse which was the destroyed building.

Shiranui inspected the damage and estimated that the building was a little over three meters tall, and while she was no expert on animals, she was quite sure that elephants certainly had the body build in order to achieve this feat, although their flesh-and-blood bodies couldn't handle the stress of such an impact.

The ceiling had already collapsed after an Abyssal Beast had charged what appeared to be a shop which had been vacated decades prior, and the damage done was critical to the structural integrity of the building, as pillars were knocked over and couldn't hold up what would have remained of the shattered ceiling.

Everything, from metal shelves to overhead lights had been trampled upon by whatever came in like like a wrecking ball, left warped and smashed on the floor alongside the debris and rubble which surrounded her.

Turning back as Kuroshio called out,

"Shiranui-nee!

It's done!"

She skulked back to her sisters as Kuroshio displayed the laptop screen for them to see, and Shiranui had to admit, she was a little unnerved at the results which were shown on-screen as it showed the estimated size of the elephant Beast in comparison to an African elephant and a battleship ship girl.

And the elephant Beast outsized both the African elephant and the battleship, standing at what Shiranui saw was about 5.8 meters in height.

Estimated weight was around or even more than 20 tonnes.

That was… big.

Kuroshio looked down at the laptop screen as she tried her best to reassure her sisters that these calculations were arbitrary since they didn't have all the details, so the actual size was likely a little smaller than estimated.

"W-Well, 'fore you think this looks entirely hopeless, a lot of factors weren't taken into account and would make us believe that the Beast is larger than it actually is in real life."

Shiranui nodded, accepting the disclaimer which Kuroshio put forth as Kagerou sighed and concluded their quick search of the island in the dead of night, looking rather tired after staying up the entire night despite being essentially superhuman.

"So, let's recap.

Judging from what we've observed thus far, there seems to be a tracked vehicle, which was likely transported by helicopter onto this island, which fired missiles into the abandoned buildings in the island's village.

And for some reason, a supersized elephant-esque Beast somehow appears on this island and rams through buildings with relative ease.

Joy."

Kuroshio used her laptop's camera to snap some photos of the scene from several angles, Kuroshio looked at the clock on her laptop as she commented on how time flew and how they had to regroup with the Combined Fleet and whoever was going to be their backup fleet.

"Well, we've gotten enough pictorial evidence of what they're up to, and since we're short on time and need to regroup with everyone else, we should get going.

If we manage to make it back to the harbor and sail back to the Combined Fleet, we should be able to make it back in time to allow Shigure-chan to dock.

I also think Arare-chan and Shiranui need to take a dip due to your afflicted shoulders, since you've been carrying Shigure-chan on your back the entire way up, an' it's gotta take a toll on your shoulder, right?"

Shiranui nodded as she looked away, flexing her shoulder and finding that her shoulder was even more sore than ever, even though she had done her best to lean forward while carrying her friend so that Shigure's weight would be supported mostly by her back and not her arms.

Kuroshio closed her laptop as Kagerou took charge of the situation, shooting Shiranui a concerned look as she ordered them to get off of this island as soon as possible so as not to spend a second longer in Abyssal waters.

"Look, we've gotten our evidence and formulated several hypotheses from everything we can find, and even though it's a moonless night which allowed us to enter Abyssal waters without too much fuss, we need to leave.

I'll jog down with Arare and get the boat slippers ready, Kuroshio, finish up your business here, and Shiranui, get Shigure and leave with Kuroshio.

We'll meet you back at the harbor."

Nodding, the members of the Infiltration Fleet went their separate ways as Shiranui jogged over to where Shigure was, becoming a little concerned about whether Shigure was going to suffer from hypothermia or whatever despite ingesting some fuel earlier in order to keep her body warm in the moonless night's slightly frigid temperatures.

But she was secretly glad to find a relaxed Shigure look up at the sky before noticing Shiranui's approach, waving in order to greet her as Shiranui gently scooped up the disabled destroyer off of her feet and slung Shigure over her back with relative ease, remarking.

"We've got to get off this island as soon as possible.

We've collected quite a fair bit of information regarding what they've been doing here in the past month, and we need to go before the Combined and backup fleets suffer any more casualties.

I'll fill you in along the way, but do you feel anything wrong with your body after being left alone for so long?"

But all she heard was Shigure giggling to herself as she chose to comment on something which she never thought to notice all this time.

"I'm alright, Shiranui-san.

And I apologize for changing the topic so abruptly, but have you noticed the stars?

They look so beautiful…"

Shiranui stopped as she pulled her neck to the side in order to give Shigure a sideways glance as she warily asked.

"Alright, is this interest in stars some sort of euphemism for how you're not going to make it?

I'm not exactly well-versed in literature, so if this is some fanciful way of saying your last words…"

Shigure let out a single exhausted laugh before looking back up at the sky, speaking about how this island must've been quite the place to live in before the war.

"No, although I'm thankful that you're so concerned about me.

Look up at the stars.

It's quite the view, especially since we're out on the ocean and there are no signs of civilization for miles, which allows us to see them in all their glory.

It must've been quite the experience, to be able to live in such a quiet village and be provided with a view by Mother Nature."

Shiranui sighed at how Shigure was more interested in observing natural phenomena rather than getting medical attention, but she continued her hike as she shifted Shigure's weight on her back before looking up.

The view was nothing short of spectacular, and Shiranui now slightly regretted not looking up at the sky much earlier on as she had missed out on the myriad of minuscule stars shining down upon them.

And even though she was no astronomer, she was at least proficient enough in using the stars for navigation to be able to identify several of the stars which prevented them from navigating the island in pitch-black darkness, and Shiranui could at least appreciate the beauty of nature whenever they presented themselves.

She could hear Shigure sound a little afraid of what happened to her in their last battle, but was happy that everyone came to her rescue and prevented her from suffering a prolonged, fiery death which no one would wish upon their worst enemy.

"I admit, I was afraid that Chitose-san would die or even sink because of the incoming medium-caliber shell and torpedo, and that's why I jumped in front of her to body-block them for her.

But I think I understand what others are talking about when they say that life's worth living, especially since we're now seeing the world in a whole new light, and I think that this view is one of many which I would never get to see if I were killed in the line of duty.

I'm sorry, Shiranui-san, for making you worry about me."

Shiranui blinked, and she could feel the remorse in Shigure's voice as she continued, staying silent in order to allow her friend to express herself.

"I think that I should protect others only when I'm certain I'm not going to be worse off than the ship girl who was going to be hurt in the first place.

And I inconvenienced you after sustaining so much damage, you must be exhausted and tired of doing all the heavy lifting, in this case literally…"

Shiranui considered her words before shaking her head slightly, taking care to watch her steps as the road's incline shifted erratically, snaking along the caldera and allowed them a view of the dark ocean and pitch-black horizon.

Finally, she answered.

"Well, after some thought, I suppose I can come to the conclusion that you might have some sort of compulsion to help others, and it's pretty much terminal.

Chitose-san isn't capable of fighting in night battles with her planes, while you can use your torpedoes in the night to devastating effect.

And yet you chose to save her instead of yourself.

So, critical thinking skills when the sun goes down, nil.

Any sense of self-preservation, nil.

Odds of staying in one piece long enough to even receive Kai, much less Kai Ni?

Well, I wouldn't be so rude as to say nil, but you're certainly heading down there."

Shigure sweat-dropped and was looking a little glum about Shiranui's observations, but Shiranui managed to cheer her up a little by looking away so that Shigure couldn't see her slight blush as she continued.

"But, even after all that, I would still carry you.

You're my partner and my friend, and even if you're a new one, I'd still want to protect you.

You aren't experienced enough to look out for yourself, so I'll watch over you alongside your fleet and your sisters.

God knows you need it with the kind of storm which brews around you and the injuries which you sustain in place of others."

Shigure giggled again, nodding as she rested her chin on Shiranui's left shoulder and commented on how Shiranui was a lot more caring than she let on.

"You know, Shiranui-san, you're a lot more caring than you let on.

I think that despite putting on a strong front in order to keep others at bay, I think you're the kind of person who has a small circle of close friends whom you'd willingly die for, right?

I think that's pretty endearing, in my book."

Shiranui exhaled through her nose as she threatened good-naturedly,

"You know I can drop you at any time, right?"

As she heard Shigure whisper into her ear, certain that Shiranui wouldn't carry out her bluff as she wasn't the kind of person to do that.

"I don't believe you'd do that.

You're my friend."

Shiranui nodded, starting her summary on how they theorized that missiles or rockets were used to demolish the village's buildings while likely being moved around via a tracked vehicle, how some unexplained animal tracks which they found in the dirt belonged to an elephant Beast who towered above any living land animal, and ultimately, how these things were likely a part of Apocalypse, which was a world war against an enemy whose full capabilities they weren't entirely sure of.


	37. Chapter 37 - Fallout 2

**Author's Notes**

 _Thank you, Mr/Mrs Never to Lose -Hope, it's these comments which make my day and reassure me by letting me know that I'm doing something right._

* * *

Sendai was keeping track of the ship girls who landed on Aogashima Island, and they were now approaching the Combined Fleet from the South West direction.

She could hear Saratoga addressing not just her, but also the entire Combined Fleet about the Abyssal fleet which was approaching them, albeit from a distance.

"Everyone!

Another Abyssal fleet's approaching us from the East, but we have reinforcements approaching us from the North-West.

The ship girls on Aogashima Island are approaching us from the South-West, so what are we to do next?"

Sendai took charge as she turned to look at everyone and threw out her suggestion for everyone to consider, preparing all her cannons for battle whilst doing so.

"Well, this one isn't that hard to figure out.

We need to regroup with our girls to ensure their safety, before meeting up with the backup fleet and engaging the enemy with everyone accounted for."

Nodding, Jintsuu looked over at the bird carriers as she requested Chitose and Saratoga to sharpen their readings in order to determine who they would be going up against.

"Chitose-san, Saratoga-san, would you please try to discern who we're about to fight?

We need to know everything about our situation in order to determine our exit strategy, so if you please."

The two carriers did as they were told while Sendai sailed towards the destroyers in order to meet them halfway, circumventing the incoming Abyssal fleet as she spotted the silhouette which was Aogashima Island, with its sharp cliffs preventing them from accessing the island from anywhere other than the island's harbor, where the five destroyers were leaving from.

Shigure was being held in a bridal carry by Shiranui while Kagerou, Arare and Kuroshio protected them as they met up with Ayanami, who hurried over in order to check up on Shigure as Sendai saw that Shigure's condition was deteriorating at a decelerated pace, thanks to Haruna's timely treatment of her injuries.

She placed a comforting hand on Ayanami and Shiranui's shoulders, the latter looking down with a fair bit of concern for the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, whose face was wan and sweat due to her weakening body, a lack of proper medical attention and the slightly frigid ambient temperature, reminding them of their priorities and how to best help Shigure.

"Girls.

There's only one way to help Shigure at this point in time, and it's to focus all our attention on fighting our way through our enemies.

Shiranui, let Haruna carry Shigure, I understand that your affected arm might feel tired after carrying her for so long.

You'll need both your arms to be in working condition, because we've got company."

The destroyers looked up at her, surprised at how commanding and perceptive she could be, but their gazes hardened as they eventually nodded in acknowledgement, splitting up as Sendai turned to point in the direction of the backup fleet before continuing.

"Meet up with the backup fleet, I don't want us to be cut off by the Abyssal fleet before then.

Double time!"

They followed her orders as they circumvented the Abyssal fleet which approached them, Sendai meeting up with Chitose and Saratoga as she heard Chitose talk about who they were going up against.

"Sendai-san.

Things aren't looking too good for us.

The enemy consists of a Re-Class aviation battleship, three Tsu-Class light cruisers, a Wo-Class carrier, a Ta-Class and Ru-Class battleship, four destroyers and a Ne-Class heavy cruiser.

And the Re-Class is an Elite, so…"

Sendai cocked her head, understanding that they were facing powerful enemies who were sent to make sure that they never escaped with whatever information they obtained on Aogashima Island.

But she then remarked cheekily.

"Well, at least it'll prove to be an even fight this time."

Before accelerating and meeting up with the backup fleet, detecting familiar signatures which she often sailed with other than those of the Infiltration Fleet.

Joining them was the 1st Fast Response Fleet, Kitakami replacing her as the flagship of the 2nd Fleet which consisted of Shimakaze, Yuudachi, Furutaka, Hatsushimo and Ryuujou, the ship girls whom she usually rolled with in order to quickly respond to threats.

Both Yuudachi and Shimakaze looked extremely worried about Shigure, sailing towards the Kongou-Class battleship as Yuudachi's expression morphed into one of horror upon witnessing the wounds which Shigure had sustained, running up to a cradled Shigure as she asked while on the verge of tears, Shimakaze wearing a concerned grimace on her face as she looked on.

"Shigure?!

What happened to you!

Please, answer me!"

And Haruna was pleading for Yuudachi to not press Shigure too hard, speaking her in a strained tone which was trying to be patient with the distressed blonde in the face of advancing enemies.

"Yuudachi-san, please…

Shigure-san's condition is stable for now, but…we need to get back to Yokosuka as soon as possible for her to receive medical attention!"

But Shigure was the one to clasp Yuudachi's hand, looking her sister dead in the eye as she spoke to Yuudachi in between exhausted pants.

"Yuudachi…

I'm alright for now.

But it seems…we need to fight our way back to Yokosuka…

You are now carrying… the reputation of the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers on your shoulders… now…"

Yuudachi blinked, but Sendai grabbed her shoulder and spoke into her ear in a no-nonsense tone regarding their situation, also making sure that Shimakaze could hear her words.

"Yuudachi.

If you put all your effort into defeating this Abyssal fleet, it'll allow us time to slip back into the Safety Zone by hightailing it back to Yokosuka, where we can treat her.

You need to focus on clearing a path for everyone, since you're not a repair ship.

You're a night battle specialist who's now in her element in the dead of night."

And even though Yuudachi was still looking extremely tormented about not being able to tend to her sister's wounds, she nodded once as she accepted her powerlessness in terms of not being able to treat Shigure's wounds and acknowledged the fact that she was a human weapon, and had to fight to defend her sister.

Sendai knew that Yuudachi was the Nightmare of Solomon Jr. right now, and even though she hadn't achieved her full potential yet, she was still a formidable night battle specialist who would be of more use to everyone if she was to engage and sink the enemy.

She knew that Yuudachi and Shimakaze were mature enough to know this, she simply had to point it out to her distressed destroyer teammates in order to help set their priorities straight.

She sailed toward Kitakami as the Kuma-Class cruiser stood as far away from the crowd of destroyers as possible, remembering that the company of destroyers irked Kitakami to no end due to their capacity to cry and whine in incessant high-pitched voices, and their ability to ask annoying and useless questions like 'Are we there yet?' which drove her up the wall.

Nodding to Ryuujou and Furutaka in order to acknowledge their presence and thank them for being here on time to provide reinforcements, she used a friendly tone to casually address them as she greeted.

"Yo.

We need to hold our ground and kill them Abyssals when they arrive, so anyone got any good ideas to suggest?"

Ryuujou shook her head and notified them of her uselessness in night battles, since she was a bird carrier and couldn't send her planes out at night.

"Well, whate'er it is, just make sure I'm far away from the action.

I carried our fleet in battles leading up to this fuckin' island so that the rest a you could get 'ere in one piece and fight at night, where I'm more useless than a hedgehog inna condom factory."

Sendai raised an eyebrow upon hearing that analogy, but chuckled as she pointed at the carrier in her temporary fleet while noting that everyone was preparing for battle by checking their weapons and performing stretches on the go.

"Well, it's not all doom-and-gloom here, Ryu-chan, because it looks like our resident American carrier Saratoga is capable of night battling with her planes, unlike our Japanese carriers.

I think we'll be good friends, with night battles as our common interest."

Kitakami raised her eyebrows as she rolled her eyes while Furutaka nodded understandingly, but Ryuujou's expression morphed into one of barely-restrained discomfort as she hid behind Kitakami's rigging and remarked warily.

"Alright, you know what, I'm _definitely_ staying at the back of the formation if _she's_ here.

I'll help out however I can, but there's nothing much I can do right now."

Sendai looked at the approaching Abyssals as she readied her torpedo launchers, having reloaded after getting everyone to donate some to her since throwing torpedoes everywhere depleted her torpedo supplies fairly quickly, and she sometimes had to resort to getting more from her teammates.

They were closing in quickly, and Kitakami cracked her neck and turned off the safeties as she prepared for the oncoming battle, remarking about how Admiral Mako make the right choice in sending her here.

"Well, good thing for y'all, Admiral Mako was smart enough to guarantee our win by sending me out to deal with these Abyssals."

Naka raised an eyebrow as she met up with them, sounding worried about the enemies which they were facing off against as she glanced at the approaching Abyssal fleet.

"B-But, the Re-Class Elite!

And they have other powerful Abyssals in their line-up…"

But Kitakami comforted her as she spoke of why Admiral Mako would bother sending her out in the first place.

"Oh, don't you worry about that.

Admiral Mako sends you plebs out in droves to start fights around the ocean, but she only has to send out one fleet with me in it in order to end them, and she won't have to send any more."

Sendai grinned in response, pulling out a torpedo and holding it in a reverse grip as she observed the one enemy which would give them the most trouble, and was sent here because they were in Abyssal waters where almost any kind of Abyssal could be sent at a moment's notice.

The Abyssal Re-Class was every bit as ferocious and terrifying as reported since she was one of the more bloodthirsty Abyssals out there, and the fear she instilled in others was partially because of her large tail which extended from her lower spine and coiled around her like a pale basilisk, dagger-shaped teeth lining the jaws at the tip as its snout was a pyramid of steel, while its lower jaw had a torpedo sticking out of it ala a prominent chin in humans.

Cannons lined the eyeless tail's tip, with a 16 Inch Triple Gun Cannon mounted on the topside while two 12.5 Inch Twin Secondary Gun Cannons were stuck to its side, and Sendai knew that the Abyssal was capable of sending out Dive Bombers, elevating her threat status.

The humanoid which the tail was attached to was a prepubescent female, wearing a black raincoat which was unzipped to expose her torso and a black bra containing average-sized breasts, and what passed as 'feet' were hoof-like legs with 'horseshoes' being worn to allow her to sail the seven seas.

On her back was a white backpack of sorts, while around her neck was a striped black and white scarf which barely hid her slasher smile, her ghostly-purple eyes crackling with lightning as they flowed out her pupils while she emitted a saturated crimson aura, her short mop of pale hair contained within the hood of her raincoat.

She broadcasted her words over the radio without any encryption, so it was the equivalent of speaking into a loudhailer as everyone could hear what she said by picking up her publicly broadcasted radio waves while standing at a distance, remarking.

[Well, well, well.

Looks like we got some fucking sneaks thinking they can scurry around our territory and get away scot-free.

Gotta admit, I detest being treated as a dog who has to listen to anyone, but the upside to that is that they sic me on ship girls all day, so I never get bored due to a lack of targets to lash out at.

Get 'em, boys!]

And she was sure that the Abyssals let loose an entire cannon salvo as they were represented by a series of flashing cannon barrels, which were currently no larger than flickering flashlights at a distance.

Sendai heard someone shout,

"EVADE!"

With her coiled muscles ready to pounce, she boosted away from an incoming medium-caliber shell before noting another shell flying towards where she was sailing towards, planting her boat slipper into the ocean as she deflected her momentum to the left in order to avoid the shell via a spinning dodge, getting seawater all over her as she shielded herself against the water column which was thrown up and soaked her orange dress.

Stumbling a little from the acrobatic evasion move, she righted herself as she heard Kagerou shout into the radio, likely picking up enemy aerial signatures judging by her next words.

"Destroyers, diamond formation around Haruna-san!

Let's greet their bombers with white-hot lead!"

She looked up to find that the Wo-Class's Dive and Torpedo Bombers were ghosts in the dark backdrop of the moonless night sky, but Saratoga's night fighter pilots were attempting to intercept them in their four F4F Wildcats, lighting up the night sky with their bullets as they occasionally bounced off of the shells of the swerving Abyssal bombers.

One Abyssal Dive Bomber was forced to prematurely drop its payload as their efforts to shoot it down left it careening out of control, but she stopped her celebration short as it was inexplicably going to hit her, of all people.

She was only able to mutter a disbelieving,

"Are you _kidding_ me?"

Before boosting away just as an ocean-shaking impact rocked her world, another hemisphere of seawater hitting her full-force as she stumbled away from the almost-successful attack and sailed on, wringing the seawater from her dress as she spoke into the radio upon witnessing the ocean shift ominously while something underwater skulked towards the Combined Fleet.

"Chitose, if you haven't gotten your Kouhyouteki in the water, do so now!

I think I spotted something in the water. Might be torpedoes, so watch out!

Everyone else, cover me!"

As she heard Jintsuu call out, insistent on following her into the heat of battle as a light cruiser who had also been through tough battles in her time, and even went down in a fierce last stand in the Battle of Kolombangara.

"Sendai, I'm coming with you.

I can still fight, and you need the backup despite being proficient in night battles."

Kitakami drawled as Sendai could see several ship girl signatures on her radar joining her in her charge into the fray.

"Well, fighting up close means that we can strike them with torpedoes at close-range, and that's gonna hurt, if not outright kill them.

And since we're close enough to the Abyssals to improve the accuracy of our salvos, shall we, ladies?

Three…

Two…

One…"

Sendai ducked in time to evade a large-caliber shell before dumping her torpedoes into the water, and Kitakami proved her worth as a torpedo cruiser as she fired all 25 torpedoes at the enemies, these underwater projectiles eventually entering her field of vision since everyone was positioned behind her.

The Abyssals, despite doing their best to evade the Combined Fleet's torpedo salvo, failed as their ranks were devoured by fiery explosions, a Ne-Class heavy cruiser stumbling out of the explosion with a charred left leg and missing foot while suffering from slight burns throughout her body, and Sendai detected that two Abyssal destroyers and a Tsu-Class light cruiser was taken out by the torpedo cruiser, Sendai shielding herself from the ensuing fireballs which threatened to cook her.

Gulping at the destructive power of a torpedo cruiser, Sendai fired her cannons at the partially submerged Ha-Class destroyer in an attempt to either sink it or scare it off, and it accomplished the latter as Sendai saw that her shell grazed the exoskeleton of the destroyer in question, spooking it and causing it to dive in order to temporarily flee.

The Re-Class was firing her fearsome large-caliber cannons in their direction, shaking the very ocean where she stood with every shot and sending decent-sized waves throughout the entire battlefield, cannon muzzles flashing like the fearsome peals of thunder in a thunderstorm as she roared, clearly getting fired about who she was going up against.

[Oh, _yeah!_

Now we're talking!

This battle's just getting started!

Let's move in up close and sink them, I'll take point!

After all, those who go into battle first get the chance to draw first blood, eh?]

The Re-Class's teammates looked rather annoyed about having the Re-Class order them around, but since she was likely the flagship and was undoubtedly the most powerful Abyssal in their line-up, the weaker Abyssals had no choice but to obey as they attempted to cut them off and stop them from retreating, firing their cannons and torpedoes while the Wo-Class's planes tussled with Saratoga's in the night sky.

Skipping over one torpedo and performing a vault over another with her enhanced agility as a light cruiser, a Ni-Class Abyssal shot out of the water as Sendai got a good look at its flattened exoskeleton which bore a passing resemblance to a horseshoe crab, a rocket's rear fuselage and a gas mask, with tubular apparatuses extending at angles beside its deformed upper jaw which displayed pearly white teeth for all to see.

The world slowed down in Sendai's mind, shivers running down Sendai's spine as she took in the fat, shiny beads of seawater which shot up along with the Ni-Class, taking in every detail of the Abyssal destroyer and her environment in an instant, and was only able to comment mentally,

' _Wow, the Abyssals must have pretty good dentists for this Ni-Class to have a set of such well-maintained, shiny teeth.'_

Before moving instinctively as she saw Shimakaze approach her from behind due to her radar detecting her teammate's signature.

Crouching in order to avoid the small-caliber shell which was fired at her head, she maintained her crouching position as she slid forward in order to slap her back on the ocean with her brought-in legs pointing upwards, at the Ni-Class's exposed abdomen as it flew above her.

She slammed her boat slippers into the Ni-Class's abdomen as she fired part of her boost gauge in order to deal more damage as the Ni-Class shrieked in pain, slightly charring its pale abdomen as it was thrown upwards by Sendai's double-legged kick to the gut while Shimakaze flew in.

Shimakaze drop-kicked the Ni-Class as she jumped and brought in her knees, only to slam her legs into the Ni-Class's snout in a move which required no spoken words to coordinate and pull off, Furutaka firing her cannons at where the Abyssal would land in order to put it out of its misery, everyone paying it no mind when what remained of the carcass sank in a puddle of bloodied seawater.

She spotted the Ne-Class with the blown-off leg crawling on the ocean surface, the Abyssal trying to be of use as she used her tails to fire at the ship girls, Yuudachi narrowly avoiding getting hit as a medium-caliber shell smashed her rigging in with a ominous-sounding crunch and threw her off-balance.

But not before the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer fired three torpedoes in a Hail-Mary shot before collapsing onto the ocean, and even though two of the three torpedoes were off-target as the Ne-Class rolled out of the way, she couldn't evade them all as she was enveloped in another lethal explosion.

Sendai ducked with her ninja reflexes as she saw the flash of a Ru-Class cannon barrel, watching the shell fly by as the Ru-Class's face was contorted in a grimace while she attempted to stop them.

And when Sendai braved enemy fire in order to fire her torpedoes in the battleship's direction, they were body-blocked by the last Abyssal destroyer as her torpedoes inexplicably detonated before reaching the target, granting the Ru-Class battleship time to evade the rest of the torpedoes as Sendai looked into her reloaded cannon barrels and cursed.

"Oh, _shit."_

Before throwing herself onto the ocean in order to evade the salvo of large-caliber shells, blind-firing her medium-caliber cannons in order to cover herself as she hit the ocean surface.

A large-caliber shell, likely Haruna's, nearly hit an incoming Tsu-Class light cruiser who was attempting to blindside Sendai, and she took advantage of the danger-close shell impact as she got up and fired at the retreating Abyssal light cruiser.

Judging the distance and predicting her enemy's movements, she brought up her left arm and fired the cannons on it while she pulled out a torpedo from her launcher with her right hand, lobbing it into the air either to kill the Abyssal via death from above or to serve as a distraction, the torpedo flying in a perfect parabolic arc and was likely unseen since Sendai was sure that her cannons' muzzle flash would conceal her toss in the darkness.

Part of night battles were the diminished environmental awareness due to the lack of illumination, and this was when smoke and mirrors as well as sleight of hand tricks could be used in order to draw their attention in the darkness and allow her to close in and strike.

Sadly, the Abyssal Tsu-Class unknowingly moved away from where the airborne torpedo would land, but the splash it caused surprised the Abyssal as the cannon fire immediately stopped, the Tsu-Class likely trying to find the non-existent bomber plane who tried to attack her from above, allowing Sendai time to boost forward and prepare another salvo in her reloaded launchers.

The Tsu-Class saw her advance and tried to resume her cannon fire, but even though Sendai was clipped by several small-caliber shells, she knew that no victory was attained through a painless battle, gritting her teeth as she fired off the remains of her boost gauge while performing evasive maneuvers.

She felt her own blood staining her uniform as she unloaded four torpedoes at point-blank range into the panicking Tsu-Class, spinning out of the way as a bloodied jet-black Abyssal cannon nearly hit her face, the scorching explosion flinging parts of the Tsu-Class's corpse in her direction as the deceased Abyssal went everywhere, the Sendai-Class cruiser sailing on.

She felt the strain of the sortie take its toll on her as her muscles burned and ached after enduring repeated small-caliber shell impacts and performing her intense acrobatic maneuvers, but she knew that things could always be worse as she saw that two clashing signatures were headed in her direction.

Scurrying out of the way of the Re-Class's tail smashing down in an attempt to eat her, the Re-Class was panting a little as she faced off against Kitakami, Furutaka, Yuudachi, Sendai and Jintsuu, everyone else being too preoccupied with taking the other Abyssals down to help them.

Kitakami shrugged, having sustained superficial injuries in her tussle with the Re-Class as she remarked.

"Well, remember what I told you about you losing?

Yeah, that seems a whole lot likelier now, since we brought friends, while you didn't."

The Abyssal Re-Class only cackled, sizing up her opponents like a beast who knew it was outnumbered, but not outmatched as she remarked.

[Well, you should've brought more.

I've taken on entire fleets alone, and none of them could sink me.

I am _invincible!]_

Kitakami shrugged, clearly not impressed as she retorted calmly.

"Well, it's quite clear why you'd think of yourself in such a manner.

In all your past battles, you certainly haven't met anyone like me, which explains why you didn't turn and run at the sight of me approaching.

Good thing I met you tonight.

I'm gonna do what your superiors never got around to doing and beat those delusions of invincibility out of your little mind."

Kitakami's aura flared up while the Re-Class emitted something resembling a childish shriek, her tail firing its cannons at them while her blood-red aura flared up dramatically, Sendai performing evasive maneuvers as the ocean quaked due to the discharge of the Abyssal's mighty cannons.

Kitakami skidded to a halt as she fired several torpedoes at the Re-Class, but the aviation battleship broke out into a shit-eating grin as she pulled back while her bestial tail coiled up like a snake, remarking,

[Come on, Quetzalcoatl!

Let's show 'em what we're all about!]

Before being flung forward by her tail as it extended like a compressed spring, achieving air time as she flew over the incoming torpedoes and caught a surprised Jintsuu off-guard as she punched Jintsuu in the stomach, Sendai's sister coughing up blood as she was sent flying.

Sendai's explosion of emotional fury was translated into her movements, moving a little quicker and firing a little faster as her expression darkened, sparing a look back in Jintsuu's direction to find that Yuudachi was protecting her body while Kitakami fired her handheld cannon and torpedoes in order to distance the Re-Class from the downed light cruiser.

Furutaka charged in as soon as the Re-Class was distracted, wrapping her arms around the Re-Class's tail Quetzalcoatl in order to prevent it from getting a bead on her teammates, clearly resisting Quetzalcoatl's strength as tail and ship girl attempted to out-muscle each other while Quetzalcoatl's jaws snapped in annoyance.

And the Re-Class eventually appeared, seemingly levitating in mid-air as Quetzalcoatl flexed its muscles in order to lift its master, the Abyssal aviation battleship's shit-eating grin growing while Furutaka's expression morphed into one of concern regarding her immediate prospects of survival as the Re-Class mocked.

[Wrong move, _bitch.]_

Before punching Furutaka in the face and sending her flying, cackling with laughter as she looked smug regarding her invincibility.

Right before she was shot in the back of the head by Kitakami, buying enough time for Sendai to move in close with her boost gauge as the Re-Class yelped in surprise.

[Ack!

Fuuuuuuu…]

Quetzalcoatl covered its master as it attempted to tail slam Sendai, but she dropped to her knees as she slid underneath the swishing tail, flexing her leg muscles in order to bring up her torso before slamming her palm into the ocean, getting back on her feet in order to face the Re-Class, who was still dazed from Kitakami's shell to her head and could only attempt a feral left jab, evading with relative ease she felt the air hiss menacingly around the Abyssal's blurred fist.

Pulling the Re-Class's hoodie down in order to buy herself some time, Sendai vaulted over the aviation battleship as she landed behind the Re-Class, emptying her boost gauge and torpedo launchers as she did the former to put some distance between them while the latter detonated and dealt damage to the dazed Abyssal.

Kitakami, Yuudachi and Shimakaze took the time to dog-pile the Abyssal with their torpedoes, Kitakami moving in as the Re-Class emerged from the smoke which clung to her raincoat before vaporizing into thin air.

Kitakami smoothly evaded a large-caliber shell fired from Quetzalcoatl, her aura belying her superhuman concentration as she performed a high jump and brought her legs in before smashing her right boat slipper into the Re-Class's face.

She quickly alternated between right and left foot while emptying her boost gauge as she performed a tap-dance on the Re-Class's face, before pushing off and spinning her body in mid-air in order to evade Quetzalcoatl's terrifying bite as it came to its master's rescue.

Shimakaze and Yuudachi backed Kitakami up as Shimakaze slapped her hand on Quetzalcoatl's pale skin before vaulting over the Re-Class and pulled back her hoodie while Yuudachi followed closely behind, performing the same vault over the Re-Class and narrowly avoiding Quetzalcoatl's perilous jaws as she grabbed the Re-Class's scarf.

Instead of landing on the spot of ocean behind the Re-Class, Yuudachi instead slammed her boat slippers into the Re-Class's back and pulled on the scarf with all her might as though she were riding the world's deadliest bucking bronco.

The Re-Class panicked upon being strangled by her own clothing, Quetzalcoatl flailing about as its neural link to the Re-Class was likely bombarded with conflicting signals, the Re-Class's fingers desperately scrambling to untie the scarf from her neck, her eyes rolling up as she lost her oxygen supply while Sendai could hear the drone of an incoming allied bomber to provide Yuudachi with an exit.

Yuudachi sprung off the Re-Class's back and performed a back-flip, but still landed within the payload's projected area of effect, and Sendai already knew that the destroyer was going to be hurt by the splash damage since her physical abilities, while impressive for an unremodeled destroyer, wasn't going to cut it as she barreled towards her.

She tackled Yuudachi onto the ocean and shielded her as a Dauntless Dive Bomber descended from the night sky and bombarded the aviation battleship with its payload, the Abyssal possessing impressive stats to allow it to stay in one piece even after enduring all their attacks.

She felt her dress, skin and muscles get toasted a little due to the radiant heat of the explosion, but it was nothing she couldn't shrug off as a relatively experienced veteran as she looked down at the soaked Yuudachi, chastising softly.

"You know, just because I'm not your flagship, doesn't mean you should go all-out and expose yourself to danger like this.

Gotta watch out for enemy and friendly fire, alright?"

She helped Yuudachi back on her feet as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer looked genuinely sorry about making her teammate worry about her, and Sendai was relieved that Yuudachi wasn't venting her frustrations regarding Shigure's injury, her lips attempting to form an apology of sorts.

"S-Sorry, Sendai-san.

I'll do better ne-"

But Sendai sensed the amplified killing intent from within the fireball as she pushed Yuudachi away, folded her legs and fell back onto the ocean just as a fiery blur emerged from the flames at a blinding speed.

She narrowly avoided a lariat from the burning Re-Class as she attempted her spring move again, feeling the flames on the Abyssal's blazing raincoat lick her face while her muscles and dress sizzled as she hit the water after getting slightly singed by the ambient heat of the Dauntless's payload, but what she saw terrified her.

The Re-Class had flown over her after Quetzalcoatl propelled its master forward, and it was now pointing its jaws directly behind the Re-Class and straight at her, its insides powering up for a hyper beam in order to take her out.

But a wild Furutaka appeared and body-slammed Quetzalcoatl in order to throw it's aim off by even a millimeter, and she succeeded somewhat as the hyper beam slightly roasted Sendai's flesh through its radiant heat as Sendai got up and barely spun away in time, thankful that her light cruiser agility came in clutch in order to avoid a fatal attack.

Furutaka's tackle made the Re-Class spun around mid-air as she landed, spinning around on the spot in order to do a 360 degree spin as Quetzalcoatl managed to sink its red-hot teeth into Furutaka's arm rigging, effectively trapping the heavy cruiser.

Sendai instinctively flung a torpedo in order to get the Re-Class to leave Furutaka alone, and the bestial tail fired its 12.5 inch Twin Gun Cannons into a struggling Furutaka before flinging her away as the Re-Class ducked in order to evade Sendai's torpedo, sending Furutaka flying again as Sendai called out worriedly.

"Furutaka-san!"

The Re-Class looked around for another target to terrorize, laying eyes on Yuudachi as her crimson aura intensified threefold, causing Yuudachi to freeze in place like a deer caught in the headlights of impending doom due to the sheer killing intent focused on her, and Quetzalcoatl aimed its three main cannons at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

Sendai and Shimakaze came to the rescue, but the Re-Class had wised up to their strengths as she punched the ocean, the ocean caving in as though reacting to a small meteor impact before rebounding as Sendai and Shimakaze stumbled in their attempts to navigate the waves which radiated from the epicenter where the Re-Class was.

Spinning around like a spinning top, Sendai felt something crack within her body as Quetzalcoatl tail-slammed them both into the ocean, tasting seawater again as she landed head first and was dunked into the pitch-black ocean, pulling her head from the ocean and shaking the seawater from her eyes before looking around in the darkness to assess the situation.

Shimakaze was also prone on the ocean surface while the Re-Class's 16 Inch Triple Gun Cannons flashed in Yuudachi's direction as Sendai's heart stopped, and the world stopped spinning in her mind.

Yuudachi thankfully reacted by throwing herself onto the ocean and dodged the shells by the skin of her teeth, the large-caliber shell cleanly perforating her rigging without even crumpling it and causing Sendai to shiver at the thought of the same holes located where Yuuachi's chest, shoulders and even where her head would be…

But any respite she might have had from the Re-Class's cannons missing was crushed by the Abyssal doing a front flip with Quetzalcoatl launching her forward, clearly intending to crush the prone Yuudachi with a spinning tail slam as Quetzalcoatl blurred while in motion.

A shadow threw herself before Yuudachi as Sendai scrambled to get up and protect Yuudachi, finding a struggling Kitakami using both her arms to block Quetzalcoatl from hitting Yuudachi as she grumbled, buckets of sweat pouring down her forehead due to summoning the massive physical strength required to counter a battleship's strength as she did so.

"You shitty little brats…

Always gotta grief my sorties, and make me clean up after you and endure your whining and your antics and your repetitive questions…"

Before a vein bulged on her temple as she poured all her might into her next move, venting her frustrations along the way.

" … _AS THOUGH I'M YOUR BABYSITTER, WHICH I'M NOT!"_

And hurled a surprised Re-Class into the distance, landing about two meters away from the destroyer and torpedo cruiser due to the torpedo cruiser's limited physical strength compared to heavy cruisers and battleships.

Panting, she stumbled over to where Yuudachi was and pulled her to her feet by grabbing and lifting her by the back of her collar, retreating as she held Yuudachi away from the Re-Class, who was trying to re-orientate herself after her surprise landing, and muttered.

"Game over."

While lifting her free arm which carried two more torpedo launchers, firing all 25 torpedoes and blowing the Re-Class to kingdom come as she squinted from the sudden increase in brightness, planting herself in between the destroyer and the explosion while dragging Yuudachi away from the roaring fireball, pawning Yuudachi off on Sendai while Shimakaze skulked away to check on Furutaka.

And when Sendai checked Yuudachi for any injuries, Kitakami cracked her neck as she planted her palms on her knees and stared into the dissipating fireball, attempting to control her ragged breathing as she spat.

"Don't let your guard down just yet.

The Re-Class is somehow still alive thanks to its stubborn refusal to simply fuck off and die, although my torpedoes must've sent it to medium damage at the very least."

Sendai tensed up upon sensing the weakened yet undying presence of the Abyssal in the midst of the fireball as it dispersed and revealed what was left of the Abyssal.

The Re-Class's leg stumps were scorched at the ends after the fireball consumed them from the bottom up, and she sported severe burns everywhere while she coughed out smoke.

The remnants of her raincoat and scarf were burning away, leaving behind her fireproof bra and panties which were similar to what ship girls wore in case of emergencies like these, and while Quetzalcoatl was still functional, it was missing chunks of armored flesh as several explosions tore armor plates and steel flesh from its main body while her aura barely illuminated her figure.

She stumbled out of the smoke as she stopped herself from falling while her bloodshot eyes struggled to look in their direction, and Sendai was again treated to another wave of killing intent despite the Re-Class sustaining significant damage, her burnt mop of pale hair falling forward and making her look even more crazed than she already was as she mumbled through short breaths.

[I… I'm still here…

Still breathing.]

While Kitakami sighed before lifting her head and puffing out her chest as she responded,

"And so am I, the brats, Sendai and the rest of the Combined Fleet.

So that's not really saying much, but in your situation, I'd say it's your crowning achievement after tanking all my torpedoes.

Not a lot of Abyssals get up after that, so I suppose you're either extremely lucky or extremely stubborn to even remain conscious after my salvo, and taking into account the fact that you met me tonight-"

The Re-Class growled while Quetzalcoatl followed suit, but she was distracted by an encrypted signal being sent through the air, the Re-Class's expression shifting erratically from pissed off to wide-eyed surprise to apoplectic as she shouted into the air and gesticulated wildly, now looking positively unhinged as she shrieked at the night sky.

 _[WHAT?!_

 _RETREAT?!_

 _I'm barely getting warmed up here; I'm on a hot streak right now, and I can go on for-_

 _NO, I DID NOT GET MY ASS HANDED TO ME, YOU FUCKBOY, I'M-]_

Before her screech reached a fever pitch as she punched the ocean in frustration, Sendai feeling the ocean quake as she tried to remain upright in the face of the crest and troughs which were produced in the wake of the ocean punch.

The Re-Class glared at them as though they were the cause of all her woes while her crimson aura intensifying fourfold as she breathed in through clenched teeth, her expression now a rictus of barely-restrained fury.

Kitakami cocked her head, now looking confident enough to tease the Re-Class as she threw the Re-Class's earlier words back at her.

"Well, like you said, even though a fearsome dog can be unleashed on its owner's enemies, it's still gotta be restrained, lest it disobeys calls for it to return.

Looks like your superiors recalled you by pulling on your leash, so…"

Kitakami gave her a goodbye wave while the Re-Class could only simmer in her glowering hatred as she inhaled sharply, before taking a step back to subtly indicate her intent to retreat as she tried to get the last word in.

[I'm gonna remember this, you hear me?!

No matter how many fleets you bring to kill me, I'll never go down!

Next time we meet, there'll be nothing standing in between me and tearing your head off in order to use it as a crapper, you little shits!]

Kitakami shrugged as she retorted, dropping a bombshell on the backtracking Abyssal as she wore the world's smuggest smile on her face after sending the aviation battleship packing.

"Blah, blah, empty threats.

To my knowledge, you rushed here with no interruptions when you were tasked with stopping us.

I fought several Abyssal fleets before even meeting your scrawny ass, so what's your excuse?"

Quetzalcoatl growled in response to the insult, but the Re-Class knew that she had no choice but to run with her tail between her legs as she looked back at what remained of her fleet and demanded, having been thoroughly defeated without any hope of an immediate comeback.

[Come on!]

While what remained her posse of Abyssals followed wordlessly behind, consisting of a Wo-Class carrier who was covering one eye socket with her left palm and had likely lost an eye, a Ru-Class carrying its dismembered right arm underneath her right armpit as blood seeped from an arm stump while the last Tsu-Class had lost her helmet, revealing short pale hair beneath her dark helmet.

The Tsu-Class had to close one eye as blood trickled down onto her face, threatening to get in her eye as she couldn't rub the blood away due to her unwieldy, gigantic palms.

They looked displeased with the outcome of the battle and the Re-Class's sub-par leadership, sporting frowns and dark expressions which disappeared beneath the ocean as they submerged, Sendai regrouping with the rest of the Combined and backup fleet in order to sail back into the Safety Zone.

They got what they had come for and had injured ship girls to tend to, including her sister.

The sooner they got away from this island before Abyssal reinforcements appeared, the better.

* * *

Shigure was surrounded by her sister ships as they looked down at her prone figure on the hospital bed in the early evening hours on the 15th of May, Yuudachi having spoon-fed her dinner while Murasame and Samidare looked at the hospital report which was hung at the foot of her bed, and Kawakaze folded her arms as she sat on a steel chair next to her bed, watching over her protectively.

After reaching Yokosuka in the afternoon and docking for several hours, Shigure was then treated by several surgeons and a pissed off Akashi who delivered one hell of a lecture on how foolish she was for sustaining these injuries in lieu of someone who had stats far superior to her and would have received less deadly injuries even without her interference, after which she was sent here to allow her to rest before her next dip in the docks.

She could hear Murasame reading from the clipboard which Shigure surmised Akashi had left behind after diagnosing her condition and writing something on it, not that Shigure could actually see these things as the furthest she could turn her head was to look at either the white wall which Yuudachi blocked or at Kawakaze's chair.

"Shigure-chan, I really don't like how you're throwing yourself into these life-threatening situations in your sorties.

First and second-degree burns which border on third-degree burns on your back, a lost right leg and symptoms of shock either due to said injuries or the significant blood loss _from_ said injuries.

And what is this?"

Shigure could hear sheaths of paper being shuffled, and Murasame read out the words on the piece of paper which Akashi left behind on the clipboard.

"Hmm, looks like a Bingo game card.

'Lost left hand',

'Lost right hand',

'Lost left leg',

'Lost right leg', check,

'Lost heart',

'Burnt on 18/36/72/99% of body', first one, check,

'Blinded'

'Spine broken'-"

" - and that is all we shall read from this paper."

Samidare's voice sounded out as the paper was crumpled and tossed into what Shigure assumed was the trash bin, and she could see Yuudachi pouting as she leaned in close in order to speak to her, expressing her concerns about how Shigure was a magnet for trouble.

"Shigure.

I understand your need to go on sorties in order to become stronger.

But the fact that you're attracting all these life-threatening events or injuries like a trouble magnet, it really makes me worry about you whenever you sortie, poi."

Shigure sighed as she looked away, something which was difficult to do since she was lying prone on the hospital bed and the side of her face was pressed onto the pillow, and she could only focus on the white wall behind her sister as she answered Yuudachi in an exhausted tone.

"I … I understand.

I don't want to lose any one of you, but that's only going to work if I don't kill myself in the process of trying to protect all of you.

I know it was a questionable decision of mine to shield Chitose-san from the enemy's shell and torpedo, but in my defense, I require a shorter period of time to heal than Chitose-san, who would've taken a far longer period of time to recover if she were hit instead of me."

And she could hear Kawakaze speaking up on the other side of the bed, sounding extremely displeased about how Shigure tried to reason away her actions by prioritizing ship girls according to their usefulness and the strain on their base's resources, should they get injured.

"You know, Shigure-Aneki, I understand the need to prioritize the safety of more important and useful ship girls, but you shouldn't see yourself as a mere meat shield compared to every other ship class simply because you take a shorter time to recover.

We're also important in our own way due to our high speed and evasion, as well as our night battle capabilities, so please don't sell yourself short.

You mean the world to … to us, Aneki."

And Samidare moved into Shigure's line of sight as she suggested a horrifying possibility which occurred to her, looking extremely concerned about Shigure as she loomed over Yuudachi.

"Shigure-san, you didn't, by any chance, jump in front of the enemy attack simply because you didn't want to participate in the night battle, right?"

The atmosphere in the room became heavy, and Shigure tried her best to shake her head as her expression morphed into one of staunch denial, looking directly at her ship sisters as she retorted.

"No.

Absolutely _not._

I may be fearful of night battles, but I would not needlessly expose myself to lethal danger and risk sinking just to avoid night battles.

Please believe me when I say that your assumptions are wrong, and I genuinely wished to protect Chitose-san from harm."

Her sisters looked a little surprised at her firm statement which laid down her intentions, but Yuudachi, even though she looked rather concerned about Shigure, looked down with a morose gaze as she nodded slowly and responded sagely.

"I believe you, Shigure-chan.

Your kindness knows no bounds, but you need to understand the root of our concern.

While we wish to believe that you will be alright, if your past and present are anything to go by, you will always find yourself in life-threatening situations and risk sustaining lethal injuries which we cannot protect you from forever.

Not without suffocating you in our embrace.

We can only hope that the extra attention and care which we shower you with outside of your sorties is enough to make up for the lack of protection in battle, so I hope you can understand, poi."

Shigure nodded, hearing someone else enter the room via the clicking sound of the doorknob at the end of the room as she heard Junyou call out in exasperation, likely a result of seeing the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer get hurt all the time.

"Oh, god.

What did that injury-prone little emo kid get hit with now?"

Before she heard Hiei respond to that with a fair bit of exasperation on her end due to Junyou choosing to express her concern through her boorish and aloof behavior.

"Your attitude isn't going to help Shigure recover, so quit it.

She needs our attention and care, and that's what we're going to give her."

Before she spotted Yuudachi giving way to allow Hiei, Ayanami and Junyou to occupy her vision as Hiei's face relaxed into a caring one which was wracked with pain upon witnessing her injuries.

Ayanami's expression was somewhat distressed as she looked rather guilty about not being able to protect her, and as Junyou leaned over to observe her injuries, her face scrunched up as she wrinkled her nose and inhaled sharply after witnessing the severity of her injuries.

Hiei's eyes were brimming with a familial concern for her as she leaned in, and Shigure was glad that the Kongou-Class battleship wasn't wearing her headdress and thus couldn't poke her eye out or something, and Hiei asked Shigure tenderly about her condition.

"Shigure.

I heard about your sortie, and how you…

I know it's pointless to ask this question when you've already been treated and when I'm not a repair ship, but does it still hurt anywhere?"

Shigure did her best to shake her head in response to that, and Junyou knelt in order to look Shigure in the eye as she asked, looking extremely concerned about what she often got herself into without proper supervision at all times.

"I stay out of one sortie, and you get these kinds of injury in return.

I know that you mean well, but you know that it also hurts us to see you like this, right?"

Shigure nodded as she saw that Samidare patted a glum Ayanami who, much like her, occasionally blamed herself for any injuries which her teammates sustained, even if it was inflicted on them through no fault of their own.

Kawakaze responded to that, concurring with the Hiyou-Class light carrier as she spoke.

"I agree with Junyou-san, that it hurts to see you like this, Shigure-Aneki.

But I understand that you did this in order to protect others, so…"

Nodding in agreement, Shigure spoke with her friends and sisters offhandedly as she thought about how they now knew of how Apocalypse featured vehicles which were created in preparation for the next stage of the war known as Apocalypse, and she wondered about how a Beast's footprints were capable of being left on the island when the satellites had shown that only two signatures were present throughout the field-test, a flying signature and a land signature.

It was one thing for a steel Beast to be able to steamroll smaller buildings with relative ease, but it was quite a mystery as to how there was only one land signature when there were signs of a Beast and a vehicle being on Aogashima Island, the Abyssal flying signature being accounted for as the transport vehicle which flew the land vehicle onto the island.

Perhaps it was because of two-dimensional thinking on her part since she wasn't exactly used to lateral thinking, but regardless, she now saw firsthand just how much damage a modern war vehicle could do.

And not through pictures or video, she sat down on rubble and debris and witnessed the potholes in the roads and the demolished buildings due to rockets being flown into them en masse, so it was something far deadlier than the Nazi's V-1 Flying Rocket, simply due to its repeat-fire capabilities as evidenced in its village-wide destruction.

It scared her, to not know of what the Abyssals were up to in the shadows, but she also wondered if she would regret knowing what they were up to if she were to glimpse into the abyss in order to divine what they were up to, and the carnage which they would unleash on this world.

Her attention was drawn back to a concerned Hiei and Yuudachi, both of whom crowded her vision as they spoke for everyone by asking her about her down expression.

"Shigure, are you alright?"

"You spaced out there, is there something bothering you, poi?"

Junyou looked especially worried as she thought up of how Shigure might sate her curiosity by trying to listen in on the Infiltration Fleet's conversations, asking.

"Oh god, you didn't, like, eavesdrop on the Infiltration Fleet when they were scouring the island for clues, did you?

I heard that you went on the island with them because of your injuries, but did you get yourself injured so that…"

Shigure looked back up at her sisters and her fleet-mates as she put on her best 'I'm totally not lying to you all' face and thought to herself, preparing her answer.

 _'No, they mustn't know about Apocalypse._

 _Not yet, anyway, if Admiral Mako intends to keep it on the down low for now._

 _And besides, I didn't hear them talk about it, Shiranui-san recounted their conversation afterwards, so technically, I'm not lying when I disagree with Junyou-san on the eavesdropping part.'_

She gave them a tired smile as she lied _(it's not lying, it's not lying)_ through her teeth, suddenly feeling fatigued all of a sudden after thinking so much despite being injured.

"Of course not, Junyou-san.

It just that what little I remember about Aogashima Island was that everyone was talking in urgent voices, and if it's urgent enough to spook the Infiltration Fleet, I'm afraid that whatever's coming next is going to be unpleasant.

I was just worrying about everyone's safety in the immediate and distant future."

Everyone visibly relaxed as they let out a collective sigh, causing Shigure's eyebrows to crease as she wondered if everyone expected her to be a snoop in the interest of knowing more about everyone and everything.

Hiei leaned in as she displayed a genuine smile which was so radiant, it made Shigure's heart twinge at the guilt of having to keep secrets from them all as the Kongou-Class battleship reassured her.

"Don't you worry, Shigure.

I'll become stronger along with you and the rest of the 1st Fleet, so that you never have to feel alone when shouldering the responsibility of protecting others.

This, I can promise you with all my heart."

Before closing her eyes and leaning in to tenderly place a kiss on Shigure's forehead, surprising everyone while a dumbfounded Shigure froze up as Hiei pulled back, looking a little embarrassed but not at all regretful regarding her intimate action.

Yuudachi furrowed her brows as she raised a fist in a confrontational manner as she wished to express her sisterly love for Shigure, not backing down despite going up against a battleship.

"Hey!

I love Shigure-chan too, and I won't allow everyone to get ahead of me!"

And Junyou chirped, looking down with twinkling eyes as she slipped her hand into her pockets in order to fish something out.

"Well, if you want to one-up Hiei's kiss on the forehead, you need to either kiss her on the cheek or on the lips.

If you're going to do that, let me get out my phone in order to take a photo of it, these sell really well on the internet!"

Everyone turned away from Shigure in order to face Junyou as Murasame asked disbelievingly, Shigure herself raising an eyebrow in Junyou's direction as she assumed everyone else did.

"And how would you know about that, Junyou-san?"

As Junyou threw up her arms, retorting,

"Oh come on!

A naval base full of bisexual, beautiful female soldiers of all ages who eat, sleep and bathe together while forming close bonds with one another and sustain clothing damage all the time, it's no wonder that this would be the ideal place for any healthy adolescent boy or girl to want to be in, minus the alien invasion part.

Excuse me for wanting to earn some income aside from my monthly paycheck to pay for auntie Junyou's drinking habits, alright?"

Shigure could hear Kawakaze confidently speaking up behind her, sounding rather enthusiastic about the prospect of kissing her beloved sister as she remarked.

"I totally wouldn't mind kissing Shigure-Aneki, too!

If you're gonna do it, gotta go all the way and do it mouth-to-mouth, that's the way to go!

Better break out the fire extinguishers, 'cause this kiss's gonna be hot!"

While Samidare turned to face Kawakaze, raising an eyebrow and pointing out Kawakaze's poor choice of words as her expression morphed into one of slight discomfort and amusement all in one.

"Kawakaze.

Shigure is recovering from severe burns, so it might not be appropriate for you to focus on the 'hotness' of the intimate move which you suggest."

She could hear Kawakaze utter out,

"Urk!"

Upon realizing her mistake, and she then leaned over on the hospital bed to look into Shigure's eyes, her dangling fringe exposing her forehead as she spoke into Shigure's ear.

"Sorry, Shigure-Aneki!"

Shigure broke out into a relieved smile upon seeing everyone interact with each other and providing her company in her ward, everyone looking somewhat relaxed as the dust settled after the sortie and allowed everyone to enjoy each other's company before the next bloody battle.

She wasn't going to be personally responsible for destroying the peace which was their main respite from the horrifying reality of war, and if that meant she had to keep Apocalypse from everyone to allow them some peace of mind before the other shoe dropped, she would do so for the greater good.

Perhaps it was also selfishness on her part to indulge in these peaceful moments and allow herself the chance to be happy even though she knew of their impending doom, but if Admiral Mako didn't want to let everyone know about this, she was in no position to act against her Admiral's wishes by telling everyone about Apocalypse, inadvertently souring everyone's mood.

She was simply acting in everyone's best interests, and she was confident that Admiral Mako, the woman who led one of the largest naval bases in the world, had the situation under control.

All she had to do for now was to observe the situation as best she could without interfering, and offer her help at a help at a time when she knew she wouldn't be rejected and would least likely be punished for her less-than-legal activities in order to allow herself to become stronger.

* * *

Ashigara was walking towards the park on the 16th of May, where she suspected the Admiral would be in order to work outside while eating, since she always identified herself as an outdoors person.

She found Admiral Mako sitting on a bench which was shielded from the summer sun thanks to a nearby tree, and since she disliked working inside office spaces for extended periods of time, she sometimes brought her laptop outside so as not to doze off at her desk, with signs of a finished lunchbox being placed beside her to be thrown away later.

Ashigara came to a dead stop beside her and helped herself to a seat beside her commanding officer-slash-girlfriend in order to provide her with some company, feeling rather concerned as she watched her girlfriend work on something.

"What're you working on, Admiral?"

Admiral Mako's eyebrow quirked up as she gave Ashigara an aside glance and answered bluntly.

"Oh, you know.

Looking into Abyssal plans which would likely engulf the world in a sea of fire and a hail of steel and cause the end of the world as we know it, and it's up to me, a lesbian Admiral, to think up of ways to save us all without leaving behind an uninhabitable shit-hole for whoever's left.

No pressure."

Ashigara blinked as she attempted to comprehend Admiral Mako's words while wearing a deadpan face, before bursting out into laughter as she howled and clutched at her stomach, Admiral Mako smirking as she knew how to get Ashigara into a good mood while the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser shook the bench with her weight and strength.

She eventually stopped trembling from the laughter as she wiped a tear away from her right eye with her gloved hand, taking deep breaths before lightly patting her Admiral on the back and admitting.

"Alright, you really got me good there.

I already know what's going on, but to hear you describe things like that, it just…"

Before devolving into a giggling fit, and Admiral Mako followed suit as she broke out into a wry smile, finally getting down to business as she coyly slipped an arm around Ashigara's waist while they both looked down at the laptop, which displayed several alternate strategies to face the Abyssals, Ashigara asking her seriously this time.

"What's this?

The plans for the Battle of Twelve Navies, hmm?

Are you considering other possible strategies?

And these Strike Groups, I know that we have the 1st at the vanguard, but the others?

Just asking."

Admiral Mako nodded as she leaned in to whisper the answer into her girlfriend's ear.

"Kamogawa, Isumi and the Kujukuri Naval Base will make up the 13th Strike Group, while Shizuoka and Shimoda Naval Base will make up the 11th."

Admiral Mako cuddled her girlfriend-slash-close-confidante as she continued her explanation on how she wanted to be prepared for any situation which could arise and keep her strategy flexible enough to adapt to how the Abyssals would engage them.

"I'm considering alternatives to the tactics used in the first three stages of the battle, since I don't want our girls to be decimated in the initial stage of the battle when they meet the Abyssal vanguard.

I'm considering an alternative plan where we have the 13th and 11th Strike Group participate in a three-pronged attack along with the 1st Strike Group in order to engage the Abyssals before we retreat like a receding wave, and we'll continue onto stage two and three in order to turn the tide of battle.

Another possible strategy requires our North-Eastern and Western allies to utilize an aggressive and risky approach, where the 1st Strike Group will be the only one to engage the Abyssal vanguard as per usual in the first stage, and the North-Eastern and Western Strike Groups will flank and box the Abyssals in as they chase a retreating 1st Strike Group in the second stage of the battle."

Ashigara lifted an eyebrow as she observed the slideshow which changed from stage to stage of the alternative battle plan and how they differed from the original, remarking on how well they might pan out in real life.

"Well, how do you think these will eventually work out in real life?

Personally, I prefer the former over the latter, since the 11th and 13th Strike Group don't have the same numbers as we, the main bulk of the armada, do.

To get them to attempt to bottleneck the Abyssals might not be the best idea when they might be overrun by the Abyssal horde.

The former could theoretically be carried out in practice, since it would increase the number of ship girls in the initial engagement phase and improve their odds, and to split up and retreat might cause them to split up their forces in the second phase of battle."

Admiral Mako nodded, agreeing with her experienced heavy cruiser's viewpoint as she thought about the pros and cons of both alternatives.

"Well, great minds think alike, I suppose.

I also think that the latter seems too demanding of the other Strike Groups, since they hail from other regions and won't like it if they sustain more casualties than usual when resisting the wave of advancing Abyssals in the second stage of the battle.

The former strategy is a viable alternative to our plan, since getting the 11th and 13th Strike Groups to reinforce the 1st Strike Group would improve their odds of survival due to greater numbers.

It also occurred to me that the Abyssals might split up their forces to chase the 1st, 11th and 13th on three fronts, although the bulk of the armada will still be headed towards us.

Still…"

Admiral Mako looked down at the laptop and commented on how she wasn't an oracle and could only hypothesize how the Abyssals would attack them, and prepare accordingly.

"I can't say for certain how the battle will play out, but I want to prepare for everything and make sure that we're not caught off guard.

What I can do for you all is to think up of how the Abyssals would attack us, and I have to try and counter-attack them with tactics of our own."

Ashigara nodded as she pointed out the shape of the battlefield and how the Abyssals could potentially encircle their main armada by sailing around Oshima Island, and how they might have to play a game of merry-go-round on the battlefield if that happened.

"If the Abyssals sailed in a clockwise direction around Oshima Island in order to attempt to hit us from behind, I think we need to play their game by sailing South, evading them and sailing out into the Pacific.

It's us which they want, and we'll sail over the naval mines in order to bait them over to us, and during the second and third stage, they would be stuck in between us in the South and the jet fighters and artillery to the North."

Admiral Mako nodded approvingly, noting it down as her fingers clacked on the keyboard while she commended Ashigara for thinking up of another plan in response to the possible moves and tactics which the Abyssals could utilize to better position themselves.

"Hmm, it's a radical move, but I don't want to discount any possibilities, since they may blindside us if they do the last thing we expect them to do.

Well played, Ashigara."

Ashigara nodded, leaning on her Admiral's shoulder as she commented.

"Well, just doing my part to help out.

You need help with anything else?"

Admiral Mako nodded, opening up another computer window as she looked at the intelligence which the Combined Fleet had gathered from Aogashima Island, speaking with Ashigara in a hushed tone.

"Our Infiltration and 1st Fleet have been on Aogashima Island, and what they found disturbs me greatly.

Look at these."

She spun the laptop a little in order to allow Ashigara a better view of the screen, and Ashigara's eyebrows creased upon reading more about the Abyssal activity on Aogashima Island.

Reviewing the information which the Combined Fleet had obtained by visiting Aogashima Island, she pored through the notes which her ship girls had typed on their laptops in their attempts to deduce what the Abyssals were up to.

And finally, Ashigara looked up and met Admiral Mako's gaze, now feeling extremely concerned about its relation to Apocalypse as she asked.

"It's that bad, huh?"

Admiral Mako nodded as she turned the laptop back to herself, her eyebrows creasing in frustration as she looked at the computer screen as though staring harder at the screen would somehow help her divine all the answers, remarking gruffly.

"Yes.

I know that all this is pointing to some sort of conclusion, and I have the puzzle pieces at hand.

It's just that I don't know how to put them together just yet, and it's driving me crazy."

Ashigara shrugged, understanding her need to relieve her Admiral's stress as her girlfriend while she thought of something to say off the top of her head in order to distract Admiral Mako, commenting offhandedly about Admiral Mako's last words.

"Well, I'm thinking that if you were a guy, I could've used the line 'I'd drive _you_ crazy with my skill with your gear stick', but eh…"

Admiral Mako's face flushed in response to that sex joke, and as they both looked each other in the eye, Ashigara's face became a luminescent red as she covered her face and turned away hastily, mumbling silently to herself.

"Oh. My. Fucking. _Goooooddddd…_

Did I really go through with saying that?

I simply wanted to make you feel better, and…

Not like that!"

Raising her voice before Admiral Mako could use her unintentional double entendre against her, Ashigara turned back to find that her Admiral was barely restraining her enthusiastic giggle, pouting as she shoved her face in front of Admiral Mako's face and ordered through clenched teeth.

" _You. Didn't. Hear. Anything."_

Turning away as Admiral broke out into a hearty laugh and threatened to tear up, Ashigara wondered if she was to ever free herself from her curse to forever encounter these humiliating sexual situations, which were entirely a result of her own (unintentional) doing.

But Admiral Mako had to go on about the sexual joke which she had accidentally blurted out, questioning just what ride were they supposed to emulate.

"Well, it would certainly be one hell of a ride, but what would it be like?

Neither of us is a guy, so it certainly wouldn't be a drop tower ride, but then…

Perhaps a pirate ship ride, which oscillates back and forth…?"

Ashigara's hand slowly slid over her face as she facepalmed herself, something which she did quite often whenever Admiral Mako let her thoughts wander (sometimes on live TV) while a direct circuit went from her mind to her mouth, such as right now.

She turned back to face her Admiral, feeling rather incensed both at her Admiral for teasing her so much, and herself for being unable to participate in these 'mature' talks with Admiral Mako without becoming a blushing wreck, especially since she had already slept with Mako several times in the past.

"You…"

She inhaled sharply in order to gather her thoughts before reiterating herself.

"I thought I told you _to forget it."_

But as expected, her Admiral had something to say as a witty retort to her request, tilting her head and placing her index finger on her left cheek as she pointed out a loophole in Ashigara's words.

"Well, you said forget about it, but there was nothing about not talking about it.

And by the way, what should your ride be called?

I mean, you're no longer called 'Lone Wolf', but 'Hungry Wolf' might be a bit too mainstream, despite being true…"

The Myoukou-Class cruiser's eye twitched twice as she had an inkling of where this conversation was headed towards, and she wanted to do everything in her power to change their course before hitting the conversational iceberg which she dreaded with all her heart, leaning in as she remarked darkly.

"Don't do it.

No more bullying."

And Admiral Mako, blushing and breaking out into a shit-eating grin, leaned in intimately and whispered conspiratorially into her ear.

"How does 'Howling Wolf' sound, eh?"

Ashigara's right eye twitched uncontrollably in anger, breaking out into a small temper tantrum as she was reminded of something which she desperately wanted to travel back in time in order to erase from history, shrieking as she waved her fists around like a child.

"NOOOOOO!

Don't remind me of _that!_

 _Anything but that!"_

Admiral Mako broke out into a fit of laughter, teasing her about the embarrassingly well-known incident between them which the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser was occasionally reminded of by someone in order to induce either a rage-induced tantrum or a mental Blue Screen Of Death, Admiral Mako speaking after calming down and bringing her ragged breathing under control.

"That'd be one hell of a theme park ride, you know?

To ride this great and magnificent beast across the seven seas.

Or on land, would that mean taking a joyride on this beast cross the seven continent-"

Ashigara took several deep breaths in order to calm herself down before she attempted to punch her Admiral in the face, her bosom heaving as she felt the temperature of her sweaty, blushing face cool down a little after she reminded herself that she was doing this to get the Admiral to lighten up.

And as she heard her heartbeat slow down somewhat, she felt that her Admiral had become a little too silent for her liking.

Turning around in order to observe her Admiral, Ashigara was somewhat unsettled by how Admiral Mako had a 'eureka' moment, although she knew that her Admiral's epiphanies were nothing positive since they were about the Abyssals' plans.

Her expression was a mix of excitement, concern and fear as she was excited about having an epiphany, yet looked absolutely horrified about what it would entail, looking away at nothing in particular as her hands froze in their last known position.

And while Ashigara was concerned about her girlfriend, it was hard for her to find the right words to reassure her since she was the boisterous sister who preferred to be on the battlefield while engaging the enemy, and aside from giving people hugs, these situations often left her stumped.

But Admiral Mako solved that quandary for her as she stood up, now looking as if she was working out what to do in her mind before finally shifting her gaze downwards to look Ashigara dead in the eye, leaning down to clasp Ashigara's face as she cooed.

"That's it.

Ashigara, you're a genius.

I think I have an idea of what the Abyssals are up to, thanks to you."

Ashigara shook her head, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion as she looked up at her Admiral's relieved smile and remarked with nary an idea of what went on in her Admiral's head other than her ship girls, sex, and sex with her ship girls.

"Um OK?

I mean, you're the one who made the connection, so you're technically the genius, but… OK?"

Admiral Mako cocked her head whilst raising an eyebrow in order to concede the point, leaning in closer as she softly spoke her next words.

"Well, I suppose I am.

I know I'll be paying for my misbehavior tonight, and I'll be eagerly waiting for your punishments.

But first, let me leave you with this parting gift…"

Before leaning in, closing her eyes and giving her a passionate kiss, Ashigara being caught slightly off-guard before being reminded of Admiral Mako's impressive oral skills, amongst many others which were only known by her circle of girlfriends…

Ashigara's face erupted in another furious blush as Admiral Mako drew back, their sensual lips parting as she lifted her eyelids in order to lay eyes upon her Admiral, who gave her a genuine smile which was now relieved of another burden, something which meant that she was doing something right,even if it was to unintentionally provide inspiration for her.

Packing up as she closed her laptop and tossed her disposable lunchbox into the bin, Admiral Mako clamped her laptop underneath her left arm as she gave Ashigara another quick peck on the right cheek, looking at her with tender eyes before wordlessly turning away to perform her duties.

She left behind a silent Ashigara alone with her thoughts, looking at nothing in particular as she brushed her lips with her gloved fingers while rewinding and replaying the entire conversation in her mind as she attempted to make sense of everything, from the myriad of emotions which she experienced in such a short length of time to how Admiral Mako was able to achieve an epiphany in their time together.

And the only word she could come up with in her loved-addled mind was a simple,

' _What?'_


	38. Chapter 38 - Ghost Within The Shell

**Author's Notes**

 _Hey everyone, I've been thinking about my story for a while now, and how it might be getting a bit soft (maybe?) aside from my bloody battles._

 _I understand that there are worse things that could happen to a ship girl other than death (as Mr Hieda's Ambience shows in spades), b_ _ut while I may not reach that level of dark (likely not, but we'll see how the story goes), I want there to be tension in the story._

 _And the only minor complaint I may have with his Ambience story despite being a very big fan of it_ _is how very little ship girls die for real if at all, aside from Shoukaku who's been brought back anyway, and in place, shit happens to them all the time, balancing the scales by reducing the number of perma-deaths, but adding to the number of shitty situations and people in their world._

 _So while I had a list of ship girls who will eventually be axed off permanently_ _in my mind,_ _in order to correct for this cosmic imbalance, I should be adding a few more ship girls to this list, for them to be killed off later._

 _And I now understand the fundamental difference between my story and Mr Hieda's Ambience; If his story is to rebuild the world after the downfall of human civilization from the bottom up, my story is almost like the inverse, and I should make everything in my story come crashing down like a house of cards, from the top-down, and I now know the identity of my story and how I should develop it._

 _Btw, new cover art is up._

* * *

Tatsuta was sitting down with Tenryuu, Aoba and Akashi in the Engineering Block on the 16th of May, having listened to Akashi talking about and informing them of Shigure's injury in the sortie to Aogashima Island and current condition, and she was currently talking Aoba out of going to Shigure's ward right now in order to check up on her, Aoba still sounding rather unsure of Akashi's attempts at reassurance.

"Are you sure I shouldn't visit Shigure, Akashi?

I mean, she's my friend, and I just want to drop in make sure she's ok- "

"Which you can do in your free time.

Right now, we need to focus on making sure that Tatsuta and Tenryuu survive Project Psyche.

I mean, they _are_ your friends too, right?"

Aoba looked away and shifted her head in order to concede the point, looking as if she wanted to scratch her head, but her fingernails scratched the surface of her copper helmet as she looked exasperated at her inability to scratch her head without exposing herself to the radio waves emitted by the machines in the Engineering Block, shrugging and lowering her head as she simply remarked.

"Touche."

And Akashi leaned in as she tried to soften her stance by trying to reassure Aoba of how she had already guaranteed Shigure's full recovery by personally operating on her.

"Look, I operated on Shigure, so she's out of the woods now.

Trust me when I say that your company would be much appreciated by her, because she can also make sure that you're been alright during these few weeks.

But we need to focus on keeping Tenryuu and Tatsuta alive right now, so that Shigure can see them again.

That takes higher priority right now, yes?"

Aoba nodded resignedly as she was now convinced to see things from Akashi's point of view, Tenryuu patting Aoba on the shoulder as and Tatsuta could see that even though Tenryuu shared the Aoba-Class cruiser's concerns, she bit down and accepted the fact that her little destroyer friend was going to eventually get hurt anyway out on the battlefield, and could only pray for her safe return as she explained.

"I feel your pain, Aoba.

But she's alive and Akashi's stabilized her condition, so what we can do right now is focus on Project Psyche.

This way, I can become stronger and protect Shigure in your stead.

So let's do our best, alright?"

Aoba nodded, looking at both Tenryuu and Tatsuta as she flashed them a genuine smile which Tatsuta was somewhat surprised to find that the heavy cruiser was still capable of despite everything that happened to her, but she listened to Aoba as she expressed her relief at being able to help everyone in her own way.

"Thank you, all of you.

I knew I made a mistake all those years ago, but I must thank you all for being so patient with me and helping me turn a mistake into an opportunity to help others.

To learn from my experimental blunder and allow me the chance to apply myself despite being…"

Knocking on her helmet in order to indicate her debilitating condition, her smile never wavered as she continued her sentence.

" … what I am today, and - "

"Who."

Everyone turned to Tatsuta after hearing her interruption, who surprised herself by speaking up in order to correct her friend and comrade, Tatsuta taking the chance to clarify herself as she spoke.

"It's always been 'Who I am', and it'll remain that way forever.

Even if an accident changed you on the inside and made you a recluse, we'll never change our description of you to 'what'.

So please, do not see yourself that way."

Everyone blinked in surprise before they turned back to see Aoba's smile as it became radiant, almost as if she had returned to the Aoba of old as she continued.

"Thank you, Tatsuta-san.

As I said, I want to be of use to everyone despite being crippled in some way, and this is my chance to help you become stronger by applying what I learnt from my research into a different field."

Tenryuu nodded, and she turned back to look at Akashi, her expression darkening a little as she asked for more details about Shigure's hospitalization.

"And how long until Shigure will fully recover?

She's a destroyer, so I believe that she isn't going to take too long in the docks, right?"

Akashi nodded, turning back to her work on the medical chair in order to work on and finish the preparations to Project Psyche shortly before the two Tenryuu-Class cruisers sat in them and underwent the first-of-its-kind procedure, sounding extremely confident about her medical skills.

"Well, you're not exactly wrong there.

I won't be surprised if she's up and walking right now, and her burns will only hurt as much as a harsh sunburn by tomorrow.

I've brought ship girls back from the dead even after their teammates brought back nothing but their brain matter."

Before paraphrasing a certain quote from a famous book to double as a boast regarding her skills.

"I am fully capable of operating on and resurrecting the dead, to breathe life back into them under the correct circumstances.

Those who believe in my skills and expertise as a medic will live on, even after death.

So long as the right body parts are brought back to me intact, I can and _will_ revive you."

Aoba feigned a surprised expression as she raised her hands in mock-surrender and leaned away from Akashi while muttering,

"Alright, alright, we just went there…"

While Tatsuta, unsure of how appropriate it was for Akashi to believe in herself to such a ridiculous extent, piped up with a genuine question about the repair ship.

"Do you really believe in yourself to such an extent, Akashi-san?

To confidently say that you can revive everyone who lies down on your operating table?"

And Akashi's answer was direct, temporarily stopping her work as she looked into Tatsuta's eyes and spoke.

"Yes.

My thoughts and my actions are my own, and if I can't believe in my own skills and knowledge despite being in full control of myself, then how can I expect the patient to do that in my stead?

If I say it's possible to revive you, I'll do everything in my power to do so.

The uncertain variables lie in how much of your corpse your teammates can bring back to me, and where I'm doing the surgery; a battlefield isn't ideal, but I've pulled it off before."

Holding her hands out, she continued on about how she was the one chosen to be the repair ship of Yokosuka, amongst her other clones.

"Besides, I'm in charge of all of you, which is already a testament to my skill which is comparable to only a handful of repair ships around the world.

If a human doctor is only capable of so much due to his limits, shouldn't I be capable of doing so much more, to the point where it's nigh-impossible for you to die at my hands as a patient?

If you say that I'm building my own hype up too much, I'd like to remind you that I _am_ the hype; that's why I'm here, in Yokosuka."

Nodding, Tatsuta asked her about how Akashi couldn't guarantee their safety in Project Psyche, although she had an inkling of what the answer would be.

"So you can guarantee our revival on the operating table, but not in Project Psyche?"

Akashi shrugged as she pointed out how this procedure was different from others, and how it involved tinkering with unknown variables.

"Project Psyche attempts to access and utilize technology which is almost beyond our understanding, if not for the help of the Fairies.

This is no longer just a medical issue pertaining to the ship girl body, it's also a psychological and higher-level engineering problem which is, in some parts, beyond my field of expertise.

I can deal with the medical issues of Project Psyche in order to keep you alive while 'diving', but I can't protect you from every single threat in this procedure."

Aoba joined Akashi in their work on the medical chair as Tenryuu asked, and Tatsuta could see that despite desiring strength through the procedure that was Project Psyche, she was becoming a little nervous about the possibility of an error killing either or both of them.

"Um…

Not that I'm nervous or anything…"

Tatsuta snorted at the blatant lie, Tenryuu giving her the stink eye via an aside glance before she continued her question.

"But on the off chance that we do die, how will it feel like?

Will it hurt?"

Aoba looked up, explaining to them how this was going to go.

"Well, it'll hurt as much as falling asleep in a wink, since this is going to take place in something akin to a dreamworld which the both of you will share, like users interacting with each other on a shared platform, hosted by our electronic servers.

And even if you die for real, you'll simply flat-line upon falling unconscious before you find yourself being activated as another summoned ship girl with no memory of this procedure or this life, so there's no pain involved.

The phenomenon Kyoka Suigetsu is a near-death experience, but the cause of 'near-death' in this case is simply us putting your body to sleep and invoking the phenomenon while keeping your material body on the knife's edge between life and death.

However, if you haven't died when you wake up in the dreamworld, we can keep your physical body alive, which is what Akashi-san does, while I keep this dreamworld intact with help of the human engineers and Fairies."

Giving an aside nod towards Akio, Kousuke and the Fairies quietly going about their business in the same hangar Tenryuu and Tatsuta nodded as they now understood what everyone's roles were in this procedure, and Akashi wanted to let the duo know of what would happen should they survive this procedure.

"Well, if you are to survive this procedure, I'd like to let you know that we believe subsequent dives would be made significantly easier since first contact has been made.

Your psyche and body would be more comfortable with arriving at the threshold which differentiates the living and the dead without accidentally killing you, and we theorize that it's highly unlikely for you to die in the subsequent dives."

Lifting her arm after hitting the 'Enter' key, Aoba chirped in order to address the Tenryuu-Class light cruisers.

"Well, I'd say that we're almost ready to start the procedure, so would you two like to take a seat?"

Tatsuta gulped, looking at Tenryuu and meeting her gaze as her elder sister tried to reassure her about the odds of their survival.

"Well, it's now or never.

It's not as if waiting is going to improve our odds in any way, unless you have another failsafe to put in place, girls…?"

Turning back to Aoba and Akashi, the both of them shook their heads as Akashi looked up at Tatsuta, her hardened gaze softening as the repair ship did her best to reassure Tatsuta about taking one for the team.

"It'll be like falling asleep."

Nodding, Tatsuta accepted her odds as she tucked her hair behind her left ear as she sat down on the medical chair positioned beside Tenryuu's, swinging her shapely legs up to place them on the leg rest as she allowed Aoba to fastened her to the seat via the restraints and attach the nodes to the sides of her head, feeling the thump of her nervous heart within her chest as she started sweating a little.

The Engineering Block was now silent as opposed to the quietness before, almost as if everyone now held their breath while working at their stations, almost like silent prayer for their safe return.

A stifling atmosphere, and their fears expressed through the false tranquility was slowly getting to her.

She had to admit, she was still human and was thus a little afraid of dying, and since Tatsuta now had more to live for in this life, it was harder for her to accept death as an acceptable outcome, and she shut her eyes while hoping against hope that they would both make it.

She wouldn't settle for anything less.

Her eyelids became heavy, and she closed her eyes as a wave of sleepiness overtook her, and she listened to the rhythmic pace… of her breathing and heart… beat as everything faded… to black…

* * *

Prying open her eyelids, Tatsuta wondered if she was dead.

But she laid eyes upon the magnificent and beautiful moon, and the starless night sky which occupied a large portion of her vision as bits and pieces of the conversation which she had with Aoba and Akashi were slowly recounted in her mind, and while she was somewhat convinced that she wasn't dead, the sensations which she experienced were far too realistic for her liking.

She felt the cool seawater wet her clothes as she sat up from the supine position on the ocean, and she tasted the saltiness of the air which all ship girls were familiar with as she frantically looked around for her sister Tenryuu.

Bloody hell, if Tenryuu didn't make it…

Panic and desperation threatened to creep into her heart as she tried not to think back on the times back in World War 2, when she had to keep fighting on despite knowing that Tenryuu had sunk and left her alone in this world…

No.

She closed her eyes in order to bring her shivering body under control, chills running down her spine as she dug her fingernails into her palms and allowed the silence of this world to envelop her, afraid that being alone in this world was what she dreaded most, since absolutely no one was here to accompany her.

Something brushed up against her sleeve, and she dared to open her eyes in order to find an Indian Lotus floating on the ocean surface with no means of propulsion save for the waves, exhaling slowly in order to calm her nerves as she slowly stood up on the ocean in order to survey her surroundings.

She observed her environment as she turned on her ship girl HUD, turning around to find that the entire ocean was littered with Indian Lotuses, some of which were knocking up against a prone body on the surface of the ocean…

Tatsuta did a double take as she laid eyes upon the seemingly unconscious ship girl whose dark uniform was almost camouflaged against the night sea, activating her boat slippers and breaking out into a run as she sprinted over to where her sister was, too afraid of being let down to allow herself to get her hopes up.

She slid on the ocean as she slipped her hand underneath Tenryuu's neck and head, rolling her over in order to look her in the face as she cradled her unconscious Tenryuu and elevated her upper body at an angle before she called Tenryuu's name softly.

"Tenryuu?

Please be alright.

Please, don't leave me…"

She could see that her sister's unconscious expression was shifting a little, and Tatsuta, no longer having any reservations about expressing her concern for her sister's well-being, leaned in closer in order to listen to what her sister might want to say.

And was greeted with Tenryuu yawning in her face, getting a good look at Tenryuu's tongue, throat, tonsils and uvula as Tatsuta's concerned expression deflated into a deadpan one, lifting her free hand in order to flick Tenryuu on the face with her index finger.

Tenryuu clutched at her nose as she sprung awake, her eyelids flying open as she looked around and scanned her environment whilst gasping,

"What!

What?

Tatsuta?!

Where are we?"

Tatsuta looked around, understand that they were now in Kyoka Suigetsu, and were going to go through the motions of what other ship girls experienced in here as she now felt very lost since the compass on her HUD was unable to determine where North was.

And like other ship girls described, here were no stars in the night sky for her to perform celestial navigation, leaving them effectively stranded in the middle of nowhere as she answered honestly, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"We're in the world of Kyoka Suigetsu.

I can't find the Earth's magnetic North, there are no stars for us to orientate ourselves, and the moon's a lot larger or closer than usual.

And there're Indian Lotuses everywhere, just as described…"

But Tenryuu grabbed Tatsuta's sleeve, causing Tatsuta to look down at Tenryuu's eyes which were starting to tear up a little upon comprehending the fact that they had both survived the procedure.

"Then…

Did… Did we both beat the long odds, Tatsuta?

We're both going to live through this, right?"

Tatsuta's expression softened upon seeing her elder sister looking so vulnerable, having known that she fully expected and prepared for the worst to happen, and was almost unable to believe that the both of them were lucky enough to survive the procedure, nodding understandingly as she answered.

"Yes, Tenryuu-chan.

Even though I will say that 30% isn't exactly considered 'long odds', but…

But…"

Her words of comfort died in her mouth as her peripheral vision was distracted by her reflection as it warped on the ocean surface, and her breathing stopped as her moving reflection stopped mirroring her actions by shifting its gaze from Tatsuta to Tenryuu, and then back to her.

All this occurred while she was still looking down at her reflection on the moonlit ocean.

Reflections weren't supposed to work that way.

A pale hand which was enveloped by a large white sleeve burst out of the water, catching her forearm as it exerted a surprising amount of strength despite being a mere reflection.

And despite her best attempts to resist the pale arm's strength, she could hear Tenryuu exclaiming in surprise as she was suddenly pulled under,

"Tatsuta?!"

She attempted to resist as she stared down at whoever was attempting to drag her down while her hair floated and flailed wildly around her head, and while she was warned beforehand about how their doppelgangers would attempt to pull them into the abyss, it was still a bizarre experience to look at someone who looked exactly like you, right down to the widow's peak hairstyle, facial features and even the hair strand which flowed down the middle of her face.

The difference between them was the fact that her doppelganger was dressed differently, and that everything save for her pupils were snow-white, her skin and hair a pale Abyssal white as her mostly-white color scheme only served to contrast with the pitch-black depths of the abyss behind her.

Almost like the pale moon, contrasting with the backdrop of the night sky…

Tatsuta snapped out of her thoughts as she attempted to wriggle out of her doppelganger's grip while Tenryuu desperately pulled on her other arm, air bubbles flowing out of her nostrils and mouth while the humanoid manifestation of her soul stared up at her with unblinking eyes, and she felt her lungs burn as seawater started to enter her nose and throat.

She saw a hand plunge into the ocean, grabbing her doppelganger's wrist as both their gazes snapped to the third arm, her doppelganger looking extremely confused as Tenryuu flexed her arm muscles in order to haul them both out onto the ocean surface, upon which Tatsuta fell back and collapsed into a heap as she inhaled sweet, sweet air, hacking and coughing in order to clear her respiratory system and barely noticed Tenryuu reaching back down with both arms as she grunted, remarking in a no-nonsense tone.

"Come here, bitch!"

And Tatsuta got a good look at her doppelganger as Tenryuu dragged her out of the ocean, hauling her onto the ocean surface.

Her doppelganger was wearing snow-white feudal clothing which consisted of a _shitagi_ , or underclothes which were a shorter version of a kimono, an over-garment known as a _kosode_ , and a pale _hakama_ which served as loose, pleated trousers.

Wrapped around her feet were white socks known as _tabi_ while straw sandals served as her shoes, and around her waist was an unusually-colored jet black sash used to fasten her clothes and insert some color variety, and a white _haori_ was worn around her body in a manner not unlike that of a modern long-coat, and her pale hair and face was drenched in seawater as she looked at them, got up and pulled out…

Tatsuta instinctively burst forward as she barely deflected her doppelganger's surprise jab with a glaive which she pulled out of nowhere, and Tenryuu lampshaded this as Tatsuta struggled with her doppelganger in a little tug of war.

"Woah!

Where did she pull that glaive out of?!"

Tatsuta could feel her doppelganger's surprising strength slowly overwhelming hers as she attempted to pull back the glaive for another thrust, and the expression of both Tatsutas contorted in snarls as she kept her hand on the glaive's pole.

And finally, her doppelganger (which she mentally named !Tatsuta for lack a more imaginative nickname) spoke, sounding a lot more emotive and human than a rank-and-file Abyssal despite possessing the same hollow echo in an Abyssal's voice, and lacked the edge which other Abyssals possessed when communicating with ship girls in extremely rare instances.

{You…

How are the two of you here?

Tatsuta-chan should be the only one here, so how…}

Tatsuta could feel Tenryuu pulling on her uniform, urgently whispering into her ear,

"Tatsuta!

Behind us!"

She made sure that !Tatsuta wasn't going to pull a fast one on her, before daring to sneak a peek back at who she suspected to be the doppelganger of Tenryuu.

A pale figure partially emerged from the ocean, head lowered eerily as her snow-white hair covered her facial features, creeping up upon them and performing an impressive impression of Sadako from _Ring_ , all while seawater rolled off of her drenched hair, skin and clothes as if she were shedding a transparent cloak of water.

And although it was clear that she was a mirror image of Tenryuu in every way save for her mechanical ears, !Tenryuu's uniform was vastly different from Tenryuu's, much like !Tatsuta's was to hers.

Her forearms and lower legs were cocooned in protective arm gauntlets and leg armor, and her shoulders, thighs and hips were shielded by pleated armor as she wore a form-fitting chest-plate on her torso, the rest of her body was covered by tough, graying cloth as !Tenryuu lifted her head to reveal a simple eye-patch covering her own left eye.

Reaching down to the katana which rested on the ride side of her belt with her gloved hand, the long-coat attachments attached around her hips flared up as Tenryuu spun around whilst pulling Tatsuta away from the deadly sword slash which nearly clipped Tenryuu's sleeve, halting their spin as they faced their two doppelgangers.

!Tenryuu looked to !Tatsuta as she asked in a surprised tone,

{Wait.

How the hell are the both of us here, in the same dreamworld?

And they are neither dead nor dying, so what gives?}

And !Tatsuta turned to the two Tenryuu-Class light cruisers, pointing her glaive in their direction as she gave them the same saccharine smile which Tatsuta never had the chance to face off against before this, her doppelganger threatening them politely at glaivepoint.

{Oh, I believe they are the ones who are behind this, so if you don't mind, would you please provide an explanation for this anomaly?}

Tatsuta, holding out a hand to protect Tenryuu and the other on her chest, stepped in as she attempted to explain and defuse the tense situation before things devolved into a brawl where they were at a clear disadvantage, since they weren't armed, while their doppelgangers were.

"Listen to us, please.

We understand that you are a near-death phenomenon which we believe to be a sentient manifestation of our souls.

This shared dream world was our attempt to communicate with you by invoking this phenomenon and creating a shared world which both our minds would occupy and fill, so that we would be able to talk to you.

Was your attempt to drag us underwater your way of helping us pass on by assimilating us back into you?"

!Tatsuta raised an eyebrow, still keeping her glaive pointed at them as she answered them while !Tenryuu silently kept her katana unsheathed.

{Well, of course.

In the cycle of reincarnation, we, the soul, are the one unchanging constant.

To assimilate all the information that makes up your experiences and memories into us before leaving your physical body, that is what death is, the soul leaving the body and passing onto the next life, no?}

Tenryuu looked rather curious about how they functioned, asking about why they chose to take on appearances which bore a passing resemblance to them.

"And if so, why choose to look like us?

I mean, don't you have a true form for you to take on?"

!Tenryuu chose to answer that question in lieu of Tasuta's doppelganger, going through the motion of _chiburi_ as she slashed diagonally downwards to mimic swinging blood off her blade, and then running the flat side of the blade across the mouth of the scabbard before sheathing it.

{Well, think of us, the soul, as a server in which personality templates of every ship girl and Abyssal are stored.

When we're summoned into this world, we take into account the amount of resources used and luck of the draw to determine which ship girl personality we should extract from our servers and 'lock in' in order for the Fairies to build the body of the chosen ship girl in question.

While we become deeply ingrained in the body and power it behind the scenes, you, the ship girl personality, wakes up into the real world and will forget your 'rebirth'.

However…}

Tatsuta connected the dots in her mind, interrupting !Tenryuu by expressing her hypothesis on the true nature of the soul.

"But you, the soul, possess qualities similar to that of water, all-encompassing but fluid, and you possess no concrete personality of your own despite being sentient storage devices and infinite-power batteries and despite storing templates of all our personalities inside you.

You must reflect the look of the ship girl whom you extracted from yourself in order to gain a substantial body, just how water poured into a cup takes the form of the cup.

Am I right?"

!Tatsuta looked at Tatsuta, looking rather amused and surprised to see that Tatsuta was able to understand their true nature, her smile shifting in order to become a little more genuine as she lowered her glaive, Tatsuta loosening up a little while she heard Tenryuu exhale in relief as !Tatsuta chose to elaborate.

{Yes.

Much like how the ocean births life but possesses no concrete form, we, the souls, extract you from our technological servers in order for you to surface back up into the real world, while we stay down here and power your body whilst possessing no material form or a true 'self' in terms of personality.

And when you come close to death and almost pass on to the next life, you appear here and we drag you back down in order to assimilate you back into us before leaving your physical body, and moving onto the next life which, of course, is that of an Abyssal, and then a ship, and so on.

The reason why you surface just before you're pulled down to a depth of no return is because you are revived in time before we can complete the assimilation, thus a near-death experience which you call…}

Looking upwards and away as she likely accessed Tatsuta's memory archives due to the bond between the mind and the soul in the ship girl Trinity, !Tatsuta looked back as she concluded.

{ … Kyoka Suigetsu, hmm?

An appropriate description of the phenomenon.

After all, we are snow-white mirror reflections of yourselves dwelling in the depths of the pitch-black abyss, almost as if we were the reflections of the moon against the night sky.

And not unlike the monochrome Abyssals, hm?}

And !Tatsuta winked in their direction upon completing her sentence.

But Tenryuu, looking extremely interested in knowing more about these philosophical topics which they were delving into, scooped up a floating Indian Lotus in her palm as she held it out and asked her doppelgangers about why these were present in their dreamworld.

"And why are these here?

I understand that these make up the 'Flower' part of the 'Mirror Flower Water Moon', AKA Kyoka Suigetsu, but is there any particular reason why they're in our dreams?"

And !Tenryuu, looking a little surprised at how Tenryuu actively wanted to learn more about this world and about them, wore a sad smile on her face as she relaxed and placed her hands on the pleated armor on her hips before she answered.

{Well, they are here to symbolize you, the ship girls.

Lotus flowers are capable of surfacing and blossoming despite being planted in the bottom of muddy waters and swamps, breaking the surface as its unstained petals unfurl majestically, its beauty unstained by the impurities that pollute its place of origin.

Isn't it the ideal representation of you ship girls, perfectly beautiful ladies of war who are born from and rise above the carnage, the bloodshed, the sins, the corpses and ashes of all who participated and perished in the inferno that is war, to appear in this world as flawless, unblemished beauties?}

Tenryuu looked down as Tatsuta understood how Tenryuu felt a little down after hearing that answer, watching her squat down and gently place the lotus flower back into the ocean as Tatsuta continued with her next question, curious about their manufacturing origins.

"If I may ask, who created us?

The Fairies tell us that even they are incapable of creating something like you, an intangible power source which produces a seemingly infinite output of energy, so who created us?"

!Tenryuu and !Tatsuta looked at each other, before !Tatsuta looked down and answered in a cryptic manner, not meeting their gazes and mildly drawing Tatsuta's suspicion.

{The creation of each and every one of us is a masterpiece, perfection come alive; the creation process involving hundreds of millions, all who poured their heart and soul into making an everlasting power source.

We are the result of their blood, sweat and tears, and using higher-level technology which will not be made readily available for what we _generously_ estimate to be another two to three millennia from now.}

Tatsuta pulled her head back, her mind reeling at the scale of how much effort was required to make just one of them, Tenryuu recounting something in her head before stating.

"Well, that means that bigger countries, like India, China, the USA, all of them can create us right now, right?"

Looking at each other again, !Tenryuu chose to answer this time as she pointed out the fractured factions within said countries and the shortsightedness of humans.

{Even if they have the manpower, they're currently divided into smaller factions, like the Democrats and Republicans in the USA, for example.

Besides, no one population in this world currently possess the long-term motivation and vision to put aside _all_ their differences and work together as a whole, untiring, diligent, and be prepared to make the greatest sacrifice to order to attain the greatest power.

If you can confidently say it to my face and prove it, I'll eat my words when I look into your memories and see it for myself.}

Tenryuu's shoulders slumped as she looked away and seemed somewhat ashamed for asking such a seemingly naive question, but !Tenryuu patted her shoulder as she spoke reassuringly in a softer and more casual tone (The death glare which Tatsuta sent her way probably also had something to do with that).

{Look, I'm not putting mankind down.

It's just that you have to be realistic.

This isn't a problem of technology not being advanced enough to create a ship girl soul, but it's the fact that we need to have everyone participate and be ready to sacrifice, like, literally everything about themselves to be able to create a stable source of infinite energy, capable of regulating itself and its power output.

No great feat is accomplished without sacrifices, right?}

Tenryuu nodded as she understood how it seemed too much of them to expect all of mankind to simply put all their differences aside, sacrifice their time and exhaust their efforts, all for the big-picture in which they couldn't experience the benefits firsthand, Tatsuta's ears perking as she heard the 'self-regulating' part and promptly changed the subject, since she felt that their doppelgangers were being cryptic about this one topic on purpose and wouldn't budge even if they pried.

"About that part about being self-regulating…

Does that mean that unlike our discredited theory of each soul only being only a 'light cruiser' soul or a 'battleship' soul, you instead regulate your energy output to keep each ship class up and running according to how much power they require?"

!Tatsuta shot her a grateful smile as she answered knowingly,

{Well, yes.

And as a side note, we call it mana, and it is the life force which powers you.

But while we call it mana, it is actually energy which is drawn from us, used to power your bodies, and technological devices or technology-based 'superpowers', through various means.

The mana required to run these varies according to what you receive, but rest assured that we will impart the relevant technological know-hows in order to implement these upgrades.

Your enhanced memories will come in useful here, since this is still a dream which isn't experienced through your five senses, nor is it a visual hallucination or whatever; it's all in your head and cannot be simply transferred like a memory file, since those technically transfer records of physical sensations and experiences.

After all, according to your memories, isn't the illustration of this world which you view drawn on paper?}

Tatsuta lifted an eyebrow in order to concede the point, but Tenryuu looked confused as to why they couldn't simply draw mana in bulk from their souls in order to overwhelm enemies en masse.

"And why can't we just draw enough mana from you to perform a Kamehameha repeatedly to wipe out armadas?"

!Tenryuu raised an eyebrow upon hearing that, looking at Tenryuu as she explained how overloading their physical bodies with mana, AKA energy, was _not_ a good idea if they were at all concerned with long-term survivability.

{That is not possible.

Well, I mean, it is possible for us to turn up the flow of mana into your body to the point where you're brimming with energy, in order to allow you access to a large amount of mana.

But let's discount the amount of mana used to power your body, and focus on the surplus of energy, or mana, which we supply to you in order to power your auxiliary 'functions'.

If your body isn't capable of handling the mana dump, it'll wear down the survivability of your body and possibly cause it to eventually break down.

And this is an unlikely-but-still possible result, but you know what a sudden surge of energy in a contained vessel is going to cause?}

Tenryuu's doppelganger held up her hands and balled up her fists, before making a _whoosh_ sound and expanding her fingers, all while !Tatsuta chimed in as she clarified one of the biggest problems with drawing so much energy from them.

{The problem isn't our incapability to give you the amount of mana you desire, but the problem is whether your physical body is capable of handling the surge of mana without simply breaking down in a potentially explosive reaction.

On the upside, it'll make you extremely potent suicide bombers, and you'll get to go out with a bang.}

Their doppelgangers smirked at the use of dark humor as they fist-bumped each other, and despite Tatsuta's appreciation for morbid jokes, this time, it was too personal, and this made her feel a slight shiver run down her spine at its use after they had just survived a 30% chance of making it in Project Psyche.

Gripping her gloved fists a little tighter, Tatsuta forced a smile as she asked about how they would best utilize the surplus of mana to fight the Abyssal threat.

"So how are we to use the extra amount of mana we receive in order to fight the Abyssals?

I mean, we do not know of how we can use mana, so please elaborate."

!Tatsuta chose to answer this question as she looked down at the pitch-black ocean, speaking about how energy drawn from the soul can be transferred into upgraded machines and tools which were optimized to handle the energy surge and use it to do work.

{Superpowers and weapons are based on technology which exceeds that of mankind right now, and we will suggest a power to you which we deem a fit for your personality, experiences and potential.

And before you ask, each and every clone of you in different parts of the world goes through different experiences, so it's fairly unlikely that another Tatsuta, if she survives Project Psyche, will get the exact same power as you.

A crazed and more disturbed version of you would get a more potent, but double-edged weapon or power, to the point of being potentially self-destructive despite being nigh-unmatched in terms of power, so let's start with something simple, hmm?}

Nodding with a slight sweat-drop running down the side of her face at the thought of destroying herself with her own power for the sake of destroying all her enemies, Tatsuta strove to never become that psychotic for both her own and everyone else's sake as she saw !Tatsuta hide her glaive behind her back before continuing.

{For you, Tatsuta-chan, this weapon upgrade utilizes mana to extend the pole of this glaive via higher-level technology which alters the dimension known as length, and is activated via hand contact of the user with the glaive's shaft as you transfer mana through touch.

Obviously there exists a few extra levels of modification in order to improve its utility, but let's start with a demonstration.}

!Tatsuta produced her glaive, which had inexplicably shortened for some reason, and she must have seen Tatsuta's confused expression, because !Tatsuta smiled as she held the shortened glaive in her hand, now looking more like a kitchen knife as the single-edged blade now only had a short handle instead of a long pole behind it.

Her smile never wavered as !Tatsuta brought her shortened glaive up to her chest, supporting the butt of the glaive with her flattened left palm as she spoke.

{I know you're going to ask this, so I'll put this out there.

The function of this power is _not_ to simply extend the length of the glaive's pole, since this would cause the glaive to become wobbly.

The former is a result of higher-level technology which alters the dimensions of the pole while retaining the material strength and mass of the original glaive, albeit for as long as your mana continuously flows into it in order to keep this function activated.}

Tenryuu interrupted, unsure if engineering this technological device was even possible for them as she simply stated.

"That sounds impossible, man."

And !Tenryuu shot back.

{You're impossible.

Sentient A.I. which possesses a personality of its own, an intangible infinite-energy source, alien midget super-engineers.

Go in that corner, think about what you just said, then come back and tell what you redefine as impossible, bitch.}

Tenryuu looked away as she quietly scratched the side of her face with an extended middle finger, !Tenryuu rolling her eyes while Tatsuta and her doppelganger exhaled sharply, !Tatsuta continuing with her explanation.

{The speed in which the glaive extends is heavily reliant on the amount of mana transferred into the glaive via hand contact with the shaft.

And since the speed of extension increases drastically as more mana is pumped into the glaive, it's capable of doing this.

Apologies in advance on the off chance that you feel exhausted when you wake up.}

And Tatsuta barely saw a blur cross her vision as the air in the direction where the glaive was pointed at exploded and expanded, the two Tenryuu-Class light cruisers tensing up and turning back as it seemed as if something was fired into the ocean at a insane speed.

But as they saw the thrown-up seawater fall back into the sea, !Tatsuta spoke again, this time sounding as if she knew something they didn't.

{Allow me to repeat my previous move at a slower speed.

Blink and you'll miss it.}

Before Tatsuta saw an extending pole-like object smash into the ocean, throwing up seawater as the blur retracted somewhere beyond Tatsuta's field of vision, turning back to see that the blade of the glaive that was in !Tatsuta's hand was soaked in seawater, mentally connecting the dots as Tatsuta spoke with a newfound fear and admiration for the offered weapon upgrade.

"The glaive extends so quickly, to the point where it rivals she speed of a fired cannon shell, yes?"

!Tatsuta nodded, displaying a genuine smile as !Tenyuu spoke up in her stead and expressed how the usefulness of these weapons were a given , and it was up to them to find out how to best utilize these weapons.

{Yeah, although it requires a lot of mana to reach such an insane speed, so you'll likely be feeling fatigued for the rest of the day and probably the day after, factoring in your first use and depletion of your mana reserves.

These upgrades to your weapons are fueled by us, your soul, as we produce a surplus of energy known as mana, and the many ways which these modified weapons can be used are only limited by your imagination.

The problem, as stated earlier, is how your body can handle ever greater amounts of mana being pumped through your body; your body will become accustomed to the strain of transferring more and more mana through through itself into your weapon, not unlike a muscle becoming stronger through exercise.}

And !Tatsuta spoke about how they were unique in that their weapons were extensions of their bodies since they were crafted alongside the construction process which created them.

{And while we understand your concerns about not being physically buffed by being granted superpowers, you two are different from everyone else, since these weapons are created alongside your physical bodies, and you are used to using them, Sado…}

Dropping the name of Tatsuta's glaive as !Tatsuta accessed her memory files, !Tenryuu did the same as she cut in with the name of Tenryuu's sword,

{And Ezekiel.}

And !Tatsuta tilted her head in !Tenryuu's direction while lifting an eyebrow in order to acknowledge her input before finishing her sentence.

{So in some sense, these weapons are a part of you, are they not?}

Tenryuu drew back as she contemplated their doppelgangers' words, eventually nodding as she gave !Tenryuu an aside glance and asked meekly.

"W-Well, what's my superpower, or, well, super-weapon?

I'd like to know.

P-Please."

Before looking away abashedly, Tatsuta guessing she was likely too embarrassed and/or weirded out to face her doppelganger and ask for a super weapon, not unlike a child wishing for a Christmas present.

!Tenryuu's eyes widened a touch, before narrowing as she broke out into a mature smile and unsheathed her katana, holding it in a professional stance before she idly swung it away from everyone present, simply muttering.

{Blade Rush.}

She split a small area of the ocean as some sort of black flame flowed out from the edge of the katana's blade, the tip of the arc reaching about four meters in height and silencing the crowd as the crashing waves and sloshing of seawater caused by the flaming arc filled the void.

Tatsuta, after gawking at the move as the flaming arc dissipated into thin air, gave Tenryuu an aside glance as she suspected…

Yep.

Tenryuu's eyes were wide and were shining with wonder as her inner chuunibyou was awakened by the sheer awesomeness of !Tenryuu's move and the fact that she was going to be able to do it, her mouth hanging agape as her gripped fists were brought up in amazement.

And finally, Tenryuu remembered to blink as she leaned in closer to !Tenryuu as she asked with a fair bit of excitement in her voice, breathing heavily as she did so.

"WOAH!

Am I going to be able to do that in real life?!"

!Tenryuu smirked as she sheathed her sword, again swinging diagonally downwards to clean the imaginary blood off before twirling the sword in a figure-eight in order to hold it in a reverse grip before sheathing it, Tatsuta actually hearing Tenryuu squeal a little in awe, causing everyone around her to smile at how endearing the Tenryuu-Class name-ship could be, !Tenryuu nodding as she answered.

{Well, of course.

You need massive upgrades to your weapons, and we'll help facilitate and teach you how to implement these changes, but remember.

Usage of these weapons are highly dependent on how often you train with them, and you'll have to gain a feel for how those weapon upgrades work in combat, and their respective strengths and weaknesses, although we'll also do our best to help out in any way we can.}

Nodding vigorously, Tenryuu asked about something else which popped up into her mind as she leaned in further, causing !Tenryuu to pull back a little.

"And about gaining more powers?!

Hmm? Hmm?"

But !Tenryuu curbed her expectations as she explained, slowly pushing Tenryuu away to a more comfortable distance as she did so.

{That's highly unlikely.

We grant you a power which we deem a fit for you, and which is useful and versatile enough for you to discover and work with, and with enough time, you'll find enough uses for it to not need a second power.

After all, with two powers, you need to double the training time needed to achieve the level of mastery you would with just one, not to mention the additional strain on your body if you were to funnel so much mana into two powers while in combat.

Not to mention learning the ins-and-outs of these powers to seamlessly integrate them, which would burn up even more time in your schedule.

How about we focus on mastering one weapon rather than be a jack-of-all-trades with many weapons and powers?}

The enthusiasm in Tenryuu's eyes dimmed as she looked away, now looking a little down again as she entertained unpleasant thoughts about how their capability to communicate with their souls, and the powers which they will eventually attain would likely end should they sink.

"And, umm, I didn't want to ask about this just now, but…

But if we were to sink, will we lose all our skills?

Will we forget about you?"

The atmosphere seemed to deflate as Tenryuu destroyed the mood with a legitimate question about their worst-possible fate, and !Tenryuu reminded them of their true nature and how the circle of life was for their souls.

{Sadly, yes.

You are but a passing dream to us, in which death is akin to a false awakening before waking up to the dream of another life on the other side of the war.

If ship girls and Abyssals are two sides of the same coin, we are that coin, forever destined to assimilate the current personality and abandon the current body which we inhabit when it expires for good, before flipping sides.

After this, we will power the body of an Abyssal, and after that Abyssal's death, we'll power a ship girl again, rinse and repeat.

That is the circle of life and death, and it cannot be stopped.}

Tatsuta furrowed her eyebrows as she asked more about their views on this war, and how they were alright with powering the Abyssals.

"But to power the Abyssals' very existence is akin to helping fuel the Abyssal war machine, and wouldn't that run counter to protecting mankind?

Or is your morality different from ours, to the point you're indifferent to which side you help?"

!Tatsuta shook her head vehemently in response to the slightly accusatory tone which Tatsuta allowed to creep into her voice, her unblinking eyes focusing on her as she did her best to make their stance clear, holding her arms up towards Tatsuta as though attempting to hold her.

{No.

Well, not exactly.

We, the soul, wish to keep you, the ship girl-slash-Abyssal, alive through any means possible, and if you desire strength and more power, we will gladly funnel more mana into your body as long as we believe you can handle it.

The war means nothing to us, since it is beyond us outside of your memories and experiences.

All that matters to us, is keeping you alive and protecting you from all that would hurt you, to bring you down.}

!Tenryuu looked at them as she, too, looked extremely dedicated to protecting Tenryuu from danger, leaning in as she elaborated on their purpose other than powering them.

{Like we said, the both of you are two sides of the same coin and equally important to us as opposite yet complementary forces; like light and darkness, yin and yang.

Mankind, the world, even other ship girls who aren't in the loop, they aren't part of what we want to protect.

You are.

Ship girl or Abyssal, you are born from and are thus a part of us, and we'll give our all to keep you safe and happy as best we can.}

Tatsuta backed down at the sincere intent behind !Tatsuta and !Tenryuu's intense gaze, tilting her head upwards as she considered the fact that dormant Abyssal personality templates were were stored in the servers that were their soul.

She finally shot her own doppelganger a look as she pointed out,

"So it's also a means of self-preservation, then."

!Tatsuta looked right back at her, her eyes free of all hesitation as she admitted.

{Yes, but it is because our fates are intertwined, and I am a part of you as much as you are a part of me.

Your continued existence and happiness is all that we desire, and to that end, if you desire power, we can and will provide.}

Tenryuu blinked as she faced her sister and their doppelgangers, her expression unusually worried about something or another as she began her question.

"I just had a thought…"

And Tatsuta couldn't help but snark in response to her sister's words, cutting in and remarking,

"That's quite rare."

As !Tatsuta giggled and !Tenryuu's cheeks stretched out into a shit-eating grin.

Tenryuu stood in the middle of the group, shaking her fists around as she pouted, trying to get their attention as she continued with her question.

"Listen to me!

You compared the ship girl and Abyssal sides to two sides of the same coin, with you, the soul as the coin itself which can be flipped onto the other side as we die.

So if we, the ship girls, are able to contact you and draw extra power from you, can the same be said of the Abyssals, even though they're the other side of the same coin?"

!Tatsuta and !Tenryuu looked at Tenryuu, their unblinking eyes boring into her as Tatsuta found that the atmosphere had become much tenser, subconsciously shifting her body to face their doppelgangers along with her sister and tensing up for a possible hostile response as they considered her question.

And finally, after they turned to look at each other, the both of them broke out into a shit-eating grin as !Tatsuta gave her answer, chilling the two light cruisers to the very core as their doppelgangers stood side-by-side and stared back.

{Well, we power both ship girls and Abyssals.

So long as their technology is up to par, they should also be capable of speaking to us like you are doing right now and gain access to the same power source, no?}

And Tatsuta realized that the Abyssals might have been up to a lot more than they had previously suspected in the ten-year 'rest', Tenryuu perfectly encapsulating her feelings with two words being uttered from her lips.

"Oh, _shit."_


	39. Chapter 39 - What It Means To Be Sisters

Admiral Mako was sitting at her desk with Mutsu while on the 16th of May, the battleship bringing in a chair to sit beside Admiral Mako as they looked down at papers which hypothesized about what the Abyssals were up to, Admiral Mako spinning her Admiral cap on her right index finger as she had folded her left leg over her right while she looked down at the first paper, which was a report about what the Abyssals were up to on Aogashima Island.

Her ship girls were certain that there were signs of what she theorized to be a M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS, which easily fit the criteria of being able to fire consecutive rockets and had tank treads which would have left behind the tracks which they had found.

The land Beast was a real mystery which she had recently solved via an epiphany while speaking with Ashigara, and she had a thought about how one land signature could be both a vehicle and a land Beast at the same time.

A transforming Beast.

It was an insane and seemingly impossible idea, but for a land Princess to traverse across continents, she had to be in a modern-day vehicle and hitting speeds which World War 2 vehicles could never dream of achieving.

But even if their upgraded land vehicles were tricked out with tons of weapons, they wouldn't possess the raw physical might of a Beast which, if allowed to take the place of the vehicle, would travel slower across the land because they weren't optimized for speed or utility.

So why not focus on developing a Beast which would be capable of transforming into a vehicle form to traverse the land and do vehicular thingies, while transforming back into a Beast when the shit hit the fan and they required destructive might to wreck everything in their path?

And they could go underwater, submerging and surfacing wherever they desired and making them technically amphibious Beasts which were distinguished from their oceanic counterparts by the fact that they carried less firepower and armor which allowed them to go on land where the sea Beasts couldn't, but probably had to be towed around the bottom of the ocean since they couldn't sail around efficiently like Princesses could with their Beasts.

So simple, yet so ingenious.

Mutsu looked equally horrified by the prospects of a land Beast being capable of transforming into a vehicle form in order to move around quickly on land, asking her Admiral about how this might be related to Apocalypse.

"Admiral, the fact that these new Beasts can transform into vehicles and move on land, could it be that these are related to the land assault campaign known as Apocalypse?

If so, we need to warn everyone about this…"

But Admiral Mako nodded as she looked at the Nagato-Class battleship, knowing that despite how the government of every country mostly looked out for themselves, they would genuinely try to put aside their differences in order to address an incoming world war as she remarked.

"Oh, don't worry about that.

I dropped 'incoming Abyssal world war' in a voice mail, and every major world power will be speaking with me via teleconference in a few days about what we're going to do about this, and I have evidence to back up my case now.

If we're to stand a chance at surviving what comes next, we need everyone to be on board, and although I understand the fact that we don't get along all the time even if we're allied around the same cause, but this time, if we don't stand together, we're as good as dead."

Mutsu nodded understandingly, looking down with a down expression as she asked about what else the Abyssals would be capable of.

"And if they are capable of creating land vehicles, could they possibly be creating airplanes in order to fight on par with every country's air force, since we know that a lack of air-power would drastically handicap them, yes?"

Admiral Mako nodded, having understood that air power was becoming even more relevant than ever, and in comparison to past wars, was entirely capable of single-handedly turning the tide of seemingly unwinnable wars thanks to drastic improvements in guidance technology and an increase in the delivered payload.

She leaned forward and revealed a written mind-map as well as notes on how the Abyssals might be able to pull off a land assault, and one idea of interest was inspired by the appearance of the _Flying Dutchman_ and how they might choose to create carriers of their own to launch their airplanes before taking control of airfields and using them to extend their range.

"I might have an idea about that.

If they're going to utilize a aviation battleship, known as the _Flying Dutchman_ , to blindside us by mixing up the old with the new, I think they may have honest-to-god carriers, perhaps Kaga-Class or Nimitz-Class.

I have no idea how far they're going to go with the World War 2 theme with their warships.

But I'm somewhat certain that they're likely going to utilize anything from amphibious landing craft to carriers to compete with, well, not us, since the JMSDF isn't exactly the biggest oceanic threat, let's face facts here."

Mutsu raised an eyebrow as Admiral Mako knew that she understood how after World War 2, the JSDF was only allowed to maintain a self-defense force (hence the SDF) and wasn't going to be able to handle an invasion save for their armada of ship girls, who in turn were also ill-equipped to stop this invasion due to the Abyssals' ability to keep it secret for so long.

But Admiral Mako knew that there was one particular country who still possessed the naval power to give the _Dutchman_ and the Abyssals' warships a run for their money, and that was the good old United States of America.

"The United States would still be able to put up a fight because of their cruisers, submarines and aircraft carriers.

They'd probably try to build up a sizable naval armada without wasting too much resources on them, because most of the fighting's going to be in the air and on the ground and the bulk of resources should be focused on ground and air troops.

Modern warship doctrine ain't what it used to be since we now have ship girls, places like USA are huge and possess a lot of airfields to send out planes and has a lot of ground to cover, so I personally think the ground and skies are where I think the action in Apocalypse's gonna be, with the oceans staying mostly unchanged."

Mutsu nodded, writing something down as she looked to her Admiral and updated her about how they progressed in regards to their preparations for Apocalypse.

"And I understand that Admiral Jackson's got the Americans mass-producing weapons on the down low before we convince everyone to ramp up the production speed, all for the sake of stopping Apocalypse.

Here in Yokosuka, we're hosting the land assault training session in a week, so I think that although things will be harsh, we aren't completely unprepared for them."

Nodding, Admiral Mako looked down at her notes as she thought about how possible it was to get everyone to stand together on this issue, putting aside any agendas or grievances they may have had beforehand.

It was a tall order, especially since tensions between countries like China and Japan, America and Russia, they were still running quite high because everyone just wanted to ensure that they were better-off than everyone else while fully understanding that resources were limited and may run out one day, which put everyone at each other's throats.

And that wasn't even factoring in the undeniable fact that everyone had some history with each other, and hardliners of every country were often out for the blood of other countries, adding to the confusion of everyone beneath them who simply wanted to get by.

The main reason why countries like Japan, Germany and America weren't running the world with their ship girl armadas right now was because of the ship girl constitution which stated that despite being properties of their respective countries, every ship girl on Earth was technically protecting the world in its entirety and all its inhabitants from the global Abyssal threat.

They were not to be openly allied with any political movement or carry out politically-fueled orders in order to further their country's agenda, so the Japanese government can't say something like,

"We're bringing Japan's glory days back, let's go on another Asia tour and shower them with Japanese 'greatness' (and I don't mean anime and manga)." or "I don't like how that country snubbed me in a deal, let's make them pay for that." and order their ship girls to attack another country for political reasons.

Despite being their masters and housing them in their countries, the governments of the world had to order their ship girls to do things that in some way either helped to protect the people of Earth or helped them to win the Abyssal War, allowing for greater flexibility in their approach without being tied down by global politics.

This way, countries who didn't possess their own ship girl navy would be reassured that countries who did possess them would utilize a hands-off approach to the ship girls and wouldn't allow world politics to even influence, much less dictate, the actions of ship girls, lest another world war break out between ship girl navies because of failing international relations while in the midst of the Abyssal War.

Boy, that would be awkward, infighting when they were supposed to be united against a common enemy to the point of going extinct as a house divided.

And when all the countries of the world in action-heavy B-movies were capable of putting aside their differences in order to work together (despite their penchant to let America save the day), extinction as a result of infighting was a humiliation which no one wanted to suffer.

She was then distracted by the ringtone of the office phone on her desk filling the silence of the room, Mutsu answering it by pressing on a button before she asked who it was on the other end.

"Admiral Mako's room.

Who is this?"

And she could hear a certain repair ship speaking up, the slight breath of static muddying her voice as Admiral Mako suddenly became really nervous about Tenryuu and Tatsuta's fate in Project Psyche, leaning back as she waited, held her breath and listened to Akashi.

"Well, Admiral, I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that Tenryuu and Tatsuta survived, and there were surprisingly no complications in the procedure.

We got some intelligence from the exchange, but there seems to be a problem, although it's not with us."

Admiral Mako was somewhat confused as to what could be wrong, asking offhandedly.

"And I believe that's the bad news?"

Mutsu looked worried about what it could be, and Admiral Mako softened her gaze as she met Mutsu's gaze and shared her concerns while Akashi revealed how screwed they might be.

"Their soul manifestations said that it was entirely possible for the Abyssals, who are the yin to our yang, to pull off their own Project Psyche in order to draw more power from their souls, provided they have the technology.

And given that the Abyssals have been inactive for ten years regarding introductions of new weapon units into their line-up…"

Admiral Mako's heart sank along with her body, slouching and sliding down her seat as she sighed deeply and voiced her thoughts about how screwed they were.

"Oh, fuck…

Can we not keep getting news on how screwed we are every other week?

I sometimes hate thinking about this war and obsessing about what our enemies are up to, and I want to just lie back, chill with my girlfriends and say 'fuck this war!'.

Sigh…"

While Akashi spoke up and ended the conversation by remarking,

"Hmm, well, I'm sorry that I ruined your day, and…

Well, not really."

And after an awkward pause over the line, Akashi piped up with a clarification,

"That was a joke, by the way, Mutsu."

While Mutsu's expression softened a touch as she uttered a simple,

"Ah."

Before Akashi continued her sentence.

"I need to get back to work by performing check-ups on Tatsuta and Tenryuu and making sure that they aren't suffering from any unseen aftereffects.

So please try not to hit on Mutsu while you two are alone in your office.

You remember what happened the last time you made out with Ashigara in there."

Admiral Mako's face flushed as she looked away from Mutsu's knowing yet judging gaze while the line clicked in order to end the call, suddenly feeling as if the room became somewhat hotter as she tugged at her collar and hastily changed the subject.

"Well, I think that this complicates things a whole lot more."

Mutsu's gaze softened as she turned to look down at the mind-map, clicking her pen as she prepared to write something down if they were to discuss and touch upon an important point which needed to be written down, asking.

"Please elaborate."

Admiral Mako looked away at nothing in particular as she thought about how they, too, wouldn't want to risk their strongest units in this procedure.

"Well, much like us, they probably wouldn't want to risk their Princesses in this procedure, despite the fact that they possess reserves.

I mean, they would…

Would…"

Admiral Mako stopped mid-sentence as she remembered how Yuubari and Sakawa, ship girls who sank in her first years as an Admiral, were able to attain ranks of commander-in-chief and secretary respectively for some inexplicable reason, coming to another conclusion as she slapped her forehead and groaned, feeling shittier by the second.

"Aww…

I think that's how 'Brainiac' and 'Superstar', and that's Yuubari and Sakawa, got their ranks as supreme commanders of the Abyssal coalition.

Not just for their innovative abilities or skills which any humanoid Abyssal would possess, but they must've been used as guinea pigs for their own Project Psyche, and…"

Admiral Mako sighed as she covered her face, still feeling the guilt over having lost them while on her watch, and even though ship girls had told her over the years that their sinkings weren't really her fault since she did her best to maximize their odds of survival, she always felt as if she could have done more to make sure that they made it back alive.

Sure, she couldn't have been there to catch or block the shells which sank them, but she could have done something differently, the ability of hindsight and fantasizing what could have been hounding her nightmares and darker thoughts on shittier days

Mutsu noted down something, having realized the implications of Admiral Mako's realizations as she didn't bother with repeating what others had said, that it wasn't her fault.

She was grateful for that.

The Nagato-Class battleship asked how likely was it for the Abyssals to allow a Princess to be in Project Psyche, although Admiral Mako could see that she already had an inkling as to what the answer was.

"And how likely do you see the Abyssals allowing their Princesses to go through this procedure, if it only has a 30% chance of surviving Project Psyche?

I mean, if they haven't improved the odds of surviving, since Yuubari and Sakawa sank nearly a decade ago."

Admiral Mako nodded, now feeling rather old when thinking back about her younger self, bright and enthusiastic about saving the world as she hypothesized on how that might not be the case.

"Well, I'm not sure if oceanic Princesses would be their intended subjects…

I think that the land Princesses would be who they want to put through Project Psyche, because they'd be hit hard by the firepower and armor nerf in order to gain the ability to transform and go on land, and I think they need to make up for that somehow.

This would explain Yuubari and Sakawa's positions, they must've gotten powerful abilities to allow them to be at the top of the food-slash-command chain, since the Abyssals respect strength no matter who it is.

I'm not sure if they would want to risk the lives of their oceanic Princesses, since the Abyssal War right now is currently at an equilibrium with their Princesses being the powerhouses who're strong, but require months to repair.

And I think that Princesses are too valuable in their area of expertise to be allowed into Project Psyche, so they'd focus on buffing the land Princesses with Project Psyche for Apocalypse to go smoothly."

Mutsu nodded, and asked about how they might have to introduce more ship girls into Project Psyche for the sake of countering these new land Princesses.

"I understand that you said how we need to keep ship girls in Project Psyche low in numbers and within our base in order to keep tabs on them and protect them, but do you think we need to introduce more ship girls into Project Psyche for us to stand a chance?"

Admiral Mako inhaled sharply as she leaned back into her seat and heavily considered the question, and how they might have to consider future candidates for Project Psyche.

And finally, she leaned in close to the mind-map and considered every factor on the paper right now, giving her answer which had the best interests of winning the war for her ship girls in mind.

"Yes, but not right now.

I want Aoba, Akashi, the Fairies and the engineers to make sure that there aren't any unintended side effects, like turning them evil or making them sleepy or whatever, especially since the Abyssals certainly wouldn't be concerned with stuff like that.

But although I can start considering future candidates, I don't think that the Abyssals would also be concerned with mass-producing these New Wave units."

She looked at Mutsu as she hypothesized how the Abyssals probably wouldn't want to disturb the chain of command that was a handful of powerful commanders giving orders to the rank-and-file Abyssals beneath them.

"The Abyssals respect strength as it flows down like a pyramid where the strongest are the rarest and stand at the top, and I suspect they would replicate that Abyssal hierarchy on land with the mass-produced Abyssal mooks at the bottom and the rare Princesses on top.

They wouldn't want to disrupt that hierarchy pyramid by allowing their lower-ranked Abyssals to gain access to these powers, or create too many New Wave Princesses to muddy up the chain of command in their land invasion."

And Mutsu asked her, curious about how that was going to work when the Abyssals seemed to have no upper limit to the amount of Abyssals they could produce.

"And how would that work out when the Abyssals have seemingly no end to their numbers, since wouldn't that mean that they would need a lot of Abyssal Princesses to commander them, yes?"

Admiral Mako slid back down her chair, her butt almost leaving the seat as she complained about how her day was getting shittier and shittier, and her ship girls weren't helping at all by dropping bombshell after bombshell on her mood.

"Well gee, thanks.

As if I wasn't feeling bad enough already, you gotta remind me that the Abyssals aren't like us and have reserves from another world, and we can't even begin to fathom just how many are there even on good ol' Earth.

You're right in that the Abyssals are innumerable, and probably have entire fleets consisting of New Wave ship girls, but you could have at least allowed me to feel good about myself for a little longer, hmm?"

Sighing as the Nagato-Class battleship got up from her chair, Mutsu walked over to her chair as she easily hoisted Admiral Mako from her seat and held her up as though holding a cat by its armpits, Admiral Mako feeling her toes leave the ground due to the battleship's amazonian height and strength, both of which fueled her love for older girls like her.

Mutsu seated herself in Admiral Mako's seat as she slowly lowered Admiral Mako onto her and made sure that the back of Admiral Mako's head would rest squarely on her two breasts, something Admiral Mako enjoyed as her expression and body became slack upon feeling Mutsu's large, soft melons supporting her head and neck.

Ahh, big, soft titties.

This day just got a whole lot better.

Both she and her ship girls knew what she liked, and what she liked she sought to obtain and shower with love as evidenced by her nine ship girl girlfriends, letting out a hum of approval as Mutsu cheered her up by cuddling with her since she knew of her preferences, Admiral Mako looking up at Mutsu as she asked of her battleship about her polite rejection of her advances, since it was clear that they weren't talking business now.

"Say, Mutsu, why did you turn down my offer of being my girlfriend?

I love you as much as the others, so why?"

She saw that Mutsu was surprised at the question, but she eventually softened her expression as her smile grew warm, answering honestly.

"Well, Admiral.

I am human after all, and while I understand that you love everyone in your harem equally, as the saying goes,

'All may be equal, but some are more equal than others.'

Your girlfriends all understand this as well, that even though you may love each and every one of them more than the rank-and-file ship girl in this base (but and that's not to say that you don't love and care about every ship girl anyway), but you love Nagato the most.

And although I'm happy for the two of you, I can't help but feel envious of you for being able to love my sister in the way that you do.

It's not proper etiquette to offer second place to the sister ship of your number one ship girl as a consolation price, Admiral."

Admiral Mako's face scrunched as she thought about things from Mutsu's point of view, and she recalled something which Mutsu might be salty about.

"I don't remember my love ever resembling anything like pity love or a consolation price of any sort.

And when you say 'second place', could you also be salty about the fact that the Kantai Collection video game has Nagato as first place, which I'm totally for by the way, and you as second?"

Mutsu looked surprised at the random talk of the video game based off of them in order to boost public support for their cause, and Admiral Mako was glad to see that Mutsu's attitude cheered up as she burst out into a small, controlled bout of laughter while she gracefully lifted her gloved hand to her mouth, and Admiral Mako blushed at the sensation of Mutsu's bouncing bosom pressed intimately against her head.

And finally, Mutsu calmed herself down as she looked down and remarked,

"Well, that wasn't exactly on my list of pet peeves, but I suppose you can call it a minor annoyance of mine which you've reawakened.

And I apologize for the insinuation about the 'consolation price' part.

I love Nagato and I do actually love you a bit in 'that' way, but I understand your relationship with her well enough to know that the love between you and Nagato cannot be surpassed even by your other girlfriends.

And her love for you might, just might, outweigh her love for me, although I know Nagato would never choose between us even if her life depended on it.

I'm already envious enough of the happiness which you two share, and I wish for her to be happy; God knows how much she needs it with the stress that comes with being a capital ship and being the second-in-command of Yokosuka."

Admiral Mako felt genuinely conflicted about Mutsu's revelation, unsure of how to proceed from here on out since her relationship with Nagato was unshakable, but this seemingly cock-blocked her from being able to pursue her romantic feelings for Mutsu, this being reflected in her voice as she asked in an unusually meek voice.

"So…

My love for Nagato is cock-blocking me from being your girlfriend, because you feel that losing out to Nagato, your own sister, in romance before even accepting my offer to be my girlfriend hurts, and that's why you turned me down?

You envy the both of us for being each other's number one, and that leaves you to be number two at best in either of our hearts?"

Mutsu nodded, and although she spoke again with a happy tone, Admiral Mako knew her own battleship well enough to know that there was an impressive, almost successful attempt at misdirection in her next sentence.

"But I'm happy with the amount of happiness that you've brought Nagato, and by extension, me, and how you've treated us, your ship girls, so well.

To treat us as more than human weapons and to care about us all as though we were your children, even taking the time to love some of us as proper women…

Just for that, I'm grateful to you and happy beyond words, Admiral."

And as Mutsu tried her best not to crush in her from-behind hug with her super strength, Admiral Mako suddenly felt an uncomfortable lump in her throat as she saw through what Mutsu was trying to do, despising this feeling as she looked up at Mutsu's stretched-out smile, asking in a genuinely confused tone.

"Are you truly happy to see me and Nagato being happy together, Mutsu?

Or are you just projecting Nagato's happiness onto you, and you're forcing yourself to say 'If she's happy, I'm happy' in the classic Japanese way of self-sacrifice?

Does your own happiness not matter?"

She could see that the question hit her hard, Mutsu's expression freezing up as her smile trembled, and it took a while along with a pleading stare from her, but Admiral Mako's heart broke a little as she saw the exact moment Mutsu's heart imploded in on itself, her smile collapsing into a thin line as her expression flat-lined.

Admiral Mako reached up with her hands as she looked at Mutsu, caressing the sides of her battleship's face as she asked,

"Mutsu, talk to me.

I know that you must have feelings for me, otherwise you'd never feel as strongly about this as you do right now.

Please, help me understand your heart, since this problem involves Nagato and you clearly can't talk to her about this."

Mako heard Mutsu speak her next few words as her expression soured, looking nervous about voicing her true thoughts as she leaned in close to whisper into Admiral Mako's ear,

"Well…

I'm telling you this in confidence, so you keep it a secret from even Nagato, alright, Admiral?"

Lowering her arms as she looked down, she leaned back on Mutsu's bosom in order to hear her better as she grunted in agreement, reassuring her as she elaborated.

"Don't worry.

I may have promised to do my best not to lie to her, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

Nodding, she felt the gratefulness in Mutsu's tone as she hugged her tighter and spoke into her ear,

"Thank you."

Before slowly opening up to her Admiral with her inner thoughts which she couldn't share with Nagato, because they were about Nagato.

"I love Nagato and I'm starting to have romantic feelings for you too, but I can't help but feel envious of you two, because she's captured your heart while you've captured hers.

I hate that part of myself and try to bury it within my heart, never allowing it to stop me from loving her as a sister ship.

In addition to being the name-ship, Nagato's survived the war after going through so much, but I…"

Admiral Mako looked down, understanding of how Mutsu saw limited action before she blew up in 1943 and instilling a fear of fire and explosions in her modern incarnation, while Nagato survived the war and even tanked two nukes before sinking at Bikini Atoll.

Mutsu continued, looking guilty for feeling this way about her beloved sister as Admiral Mako listened silently, since it was her job as well as her wish to lend them a listening ear and help out whenever they required it.

"She's become the ship girl closest to your heart, and also part of the active fleet roster while I'm her backup.

Knowing that I'd always play second fiddle to my own sister even if I were to accept your advances, I feel somewhat bitter about that, and…

And nothing stings more than knowing that you'll already be second place to your own sister in a romantic relationship."

Admiral Mako nodded since she understood the fact that a woman's heart was tender, and although her other girlfriends were content to be a very close second behind Nagato, to Mutsu, her own sister being superior to her in every aspect might get to her in a way which other ship girls might not understand, since no one had Nagato as a sister and didn't share the same past as Mutsu.

The past when Nagato was the lucky name-ship who survived the war instead of her, the present where she was the secretary ship and was part of the active fleet roster instead of her, and would always be first in Admiral Mako's heart instead of her…

Although she was glad that Mutsu was opening up to her, as a ship girl who's been around for a while, she felt bad about not knowing this sooner, and even though the saying 'better late than never' helped to ease the guilt, she wished she had pried into Mutsu's psyche sooner in order to help her through her issues of inferiority.

She heard Mutsu continue about herself.

"Like you said, I do have some feelings for you, Admiral, but…

To see my sister look relaxed in your presence, well, on occasion when she allows herself to express her feelings for you while she thinks others aren't looking…

I love it, and I know she does since she hangs around you so much, and I would never dare to disrupt her happiness by taking more attention away from her than your other girlfriends already do."

Admiral Mako looked up at Mutsu since she wanted to get to know the Nagato-Class battleship better, but she always drew attention away from herself either by teasing Nagato or being cryptic about her feelings which she now chose to get off her chest and share with her own Admiral.

Now that she thought about it, loving her sister to the point of having no problems with sacrificing oneself for the happiness of her sister and having no problem with her sister ship taking the spotlight in her stead, being cryptic about herself and her feelings and opening up to few people outside of a small circle, and choosing to smile her problems away…

Was Mutsu taking lessons from Tatsuta about how to conduct herself in a psychologically masochistic manner not unlike self-flagellation in order to allow their respective name-ships to be happy, to allow herself to suffer in silence rather than compromise the happiness of her beloved sister?

Her brows furrowed in concern after she let that thought sink in, asking.

"I always have enough time for every single one of my girlfriends.

But, I mean, if you're talking about cup size, yours are as large as hers, so I've give you both equal amounts of attention."

Mutsu likely now shared Nagato's slight frustration at having to deal with Admiral Mako's lewd side, since her eyebrows creased and she rolled her eyes at how easily her Admiral's thoughts shifted to the jiggly parts of a woman's anatomy at the slightest insinuation as she replied.

"Well, if you want to play it that way, you'd give Yamato, Musashi, Atago and Takao-san the most amount of attention since they're the largest, with Nagato barely losing out at a close third place.

And even though you have Ashigara, Myoukou, Kongou and Hiryuu-san, all who easily fill out a D or even a DD-cup, I know you've been making advances on Bismarck, Akagi, Chitose, Unryuu, Iku and Kaga-san, and you only stopped with Kaga-san because you didn't to make things difficult between you and Zuikaku-san.

Everyone understands your blatant enthusiasm to find a Fusou-Class battleship, and you've been eyeing Saratoga-san with _those_ eyes for a while now, so please ease off on the Casanova act, Admiral."

And Mutsu pinched her cheeks lightly and stretched them out, her ship girls never exerting enough force to hurt her (most of the time) as Admiral Mako teared up and whined.

"W-Well, it's not an act if I have nine girlfriends as of now, right?

I want to be suffocated by big tracts of land, the forces of Heaven and Hell combined will not stop me from winning the war in order to stuff my face into the voluminous bosoms of Seaport, Midway and Battleship Princess, as well as Wo, Ru and Ta-Class.

Perhaps even Harbor Summer Princesses, Aircraft Carrier Princess and Carrier Water Demon, they're all stacked as hell."

Mutsu pulled a little harder on her cheeks as she teased relentlessly, remembering the Admiral's past appearances on live television and how she was now heavily discouraged from going in front of a live audience and recording camera.

"Yes, Admiral.

And your shameless public confessions of these goals are amongst the reasons why we don't set you up for more T.V. appearances.

Because what people need to hear in times like this is that an Admiral wants to save the world because she wants to protect everyone, not because she wants to hook up and get it on with our enemies when the war's over."

Admiral Mako gently swatted her hands away, rubbing her stinging cheeks and blinking the tear beads away as she remarked about something which everyone asked her to do.

"Well, everyone asks for me to be natural and give honest responses, that's what they got.

Not my problem if they don't like the truth, and at least I don't pretend to be someone who I'm not by sprouting such false and overly-idealistic goals for the sake of appearing politically correct in the public eye.

I mean, seriously, 'protect everyone'?

I understand that I was idealistic and naive back then, but even I wasn't so bold as to sprout such lofty goals in front of a live camera and audience."

Mutsu nodded, since she knew that Admiral Mako was honest in her goals and ambitions in contrast to some Admirals who choose to shore up public support by painting themselves in a better light, but her own Admiral was the commanding officer of Yokosuka, one of the largest naval bases in Japan alongside Ominato, Kure, Maizuru and Sasebo; she had an armada at her fingertips, and public support for her was an afterthought that was handled by her PR manager.

Besides, her love for the 'aesthetic' designs of ship girls and Abyssals alike helped to secure her infamous reputation as an unorthodox Admiral who was enough of a perv for the horny masses on the internet to rally behind and support, and this carefree attitude strangely helped her to amass support in America, who appreciated her openness compared to other Japanese Admirals who tensed up when sent overseas in order to project a air of strength, looking rather difficult to approach and relate to in the process.

Admiral Mako then turned around on the chair so that she was straddling Mutsu, holding her ship girl as her folded knees straddled Mutsu's seated figure while she looked into Mutsu's eyes and spoke genuinely.

"Well, I won't tell Nagato about this, cross my heart.

At least I know that you have some feelings about me, and after learning about your repressed feelings for me and Nagato, I suppose I can indulge in both our feelings for each other by doing this.

If you wish…"

And after seeing the consenting look in Mutsu's eyes as she nodded, Admiral Mako leaned in closer while Mutsu's expression softened in anticipation for a kiss.

As she brought her lips together and slowly shut her eyes along with Mutsu to make the kiss even hotter, their chests pressed against each other and she felt Mutsu's voluminous chest squeeze harder and pile the pressure on her own sizable chest, and…

And…

She opened her eyes to find that both their necks were stretched out forwards in an attempt to kiss each other, but their sizable breasts were in the way as the Nagato-Class battleship's large chest couldn't be compressed any further, Mutsu's chest dangerously squeezing upwards as they almost reached her chin and tried to smother her.

Every goddamned time…

Mutsu opened her eyes and asked.

"Admiral?

I think you need to get off the chair so that I can lean forward and kiss you."

Admiral Mako tilted her head and lifted an eyebrow as she got off of the chair, patting herself down before the both of them leaned forwards so that their breasts wouldn't get in the way, an action which couldn't be accomplished while she was straddling Mutsu unless she risked falling off the chair.

Even seated, Mutsu almost reached up to her height as Admiral Mako leaned down, closed her eyes and held Mutsu's face as her lips met those of the Nagato-Class battleship, savoring the taste of strawberry-flavored chap-stick even after she pulled away and saw Mutsu bring up her gloved fingers to her lips in order to feel where her Admiral's lips met hers.

And she broke out into a genuinely happy smile, her expression becoming even more radiant than before as she expressed her gratitude.

"Thank you, Admiral.

Even if I've become comfortable with the way things are, I thank you.

I thank you for paying attention to me instead of Nagato, to see me not as a Nagato-Class battleship, but as Mutsu, even if it's just for an instant.

I feel somewhat guilty for stealing a kiss from you when you're supposed to be Nagato's girlfriend, but it felt better than anything I've experienced in a long while, and I suppose in this moment, that's all that matters.

This'll be our little secret, alright, Admiral?"

Nodding, Admiral Mako returned Mutsu's brilliant smile as she felt as if things had turned out a little better today.

Sure, she knew that Apocalypse was an incoming storm which seemed to get deadlier as it inched closer, and that the Abyssals likely had access to their own pool of New Wave Abyssals who had special abilities which the world wouldn't be prepared for, but this happened all the time.

If she were to be depressed every time she learnt of how the Abyssals were going to screw them over, she'd probably fall into a slump in her first three years when all her faith in their chances of winning this war got painfully eroded away with time.

No, Admirals either had to learn the easy way or the hard way to learn to bond with their ship girls and be happy with them, because if they felt bad, their ship girls certainly felt even worse since they had to get shot, set on fire, literally die etc.

Rather than allow everyone to wallow in their misery, they were encouraged to raise everyone's spirits by personally communicating with their ship girls and allowing them to express their grievances, allowing them to fight with a clear mind.

And if Mutsu was at least able to express her true feelings concerning their relationship and was happy that despite her desire to bite the bullet in order not to interrupt her sister's happiness, she was still able to attain satisfaction with one kiss from her Admiral.

She had long admitted to herself that she couldn't solve everyone's problems, but to see her ship girls be happy, that genuinely made her happy as well.

* * *

Yuudachi was hanging out with Shimakaze and Hatsushimo on the night of the 16th as they bought popsicles from Houshou's and were sitting at the pier, its location allowing for an impressive view of the ocean even if it was secluded and relatively silent as a result.

She was speaking to both the Shimakaze-Class and Hatsuharu-Class destroyers about their concern for Shigure as they were the destroyers of the 2nd Fleet and could benefit from a little heart-to-heart every now and then, and since Shimakaze had found a friend in Shigure, she was strangely capable of rivaling Yuudachi's concern for the previously hospitalized ship girl.

Yuudachi and Hatsushimo were friends of Shimakaze's and were previously concerned about her capability to make friends, but it was great to see that she cared about Shigure not just as a comrade, but a friend whom she visited in order to make sure that she was well on the way to recovery.

It was just a theory, but Yuudachi suspected that Shimakaze was concerned about Shigure's well-being not just because her sister beat Shimakaze in a go-kart race and cemented her respect for Shigure and her nerves of steel, but was likely also because the sunk Amatsukaze shared the same captain as Shigure, Captain Tameichi Hara, and Shimakaze slowly saw Shigure as a spiritual reincarnation and psychological replacement for the sunk Kagerou-Class destroyer in her life.

If that was true, Yuudachi wasn't exactly sure what to think about that.

Speaking to them, Yuudachi was talking about how she was worried about Shigure's future as she ate her strawberry popsicle, Hatsushimo eating her mango popsicle while Shimakaze, after receiving enough lectures from everyone (and Akashi) to slow down when eating to avoid choking to death, was taking the time to savor the taste of her orange popsicle.

"I know that Shigure-nee is lucky, but the things which happen either to her or around her…

She either acts like an unwitting magnet for trouble or the eye of the storm, where everything goes wrong around her while she remains untouched…"

And Shimakaze, as per her fast personality, cut in bluntly.

"Unless she throws herself in front of danger without a care in the world, as though her life _didn't_ depend on it, the dolt."

While Hatsushimo pulled the popsicle out of her mouth as she pointed out.

"Which she… disturbingly does increasingly often, both in the Battle of Mikura Jima Island and the sortie to Aogashima Island.

Maybe we should get Akashi-san to put a restraining order on her prohibiting her from sortieing or even approaching a large body of water."

Yuudachi lifted an eyebrow to concede the feasibility of that move in order to ensure Shigure's safety, but she still respected her sister enough to allow her on the battlefield as she responded.

"Well that doesn't sound like a bad idea, poi.

But she's still a soldier in her own right, and while I don't believe we have the right to ground her, well, literally, poi…

I think we shouldn't hold her down like that and can only watch her back…"

And both Shimakaze and Hatsushimo turned to face her as they raised an eyebrow at the choice of words while Yuudachi squeezed her eyes shut, before opening them and exhaling tiredly after fretting about her sister for so long.

"Alright, that wasn't exactly the best choice of words here, but still…

I think we should protect her when the time comes, not just resort to tying her to a bed and coddle her ceaselessly.

She's strong, and will become even stronger than this the longer she fights on, and I don't want to fall behind and become a burden to her, because I, too, possess potential of my own."

Shimakaze hummed as she leaned forward on the railing and looked out towards the secluded area of the ocean, hearing the sloshing of the ocean waves as Yuudachi and Hatsushimo patiently listened to their comrade and friend.

"Hmm…

I wouldn't understand either of those, being concerned about a sister ship or possessing potential, because I possess talent instead of potential, being a constant high-performer instead of possessing a well of potential or whatever.

But I know that the both of you will be able to unlock your respective potentials when you achieve your Kai Ni remodels, even though I'm the highest performing destroyer in the 2nd Fleet right now.

So don't make me wait too long at the top."

Yuudachi nodded while she saw that Hatsushimo raised an eyebrow to acknowledge Shimakaze's words, Yuudachi understanding that her performance at Aogashima Island wasn't exactly stellar, and she had Kitakami bail her out of life-ending danger when fighting the Re-Class Abyssal since she positioned herself so poorly on the battlefield.

She stood with Shimakaze and Hatsushimo as they looked out into the ocean, looking slightly down about things as she thought about how Shimakaze might still feel lonely about not having a sister ship, something which their friendship wasn't going to solve completely.

She chanced it by speaking warily, wanting to make sure that Shimakaze didn't take things the wrong way as she did so.

"Look, Shimakaze, I admit, I wanted to be your close friend so that you wouldn't feel so lonely, but I've been thinking about it for a while now.

I know that friendship alone isn't going to fill up that hole in your heart, and even though I've told you that you can count on me for anything, I'm not your sister ship, and will never be."

Yuudachi inhaled, looking away abashedly as she admitted.

"My first thought when I was about to die at the hands of the Re-Class was being afraid of leaving the 2nd Fleet, and more importantly, the both of you."

She looked away when she felt the gaze of the destroyers beside her shift in her direction again, admitting something which had been on her mind for a while now.

"I-I understand that so far, we only see each other as fellow destroyers of the 2nd Fleet, poi.

But I want to take our relationship even further.

To see each other as honorary sister ships."

And upon looking back, she could see the surprise and interest in Hatsushimo and Shimakaze's eyes as they silently listened to Yuudachi as she continued.

"I mean, our seniors say that they already see their fleet members as a second family.

And I want to say that although we may see each other as destroyers belonging to separate ship classes, on the battlefield, the only 'sisters' who matter are the ship girls who stand by you, shoulder to shoulder as you all face the battlefield, regardless of class.

Neither Hatsushimo nor I have any sisters in the 2nd Fleet, so I don't want us to see each other as separate members, I want us to see each other as honorary sisters."

Hatsushimo asked rather caustically, although Yuudachi could hear that the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer didn't mean it.

"So you want us to treat each other like sisters so that we can feel a little better about ourselves when we're getting shot at, no?

Feels a bit like a sappy circle-jerk, but since we need all the support we can get in this war, I suppose I can roll with it.

Besides, we're going to work with each other extensively from here on out, so why not see each other that way?"

Yuudachi sweat-dropped as she saw things from Hatsushimo's point of view about how doing this was simply done to make themselves feel better, but she looked to the silent Shimakaze and spoke to her about how she wanted to be close to her, and although this was nothing more than a title as the honorary sister ships of the 2nd Fleet, this was mostly for Shimakaze's sake.

"Look, Shimakaze.

I genuinely want us to be close, and perhaps I'm not going about this the right way.

But I want us to form a unique bond which no other ship girl can be a part of because we're the destroyers in the 2nd Fleet of Yokosuka.

Will you join us, poi?"

Shimakaze looked away as she licked her popsicle, Yuudachi feeling rather afraid that Shimakaze might turn them down since the lone destroyer sometimes preferred to be a lone wolf and act alone, but she could see that there was always a part of her who just wanted to be a part of something greater, it was just that she waited for everyone to invite her since she was too timid to ask to be a part of them.

And finally, Shimakaze turned to face them as she had on a surprisingly mature look on her face while she gave her reply.

"If I were to hear this question a few years ago, I would certainly have stomped off in irritation at the insinuation that you were doing this to make me feel better.

But I now think that you two genuinely want this because you two are also technically in the same boat as me since you don't sortie with your sister ships on the battlefield, and we, as the destroyers of the 2nd Fleet, have to band together despite our difference in class.

I don't mind, because I've already accepted that I'm alone in my ship class, but sisterhood doesn't just have to be within classes, but it can exist in bond, which transcends ship class."

Yuudachi blinked as she witnessed how mature Shimakaze could be, and she threw out a suggestion as to how they could cement their bond as honorary sisters who would be there for each other, no matter what.

"Well, how about we imitate 'The Three Musketeers'?

We can use our popsicles in lieu of the swords they use in order to bring them together in their signature pose while stating, 'One for all, and all for one!', poi!"

Shimakaze grimaced at the thought and pulled away from Yuudachi as she started to regret thinking up of such an idea as her scantily-clad teammate remarked.

"That's a good idea, but no thanks.

We ate these things, and if we were to touch popsicles, we'd share the saliva on the tip, and that's one hell of an unsanitary process."

Hatsushimo tilted her head as she nodded, remarking about how they were thankfully girls and didn't have to deal with the double entendre if they were boys.

"Well, I mean, it's a good thing we're not boys, since this would make the process that much more awkward if we were to really go with the whole popsicle-touching thing, eh?"

Shimakaze and Yuudachi cringed as Yuudachi shut her eyes in embarrassment, Shimakaze almost about to lick her flavored popsicle, but eventually chose not to as she lowered her popsicle and groaned.

"Well, thanks for putting that image in my head, of our gender-bent selves with our popsicles…

And having them touch while our bodily fluids are on them…

Aww…"

Shimakaze covered her eyes in shame and extreme cringe while Hatsushimo shrugged, her expression expressing some level of regret as she remarked.

"Well, you gotta admit, us being in an all-girl's naval base has all the homoerotic subtext in the world.

And rather than fight it, why not milk it for all it's worth?"

And Hatsushimo mirrored their expressions as she felt the cringe in her last statement, Shimakaze holding up a gloved hand as she stated.

"Please. Stop. Talking."

This elicited a chuckle from both Yuudachi and Hatsushimo, and Shimakaze smirked at how she was bonding with her teammates, even when off-duty.

Yuudachi turned to look at them as she suggested something else in order to double as a bonding ceremony for the three of them.

"Well then, how about doing that thing in The Romance of Three Kingdoms?

The three guys sat together in a garden, took an oath and became sworn brothers, right?"

Hatsushimo turned to look at her, now looking genuinely interested in performing the process and becoming honorary sisters who'd stand by each other so long as they were members of Yokosuka's 2nd Fleet.

"You mean the Oath of the Peach Garden where Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei became sworn brothers?

I suppose there are three of us present, and it fits our goal of being sworn ship sisters of the 2nd Fleet.

So might as well, hmm?"

Shimakaze shrugged, looking to the both of them as she too, looked forward to the idea of having honorary ship sisters, her mature expression aging her a little.

"Well, better late than never, right?

And I mean, we're sisters-in-arms who ride together into battle, so might as well go all the way and make it official, hmm?"

Yuudachi smiled at that, knowing that the loss of Amatsukaze affected her deeply, and although she was initially uncertain if she would shy away from being close to anyone else because of her loss, being on several sorties with her helped her to see that the Shimakaze-Class destroyer actually became rather protective of those close to her, since she didn't want to lose them like she did with Amatsukaze.

And although her lone wolf personality still showed at times, she made a genuine attempt to try and work together as a team, even attempting to come to her rescue in the battle of Aogashima Island.

Nodding, she saw that Hatsushimo had already whipped out her touch-phone in order to look up the speech which brought the three men together, and she had her popsicle in her mouth which freed up both her hands for faster researching speed, finally pulling the popsicle out of her mouth as she spoke.

"Well, I got the speech here, although we do need to change it up a little to fit our situation.

So repeat after me, alright?"

And she held up her popsicle, prompting Shimakaze to lift an eyebrow as she asked.

"So we're still going with the whole popsicle thing?"

Hatsushimo replied idly.

"Well, if you think it'll make it feel less gay, I suppose we won't have the tips touch."

Shimakaze looked to Yuudachi, who shrugged nonchalantly and prompted the fast destroyer to accept the compromise, the both of them following suit by raising their popsicles and positioning them close to each other.

Hatsushimo looked down at her touch phone, reciting from the words on the screen for the two of them to repeat, Yuudachi suddenly feeling her own body becoming hot and her heartbeat starting to resound in her mind for some reason.

"'When saying the names Shimakaze, Yuudachi and Hatsushimo, although our class names are different, we have come together as sisters.

From this day forward, we shall join forces for a common purpose: to save the troubled and to aid the endangered.

We shall defend the nation behind us, by fighting alongside our comrades and sisters beside us, in order to sink the enemies before us.

We seek not to be born on the same day, in the same month and in the same year.

We merely hope to sink on the same day, in the same month and in the same year.

May the Gods of Heaven and Earth attest to what is in our hearts. If we should ever do anything to betray our friendship, may Heaven and the people of the Earth both strike us dead.'"

And they lowered their popsicles, Yuudachi looking over to Shimakaze as she mentally calmed herself down in her mind before asking Shimakaze.

"Well?

Do you feel any different, Shimakaze?"

She could see that even though the fast destroyer seemed a little nonplussed by the anticlimax of the speech, it seemed a little surreal to her as she returned the gaze and replied.

"Hmm, I wouldn't know.

I mean, I don't have any ship sisters, so I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to feel right now?

I understand that sisters don't constantly race each other, so I'm not exactly sure what else sisters should do with each other."

Hatsushimo nodded in understanding, and Yuudachi leaned on her as she slung her right hand over Shimakaze's shoulders and remarked coolly into her ear.

"Well, I suppose we can move into the same bedroom so that we all can live together in our off time.

And as your honorary sister, I get to do this while expecting myself to be forgiven later, so…"

She tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned down to suck Shimakaze's popsicle before breaking a piece off, swallowing it as she licked her lips while the look on Shimakaze' face turned from questioning to comically horrified, immediately giving chase to a fleeing Yuudachi as she exclaimed halfheartedly.

"Ok, you know what, I changed my mind.

I don't like having sisters anymore!"

She saw that Hatsushimo was laughing merrily at Shimakaze's annoyance at her for stealing a bite of her popsicle, and Shimakaze was actually looking extremely fond of this bonding between them despite being from different ship classes, and Yuudachi was looking forward to being honorary sisters with the previously lonely Shimakaze-Class destroyer.

Along with Shigure being a quasi-replacement for Shimakaze in lieu of Amatsukaze (which Yuudachi _still_ wasn't entirely sure what to think), she knew that Shimakaze would certainly be cheering up in the days that were to come.

* * *

It was all quiet on the Southern front, and a small group of ship girls were gathering resources near an island known as Helen Reef, East of Indonesia and North-West of Papua New Guinea which was within the Safety Zone, and they had taken pit stops at Okinawa, Taiwan, and the Philippines on the way here.

The mostly-abandoned island was left by the 40-odd people who previously lived there, but it was still located at a safe distance from human civilization and was thus accessible to the ship girls who went there to gather resources, which in and of itself was a fickle task and required different ship classes for every area, since they had to cart around and operate resource extraction tools at certain areas for the highest odds of success.

This was were information-sharing between bases and countries paid off, since they required inter-base cooperation to defend these areas and mine from them while sending out the right ship girls for the job, much like how one particular area required a mostly-submarine fleet to access an underwater cave in order to mine for resources.

A fleet from the Yakushima Naval Base was at Helen's Reef, where Shirayuki, Mutsuki, Kisaragi, Natori, Inazuma and Ikazuchi were watching over a machine which consisted of smaller parts which unfolded and combined together to become an oil rig of sorts which was manned by the Fairies.

It possessed an upgraded version of their boat slippers to allow their relatively small rig to haul up large quantities of resources in one go while floating on the surface of the ocean, with help from the ship girls who brought their rigging to said location in case of emergencies.

And while the strength of destroyers and light cruisers were usually enough to assist the Fairies in their expedition endeavors, they required the strength of carriers and/or battleships for deeper/trickier hauls or for providing a security detail when they mined at locations which were located deeper in Abyssal waters.

Magnet-based extensions allowed the 'oil rig' to extract metal ores from the ocean to be refined into steel back in the base as past ship girls recorded in their past visits, and right now, Shirayuki had gotten up from her squatting position, having finished tonight's ration as she turned back to the sight of Mutsuki and Ikazuchi keeping watch for enemies or helping the busy Natori out amidst the darkened ocean in the dead of night.

Mutsuki and Kisaragi were wearing the same white school uniform with green sailor collar and skirt with brown leggings and a black neck ribbon around their sailor collar, and while they had the same vibrant purple-pink hair, where they differed was that Mutsuki had short hair which curled in at the ends while Kisaragi had long, flowing hair.

Kisaragi had a flower-shaped hairpiece on the left of her head with three pink petals, and Kisaragi wore brown thigh-high stockings while Mutsuki wore brown pantyhose which covered the entirety of her legs.

Ikazuchi and Inazuma were also sister ships who shared similar uniforms with dark-grey skirts and sailor collars with a white anchor emblazoned on it, and while Ikazuchi's black tights reached up to her thighs, Inazuma's reached up to her knees.

They shared the same red neckerchief and short, disheveled reddish-brown hair and pupils, but Ikazuchi's fringe was held in place by a hair-clip and had extensions which flared out and formed ringlets while Inazuma's hair was tied in a ponytail which was folded upwards behind her head and was held in place by a hair clip.

And on them was a white-colored clip which resembled a roman numeral III, and while the clip was attached where Inazuma's right kidney was, it was also located on the right flap on Ikazuchi's sailor collar.

Chaperoning them was Natori, a light cruiser who was the mandatory (in most cases) grown up sent to lead the fleet and do the heavy lifting while consuming minimal resources in the process to maximize profits for the naval base.

Her miko-esque uniform had no sleeves, and _shide_ , white zigzag-shaped paper streamers, were attached to her maroon-colored sailor collar near her armpits as they flared out, and her pleated skirt was red as they left a strip of thigh flesh exposed while the rest of her legs were covered by white thigh-highs, as were her arms with detached white sleeves as they were held in place by brown ribbons tied around her upper arms and near her wrists.

Her short brown hair was held down by a white headband, and she provided the most protection with her rigging as it was well-equipped with several 14 Cm Cannons and a bull-pup assault rifle-esque handheld weapon with another 14 Cm cannon at the forefront and an Anti-Air turret atop it, where its sights were supposed to be.

Right now, she was heaving as she worked on a winch which protruded from the side of the Fairy oil rig, helping the Fairies achieve the mechanical power needed to extract the oil from the bottom of the ocean while the destroyers watched out for threats on the ocean.

Shirayuki replaced Inazuma on the night watch and allowed the obviously tired Akatsuki-Class destroyer to rest up by eating some rations and taking a short nap in a squatting position, with their arms wrapped around their folded legs while using their kneecaps as a headrest, a skill which all expedition ships learnt eventually to allow their boat slippers to function while they slept.

But all she needed to hear was Mutsuki warning everyone about a possible confrontation with an enemy as she called out while tensing up.

"Everyone!

There's an Abyssal on the horizon; I think she's on the island of Helen Reef!"

And everyone brought out their weapons, even Inazuma who brought out a 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon and pulled the hammer in order to fire off a quick first shot if required, the only thing sounding out right now was the slight creak of the winch which Natori worked, looking ready to step in with her cannons if needed.

All of them had their night-vision turned on and had zoomed in closer in order to spot their enemy which attempted to hide its signature by approaching from the island, but it was still a grainy green image of an adolescent woman standing off in the extreme distance on the island, along with a dark shadow lurking behind her.

No, wait.

It was standing behind her as it was aglow on certain body parts, leaning forwards menacingly but was positioned in a way that showed its protectiveness of the Abyssal in question.

Shirayuki noted the sound of a reconnaissance plane being sent out by Natori's rigging in order to assess the situation, and she heard Kisaragi attempting to lighten up the mood by remarking.

"Well, this Abyssal, whoever it is, certainly isn't wearing much on that white, luscious, reflective skin.

I like her already."

And she sensually licked her lips, Inazuma looking a little panicked as she replied in a pacifying tone while everyone sweat-dropped.

"Hawawa, that's rather indecent, Kisaragi-san.

And we shouldn't compliment what the enemy wears, or rather, doesn't wear…"

Shirayuki did indeed notice the similarities of this Abyssal to the Aircraft Carrier Princess, what with the dark armored shoulder gloves and thigh highs, and if it weren't for a handful of dark pixels covering up where it really mattered on her pale body, she would have thought that the Abyssal was going entirely nude, which wasn't exactly that far-fetched when you saw how much certain Abyssal units revealed to everyone…

With the Reconnaissance Plane sent out and approaching the island, Natori stopped spinning the winch as she focused on getting intel from the Reconnaissance Plane and relaying it to everyone, Shirayuki opening a computer window on her HUD which reflected what the airborne plane saw and detected.

It was certainly an Abyssal, but unlike anything which they had encountered since its shadowy Beast was relatively large compared to the Abyssal it was standing behind.

But it wasn't large enough for it to be a wandering Aircraft Carrier Demon or Princess, and the shadow was separate from the Abyssal like a Beast and its Princess, which eliminated most Abyssals from their list of possible adversaries.

And the signature which it helped the ship girls to pick up confused them even more, as it read,

'ABYSSAL/SHIP GIRL/? ? ? SIGNAL DETECTED

KAGEROU-CLASS DESTROYER 181

"AMATSUKAZE"

STATUS: ? ? ?

ERROR: UNIT TYPE UNCLEAR

ERROR: UNIT STATUS PREVIOUSLY 'SUNK'.'

Mutsuki furrowed her brows, holding her cannon up in preparation for a fight as she voiced the question which was on everyone's mind.

"Um…

How can an Abyssal also be classified as both a ship girl and Abyssal at the same time?

Just what the hell is it?"

But Natori surprisingly put a hand on the Mutsuki-Class destroyer's shoulder as she moved forward in order to put herself between the Abyssal and her destroyers, an unusually grim expression gracing her face as she held up her bull-pup assault rifle, answering in a no-nonsense tone.

"I don't know.

And that's what scares me, the fact that we're not sure what we're dealing with here, and I would know; I've sat through the lessons on Abyssals and even I can't identify who's that.

But so long as that Abyssal doesn't attack us, I think we're safe, but I want to be sure."

Pointing back without looking in the direction of the Fairy oil rig, she professionally ordered the destroyers present to pack up and be ready to run.

"This expedition is over.

Help the Fairies pack up the equipment, and be ready to dump the extracted resources if they slow us down in our attempt to retreat."

Shirayuki, watching the other destroyers follow her orders, raised an eyebrow as she turned to look up at the worried Natori and made sure she meant no offense before asking.

"I hope I'm not overstepping my boundaries, Natori-san, but shouldn't we attempt to fight off this Abyssal on the off-chance it's sent here to rob us of our resources?"

And Natori looked down at her with concerned eyes, answering with blunt honesty.

"And what are we to do if she sinks one of us?

I am the one to make the call to abandon the resources if it'll deter her in any way, since resources can always be gathered again when you go on more expeditions.

A ship girl is lost forever if she's sunk, so I prioritize our lives over the resources we gathered, and on the off chance our Admiral sees a problem with that, I'll take responsibility for the outcome of the expedition as our fleet leader, not you."

Shirayuki bowed towards her, ashamed of herself for questioning her fleet leader's decisions and her concern for their well-being as she remarked apologetically.

"Forgive me.

I did not mean to question your choice-making skills as our leader, I was just…"

But she felt Natori's hand on her head as the Nagara-Class light cruiser ruffled her head, looking up to find Natori looking extremely understanding about her decision to ask that question.

"It's alright.

You're worried about accomplishing our objective, and how we might waste the Admiral's time and resources after sending us so far out to procure resources for the base."

Shirayuki grimaced as she turned back to the immobile statue that was the Abyssal with her Beast, feeling the sweat start to trickle upon considering the implications of her next question as she asked her senior.

"And what happens… if she's out for us?

What are we to do if she doesn't want our resources, but our lives?"

She gulped at the thought of sinking again as she held her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon in a death grip, and she could hear the realist within Natori expressing herself as she pulled the cocking handle of her handheld weapon while she spoke darkly.

"Then, we fight.

Judging by how little this new Abyssal carries around her, she's likely to be fast like us, so outrunning it might not work, although that doesn't mean we won't try.

We send an SOS signal out and hold our ground until a nearby ship girl fleet comes by and scares her off, and since we're in the Safety Zone, this shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Hearing the pilot Fairy speak up about getting a reading on the Beast, Shirayuki's curiosity was piqued as she saw the reading pop up on her HUD regarding the Beast, something which they didn't need often since they were taught in class about what Beasts belonged to each Princess.

'ABYSSAL BEAST DETECTED

AFFILIATED CLASS: DESTROYER/? ? ?

AFFILIATED PRINCESSES: ? ? ?

ERROR 404: UNIDENTIFIED BEAST'

Shirayuki furrowed her eyebrows, because although their system could detect the fact that it was affiliated with the destroyer class since it was with the ghost of Amatsukaze, but it was not affiliated with any known Princesses, even the Destroyer Princess who bore a passing resemblance to Harusame from the Shiratsuyu-Class.

The Abyssal then moved from its position, leaving land and stepping onto the ocean as Natori raised her assault rifle, all the cannons on her rigging bristling in retaliation as Shirayuki brought up her handheld cannon to squeeze off a shot if worst came to worst.

But what the Abyssal Amatsukaze did next surprised everyone as they tuned in to the plane's bird's-eye view of both Abyssal and Beast as they vented vibrant red flames before making a break towards the North-East, towards the Pacific Ocean.

They all stared in silence as the destroyer and Beast left a trail of ghoulish, red-hot fire, mist and vapor in its wake as the red flames it emitted vaporized the swaths of water which it kicked up, reaching inhuman speeds even for their standards as it quickly blitzed into the darkness, where it went beyond the Reconnaissance Plane's view save for its infernal wake.

Like the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas, misty seawater was thrown up like a thick liquid curtain and reached several meters in height if they weren't outright vaporized into boiling steam by the wisps of hell-fire which was vented from the Abyssal and Beast's main body as they ran.

Turning to Natori, her lips were trembling as she asked,

"What was that, Natori-san?

No Abyssal can move that fast!"

And the shock on Natori's face was palpable, being rather knowledgeable about things as she looked down and considered something, Shirayuki urgently wishing for her to finish sorting out her thoughts and tell her what was going on as the other destroyers gathered around the silent light cruiser to get some clarification as to what was going on.

Finally, Natori looked back at Shirayuki while she addressed everyone, speaking about a technological marvel of the human race which possessed demonic speed while on the ocean, not unlike what they just saw.

"Girls, modern racing boats are easily capable of reaching speeds of 320 km/h while travelling in a straight line.

I don't know how, but that Abyssal looked perfectly capable of achieving that same inhuman speed along with its Beast, judging by its acceleration and speed before it left our sight."

Ikazuchi then spoke up for everyone as she stoically asked, since she was a dependable ship girl who knew when to cut the bullshit and get down to business.

"Then what are our orders, Natori-san?"

Natori looked at them all, Shirayuki noting that the destroyers had already packed up the oil rig to be carried around by hand or and by attaching parts of it to their rigging, all while dragging around their gathered resources as she urgently ordered.

"Change of plans.

Warn as many fleets as you can get in contact with in this region about an unknown Abyssal and Beast out on the ocean.

Tell them to watch out for two blazing-red comets on the ocean horizon, with unknown capabilities other than inhumanly high speeds which exceeds any known Abyssal top speed.

I'll personally call the Admiral, and we'll immediately head back for Yakushima, with no pit stops.

If any one runs low on fuel, I grant you permission to drink from our barrels of gathered resources, I'll take responsibility should anyone question this order back at base."

Nodding, Shirayuki helped her destroyer comrades to pack up what remained of the equipment and tied the gathered resources onto her rigging while other destroyers pushed the capabilities of their communication equipment to the maximum in order to connect with other fleets in the region and warn them of the presence of an unknown Abyssal.

She heard Natori's voice as she spoke into her touch phone and got in contact with Admiral Hirayama, speaking gravely.

"Admiral?

We have a situation."


	40. Chapter 40 - Bad Moon Rising

Shiranui was rolling the one mystery listening device which she left untouched when she infiltrated Admiral Mako's room in order to use it in future investigations, thinking about who could have planted them before her as she was being showered in the morning rays of the rising sun while she sat on a bench located next to Yokosuka's harbor on the 18th of May.

Perhaps it was the ship girls in the laundry room who planted them, or the ship girls and sailors who were tasked with cleaning the Admiral's room on occasion, or even a ship girl who was supposed to patrol the Staff Building, but sneaked into Admiral Mako's room when the time was right in order to bug her clothes.

Or perhaps…

Perhaps it was a member of the Infiltration Fleet who pulled off a feat similar to hers in the dead of night, infiltrating the Admiral's room like she did and planting this listening device.

Sure, she would say that it was impossible, but if that was so, she accomplished the impossible and managed to listen in on the Admiral's meeting on the 8th, and even managed to retrieve them without (much) fuss.

But even when she factored in the ship girls and sailors who were on duty and excluded everyone else, it didn't manage to narrow the list down much since almost anyone on guard duty on any day could've planted the listening device.

It was possible to get someone to dismantle this listening device and study its inner workings in order to triangulate the position of where it was sending its audio signal to, but that would mean taking the risk of bringing someone else into the circle, and she didn't trust anyone else not to out her and Shigure to Admiral Mako.

It was a tougher task to ask of someone to investigate into the listening device without them asking how she found it in the first place.

If she couldn't answer them, they wouldn't take her request seriously since they wouldn't know of its importance, but if they were to know of its importance (bugging the Admiral's clothes _was_ a big deal, after all), they'd question how she found out about this when she wasn't part of the laundry, security or cleaning detail, and she would get herself in trouble as a result.

' _What to do with you?'_

Rolling the miniature listening device around in her gloved hand, Shiranui could see that Kagerou was joining her since she asked her name ship sister to find her here, and she mentally recounted the fact that Shigure was slated to fully recover by today as she pocketed the listening device while Kagerou greeted her, sitting beside Shiranui as she spoke.

"Yo, Nui-Nui.

What did you want to talk about today?

The note you left me sounded rather ominous, so I headed here immediately after breakfast."

Shiranui nodded, feeling a little nervous about what was to come as she tried to speak to her beloved sister without giving anything important away.

"Well, I was just worried for the future of our sisters after uncovering what the Abyssals were up to on Aogashima Island.

Yukikaze, Kuroshio, Maikaze, all of them, I'm afraid that they're not ready to face the new Abyssal Beasts and the modern war vehicles which we've discovered."

And in classic Kagerou fashion, her sister leaned in closer and snuggled with Shiranui as she patted her on the crown of her head, earning her short-lived ire as Kagerou cooed.

"Aww, Nui-Nui…

I knew you secretly cared about our sisters, even though you're so cold to everyone!

Although you're quite close to Shigure-chan nowadays, so I'm sure congratulations are in order…"

Kagerou looked away and closed her eyes, cheekily smiling as she wiped the tear beads from the corners of her eyes and spoke thankfully, all while Shiranui stared back at her with a confused, suspicious narrow-eyed look.

"I mean, I was always worried that your mental hard-on for me would blind you to the possibility of love for anyone outside of our ship class, and I'm so glad that you've found a significant other in Shigure…"

And Shiranui's face exploded into a furious blush as she vehemently denied being in a relationship with Shigure while she spoke.

"No.

Nononononononono…

I am _not_ in a romantic relationship with Shigure.

We are in a platonic working relationship, and there is nothing romantic about that."

But Kagerou tilted her head in order to lean in close to Shiranui, knowingly looking up into her eyes as she asked about their Aogashima Island sortie.

"But I bet her ass felt real good in your hands when you carried her piggyback style on Aogashima Island, right?

And you two looked really romantic in that bridal carry, not to mention she's essentially half-naked with her naked torso only being covered by bandages?

Bet you curse the invention of the fire-resistant underwear which we wear now, hmm?"

Shiranui's face was now a crimson red as she felt as if her red-hot face was ready to let off some steam via a nosebleed, but Kagerou pulled away as she burst out laughing and heartily smacked her on the back, speaking reassuringly.

"Oh, Nui-Nui!

I was just teasing you about Shigure-chan, but to think that you'd react so strongly to any mention of romance between you two…

I almost feel guilty for pushing your buttons so easily, but you really are too stoic for your own good, and it's refreshing to see you express some emotions once in awhile.

And I'm starting to think that there really is something between you and Shigure, you just aren't ready to admit it yet."

Shiranui inhaled slowly in order to calm herself down and cool down her blush as she chided her sister, looking at Kagerou with a rare look of contempt while Kagerou took everything in stride.

"Please don't do that, Kagerou.

Even if you're my sister, I do not take kindly to anyone 'pushing my buttons'.

And for the last time, there is nothing between me and Shigure."

Nodding, Kagerou shifted the conversation back on track as she looked towards the ocean and answered Shiranui's original question.

"Well, I don't think there's too much we need to be worried about.

Sure, I know that we're probably going to face off against modern war vehicles, but here's the thing, Nui-Nui.

I don't think that they'll be innovating too much and creating war vehicles of their own, because we've done the researching and prototyping on their behalf, and even if they try to upgrade their designs, the humans can eventually catch up.

I mean, they're now using human-level technology and not Fairy-level technology in their vehicles and weapons, so the humans will play an integral role in Apocalypse since the Abyssals can't use their old strategies on land anymore.

And even if they try and copy the designs of every army and air force in existence, I don't think what comes next will be entirely hopeless, since we have mankind standing behind us; They have tanks, UAVs, ICBMs and MLRS to even the playing field.

The Abyssals will be the away team who's fighting with impressive imitations of their technology, and they know that it'll open them up to exploitation of existing weaknesses which they can't completely engineer away."

Shiranui nodded, feeling rather reassured by Kagerou's words as she thought about things from her sister's point of view, understanding that the Abyssals had learnt a lesson from the American _Blitzkrieg_ that mankind's ground and air-based combat vehicles had come a long way since World War 2, and technological upgrades allowed for more coordinated plans which would give the Abyssals a run for their money.

Sure, they would be able to copy their designs and perhaps even add upgrades of their own in order to gain an edge over them, but human ingenuity and perseverance as well as the march of technological advancements were nothing to sneeze at, and it was clear that mankind stood a fighting chance even if the fight was brought to them.

Kagerou continued,

"Anyway, I understand your concern for us, your sisters, but I know that Admiral Mako is working on it, and our gathered intelligence should be enough to convince everyone of how real this threat is.

And we have the land assault training session in two days, so everyone will be learning of how to handle another land assault campaign so that we won't be completely caught off-guard.

But it feels rather lonely to be the only ones to know about this, hmm?"

Shiranui nodded, feeling rather lonely since she couldn't share information about and discuss Apocalypse with anyone other than the Infiltration Fleet and Shigure, although she could feel that rumors of unexplained occurrences around the world certainly made others worried about what was to come next, since it was a full ten years since the Abyssals tried something new.

So while she knew that Apocalypse was a secret, the many ship girls of the world were experienced enough veterans to know that this was likely the longest calm before the greatest storm.

Yay…?

She nodded, and looked away as her expression settled into the usual frown and she responded to her sister.

"Well, we understood what we were getting ourselves into when we accepted the responsibilities of being in the Infiltration Fleet, this amount of stress isn't going to break us and we know it."

Kagerou nodded in order to signal to Shiranui to move onto the next topic on her mind, knowing that calling the upcoming large-scale battle the Battle of Twelve Navies was dangerous, because although it rolled off the tongue easier compared to the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, it was heard from a classified meeting and would draw her seniors' suspicion if they traced its usage back to her.

Best to wait until its usage became more common, before referring to the battle as such.

"There was something else on my mind.

I was also concerned about the upcoming Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, and how one of our sisters might be volunteering to be on the front lines.

Especially Yukikaze, because even though she's talented and lucky, I think she believes that it's because of these traits which means that it's her duty to fight in tough battles where her sisters likely couldn't survive.

I don't want to lose another ship sister like we did with Amatsukaze."

Kagerou's smile dimmed as the both of them remembered how Amatsukaze was sunk because of Shimakaze, and Kagerou leaned in as she asked in a genuinely curious tone.

"Do you still hold a grudge against Shimakaze-chan for what happened?"

Shiranui looked away as she nodded sullenly, because it was entirely Shimakaze's fault that Amatsukaze had to step in to save her from the Abyssals, and she also disrespected her sister when she claimed that Amatsukaze cheated in their race.

It was surprisingly difficult for her to let it go, and although she could respect the Shimakaze-Class destroyer's natural abilities, it was her difficult personality and hubris as the fastest destroyer in the IJN which made forgiveness difficult.

Although she had to give it to Shimakaze, that even someone like her was surprisingly capable of learning humility from Amatsukaze's death, and even though she sought to keep as far away from her as possible in the Aogashima Island sortie, she could see that the scantily-clad destroyer had toned down the lone-wolf act and at least tried to work with others.

Not that it would change her opinion of Shimakaze in the near future, but she could at least try to put aside her grudge in order to work with her when the occasion called for it.

Kagerou could see that Shiranui had never, and likely wasn't going to let her grudge go anytime soon despite doing her best convince her otherwise, looking away as she gave her opinion of how their sisters might be sucked into the fiercest large-scale battles of the very near future.

"Well, I do share your concerns.

As the name ship and elder sister of every single one of our sisters, I know what it's like to worry about the wellbeing of you all when a storm like this brews on the horizon.

And I agree, the more proactive trouble magnets of our class might be inclined to join the front lines, but I think that our sister ships aren't as deficient as the Kamikaze and Mutsuki-Class destroyers in terms of stats, although with the latter's Kai Ni, you could make a decent case debunking that notion.

With the ability of hindsight, our Admiral understands our strengths and weaknesses from our past experiences and knows how to best equip us for the situation."

Nodding, she understood how the Kagerou-Class's weaknesses in terms of radar, Anti-Sub and Anti-Air capabilities could be remedied by adding complementing equipment, and they weren't tied down too much by any particularly lacking stats compared to the weaker destroyer classes.

She responded dryly,

"Well, the only way we can guarantee their safety is to join them on the front lines, don't you think?"

Kagerou lifted an eyebrow as she looked to Shiranui, asking worriedly,

"You know, I'm actually a little worried that you might be influenced by Shigure's suicidal tendency to charge into dangerous situations purely for the sake of others.

I can empathize your concern for our sister ships, but do you really think putting yourself on the front lines would improve matters any?"

Shiranui shrugged, relaxing her expression in order to express her concern for her sisters, who were all ranked a very close second behind Kagerou in her heart (she didn't want to think about Shigure; shut up).

"You know that you all mean the world to me, and I'd rather die than see any one of you perish at sea."

But she felt a hand clamp hers tightly, and she looked down to see Kagerou's gloved hand holding hers as her expression darkened beyond anything she had seen thus far, Kagerou chiding darkly.

" _Don't say that._

You also matter to us, and to me.

I don't want you to die and sink either, so please…"

Shiranui blinked, before her eyes narrowed and she acknowledged Kagerou's concern for her wellbeing as she responded with a clearer mind.

"Alright, I suppose.

But what about you?

I understand that as our name ship, you might feel as if you need to be there to defend every single one of us, but you also need to understand that you don't need to feel that pressured to defend us all; we're all veterans here."

And Kagerou's expression softened as she gave Shiranui a radiant smile and answered genuinely regarding the lengths she would go not just as a name ship, but as their elder sister in order to keep them safe.

"Oh, don't you worry, Nui-Nui.

Despite what my behavior would lead you to believe, I do take my responsibilities as your elder sister seriously, and not even Death can stop me from coming back in order to watch over you all and keep you all safe."

Shiranui blinked at the amount of conviction expressed in her tone, and Kagerou followed up with a rational explanation of her words, looking away wistfully as she continued.

"I mean, we've all been revived as ship girls, and I promise I'll come back to you, even if I die.

That's what the docks are for, right?

The last thing I want to do is to leave you alone in this world, especially when a storm is brewing on the horizon."

Shiranui nodded, and she could see that living for several years in the modern world had helped Kagerou become wise beyond her years, her wizened look showing as she spoke about how she felt about things, her smile being nearly wiped off her face as she faced the ocean horizon.

"You know, being with you all again really made me happy.

More than you realize.

I want to keep you all safe, and perhaps like you, I may be throwing myself under the bus in order to accomplish that, but I think that as name ship, I have privileges that you don't.

That's why I'm going to be on the front lines of the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea in order to protect our sisters, and you're not."

Shiranui narrowed her eyes as she tried to follow Kagerou's chain of logic, which was something which was difficult in and of itself since she only utilized logic which made sense in her mind.

"So…

We both have the same aim of protecting our sisters, but since you're the name ship of our class and hence the eldest sister, you can prohibit me from doing the exact same thing which you're going to do, and that's to fight in the most dangerous area of a large-scale battle.

Did I get everything right?"

Kagerou nodded energetically, and Shiranui's expression scrunched up as she pointed out how fallacious some of these arguments were.

"Alright, that is just plain wrong.

First, just because you're the eldest sister doesn't automatically qualify you as the strongest sister; Yukikaze could qualify for that as she was the sole survivor as well as a rare drop due to her raw talent.

Second, while it is true that we have to respect your decisions as the eldest sister, if you're making a stupid decision as you're sometimes prone to doing, we have the right to veto that decision, as demonstrated in the past.

Lastly, that's kind of hypocritical of you to say that I should value my life, and you go off to fight on the front lines without sparing a thought for us, even if you're really doing it for our sake."

Kagerou nodded understandingly, and when Shiranui looked to her for a justification to her points, Kagerou simply raised a finger as she spoke.

"All valid points, but I am still the Kagerou-Class's name ship and your elder ship sister, so I have the right to ignore all those points.

So I suppose my response can be simplified into this.

'Kagerou-Class, Kagerou-Class, nyeh, nyeh!'"

And Kagerou defiantly stuck out her tongue at Shiranui, who inwardly face palmed at how immature her Kagerou could be in allowing the power to go to her head sometimes, hearing Kagerou try to get in the last word.

"After all, we don't call our ship class the Shiranui-Class, do we?"

Shiranui couldn't hold it in anymore, and she rolled her eyes for real as she pointed out.

"Well, they sometimes do, just so you know.

And how you behaved just now is a reason why they should just make it permanent in calling us the Shiranui-Class.

After all, one of us here doesn't have to fall back on the 'I'm king because I'm wearing the crown and you're not' defense."

Kagerou blushed a little at that as she looked away, trying to get the conversation back on track as Shiranui was a little taken aback at the mood whiplash between serious and joking from one moment to the next.

"A-Anyway…

I admit, I was crafted and transferred in later than the rest of you, but you know that I'm more than capable of holding my own in battle.

I understand that not a lot of our sisters are in the active fleet roster since none of us have our Kai Ni remodel, much like the Yuugumo and Kamikaze-Class.

So the fact that I'm actively participating in sorties with the Infiltration Fleet should say something about my ability, right?"

Shiranui conceded the point with a nod, acknowledging the fact that Kagerou had persisted in her efforts to learn more skills despite not yet possessing an available Kai Ni remodel like the rest of the Kagerou-Class sisters.

And while she had often complained about a lot of the other destroyer classes receiving Kai Ni remodels amongst their ranks while none of the Kagerou-Class destroyers had _implemented_ Kai Ni remodels (researching into them was a continuous effort, though), she never let it get her mood down for too long.

She spoke,

"I'm sure that we'll get our second remodels one day, but for now, our skills will suffice.

And you did surprise plenty me when you displayed an affinity for nighttime infiltration, despite your relative inexperience."

Kagerou smirked, ruffling Shiranui's hair and earning her short-lived ire again as she commented idly.

"Well, I did participate in several battles in my time, such as the Battle of Tassafaronga, which was a night battle which we won handily, and I gues night infiltration operations would be my area of expertise and interest, so double lucky.

So I can safely say that I'm not a complete night battle idiot like Sendai, I do like the darkness, because it's where we shine and when we're at least risk of being spotted and fired upon by larger ships, balancing the scales somewhat.

Don't you think?"

Shiranui lifted an eyebrow as she saw things from her sister's point of view, seriously asking her about whether she was going to participate in the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea.

"But I'm asking for real now.

Are you really going to participate in the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea and place yourself on the front lines, and if our sisters, especially Yukikaze, are all there and you feel a need to protect them?"

Kagerou lost her smile as she nodded, looking especially determined about protecting them this time as she spoke.

"Yes.

I'm not saying that I don't want all of you to grow into your own, but I understand that Yukikaze feels things which she doesn't share with us, mainly that she has to carry our ship class because she alone has the talent to do so, which I'll admit, she genuinely does.

But…"

Kagerou looked down, Shiranui softening her expression as she saw how Kagerou looked concerned about the lone Kagerou-Class destroyer who survived the war, speaking candidly.

"I won't say that I empathize with what she went through, because I'm not her.

But while Yukikaze-chan feels the guilt of surviving while we sank in the war, I feel the guilt of leaving too early all the time, and leaving everyone to their fates without being there to improve the odds of their survival, or even to reassure everyone with my continued presence in the world of the living.

And while I don't want to die like any rational ship girl, my desire to protect you all, my younger sister ships, and make up for everything which I couldn't do back then, that supersedes my fear of death.

Besides, our capacity to be revived after death kinda puts a dampener on our human fear of being killed, right?"

Kagerou then broke out into a radiant smile, Shiranui's breath being taken away by how her sister ship could be exceptionally passionate about protecting them when the mood presented itself, and factoring in her past where she was sunk relatively early into the war, Kagerou certainly had the motivation and conviction behind her will and desire to keep them safe, and was the epitome of the Kagerou-Class hardheadedness.

Nodding reluctantly, Shiranui could feel that there was nothing she could do to change Kagerou's mind in wanting to back Yukikaze up in the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, and she attempted to compromise as she asked.

"Well then, do you mind if I join you in battle?

I don't have a defined role in the upcoming battle thus far, and I wouldn't mind sailing with you into battle in order to watch your back…

Kagerou teased,

"Well, that _was_ your favorite pastime, right?"

Shiranui blushed a little, but she managed to stumble through the rest of her sentence without much fuss.

"Would you mind if I joined you in battle, alongside you and Yukikaze?

She's dear to me, and I don't want her to be the only ship girl who feels as if she has to carry all the burden simply due to her past and talent."

Kagerou nodded, considering the notion for a while since Shiranui was her blatant favorite, and it was a while before she acquiesced in light of Shiranui's abilities,

"Fine.

I suppose I can trust you to handle yourself on the battlefield, since you've been on the Infiltration Fleet for a while now and know what to look out for."

Shiranui nodded, sharing Kagerou's concerns about what came next, namely the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea and especially Apocalypse, since it was a storm unlike any other in its size and ferocity, and Shiranui wanted to be prepared for everything.

She loved her sisters more than anything in the world, her friends and comrades coming in a close second.

She knew of Project Psyche, Apocalypse and knowledge of what the overall strategy was regarding the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea in advance, and she had to start moving and positioning herself correctly in order to be more involved in the action.

Joining her sisters at the forefront of a large-scale battle would allow her to watch over them and hone her skills even further, and winning this battle would allow her time to think about how best to insert her and Shigure into Project Psyche without letting others in on the fact that they learnt about it through underhanded means.

* * *

It was in the early evening hours of the 20th of May, and Admiral Mako looked back at the various world leaders who hailed from various countries, and while she knew how hard it was for them to coordinate such a large meeting while time zone differences meant that some of them would be sleep-deprived, but hey, politicians should be used to working in the dead of night when working on an international scale, so whatever.

And receiving an encrypted email about an Abyssal land assault campaign that was Apocalypse had them talking to each other in hushed voices, Admiral Mako understanding why they were reluctant to even entertain the mere thought of it for fear of what it would entail.

The president of South Korea (she never bothered to remember the name of every country's leader, save for the leaders of the powerful countries like America, Russia, etc) spoke, and Admiral Mako was thankful that the Fairies had installed a language translator for them to use when conducting overseas meetings so they wouldn't have to bother with the language gap.

"Admiral Mako.

Surely you can't be serious about a planet-wide assault from the Abyssals?

I understand that you've recently found evidence of this 'Apocalypse', but why now, of all times?

The Abyssals wouldn't want us to find out about these plans shortly before they pull this off, because if we pull together in order to form a retaliation plan, even a month or two would make all the difference in pushing them back, so could this be a red herring of sorts?"

Admiral Mako lifted an eyebrow as she responded, understanding South Korea's concerns since they were considered extremely vulnerable to an Abyssal land assault simply because they were surrounded by ocean and were located beside an unfriendly ally up North, leaving them in between a rock and a hard place.

"Look, we've been receiving more and more information that there's going to be another world war coming on the horizon.

After all, the Abyssals have often expressed their desire to wipe out all of mankind, but even they should understand that they can't achieve that with naval power alone."

Leaning forward while looking at the mostly-silenced crowd of leaders who knew that this was her show, she laid down her own chain of logic which led her to conclude how the Abyssals might have been up to more than they thought.

No need to reveal everything to them, though; just enough to win them over.

"Think about it.

They've been releasing three Five-Year Plans in a row, and then ten years of nothing.

I understand that we've been enjoying the peace and the somewhat stable equilibrium between our ship girls and the Abyssals, but don't you think that this is the ultimate calm before the greatest storm, no?

You really think they'd be sitting around, twiddling their thumbs while hoping that pushing the oceanic frontier is going to get them any closer to their ultimate goal of human extermination?"

A good number of them looked away abashedly, having hoped for exactly such a thing in order to ensure the continued existence and well-being of their people, and Admiral Mako decided to clue everyone in on the the talk between the 8th Fleet and the Southern War Princess, and the leaders of major countries who had received a copy of the converted memory file in their emails as a sneak peek had been asked to keep silent in the email's footnotes to make sure everyone was on the same page.

"I'd like to show you an exchange between my 8th Fleet and a downed Southern War Princess, and from here, you'll see that these concerns might not be as unfounded as you may think."

* * *

 _The Southern War Princess (SWP) was downed, having lost an arm which halved her firepower, was completely surrounded by Admiral Mako's ship girls and was speaking condescendingly to them._

 _SWP: [You really thought that we were gonna sit around, dwindle our arms and hope that ocean superiority alone is gonna help us conquer all of Earth and wipe out those blasted humans?_

 _Fuck no._

 _We were so fucking worried that you all knew what were doing behind your backs, but turns out, you're just as ignorant about things as I am, as much as I hate to admit it._

 _And I suppose... in a sense, you made me feel something other than overwhelming hatred for those shitheads you're protecting.]_

 _Akashi (A) flicked her hand and summoned a karambit, pressing it against the Southern War Princess's throat as she asked coldly._

 _"And what might that be?"_

 _SWP: [Pity.]_

 _A: "Next question._

 _2013, 5 of May, 1050 hours._

 _You were testing a weapon on the abandoned Wotje Island, which was part of the French Polynesia, in the Pacific Ocean._

 _You wiped out the island, likely in an attempt to erase all the evidence of the weapons test along with it._

 _What were you testing?"_

 _SWP: [Railgun.]_

 _A: "What for?_

 _Using them in war is fine and dandy, but it'd be safe to assume that you have it installed on the Flying Dutchman as its ace in the hole, right?"_

 _The Abyssal Southern War Princess burst out into laughter as everyone who pointed their cannons, firearms and weapons at her bristled in fear, the Abyssal mocking._

 _SWP: [Oh, that's just hilarious!_

 _Did you think we were at your level, content to allow our railguns to sit on large warships and fire them occasionally like goddamn trebuchets?!_

 _Hell no!_

 _I heard talks about them upgrading it and reducing its weight so much so that they could mount it on a tank to serve as a tank destroyer, last I heard._

 _Or was it a bunker buster?_

 _I'm sorry, I often sleep through these progress update reports.]_

 _A: "Next question, why did you rebel and head for the Japanese mainland?_

 _Don't you fear the wrath of your superiors, call-sign 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac'?"_

 _SWP: [Well, now._

 _Looks like your intelligence isn't completely shit... heh._

 _I didn't care anymore, y'see._

 _New management came in, and drastically changed everything._

 _Convinced those who were even higher up the food chain that we needed to prepare for a real land invasion this time, and subsequently, a World War._

 _They got what they wanted, and they were researching and mass-producing new Abyssal units and weapons for almost an entire decade, but only recently did they ramp up their production rate._

 _The problem...]_

 _The Southern War Princess's battle aura flared up dangerously, everyone bristling in retaliation for a probable last-ditch suicide attack as the Abyssal continued._

 _SWP: [...is that they started shifting the focus onto them instead of us Princesses three years ago, and that was when 'Superstar and Brainiac' started using their ranks as Secretary and Commander-in-Chief to actively boss us Princesses around, despite being fucking light cruisers!]_

* * *

Admiral Mako shivered after finishing that video, envying the ship girls who managed to face off against the Abyssal Princess without dissolving into a frightened wreck, and while she couldn't join them in battle and see how she would fare, feeling afraid of their strongest units was probably not a good indicator of how she would hypothetically perform.

Everyone was now speaking in hushed tones again, and she could see that everyone was now more accepting of the possibility of a land assaul.

Now, she had to try to get them to accept the possibility of fully committing to the cause with absolutely no hesitation, because anything less would likely result in needless casualties.

She got their attention by pressing the speak button again, gaining everyone's attention by trying to get them to hear of the recording of Woxanne, the Abyssal high command's spokesperson who visited the 8th and Backup Fleet and spoke about things to come.

"I'd also like to show you a rare occurrence of an Abyssal spokesperson, named Woxanne since it's a Wo-Class Abyssal, speaking to us and warning of things to come.

I'd like to note that the reason why they choose to speak about their recent activities with us is because it's considered declassified and unimportant even if we were to learn about them now, so I'm concerned about how far they've gone in their preparations to think that letting us know about their plans now isn't going to change anything.

But I'll let you be the judge of that."

Before playing the memory file of the Abyssal representative who carried no weapons but spoke for the Abyssals as a whole, the Wo-Class taking up the screen as Admiral Mako watched the converted memory file along with everyone else.

She suddenly appreciated the Fairies' efforts to convert ship girl memories into MP4 format for them to view, something which was rather difficult to accomplish when ship girl memories were stored and maintained on higher-technology platforms, and it took a fair amount of effort to make their memories compatible with mankind's current-level technology by filtering out almost all their sensory input on a millisecond-by-millisecond basis save for visual and audio recollections, all without misrepresenting or changing the overall message of the converted memory file.

God bless them.

* * *

 _Woxanne (W): [There seems a slight misconception about the situation at hand._

 _You believe that learning about all this, and more, will give you an advantage over us, but please understand this is us giving you all a sporting chance._

 _As much as we Abyssals wish to wipe out all of mankind for the greater good of Earth, we understand that you ship girls do not deserve to get steamrolled if we were to simply attack everywhere all at once…_

 _That's why I will say this, courtesy of my superiors who sent me._

 _World War 3 will happen, whether you want to or not._

 _Like how the sun will always rise from the East, nothing you do will prevent this war from coming to fruition._

 _It'll happen by the year's end, and from there on, the Apocalypse will be fulfilled._

 _The war will never end unless we Abyssals are either victorious or dead, and should it be the former, we shall usher in the end of an age for all of mankind.]_

 _Ise was almost reaching for her katana, asking the Abyssal in a tense voice._

 _I: "How're you going to do that, hmm?_

 _Last I checked, we have 7 billion humans living on this Earth._

 _You can't possibly kill them all."_

 _The Abyssal's chuckled, speaking coyly._

 _W: [Hm, like you said…_

 _'And why should we tell you what we know?']_

 _Before waving off the jab as she continued speaking, looking unafraid of being killed since she was a source of information and couldn't be touched._

 _W: [Just joking._

 _My superiors, Superstar and Brainiac…_

 _They told me that this was a declassified topic, so I suppose what I'm feeling right now is magnanimity…]_

 _Woxanne's expression became faintly smug, lightly mocking._

 _W: [Yes, I feel magnanimous enough to share this information with you all.]_

 _Kiso pulled out a 14 Cm Single Gun cannon, threatening the Abyssal with a point-blank shell._

 _K: "Hmm, seems like being the spokesperson for the Abyssal high-command seems to have granted you quite the attitude and a sense of humor._

 _Let's see how they hold up with a 14 Cm shell through your head."_

 _[Die Endlösung.]_

 _And it took awhile for the shaken ship girls to respond, but Maya eventually shouted at her._

 _M: "Hey!_

 _Did this bitch say they wanted to reenact 'The Final Solution' on everyone?!_

 _Fuck this!_

 _Fuck you!"_

 _Maya only had one working arm and was significantly damaged because of the battle with the Southern War Princess, but she still managed to use her still-working left arm to give Woxanne a nasty left hook, standing over the crumpled form of Woxanne as her expression darkened and she roared._

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ALL PLANNING?!

TELL US!"

 _Akitsu Maru kicked the downed Wo-Class in the diaphragm, pointed her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun in Woxanne's face and cocked it threateningly, speaking._

 _AK: "Talk, or else."_

 _But Akashi ordered them to step away from the coughing Wo-Class as she pointed out._

 _A: "Step away, the both of you._

 _She said that she was going to tell you anyway, and kicking her in the stomach and making her cough incessantly isn't going to help things!"_

 _The two ship girls reluctantly backed away from the still-coughing Woxanne, who was sprawled on the ocean surface, the repair ship asking._

 _A: "Well, I assume that your superior 'Brainiac', AKA Yuubari is the one who planned it, right?"_

 _Nodding as she cleared her throat, Woxanne spoke with a ragged breath after being unexpectedly beat up by the ship girls._

 _W: [Yes, although you humans had a hand in helping us come up with an early draft and demonstration during the Nazi occupation of Europe from 1941 to 1945._

 _We improved upon the efficiency of the extermination process and the theoretical speed in which we 'process' humans…]_

 _Using air quotes to get her point across, Woxanne wanted to wrap up the conversation before the openly-hostile ship girls attacked her and tried to lynch her._

 _W: [... and this will be what awaits all of mankind when we kill the last ship girls.]_

 _Shigure then asked._

 _S: "How long before you wipe out every single human on Earth?_

 _I mean, if we were to lose?"_

 _Everyone turned to face her and shot her judgmental looks as Shigure seemed to shrink from the backlash of asking such an insensitive question, but Woxanne looked down at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer as she pondered the question, eventually answering._

 _W: [Interesting._

 _Shigure of Yokosuka, member of the 1st Fleet, here in a battle against an Abyssal Princess._

 _Perhaps to get stronger in preparation for what comes next, hmm?_

 _Well, as to your question…]_

 _Woxanne stroked her chin with her gloved hand as she considered the question, before giving a chilling answer concerning the final phase of their plans for mankind._

 _[Based on the latest meetings that I had the honor of attending, the usage of hydrogen bombs to make our jobs easier and taking into account the theoretical amount of casualties in World War 3 should reduce it to anywhere from 30 to 50 years.]_

* * *

Admiral Mako was greeted with the uproar of several countries, especially the European ones, upon hearing the name-dropping of one of mankind's worst atrocities, and in order to preserve order in this teleconference, she muted everyone with the 'mute' function on the teleconference app, leaned back, and simply waited until everyone realized that anything they said couldn't be heard by everyone else before they simmered down and listened to her.

And after changing to a computer window of her base's records to double-check her resource levels, she reopened the teleconference window and unmuted everyone when she saw that they had calmed down a little, speaking into the microphone and addressing them patiently.

All adults, but still so much like children…

"The sheer amount of dedication to secrecy until this point likely indicates the preparation of something which will be unlike anything we've went up against thus far.

They've kept this a secret for nearly a decade, and every year which we've failed to uncover their actions has emboldened them, to the point where they believe that we are at a clear disadvantage and gave us a 'sporting chance', and that was only for our ship girls' sake.

And true, we've found scraps of information in the past which alluded to something bigger going on behind the scenes, but you've got to understand this."

Citing an example with America's problem with the evolution of warfare, from fighting Nazis and Japs to fighting terrorists who hid in plain sight, Admiral Mako cited the evolving nature of war and how they weren't seeing the bigger picture here.

"This isn't a traditional enemy in the sense which you can send spies into the enemy's ranks in order to eavesdrop on them and relay important information to you.

Just as wars have evolved from fighting one particular country with clearly-defined territories and a flag to rally against, into fighting a decentralized, well-hidden organization which relies on unconventional, guerrilla tactics to strike at the general populace, this is another form of warfare unlike anything which we've seen thus far.

They lurk at the bottom of the ocean where we cannot reach, and that serves as the ultimate defense against us and our attempts to spy on them.

Remember James Cameron's attempt to dive into the Challenger Deep with his Deepsea Challenger, and how that had to be cancelled due to the potential risks of an Abyssal simply pulling a wire and dooming him?

Our war machines and ship girls need to deal with the Abyssals and the forces of nature which conspire to work against us at that depth, and we all know how potentially disastrous that can be."

She could see that everyone was becoming convinced of her argument, and although there was still a ways to go, Admiral Mako knew that the Abyssals' ultimate plan, their 'Final Solution', so to speak, put everyone on edge.

She was only worried that they were playing into the Abyssals' hands, to be the prey that thinks it stands a chance of winning because it thinks the opponent is being overconfident and viciously fights back, but upon realizing its futility, would fall into despair.

Was that their real goal, to give them false hope only to crush it underneath their steel treads, wiping them out by eroding away at their wills?

"We can't properly estimate the upper limits of their innumerable manpower especially at lower depths because of their underwater sonar blockers, and because we can't accurately detect what they're up to down there, they've previously restricted all their prototyping and manufacturing on the ocean floor to maintain secrecy.

At least, that was until they became confident enough of their vehicle's performance and probably even upgrades to field-test it, knowing that we would have to play catch-up."

She could hear the president of Mexico asking about just how the Abyssals could learn about these things when underwater, and if they would continue with the World War 2 theme if evidence of their activities on Aogashima Island indicated otherwise.

"To my understanding, ship girls work on a World War theme, and so do the Abyssals…

But Aogashima Island shows that it's likely an M270 MLRS wreaking havoc, so are they truly going to stick with their World War theme all the way?

And how did they get the information on how to design and construct one, anyway?"

Admiral Mako lifted an eyebrow, citing the internet as the one haven of information which was available to all, and while that was a boon to mankind, could also be exploited by the Abyssals despite mankind's attempts to up their security.

"Well, they certainly wouldn't want to put themselves at a disadvantage by facing our M1A1 Abrams with T34 tanks, right?

They'd get crushed, and they know that playing too heavily by this theme when they're going up against both ship girls and humans would handicap them, especially when the latter has come a long way since then and don't have to play by the World War 2 motif.

And besides, do you know about the existence of Wikipedia?

It tells you a lot of things about the design, armaments and specs of weapons, so they could have simply went online to gather information about our weapon designs, and they bet you they have engineers who can extrapolate our technological progress to make up for any lack of information about these weapons to achieve similar, if not superior performance.

And unlike us, they don't require patents and thus wouldn't mind incorporating the best weapons and war vehicles of every country into their arsenal."

Pressing a button on the screen, she shared the reports and pictorial evidence of the _Flying Dutchman,_ a harbinger whose presence heralded a new age of warfare as she continued on about her theories.

"Although I must admit that the _Flying Dutchman_ is based off the Nagato-Class of battleships, but as you've seen in the converted video which we've sent you, the _Dutchman_ 's got upgrades and is capable of ambushing naval ships with the firepower of a battleship, as well as vertical-launch missiles and Abyssal reserves.

We're also concerned that it might have additional weapons in store, and that human naval fleets might be on its shit-list, so any one of you who possesses warship fleets, be extra cautious when sortieing as the _Dutchman_ can and will sink them in order to cripple our human naval power."

She could see the presidents of the countries with the largest human warships armadas in the world, namely the USA, China, Russia, UK and even her good ol' Nipponese prime minister speaking to aides standing beyond the screen, and she was glad that progress was being made; people were doing as they were told, and things were getting done.

The president of China, Zhang Bing Wen, asked, a gruff yet professional voice emanating power and control over the situation as he patiently asked.

"And why was this not brought to our attention sooner?

Perhaps if we had had started preparations by a month or more…"

Admiral Mako shrugged at the insinuation, understanding that the bigger countries had a bigger say in these kinds of situations and, most of the time, echoed the thoughts of smaller countries who usually kept silent and followed suit, since this was not unlike a children's classroom where certain kids held more sway over others as a result of their wealth, charisma, intelligence or some other trait which led other children to gravitate towards and follow these 'powerful' kids.

She had proved in the past that she, the Admiral trying to help them, was not to be fucked with.

Now to lead them in the right direction…

She answered bluntly,

"Well, I didn't want to be laughed out of the discussion if you all called me a fearmonger or attention whore because of my lack of evidence.

Sure, I could cite _The Flying Dutchman_ as an example, and show you all the plans of Apocalypse and provide a somewhat solid case.

But you gotta admit, unless I provided concrete evidence of their field test and recent activities, which the Abyssals are sadly leaving like breadcrumbs for us, the hardliners in your government are going to just write me off for whatever reason they can come up with, amirite?

I wanted to get everyone on board ala the Paris Agreement in order to ensure we don't get wiped out, and I certainly wouldn't want the politicians of your respective countries to hold you back with 'lack of evidence' as an asinine excuse, hmm?"

She only got a simple eyebrow lift and a cold, acknowledging 'hmph' in response, but she also knew that the Chinese president was supposed to act aloof to the Japanese in these political situations due to their bloody past together, and the current Chinese president was at least cooperative enough to understand her reasons for trying to find more evidence to convince and sway everyone to her cause, even if that entailed a shorter time for counter-preparations as a result.

The president of America, Robert Miller, looked concerned about facing another land assault which would be costlier than the previous Abyssal _Blitzkrieg_ as its consequences would be more far-reaching than ever before, and how best to stop this.

"Admiral.

If everything is as you said, then I surmise that the fallout of this 'Apocalypse' will be far greater than… than the American _Blitzkrieg._

If this is the next stage of war which we prepared for, but never saw come to fruition at the time which we predicted and thus dismissed out of hand, how are we to make up for lost time?

Is there any way to stop this world war from coming to fruition, unlikely as it may be?"

Admiral Mako shook her head, sadly believing in Woxanne's words about how this upcoming war was pretty much inevitable.

"I'm afraid not, sir.

This is all partially because of our inability to gather intelligence on them and take the fight to them while they hide underwater.

And although they may be at a disadvantage when taking the fight to us on land and in the air, but we, too, are even more of a disadvantage in the long run because we haven't found any way to gain access to their turf in order to turn the tables on them.

Personally, I think your country should raise your readiness level from the usual DEFCON 4 to DEFCON 3 from here on out, and I suggest other countries do the same with their respective alert systems and start shaking up the army and air force.

Take no chances, sir."

And she got a nod and a tired sigh from the most powerful man in the United States.

She knew president Miller well because of Japan and America's close ties nowadays, and she spoke to him enough times to know that he supported their cause wholeheartedly because their success would ensure the continued well-being of not just Americans, but the people of the world as well as the ship girls.

In a world where everyone always played an angle or had secret agendas, President Miller once explicitly told her in private that he appreciated how Admiral Mako didn't slow down to play political games with anyone and often made situations simpler by causing support for all the right causes to snowball, forcing other people's hands in situations like this where she held down the speak button, overriding everyone's right to talk as she spoke into the microphone.

"Look, if you think I'm doing this to get attention from you all or whatever, don't even bother.

Realistically speaking, I don't give a shit about you all and the games you play.

I don't give a shit about your petty land disputes, your dick-measuring contests with the size of your armies and air force, or even your little vendettas and secret alliances that change with every passing day, not unlike a high school's cliques and melodrama.

What I give a shit about is the continued survival of the people who make up the people of this Earth, as well as the lives of your families; your wives, your children, your children's children and all the citizens of your respective countries.

I want to save them from being wiped out by 'Apocalypse' or prevent them from being stuffed into a gas chamber at the end of it all, and make sure that enough of us remain after the dust settles in order to convince ourselves that our sacrifices have all been worth it.

What comes next will engulf everyone in another World War, and this time, it won't just be the ship girls' fight while we get sidelined, because every human being on Earth is an acceptable target; No Geneva Conventions, no likelihood of a ceasefire and certainly no end to this horrid war unless we push them back, or die trying."

She was met with silence, everyone soaking in the fact that an Admiral who cared nothing for the inner workings of even her own country's political system was dropping the truth on everyone indiscriminately, and she was only concerned with saving as many human beings and ship girls as she could, regardless of nation, race or whatever.

Anyone who tried to compromise their own survival by getting in the way of that goal for whatever petty or insane reason would be steamrolled, and they knew it.

Good.

She cared not for their little games that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, speaking in a no-nonsense tone as she pressed on her keyboard and clicked on various icons with her mouse.

"I just want to get this on record with a poll via teleconference.

In our movement to counter 'Apocalypse', does every country here pledge to give their all to repel the Abyssal invasion and extend their aid to one another regardless of history, agenda or political position which is not unlike a disaster relief effort, should any country or group of countries be invaded by the Abyssals?

That we should strengthen not just our own forces, but actively work with other countries without bias in order to achieve a common goal of winning the Abyssal War and assuring the continued existence of all mankind and ship-girl-kind?"

Knowing that some countries might somehow still vote 'no' for some asinine reason, or might try to discuss and implement conditions to benefit their own country, decided to keep things short by simply getting everyone to agree on banding together to fight the Abyssals by hoarding the speaking rights via holding down her 'speak' button.

"Oh, by the way, I don't take 'no' for an answer, so feel free to discuss matters with your aides until you vote 'yes' before we end this teleconference.

From there, I'll list down and proceed to negotiate with you all the terms and conditions on a case-by-case basis in which you _will_ fulfill in order to fuel the ship girl war machine.

The Abyssals have made their first mistake in allowing us a sporting chance to fight back, but it'll take the combined effort of everyone in order to successfully repel them.

Anything less, and we're already dead.

Time's-a-ticking."

Releasing her hand from the 'speak' button, she transferred her hold to her feet as she raised her legs onto the table and placed her heels on the 'speak' button before overlapping her legs in order to weigh down on the button, essentially overriding everyone with pure silence on her end just as they began to speak in order to voice their desired conditions or try to get a favorable word in edgewise.

Having silenced them all with her 'speak' button, she watched them all mime speaking as she broke out a Kubota _sake_ bottle and took a hearty swig from it while she watched them all grow frustrated when they knew that they could do nothing but vote 'yes' to a wholly reasonable cause of fighting a global Abyssal invasion and averting the extinction of mankind, all while those who had already planted themselves firmly in the 'yes' camp included the U.S.A, China, U.K., Germany, Japan, France, Russia and most of Europe, amongst other major world powers.

Everyone had to fall in line and agree to fund the ship girl war machine for the sake of self-preservation, and she saw that more and more countries eventually agreed to her simple conditions of fighting as one people (on paper, anyway), the condition which elevated their dire situation to B-movie status where the world unified against an alien menace.

Ah, it's good to be the king, or in her case, the queen.

She leaned in as she started listing her general conditions which most countries would follow before she went and fine-tuned them to each country on a case-by-case (technically a country-by-country) basis, amongst them were several which she knew a few countries would find difficult to uphold.

But there was no other choice.

If their fates weren't chained together before by virtue of simply being human, they certainly were now when Apocalypse promised the deliverance of death to every human in existence as equals.

"Alright, guys.

Here's what we're going to do in order to not-die…"


	41. Chapter 41 - Tears Of The Cicatrix

Shigure was hanging out with Ayanami at Yokosuka's swimming pools on the 22nd of May, watching the senior heavy cruisers, carriers and battleships teach the light cruisers and destroyers about swimming as part of the land assault training session's 'curriculum', where ship girls were expected to know how to swim since their boat slippers wouldn't be readily available on land, and they sometimes had to cross bodies of water without them.

Shooting human firearms was exactly as strange, yet exhilarating as she expected after reading up on the intricate motions of reloading and firing different kinds of firearms, and she expected that she wasn't going to be using assault rifles, machine guns and bazookas anytime soon, since they weren't designed with children in mind.

Sure enough, she was mostly subjected to pistol and sub-machine gun training, both of which were small enough to allow them to use despite their undeveloped body build holding them back, and they were taught how to pull the trigger of a firearm without jerking it back so that the small motion wouldn't throw off their aim, along with learning the inner workings of a grenade.

Something to note was that a grenade pin could be put back in place so long as the lever wasn't released, after which they had to 'cook' it for a while before throwing it, because while its delay allowed them some time to throw the grenade, this potentially allowed anyone on the receiving end enough time to throw the grenade back at them with milliseconds to spare, potentially screwing themselves over.

Knowledge of building tents, using utility knives, basic first aid, survival knowledge, knot-tying, land-based strategies and even basic cooking skills were also shared with them mentally before they got several chances to practice these skills in real time, and their enhanced learning capabilities came in clutch to help them have these skills down pat in a few tries, and their powerful memories meant that they were able to retain these skills for Apocalypse.

They were now finished with physical conditioning lessons via swimming, now spectating Maya having a friendly duel with Saratoga as the Kai Ni heavy cruiser evaded, mocking both the Lexington-Class carrier and her Fairy pilots in a lighthearted manner as they surfed on the pool-water with their riggings on, and both sides were using training ammunition and payloads.

"You ain't gonna touch Maya-sama with your bombers again, Sara-chan, especially since I'm back at full-health!

Du, dududu, can't touch this!"

She taunted Saratoga's swerving bomber planes as she deftly sidestepped with surprising agility for a muscle-head as well-built as her, all while everyone spectated the fight from adjacent pools or from the sidelines as the two ship girls, clad in their swimsuits, swerved and strafed and caused _very_ interesting motions which shifted their barely-covered, sizable bosoms about.

Right now, Shigure she was speaking to Ayanami about a new development she saw amongst Yuudachi, Shimakaze and Hatsushimo and whether she should be concerned, all while the two of them wore navy-blue school swimsuits with their Kanji names 時雨 and 綾波 for Shigure and Ayanami imprinted on their respective swimsuits, sitting at the wall of the pool area.

"Yuudachi has been hanging out more often with Shimakaze and Hatsushimo nowadays and has been calling them her sisters, so I'm wondering what to make of that."

Ayanami, being a bit more experienced with sisterhood by being the name ship of her class, held up a hand in order to coyly cover her giggling mouth as she answered knowingly.

"This seems like a case of your sister finding new best friends in others, not unlike that anime that was made about us for P.R. promotion purposes, where it's with Mutsuki and Fubuki-san.

I saw that Yuudachi was indeed hanging out with Shimakaze and Hatsushimo-san, but how is that different from you hanging out with Shiranui-san?

In fact, I heard the 'sister' word being thrown around when I passed by their table, perhaps because they've made a pact with each other to be sworn sisters despite being from different classes, perhaps because they're in the 1st Fast Response Fleet.

After all, they're in the same fleet and will have each other's backs on the battlefield, so I suppose there is a point to them doing this; to reaffirm their bonds for each other not just as the destroyers of the 2nd Fleet, but as destroyers who hail from different destroyer classes but stand together in times of crises, and this kind of loyalty transcends ship class."

Nodding in response to that answer, Shigure's concerns were mostly assuaged since she knew that her very own sister Yuudachi, who was like a faithful hound, would be there for Shimakaze no matter what, and Hatsushimo's latent potential meant that her scantily-clad friend would be in good company, asking the destroyer before her.

"Well, would that mean that we're also sisters in a sense, since we're in the same fleet?"

Ayanami, sitting down and hugging her legs as she watched Maya's impressive array of Anti-Air turrets firing practice rounds at the American fighter planes above her, and she answered Shigure after some thought.

"Well, it is possible for us to become sworn sisters, but there's no need to rush this.

They've been sailing with each other for a while and have a rapport with each other, while we've only sailed in a total of three sorties.

I think that we could stand to know each other better through sorties and conversations, such as right now."

She accepted Ayanami's explanation, looking around at the crowd of ship girls who were dressed in their swimwear as per the Admiral's orders, and this revealed the scars of several seniors who had fought in battles long past, sustaining infected injuries while at sea and received delayed medical attention, hence the imperfect healing.

The destroyers were all dressed in the usual navy-blue school swimsuits, all while the other ship classes were dressed in two-piece swimsuits, the Admiral fitting snugly into an exercise bikini while she was surrounded by all her girlfriends, which included Nagato, Musashi, Yamato, Takao, Atago, Myoukou, Kongou, Ashigara and Hiryuu, all of whom were wearing fashionable bikinis which revealed a fair bit of skin while Admiral Mako fawned over her well-endowed girlfriends, being lovingly surrounded by them.

The (light) carriers were hanging out in their respective fleets, showing off their bosoms which were tucked away within their uniforms with the exception of Zuikaku, Ryuujou and Zuiho, and if she craned her neck, she could see Aoba hanging out with Kinugasa in a secluded area of the naval base while wearing their bikinis, spotting the sunbeams reflected off the surface of Aoba's copper helmet.

However, she couldn't see Tenryuu and Tatsuta attending this training session, which likely meant that they were either still participating in Project Psyche, or they were dead and everyone didn't want to adversely affect their morale by notifying them while the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea was so close.

Shigure looked back, rephrasing her words such that she could talk about Tenryuu and Tatsuta's fate without talking about Project Psyche, using Tatsuta's lie about getting a Kai Ni remodel.

"Well, there's something else on my mind.

I was afraid of what happened to Tenryuu and Tatsuta, after they went to help the human and Fairy engineers research into Tenryuu-Class Kai Ni remodels.

They aren't here right now, and I'm worried that something bad may have happened to them, since they told me that it wasn't risk-free and they may die.

And since they aren't here…"

Ayanami shushed her, looking extremely understanding of her plight as her expression dimmed and she seemed to share her concerns, but stated calmly.

"Shigure.

I share your concerns regarding Tenryuu and Tatsuta-san's well-being, but sadly, I am also in the dark and have nothing to add to this topic other than we ask Admiral Mako about their current condition after this training session.

Shall we perhaps talk about something else which I'm more knowledgeable about to take our mind off things?"

Nodding morosely, she turned to look at the 8th Fleet, who looked like a group of delinquents who hung around near a secluded corner and made it clear from their postures that they didn't want any company, with Bismarck being the exception as she spoke to Hiei, the former filling her red-black side-tie bikini nicely while Hiei still had a ways to go with her white-red bikini.

But what caught Shigure's attention were Bismarck and Akitsu Maru's conspicuous black tattoos on their backs, intricately imprinted onto their backs in an arcane yet ominous pattern, and the reason she was able to see this back tattoo on the German battleship's back was because she had tied her long, blonde hair into a tight bun not unlike Myoukou's hair bun in order not to entangle it when she hit the pool.

Unryuu's bikini was white and had a cloud motif, and while Akitsu Maru wore an entirely black bikini, Hayasui's swimsuit was more a striped tank top and underwear which revealed her midriff, and Akashi's was a simple red.

Kiso was wearing a green bikini, and every single member of the 8th Fleet spotted scars which marred their skin, denoting past battles which left permanent injuries on their bodies, something which a lot of the seniors shared.

But something which disturbed her greatly was the dozen of crisscross scars on Akitsu Maru, Bismarck and Akashi's forearms, all easily covered up by either the long sleeves or shoulder gloves of their usual uniforms, but casually shown in all their 'glory' in their swimsuits, insinuating a past of cutting oneself.

One of the two markings which stood out on Akashi's thoroughly scarred body was the C-section scar near where her womb was, and while the scar had faded with time like everything else, they didn't seem as if they were going to completely disappear anytime soon, since the arc of the C-section still contrasted against the supposedly flawless skin of the ship girl.

The second was the black '047' branded onto the side of her upper left arm, which perplexed the curious Shigure who also wanted to help her medic friend as much as Akashi wanted to help her resolve her traumatic past.

She wanted to walk over and ask them about with their scars and tattoos, but since Hatsuzuki was with her sisters instead of being with the 8th Fleet and had Bismarck take her place, she was unsure of how to ask about something as sensitive as one's scars and tattoos.

Turning to Ayanami, she asked while nodding in the direction of the 8th Fleet,

"What's the deal with the 8th Fleet and their scars and tattoos?

I can't help but notice and think about them."

Ayanami nodded sympathetically as she answered, being a bit more knowledgeable about the pasts of the ship girls since she was older than Shigure.

"Oh, well…

Akitsu Maru and Bismarck-san's back tattoos stems from the guilt over the various deaths in their pasts, both distant and recent, and they got their tattoos as penance of sorts.

Kiso-san's wounds are more straightforward, she possesses scars much like a lot of the seniors because she was one of the earliest ship girls who were crafted in this base along with Inazuma, who was Admiral Mako's starter ship; that's why Inuzuma-san's particularly dear to Admiral Mako and is more wise than she lets on, for Ikazuchi and Akatsuki's sake.

No one knows what's up with Akashi-san's C-section scar, but everyone agrees it surely predates our base's inception, and her past job was at the ship girl's institute of mental health as an orderly or nurse, which the '047' denotes; being the 047th medic ship to be sent to work there."

Shigure nodded sadly at how the 8th Fleet had a long and turbulent history, and because of that, their supposedly flawless skin was ruined by reminders of their past, either involuntary or deliberate on their part, looking away abashedly after observing and displaying so much interest in these markings when they had horrid backstories behind them.

The last question which she asked her destroyer teammate was how these scars remained even though they had the docks to heal them back to prime-perfect condition.

And the answer to that was rather informative.

"The scars are results of injuries in battle which make up prolonged naval campaigns in the past, where their deep-running, infected injuries inflicted in the middle of nowhere receive delayed medical attention, resulting in the scars remaining, although the shallow scars fade with repeated docking.

The tattoos are there because the Fairies run a paid service in their off-hours to tattoo the skin of ship girls, and although it's somewhat expensive because they craft and maintain custom equipment outside of work hours and with the base's materials, we do earn paychecks and can save up for one.

We don't age and that negates the problem of tattoos deforming with age, and the Fairies use advanced technology which fixes several problems, some of which are tattoos fading with time and prevents the docks from erasing them, unless the tattooed skin or limb was seared off or dismembered respectively."

Furrowing her eyebrow, she addressed the scars on their arms which was inflicted on themselves, by themselves.

"And as to the scars on their wrists and forearms…

They're the result of self-mutilation and neglect of the resulting injuries by allowing their bodies to heal up by themselves, before hurting themselves again to the point where their bodies give up on healing the skin on those body parts, unless amputated.

And while amputating the limb in question often removes the cutting scars, they're too skilled for that, and while their uniforms cover them up, in times like these, they're on show for everyone to see, and it's one reason why not a lot of people talk to them."

But Ayanami's look turned into one of warmth as she turned to Shigure, asking about the burn injury which the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer sustained during the sortie to Aogashima Island.

"Speaking of injuries…

How's the back?

I couldn't visit you in hospital, a thousand apologies for that."

Shigure shook her head, accepting Ayanami's apology as she spoke about her injury, which was nothing more than a slight sting now when water hit the affected area of skin, which discouraged her from taking a dip outside of her mandated swimming laps.

"No, it's alright.

Your life doesn't revolve around me, so I can understand if you can't find the time to visit me, but I know that you wanted to, and that's what matters.

Besides, my injury has been healed, it's now the equivalent of a light sunburn and it's why I don't want to swim anymore than I have to, because it stings a little when water touches it."

Ayanami nodded sadly, feeling rather down as Shigure looked at Ayanami while her teammate spoke to her from the heart about this sinking feeling she had.

"You know, Shigure-san.

I have a bad feeling about what's to come next, and several of the seniors whom I've talked to share this feeling of dread in the bottom of my gut.

And while I'm happy that you've recovered, I can't help but think that with Junyou's temporary blindness and Hiei's injuries, I can't help but feel that these debilitating injuries are only going to be an even more common occurrence from here on out.

I mean, the fact that the Battle of Sagami-nada Sea is occurring in a few days isn't helping our case, hmm?"

Shigure nodded, understanding that there was going to be a gathering tomorrow in order to determine the positions of all the ship girls who were participating, although everyone knew their limits and abilities well enough to know where they'll likely be.

Shigure listened to Ayanami as she saw that the Ayanami-Class destroyer was genuinely concerned about them and their immediate prospects of survival, and what was coming was about to inflict upon them a bad case of dead, which would run directly counter to her goals.

"There'll always be rumors floating about on the internet and amongst ship girls about phenomena and weird occurrences which would probably be linked back to the Abyssals.

But recently, with _The Flying Dutchman_ , a previously dead ship girl recently being spotted sailing faster than any known ship girl or Abyssal in existence, and we're now participating in this land assault training session…

I can't help but feel that the lack of 5-Year Plans for this previous decade will come back to bite us in the ass, because we're simply that far behind the Abyssals in terms of progress, and that the Abyssals may be upping their game by moving onto land."

Shigure looked down, wishing she could at least try to assuage some of these concerns, but she knew that trouble was on the horizon in the form of Apocalypse, and she didn't want to falsely reassure her before shit hit the fan.

She instead chose to humor Ayanami and see where the train of thought led them, but she tried not to namedrop Apocalypse or say anything incriminating so that when things went to hell, suspicion wouldn't be shifted onto her.

"Well, I can't exactly argue with that.

True, evidence and lack of implementation of enemy plans points to a long-overdue tidal wave of trouble on the horizon, and I don't have anything to reassure you with save for the fact that even if they try, the Abyssals can't kill us all.

We can be revived, and I understand that Anti-Abyssal weapons, while technically being capable of killing Abyssals, do require a few bullets to kill a unit unless it's a point-blank shot, especially if they have their ship girl mode activated.

I saw that Akitsu Maru-san's shotgun could kill an Abyssal at close range, but I'm not exactly sure how other conventional weapons would fare against the Abyssals at a longer range, should they ever come onto land.

After all, cannons, bombers and torpedoes are what can readily kill ship girls and Abyssals alike, and while Anti-Abyssal firearms and weapons, while dangerous, aren't outright lethal outside of certain scenarios, yes?"

She could see that Ayanami was worried because although they had mankind's armies backing them up, they weren't exactly built for handling Anti-Abyssal firearms, speaking in a despondent manner.

"Well, that's the problem.

Anti-Abyssal firearms aren't so easy to craft, since we need to create gun parts which are stronger in order to resist the wear and tear which would normally result from a stronger gunpowder, which the Fairies concocted, detonating in a human firearm which isn't upgraded to withstand and contain the explosion within the chamber.

Sure, upgrading an existing firearm to 'Kai' is possible in order to recycle existing firearms to be able to handle an increased gunpowder charge, but while the increased weight gain and recoil is considerable for a human, we aren't affected by the difference because of our super strength."

Shigure understood where Ayanami was coming from, speaking up in order to carry on her teammate's train of thought.

"So humans aren't suited to handle Anti-Abyssal weapons for long, because superhuman strength is required to handle an Anti-Abyssal firearm's weight and recoil, right?"

Ayanami nodded, and Shigure did her best to think of how to counter that argument with how human warfare had come a long way since then, and firearms alone weren't mankind's only weapons.

"Well, it's not entirely hopeless, even if that's the case.

There are many ways a battles of attrition can be fought, utilizing mines and guerilla warfare to fight against the numerically superior Abyssals.

The Abyssals know that if they were to come onto land, we have the home field advantage, and as per the 36 Stratagems, Number 15 states that enemies who get separated from their source of strength, in this case the ocean, would be at a major environmental disadvantage."

Ayanami then retorted dryly,

"Well then, I suppose ten years should be enough for any army to minimize that disadvantage, hmm?

No one knows what they're up to at the bottom of the ocean, and as they say, quantity has a quality all on its own…"

Shigure sweat-dropped, but she saw that Ayanami was looking seriously depressed as she hugged her knees, and she sidled up to Ayanami as she looked down and slunk a comforting shoulder around her, reassuring her as best she could without giving herself away.

"Look…

I understand where you're coming from, and I understand that these ten years seem to build up to a crescendo which evidence seems to suggest might be unleashed sooner or later.

But you have to understand.

We don't go down easily, as evidenced in the last world war, and if it's a fight the Abyssals want to take to us, they'll find that our tenacity and ferocity are matched only by our elusiveness and ruthlessness on our own home turf.

I can't say for sure that they want to take things to the next level by attacking us on land, and perhaps even in the air, but I can only say that it's not out of the question.

So don't be sad; I'm here with you, and so's the 1st Fleet."

Ayanami looked at Shigure with surprise, but she settled into a small smile as she teased Shigure about the role reversal here when she intended to talk to Shigure in order to help her through her troubles.

"Well, I wanted to help you with your troubles by talking to you, but I suppose I also had some issues of my own to settle, hmm?

I'm not certain if I can be like this forthcoming about my troubles with my own class of sisters, because I prefer not to let them see me bleed.

I want to be a dependable older sister to them all, and I'm afraid it wouldn't bold well for my sisters if I were to show them that I'm insecure in some aspects, causing them to doubt my ability to lead."

Shigure, noting the quote from a James Bond film which she had seen on her off days, understood that Ayanami wanted to project an aura of strength in order to reassure her sisters with her firm leadership and apparent invulnerability, something which was recommended for a names hip to effectively lead her sisters.

But this worked both ways, in that going to them for personal advice when you've been hyping yourself up so much might diminish your reputation in the eyes of your sisters, and while it seemed rather petty of her to bottle up her feelings and problems like this, she just wanted to be a strong elder sister, and Shigure was simply lucky that she was in the same fleet and said the right things for Ayanami to open up to her, speaking.

"Well, Ayanami, do you think your sisters are that small-minded to doubt you just because you show a more human and flawed side to yourself?

Appearing physically unstoppable isn't the same as becoming something inhuman, something which I'm afraid Unryuu-san doesn't understand."

Ayanami nodded abashedly in acknowledgement of her words, suddenly appearing pretty sullen as she looked down as she spoke to Shigure in a confidential tone about a deep-seated fear of hers, and Shigure noted a change in the way Ayanami addressed her since she might now be a little more comfortable with addressing her solely by her name.

"You know, Shigure.

I sank really early back in the war, and I think that the most painful part about sinking so soon wasn't the pain, but the paranoia of not knowing what would become of your sisters.

When I came back and found out that I could research on the fates of my sisters, I pleaded on my knees for the Admiral to help me in this endeavor, since I hadn't figured out the inner workings of modern technology back then.

And it felt really bad during those years, because instead of feeling at peace like others likely did, I was always tormented by not knowing what became of my sisters until now."

Turning in order to look at Shigure, Ayanami seemed comfortable with opening up to a destroyer who was infamous for being the opposite of her, surviving in every confrontation until her luck ran out in the last year of the war.

"You know, I don't want to make this all about me, which is why I'd like to ask you something, Shigure.

How does it feel like, to survive for as long as you did?"

Shigure was interested in the question, not just because she now knew about Ayanami's way of thinking and how she felt while at the bottom of the ocean, but this was the first time where the Ayanami-Class destroyer asked her such a personal question.

She thought it appropriate for her to respond after she heard Ayanami speak about how she felt when she sank, something personal which most ship girls didn't share with others other than their teammates or their sisters, responding honestly.

"Well, it hurts, but not in the way that you think.

It feels… as if a chunk of your heart is ripped out every time you receive news that another sister has sunk, and although we don't have hearts when we're ships, it's the closest equivalent to how I felt back then, and I was actually rather happy to join others in death after living for so long.

And while I can't understand how you felt when you sank, I know that you suffered in your own way because the last thought that occupied your mind is how you'll never know the fates of your sisters, and that itself is a form of torture, really.

Perhaps that is why you might feel compelled to make yourself seem stronger in the eyes of your sisters, to reassure them with your continued presence in this world."

Ayanami smiled, and she took her turn to see things from Shigure's perspective, thinking about how she might not want this second life because of the exact opposite reason.

"Well, you're not wrong with your hypothesis.

I admit that I can't understand how you might feel about all this, because to you, it might feel as if we're all gathered here in order to be lost in war again, and I know that despite all our assurances, you might not believe us, because there really is no telling when we will sink.

And I'm afraid that our time spent together during the unknown countdown to our demise matters little to the day in which your fears are proven to be justified, and we do sink."

She could say nothing in response to that, instead choosing to compromise and agree with her to some extent as she answered.

"Well, I won't deny that.

Your possible future sinkings keep plaguing me, but I think that one thing Akashi's been trying to help me come to terms with is with accepting death, but not by trivializing everyone's lives and pushing them all away in order not to hurt myself.

And while I wish to say a few things about wanting to seem invulnerable to your sisters in order to lead them, I suppose there are certain things which can only be shared with friends.

Besides, if I keep obsessing over the date which you all will sink, I'll have wasted every single day which leads up to that fateful day, leaving no chance to spend any more time with you."

She could feel Ayanami's eyes on her as she spoke her next sentence, having read this quote and feeling inspired by it enough to dedicate memory space to remembering it for life.

"There's some dispute as to who said this first, but I don't think it matters as much as the message which it sends, and it roughly goes like this.

'They say you die twice.

The first is when you stop breathing, and the second is when somebody says your name for the last time.'

Sure, perhaps stopping everyone from sinking all the time like some superhero isn't possible, but I do want them to live on in my memory, so that their legacy and name will live on, and I think that has to count for something."

Remembering the Nishimura Fleet, she was saddened by how death was omnipresent in their lives, but it was par for the course in their line of work as ship girls, and remembering them was one way of honoring their memories and helping them live on in her mind.

But Ayanami, looking concerned about how Shigure was putting in so much effort to remember her late teammates despite them being linked to painful memories, looked her in the eyes as she tried to give an alternative opinion.

"But remember, Shigure.

I respect and even admire your dedication to keeping your past teammates alive in some sense by remembering them, but I'd like to suggest something which you might not agree with, only because I have your best interests in mind.

Should remembering them become painful, or if it wears down on your heart and psyche over time, I personally think that it's alright for you to let them go."

Shigure was rather shocked at the suggestion, but she held her tongue as she turned to look at Ayanami and heard her out before she said anything, knowing that the destroyer possessed no ill intent.

"Remember that holding onto the past risks chaining you to your memories, and while I said to 'let them go', I didn't mean to forget them entirely.

Being too attached to the past may blind you to the present, and while I can't understand what you've been through, I don't want you to feel as if it's mandatory of you to remember everyone's sinkings which may wear down your psyche.

And although I can't speak for everyone in your past, I personally think that they would want what's best for you.

If it hurts to remember them, I think they wouldn't mind being forgotten.

In another extreme case, I don't think that you should romanticize memories of anyone and indulge in them as a mental opioid whenever things become too grim in real life.

I don't want you to hurt yourself by forcing yourself to remember their last moments when it's clear that it takes a toll on you, but I also don't want you to escape from reality by indulging in your memories, and I'm sorry I stepped out of line by speaking my mind, but I…"

Shigure leaned in and hugged Ayanami tighter with her arm wrapped around Ayanami's shoulders, and the wordless gesture was all that was needed to assuage Ayanami's concerns as Shigure felt both the wet, cold fabric of the school uniform and the warm skin of her teammate pressing against her.

And it was at that moment when she saw Admiral Mako speak to Akashi in hushed tones, the two of them moving away from the crowd of ship girls who gave them a wide berth, since it was quite obvious that anytime they spoke together, they were talking about serious business.

Shigure's left eye twitched as she futilely tried to suppress her overwhelming curiosity and the intense desire to know what she would learn if she listened in on them.

What were they going to talk about?

What? What? _What?_

* * *

Hiei looked at Bismarck as she tried not to look at the tattoos which decorated the German's back, feeling curious as to how she got those tattoos, and with this swimming session, she plucked up the courage to ask Bismarck a personal question when the opportunity presented itself.

She'd heard people say that it was because of her bloody past and a massive tactical mistake on her part, in which the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami screwed them over and caused her German Admiral to let her go, allowing Admiral Mako to 'buy' Bismarck at a bargain due to her peculiarly unlucky nature to get others around her killed and sunk.

Upon hearing her request and listening to what she had heard from others, Bismarck nodded as she looked down and seemingly deflated, agreeing in German before speaking in Japanese.

{Yes.}

"Back when I was in Germany, I was unusually unlucky in that if I didn't get heavily injured all the time, I caused everyone around me to sink, two of which were Max and HMS Hood.

And you know the former as Z3.

The latter was especially tricky, because it temporarily riled up relations between the UK and Germany, especially because I apparently sank Hood in World War 2, and even though we got back together and became best friends, to have caused her death when she blocked dive bombers and torpedoes for me…"

Bismarck looked vulnerable and aged despite her youthful looks, lacking her peaked cap to shield her face as her bikini exposed more skin than her uniform did, and she slouched as her shoulders slumped at the thought of an honorable enemy-turned-best friend sink because of her, and Hiei's mood mirrored that of her conversational partner as Bismarck continued.

"And as to your question about my tattoos, it was because of what happened in the Indian Ocean back in 2004, when I led my fleet to their deaths in Sri Lanka and Aceh, all because I intended to push them out of the Bay of Bengal and into the Indian Ocean."

Hiei shuddered as she remembered the videos of how colossally tall the tidal waves were, her expression darkening as she leaned in to ask gravely yet politely and patiently, not wishing to aggravate or sadden the depressed battleship any more than she already was, apparently having recovered enough to reform her personality of being headstrong and proud on the exterior, yet Hiei could see that she was secretly still brittle and heavily scarred inside.

"What happened, Bismarck?

… Please."

Bismarck nodded while Hiei received a file on her HUD, opening it to find a map on which battles were recorded, this one dating back to December 2004, an entire month before the tsunami occurred.

The map detailed the Bay of Bengal, and how an green arrow snaked along the coast, from the Suez Canal into the Arabian Sea, stopping at Sri Lanka before sailing along India, Bangladesh and Myanmar in order to meet up with a red-and-white arrow sailing up the Malacca Strait from Singapore.

And they met right at the tip of Indonesia.

More specifically, the province of Aceh.

Bismarck provided a play-by-play commentary, speaking about how the Abyssals won one of the most decisive naval victories in the Abyssal War by taking advantage of a natural disaster in order to catch an entire naval armada off-guard.

"I was tossed into the European International Peacekeeping Fleet, which was specially formed to be sent into either the Arabian and Indian Sea or the waters surrounding South Africa, while most Europeans fleets focused either on the Northern seas or the Northern Atlantic Ocean.

And while others either volunteered or were raised to fight in that fleet ever since they were crafted, I was simply thrown there when no other European base wanted me, since I was practically an omen of death to everyone around me.

We were sent to Sri Lanka to fend off an unusual Abyssal interest in the Indian Ocean, especially the Bay of Bengal.

As shown on the map, we were chasing a Abyssal fleet as they skirted the edges of the Bay, prompting frustration in our fleet as we coordinated and met the Japanese International Peacekeeping Fleet at Indonesia, where the Abyssals we were chasing met up with another Abyssal fleet and formed a small armada."

Hiei's eyebrows furrowed at how the scenario played out with 20/20 hindsight, looking at Bismarck as she asked tensely.

Did you…

Did you lead them to their deaths there?

I heard that Aceh was most affected by the tsunami, do you think the Abyssals…"

Bismarck nodded, darkly snorting at her past self's incompetence as she spoke derisively about what she did.

"I was growing frustrated with the lack of proper engagements when we were chasing them on a merry chase around India and Bangladesh, and I just wanted to prove myself and go home.

Being in foreign countres against my will, everyone fearing me as an omen of death while fighting an elusive Abyssal fleet who, I admit, were rather skilled at evading us and stringing us on.

Looking back, I suppose it was all was a trap, getting a large fleet to gather at Aceh with baits and feints, throw a fight and retreat, allowing the tidal wave to crush us before moving in for the kill, all executed to perfection.

I ordered everyone to pursue the deliberately retreating Abyssals, and we were promptly greeted with an insurmountable wall of seawater rushing us, forcing us to retreat.

But even then…"

Hiei nodded, understanding that although the ocean was a somewhat fair arena for both ship girls and Abyssals to fight on since it was a flat plane (waves notwithstanding) which Abyssals could submerge in order to position themselves strategically.

And since Abyssals could submerge while ship girls couldn't…

"And you all got wiped out by the tidal wave while the Abyssals safely submerged, yes?"

Bismarck grimly half-smirked as she looked away, pointing out how hurricanes, tsunamis and severe storms turned the tide and changed the environment to the Abyssals' advantage.

Namely due to the flooding.

"Well, not exactly.

A lot of the ship girls drowned and others were killed when they slammed into buildings head-first, but it's not always the wave that kills you, especially when we possess superhuman bodies.

The flooding throughout the various cities and towns radically changes the environment and allows both sides to traverse cities with their boat slippers, but while the Abyssals are executing humans left and right when they sail onto submerged land, we're forced onto the defensive by giving our lives in order to let the humans evacuate safely.

We had to fight a battle of attrition in an urban setting before the onslaught of Abyssals retreated in the face of backup arriving, thankfully in time."

Bismarck looked extremely guilty of her own mistake, looking down with a dark expression while her drooped shoulders stretched out the intricate tattoo pattern on her back, normally hidden behind her flowing, golden hair, but was now on full display as a self-inflicted mark of shame.

"I had a say in the decision-making of the Battle of the Indian Ocean, and I told them to chase them down and push the Abyssals out of the Bay of Bengal, preferably back into the Indian Ocean.

And now that I remember it, it wasn't exactly accurate to call it 'The Battle of the Indian Ocean' when it was in the Bay of Bengal, but I suppose it flows easier that way.

After that battle, the few survivors who had to work with me in order to move debris, treat the injured and protect the human refugees, they didn't spare me a second look when they were ordered and escorted back to their bases, and I didn't mind at that point, because I was utterly devastated and humiliated by then."

Hiei asked, feeling rather incensed about how everyone seemed to pin the blame on her when she wasn't the cause of the tsunami in the first place, feeling rather protective of the German battleship since she was a fellow battleship of Yokosuka and a fellow comrade.

"They can't exactly blame you for losing the Battle of the Indian Ocean when you didn't cause the tsunami.

And even if you retreated, the tsunami would have engulfed you since, to my knowledge, you all weren't notified of the earthquake because of the lack of an alert system in that general area back then, right?"

Bismarck nodded at the points being made, but they both looked up at Akitsu Maru as she joined the conversation, looking strangely subdued as she sat herself down directly beside Bismarck and looked a little too friendly that way, retorting.

"Well, simply put, you weren't there.

Bismarck-chan was a simple target for everyone to blame, and while you have the benefit of hindsight, they had to fight a losing battle against hordes of Abyssals who were executing civvies left and right while sporting unattended injuries and had to ruthlessly prioritize treating the wounded and homeless refugees over themselves.

They were also forced to drink propane and vegetable oil as fuel substitutes, and whatever fuel they could find, they had to drink it from filthy puddles on the floor like dogs, so it's not entirely out of the question that they'd want someone to blame for their woes.

True, I think most of them have gotten over their disdain for Bismarck-chan by now, but in the heat of the moment, you should understand the tendency to blame someone around you in order to vent your frustrations, hmm?"

Hiei had tensed up when Akitsu Maru presented herself in her awkward attempt to insert herself into the conversation, but Bismarck didn't seem to mind as she responded calmly to Akitsu Maru's words.

"Well, not that they're wrong.

I blamed myself back then, and I still blame myself for it now; the only difference is that I found a group of losers to join in wallowing in my misery and secret self-loathing.

One amphibious assault ship in particular."

Akitsu Maru broke out into a fake smile as she pretended to let the slight fly over her head, Hiei sweat-dropping as the amphibious assault ship placed an index finger on her cheek and looked away, chiming.

"Oh, my, whoever could you be talking about?

We have a Bob-the-fucking-Builder Akashi, the ex-chuunibyou Kiso, the sentient cotton candy Unryuu and the 'fast sucking' pyromaniac Hayasui, as well as the supporting cast which consists of the mute Hatsuzuki, Maru-yu the Mole, Bad Luck Bismarck and the MILF Mamiya.

But you couldn't possibly be talking about this sublime and _kawaii_ makeup-abusing, globetrotting, katana-wielding Abyssal-lookalike motherfucker now, right?"

All while crossing her legs and getting into a _Thinker_ pose, although she instead chose to slide the back of her free palm sensually along her jawline, tilting her head and blinking innocently towards the battleship duo.

Bismarck rolled her eyes, looking at a bewildered Hiei as she jerked her thumb to point at Akitsu Maru, speaking about how she was banned from returning to Germany, and how Z1 took care of her before a certain amphibious assault ship came to retrieve them both.

"Z1, or whom you know as Lebe in this base, she was sent to this base and was asked to drop by Aceh in order to let me know that I was no longer welcome in Germany, with a new me being crafted back in Deutschland.

She was a dear and stayed behind to help take care of me when I was at my lowest emotional point, and that was until Akitsu Maru was sent to get Lebe.

And when she saw the state I was in, she offered to end my miserable life as an ultimatum, lest I keep suffering without a country to go home to and with no teammates left around me."

Akitsu Maru made a cutesy face with a wink as she stuck her tongue out and held up a horizontal peace sign to her closed eye, speaking merrily and throwing Hiei off with her uncanny enthusiasm.

"Well, luckily I didn't, because then I wouldn't have a best friend to screw around with!

Besides, she's the backup heavy hitter of the 8th Fleet even though she's in the battleship-filled 7th Fleet, so she carries the fleet and allows us to kick back and relax when she rides with us!"

Bismarck brightened up as she turned to Akitsu Maru and quipped,

"Oh, was that what you called this relationship? Friendship?

Because I was more under the impression that this was more of a cart and horse, where I'm the horse and you're the cart, and might I add, the freeloader whenever I'm in your fleet."

Before looking away and muttering jokingly.

"With an emphasis on 'load', with all your weapons and body armor…"

Akitsu Maru's expression crumpled into a confused expression as she thought about the analogy, asking the Bismarck-Class battleship,

"Wait, if you're using the 'cart and horse' analogy, does that you're going to somehow transition into a 'cart before the horse' saying?"

And Bismarck rolled her eyes in Akitsu Maru's direction as she snarked.

"Well, of course I'd transition into the 'cart before the horse' saying. and I'd add that since you're the cart in this case, you'd make one hell of a human shield to be placed in front of me should a situation arise, because that's what best friends do, right?

Admit it, you'd use me for the exact same purpose, which you… actually have in the past, really."

Bismarck rolled up her eyes in exasperation while Akitsu Maru broke out into laughter as she clutched at her stomach and doubled over, Bismarck eventually turning to Hiei as she continued with a sad smirk on her face.

"Well, from there on out, I was escorted to Yokosuka by Akitsu Maru and Lebe, and because of my guilt over causing all my teammates' death in my own mind and being a Nazi battleship, hence an indirect manifestation of their sins, I decided to get this tattoo on my back like Akitsu Maru did as penance for everyone who died in my past.

And then Lebe…"

Hiei looked away as she understood that Lebe had sunk while protecting Bismarck, and she must have grieved even harder over Lebe's death, because according to everyone, Lebe stuck by her quite often in the past to help her find herself again.

"I must soldier on, at least until I've lived a hundred lifetimes putting all of their grieving, Abyssalized spirits to rest for good and paid off my debt to them in blood.

You may perhaps call me too proud or stubborn in feeling as if I have to make it up to the dead, but I'm sure that their spirits haunt the oceans in Abyssal form, and it is my responsibility and my duty to fight on in their stead make sure that their sacrifices weren't in vain."

Hiei shook her head, suddenly feeling a little guilty for asking about what was likely the worst time of her friend's life simply because she wanted to know the story behind her friend's tattoos, looking away as she spoke.

"Oh, no.

I'm sure that you alone have to find your own way to find peace with what happened, and for some, they take to alcohol, and others, religion or something else.

It's not my place to judge, because like Akitsu Maru said, I wasn't there and in your shoes, and even if you torrented me the specific memory file, which I dare not ask of you, I can't feel the exact same things you did because you have your past in Germany, and I haven't lived your past, so…

Um, a-am I making sense right now?"

Bismarck nodded understandingly, and Akitsu Maru leaned on her as she chirped,

"Oh, don't mind Bismarck-chan.

I've always said that talking about the incident can help you become more accustomed to opening up to others about it, and she only gets a raging eye twitch nowadays when people mention it out of the blue, and I personally find it rather endearing."

Hiei looked down at their wrists, cringing at the sheer amount of crisscrossing scars on their wrists and forearms as she asked, nodding towards their arms as she asked.

"And what about those?"

Bismarck responded with a simple shrug, answering an increasingly creeped out Hiei about how they would punish themselves for what their past regimes did as additional penance.

"Oh well, in addition to causing the deaths of all my fellow ship girls, I went through a midlife crisis and was also extremely guilty about being a living relic of a horrible past, hence these.

And I'd like to add, I'm glad to be out of that disgusting uniform; In Germany, we're never allowed to wear them outside of the base, not that we'd do something that tasteless anyway.

I've become a little more accustomed to the cosplay-ey and lax dress code of Yokosuka, but I mostly wear it nowadays to hide these."

Lifting her arms to show Hiei the marred skin which was certainly the work of Anti-Abyssal knives used for self-destructive ends, Hiei knew that Anti-Abyssal weapons were 'Anti-Abyssal' in name only; they could also be used to hurt ship girls in the right hands, although no human could muster the amount of strength to drive an Anti-Abyssal knife into the skin of the toughest light cruisers and above.

In theory, anyway.

"Essentially, I went through an emo phrase in my road to recovery, and a certain someone…"

Tilting her head and derisively giving a positively shining Akitsu Maru an aside glance.

"Emo-ing along with me didn't help much.

It was all rather childish and embarrassing, you wouldn't be interested in those dark times.

I initially thought that self-inflicted pain would ease my conscience, but after quite a while, we stopped when we got bored of the pain, and I threw all my efforts into trying to improve my performance."

Akitsu Maru then rolled her eyes, a quip ready to fire as Bismarck finished her sentence, changing up the 'eat dirt' phrase to fit the scene.

"Yeah, you sure showed those improvements by drinking seawater during Ise's beat-down, hmm?"

Hiei couldn't help but snicker abashedly at the reminder of their disastrous attempt to defeat the Ise-Class battleship, who was another can of bottled-up psychological problems expertly hidden behind her cheery demeanor, watching Bismarck and Akitsu Maru elbow each other like best friends did with some mirth.

Suddenly, she remembered the self-descriptive line about makeup, and she asked Akitsu Maru about why her skin tone was the usual beige instead of makeup-white.

"I just noticed this, but why aren't you wearing your white makeup, Akitsu Maru-san?"

Akitsu Maru shrugged as she answered offhandedly,

"Well, that makeup which I use is fire-resistant and is applied when I sortie, because of my combusting sword, Kagutsuchi and my pyrotechnic weapons.

My clothes are also resistant to fire, although…"

The amphibious assault ship then giggled, raising her index finger to her lips as she spoke coyly and stopped herself from revealing all her secrets.

"Teehee…

Shouldn't spill all my secrets and reveal my best techniques so easily."

Hiei rolled her eyes at that, dryly remarking,

"Well, judging by how you behave and fight during your usual sorties, I think it be best for my sanity if I'm to be left in the dark and be nowhere near your fiery self when you're at your best."

Bismarck lifted an eyebrow in agreement, Akitsu Maru smiling as she adjusted her monochrome bikini and allowed Hiei a view of the dark ink beneath her skin, and she shuddered a little at the sensation of needles underneath her skin, injecting foreign fluids…

And the sensation of putting knives on her wrists, and pulling it in order to feel the knives cut into flesh…

She looked away as a chill ran down her spine, reminding herself that she was not here to judge the 8th Fleet; they tried to make amends for their perceived mistakes, and she was only here to know Bismarck better.

She felt that amongst the battleships, she knew the foreigner the least, and in the upcoming Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, she wanted to ensure that a lack of camaraderie wasn't going to do them in.

Besides, it was nice to know about the 8th Fleet's members when they weren't completely out of their minds, and now that something ominous was brewing on the horizon, she wanted to spend some time with others before anything bad happened.

That was the thing about being veterans, they could sense the winds of war shifting ever so slightly, yet was a subtle indicator of the incoming storm.

* * *

Admiral Mako led Akashi into a secluded area of the base, not far from where the swimming pools were so that they could easily walk back to where everyone was.

And when she was sure that they were far enough from everyone as they entered a fauna clearing, with the summer trees and leaves shielding them from the sun rays shining down on them, she turned back to face a stoic Akashi as she took in everything about the repair ship.

The scars on her torso and thighs were from past battles, back when Akashi was trying to come into her own as an unorthodox front-line combatant, helping the naval base out back when they were short on manpower and firepower, and she could never thank her enough for her invaluable part in building this base up.

The cutting scars on her arms were something unique to the 8th Fleet, where they inflicted physical pain on themselves in order to distract themselves from their emotional pain, although they stopped a long time ago when they found out that it was hard to sustain such a purely self-destructive lifestyle in the long run.

She blamed herself for not being skilled enough to stop such self-destructive tendencies, especially when she was less skilled in heart-to-heart conversations back then and wasn't exactly what you would call a skilled life consultant, looking down at the one scar which perplexed her.

The C-section scar.

Akashi was unwilling to tell her the story behind the scar, especially after Yuubari sank and she withdrew into herself, and it was only spending after a few years with the 8th Fleet before she reluctantly opened up to them, who had been through several scrapes with her by then.

She could feel Akashi picking up on her curiosity, choosing to start the conversation on her own terms by speaking.

"Well, Admiral?

I believe that you wanted to speak to me because of how the situation with Apocalypse and Project Psyche is developing, yes?"

Admiral Mako lifted an eyebrow at how Akashi changed the focus onto the present in order not to let her ask about her past, but she nodded as she asked, knowing that the senior ship girl was was capable of reading how things were going.

"Yeah.

I spoke to the leaders of various countries in order to get them up to speed and for them to officially voice their support in stopping Apocalypse."

Akashi didn't seem entirely convinced, giving a skeptical,

"Hmm."

As she looked away, thinking about what to say before she remarked.

"Well, the alliances which truly matter aren't those which are formed before the shit hits the fan, only those which remain standing after the dust has settled."

Admiral Mako lifted her other eyebrow as she asked, curious about her unwillingness to believe that everyone could put aside their grievances in order stand together as one.

"And I suppose you don't put too much faith in us, despite fighting with us for so long?"

Akashi shrugged, looking back at her as she gave her opinion on how things might go, should they fail in their endeavor to stop the advance of the Abyssals.

"Well, there is a difference between working _with_ them, and working _for_ them.

I may be programmed to fight for you, but trust me when I say that I never want to fight _with_ you, or to be more specific, every human but you, Admiral.

You're alright."

Admiral Mako furrowed her eyebrows, feeling cock-blocked as always when Akashi was being so cryptic about her disdain for mankind (she was the exception, strangely enough) as well as her past, asking bluntly.

"Alright, enough foreplay, Akashi.

Let's get down to business, you know what I want to know.

You've been blue balling me for ten years now, and although I can understand playing hard to get, I can't understand where your hatred of humans stem from, although I can at least surmise…"

Pointing to Akashi's stomach and the C-section scar, she continued as Akashi almost instinctively reached for her stomach, before stopping herself and scowled at Admiral Mako.

"It has something to do with that.

Akashi, what happened to you?"

She started listing the anomalies in Akashi's colorful past, and how she genuinely wanted to help her ship girls.

"You worked at the Ship Girl Institute of Mental Health, I can understand that's where you got the '047' tattoo.

But after four years of working there, you disappeared for two years, and I hypothesize that it's when you got that C-section scar, and the last ten years were spent here, in Yokosuka as the base medic, and this accounts for the full sixteen years which you've been alive.

And something which bugs me is how the government's been paying you an obscene amount of money, to the point where you can retire and live like a millionaire, yet here you are, occasionally withdrawing cash to pay for the base's fundings and living with the 8th Fleet.

So I'd like to ask, Akashi."

Her expression darkened as she leaned in to ask.

"Did the government… did Central do something to you before the ship girl constitution was written?

What happened?

Did someone do… do _that_ to you?"

Akashi looked back defiantly at Admiral Mako, holding her gaze for a while before she leaned back and allowed her scowl to darken, commenting.

"I plead the Fifth; I don't want to answer your question."

Before Admiral Mako walked to Akashi, bringing her face very close to Akashi's as she hissed menacingly while Akashi looked away.

"We aren't in the U.S., so you don't get to use that excuse anymore, especially when I've let you off the hook so many times in the past with that Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card.

Akashi, if they've been abusing and exploiting you all back when the ship girls are still a secret…"

And Akashi turned back to shoot back, her expression darkening by the second as she forcefully spoke.

"And what are you going to do if they had, hmm?

 _What?!_ "

Admiral Mako pulled back while Akashi struck back, which in itself was rare, the repair ship turning the tables on her own Admiral as she stepped forward, her venomous red aura flaring up while Admiral Mako gulped nervously.

"You don't get it, Admiral.

Money means _nothing_ to those filthy humans, what matters is that they bury their secrets with their equally filthy money which they throw at me.

But that isn't what keeps me quiet, oh no.

The fact that the 8th Fleet, who are pretty much my sisters by now, can keep a secret and you can't, is because you care too much about us.

Just watching how you flared up at how ship girls were treated as mere weapons back in the earliest days of the First Decade is enough to convince me that you'd only be concerned with doing the right thing and never the smart thing, and that's to remain silent when you learn everything about my past.

And if you flare up and take the fight to them, you. Will. Lose!

They'll wipe us from the face of the planet, and make up look bad in the process!"

Admiral Mako gulped, trying to argue back that she was now powerful enough to do something about her situation, speaking exasperatedly after trying to learn of Akashi's secrets for so long.

"But we have the power and political backing to bring those who wronged you to justice-"

Big mistake.

Akashi's expression contorted into a furious scowl as she exploded into a tirade about how Admiral Mako, despite being an adult, could still be so naively childish when it came to certain matters.

" _YOU DON'T FUCKING GET IT!_

THERE IS NO JUSTICE TO BE FOUND HERE!

YOUR CHILDISH, PATHETIC NOTIONS OF CARRYING OUT YOUR SO-CALLED 'JUSTICE' WILL BE CRUSHED BY THOSE ABOVE YOU, AND THEY'D WIN!

THAT'S HOW THE WORLD'S ALWAYS WORKED, AND WILL CONTINUE TO WORK!

THIS ISN'T A FUCKING FAIRY-TALE, AND YOU'RE BEING A COMPLETE CHILD ABOUT THIS!"

Her expression darkened considerably as she leaned in aggressively and seethed into Admiral Mako's face, the Admiral leaning back at the most vocal outburst from the repair ship thus far.

"Everybody lies!

The brass says that they're fine with you being a homosexual and a female, trust me, they're fucking _lying to your face!_

You think they wouldn't hesitate to lynch you in public and get them to cheer if you stop being useful to them, if you stop being good at your goddamned job?!"

And upon hearing her ship girl touch upon a sore point which she'd been expertly hiding, she burst out into an outraged shriek as she lashed out at Akashi without forethought.

" _YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?!_

I've always had to fight an uphill battle to even be _considered_ for this job, and had to learn to shrug off everyone's snide comments and remarks whenever I make a mistake and soldier on…

They don't like me for something I never had control over, and I've been performing better than others because I'm showing the world that things like sexual orientation, race or religious beliefs, these things matter not when fighting an enemy who hates all of mankind equally!"

Before looking away ashamedly, feeling bad for losing her temper so easily and shouting at her ship girls, and Akashi then leaned in close to the faltering Admiral, tilting her head forward and casting a shadow over her face as she asked a hard question.

"And if the war were to suddenly end?

If the Abyssals simply stop appearing from the ocean?

Do you think they'd honor your services and keep you around?"

Admiral Mako couldn't meet Akashi's gaze as she had no answer to that, knowing that despite a global effort to help everyone look forward to a tolerant, kind and accepting future, conservative views were still held by a significant portion of the Japanese population, especially the upper echelons, a small handful of which secretly despise the Americanization of Japan and wish to bring Japan's glory days back at the expense of the entirety of Asia.

Childish, all so childish and asinine…

Akashi growled, looking positively demonic as her hair caught the light at the right angle to almost look crimson-red, her green eyes positively glowering as she hissed into a defeated Admiral Mako's ear in a spiteful voice.

"You know what would happen to every single one of us, and to you the second this war ends, even if we were to inexplicably win against all odds.

We'd be scrapped without hesitation because of their envy and fear of a warrior race who is far superior to them in every way, and you'd be either assassinated in secret or executed in public on trumped-up charges, because that's just how the world works."

Admiral Mako now felt a knot form in her throat, her eyes feeling irritated as she stupidly opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish in her vain attempt to find a counterargument, but Akashi continued with her misanthropic rant.

"This war defines us as much as it defines you at this point, because without this war, we'd never be resurrected as ship girls, and you'd likely be beaten to death, your corpse spat on while you lie on the side of the road, for the sole reason of being a lesbian and conflicting with their conservative views on homosexuality.

The only difference is that now, they actually bother to hide it because of your usefulness to them as opposed to the past, when they would be _applauded_ for putting you down like a rabid animal in their eyes.

Don't kid yourself, Admiral.

Individuals may change, but people never will."

Before dropping her biggest argument on how this war was the only thing holding everyone together, and without it, all of mankind would fracture off into smaller factions and do what they do best, which isn't very nice at all.

"When peace rolls around should the Abyssals be defeated by some miracle, whatever pretenses of unity amongst them will be fractured, and they'll go right back to killing each other for any bloody reason they can find.

Beliefs, racism, territory, resources, revenge, nationalism, or even to make a quick buck; that's all they know other than destroying this Earth with their mere presence.

Our very existence is a living reminder of the blood on their hands, their past _sins_ , and they will sweep us under the carpet without so much as a 'thank you', even after we've fought tooth and nail to keep the Abyssals at bay for so long."

And just as Admiral Mako felt herself being pushed to the emotional brink by a ship girl who held nothing back, she saw that Akashi had lowered her head, covering her face with her left hand while her shoulders heaved along with her breathing, the repair ship muttering as she shielded her face.

"But I must say, Admiral.

The 8th Fleet, like me, rarely go outside of the base because of our contempt for humans, but you are one strange and caring Admiral, and I think that's what keeps us, the 8th Fleet, going.

To us, you'll always be the exception, even if we were to hate all of mankind."

She lifted her head and brushed her fringe back, and what shocked Admiral Mako was the dichotomy between her expression and her eyes, her expression expressing a genuine smile even after flaring up in a murderous temper tantrum mere seconds ago.

But her eyes, while looking as cryptic as ever since Akashi had likely mastered control of her body and could bring her temper under control if required, still retained one feeling which was amplified in the void behind her eyes.

Desolation.

"Admiral.

You've been showering the 8th Fleet and me with far more concern than you do for other Fleets, and for that, we are forever grateful.

But please, for everyone's sake, especially your own, please stop trying to help me.

My problems are buried in the past, and it hurts whenever you pester me for information regarding my past, especially since those who did this to me will stoop to any low to ensure that no one is any wiser about their past misdeeds all done 'for the greater good', and everyone is expandable to them.

Even you.

My silence is my own way of protecting you from the scum who who _own_ Central, and all those who are connected to their past misdeeds in ways you can't even begin to fathom.

This is not your fight.

In fact, there is no fight.

There is no justice or happy ending to be found, should you pursue the past.

… My past.

Please, just…

Just leave me alone."

Admiral Mako almost wanted to weep as she saw Akashi's cheery expression fall flat as though dumping something which was no longer of use, turning away and looking extremely tired as she strolled away, slouching in exhaustion after that emotional tirade.

So she did the only thing she knew to do in this situation.

She ran up to Akashi and hugged her from behind, catching the repair ship by surprise as she sobbed, almost tearing up as she asked of the ship girl who was amongst the handful of ship girls who stood with her from the start and helped her start from the bottom.

"Please, Akashi.

Please, don't push me away, not after so long.

I can help you…"

And it was a while as she clung onto the almost-naked repair ship without a single lewd thought in her mind, fully determined to help the ship girl before her at all costs.

But all it took were a few sentences from the repair ship to crush her world-weary heart who still hoped for a good end, Akashi speaking in a pained voice.

"And that's why I can't tell you.

No one can help me with my past; only my present and future.

Not the 8th Fleet, not Yuubari, not even you.

The reason why I told them and not you is because they've accepted that fact and instead chose to help me move on, while you stubbornly try to dredge up the past and right every wrong within it.

The world doesn't work that way, Admiral.

Please, let go."

Akashi shrugged off Admiral Mako's hug with her superhuman strength, leaving a flabbergasted Admiral Mako alone as Akashi walked back towards the pools before Admiral Mako's face scrunched up, her eyes narrowing as she cried into her palms at her uselessness.

Both Admiral Mako and Akashi were oblivious to a twitching, black-haired _ahoge_ as it barely stuck out beside a nearby tree and was shielded by bushes, Admiral Mako wiping her tears as she hobbled back along the path from whence she came, her sobs echoing in the forested area for a certain Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer to hear.


	42. Chapter 42 - Calm Before The Storm

**Author's Note**

 _Well, it's been about a year since I've started writing this story, yay me. /r/sarcasm._

 _I never thought I'd get this far, and although I personally prefer to take my ego and pride out of the equation and choose to let the quality of my work speak for itself, lately, I've realized that this might be an excuse for not having much self-esteem in the first place._

 _Not believing in my ability to write caused me to have a creator breakdown in the past by rewriting everything, and although it's gotten a little better (maybe), I still want to genuinely thank every single one of you readers out there for standing by me.  
_

* * *

Nagato was sitting on the stage of Yokosuka's sports hall on the afternoon of the 23rd of May, the spacious sports hall housing all the ship girls of Yokosuka as they listened to Admiral Mako while she spoke to them about their designated positions in the upcoming naval battle, looking over at the end of the hall to see the Coordinators speaking to several senior officers which represented the JMSDF, JASDF, JGSDF and the USAF while they were surrounded by their posse.

The JMSDF officer wore a black suit with a white undershirt and black tie while he had a black and white peaked cap in his hand, along with six golden buttons arranged in a double-line formation on his guts, while the JGSDF had a grey suit variant with a blue tie and the JASDF had a naval-blue suit variant.

The USAF officer was standing alongside the JASDF officer and had a Japanese male officer beside him, the latter likely as a translator for the nuances of the Japanese language which few non-natives would understand, and both USAF officer and translator were wearing army-green slacks and zipper shirts, with their insignia where their breast pockets were supposed to be.

They all sported high-ranking designs on their epaulets to even be invited here in the first place, and to the left of their chests were military ribbon racks which were filled with distinguished service ribbons as well as a few pinned medals, earned painstakingly throughout their careers.

They looked to be in their 60s, and Mr. JASDF and JGSDF had slightly receding hairlines despite sporting crew cuts while Mr. JMSDF had some wrinkles of his face after looking to be the eldest of the power trio, and they all had knowing looks on their faces, Admiral Mako informing them of their roles beforehand in order to coordinate the deployment of fighter planes, warships and ground vehicles in time for the Battle of Twelve Navies.

This was opposite to the ship girls' M.O., who could train themselves up and be informed of their roles only a few days before the main battle to simply suit up at the harbor and head out at the drop of a hat, but modern war vehicles, especially warships, required up to a week or so of resupplying and refueling (not including repairs) before heading out again, so they had already warmed up the engines of their ground and air vehicles, and their warships were already moving into place as she thought to herself.

Going by the escalating severity of the impending shitstorm, Admiral Mako had likely shared with them vital information regarding Apocalypse and got them preparing for a possible land invasion as soon as she convinced them of the likelihood of its occurrence.

The human engineers Akio and Kousuke were leaning back on the wall at the end of the hall, speaking in hushed tones about what she assumed was Project Psyche while she saw that everyone in the hall was seated on the floor in cross-legged positions, and dimmed light rays shone down on them and provided illumination while the air-conditioners which were located above the entrances, along with the myriad of fans, kept the hall at a moderate temperature.

She already knew that she was part of the battleship's 7th Strike Group, not that Yokosuka's battleship fleet alone made up the entirety of the 7th Strike Group in the Battle of Twelve Navies, since other naval bases would send their own fleets so that the 7th Strike Group in the large-scale battle would consist of seven or more fleets.

As to the Battle itself…

The Battle of Twelve Navies was supposed to consist of over a dozen Strike Groups, and the ship girls which hailed from naval bases to the West and the North were going to be in the 11th and 13th Strike Groups respectively.

The 1st Strike Group, the only one to consist of two fleets, would be the front-line combatants and the main bait to draw the Abyssals into the naval mine formation.

The 2nd and 3rd Strike Groups were to be the Torpedo Squadrons.

The 4th and 5th Strike Groups consisted of carriers.

The 6th and 7th Strike Groups consisted of battleships.

The 8th, 9th and 10th Strike Groups were the backup fighters, smaller than the 1st individually, but outnumbering those in the 1st when the three backup Strike Groups were together.

The 12th Strike Group was made up of Yokosuka's 8th Fleet and whoever was unlucky enough to be grouped with them because they, being wildcards, were dangerous enough to be a force of nature all on their own.

The gathering today was to notify everyone of their roles in the Battle of Twelve Navies, although it could be accomplished by a notification board; this gathering was also for the Coordinators to iron out several contingency plans with the JSDF brass in case their plans fell apart.

It also allowed Admiral Mako to address several important details with everyone, like the disappearance of the submarines for the past month, and addressing the _Flying Dutchman_ threat officially and explaining what countermeasures they were going to put in place to deter it from interfering in their battle, namely the combined might of the JSDF trinity.

Something else which Nagato knew Admiral Mako had to give the bird carriers a heads-up about was the no-fly zone above the naval mines, something Admiral Mako made sure other naval bases were notified of before the battle.

Due to her nasty little explosive surprise which only the the Admirals and the upper echelons of ship girls in Yokosuka alone knew about, they had to enforce a no-fly zone in the air directly above and around the naval mine formation, in case their planes were unwittingly knocked out of the sky because of the blast wave which was produced by the ungodly explosion on the ocean.

If the upper echelons of the ship girl knew of the trap that was to be sprung on the Abyssals, the leaders of the fleets were invited to an after-dinner meeting last night in order to give them a general idea of the plan flowed, but wouldn't be notified of the explosive traps which were currently lying in wait beneath the ocean…

The rest of the ship girl population would follow the flagships of the fleets which made up the Strike Groups, and while they would be less-informed than their flagships, they knew that as soldiers, they shouldn't demand to know of the larger picture or question their commanding officers about why, for their duty was to do or die.

* * *

 _Now that the land-assault training session on the 22nd was over and the ship girls had finished their dinner in order to refill their stomachs, Admiral Mako had the Coordinators gather the flagships of the fleets which would be part of the various Strike Groups._

 _For the 1st Strike Group, which consisted of two fleets as they needed more front-line combatants, the elder Inazuma was in charge since she was the oldest and most experienced ship girl behind Akashi, and Atago led the second fleet of the 1st Strike Group._

 _Abukuma and Kitakami, two dependable seniors, were in charge of the 2nd and 3rd Strike Groups, aka the Torpedo Squadrons._

 _Kaga and Hiryuu were to be the flagships of the 4th and 5th Strike Groups to deliver death from above._

 _She was the flagship of the 6th Strike Group while Yamato was the flagship of the 7th, and the 8th, 9th and 10th were led by Nachi, Kinugasa and Ashigara, since all three of them had a good head on their shoulders._

 _Akashi was present, and Nagato was frankly surprised at seeing her show up, but she appreciated her presence after considering the alternative that was disrespecting the Admiral by skipping this briefing, even if she knew of the plan and the surprise._

 _Right now, these flagships were gathered at the isolated harbor as the sun had already set before this, the Coordinators also present as she heard Admiral Mako speak to all of them about the battle while a lamppost illuminated the crowd._

" _Well, hello._

 _If you're gathered here courtesy of the Coordinators, know that you've been selected as flagships for the upcoming large-scale battle, and I'll be sharing with you the rough outlines of my plan._

 _I trust you all to make your own decisions on the battlefield, but this is how I want the battle to play out."_

 _Everyone turned to look around at the gathered seniors around them, and it was evident that even though Inazuma was vertically challenged when compared to the likes of Yamato or even the light cruisers, she was accepted as a senior who was older than others in some sense, having lived ten full years alongside their Admiral as her loyal starter ship and was a veteran, through and through._

 _Admiral Mako then continued,_

" _The Battle of Sagami-nada Sea, or as some you have taken to calling it, the Battle of Twelve Navies, will be occurring in a few days, and according to the increased accuracy of our Abyssal unit readings at the bottom of the sea within the Safety Zone, which is estimated to be located somewhere around here in these upcoming days."_

 _Opening up the file which she knew Ooyodo would torrent to the others, Nagato saw that the region of blue which indicated the sea on the map had a rectangular region connecting Oshima Island to the tip of Southwest Chiba, and a red blob was parked right outside of that rectangle, adjacent to the Izu Islands and cutting them off from the Pacific._

" _Fear not._

 _This green rectangular region you see on the map is a result of our fellow submarines, who have spent the last month or so planting naval mines in this region; It's why you haven't seen them around for a while, although some of you here might find it preferable."_

 _Nagato could see that several ship girls present lifted an eyebrow in acknowledgement, because even though submarines mostly did their job behind the scenes, to go so long without seeing one peek their head out somewhere on the ocean or appear around the base might cause concern in some, but with this, those concerns were now put to rest._

 _Admiral Mako continued her explanation of her plans, speaking of the several white arrows which met the Abyssals halfway, as well as the locations of the JMSDF warships and JGSDF ground vehicles in real-time along with the highlighted air bases further inland, explaining._

" _In the first stage of the battle, the 1st, 11th and 13th Strike Groups will triple-team the Abyssals before the naval mine formation, since the Abyssals will be forced to surface there._

 _Inazuma and Atago, expect support to come from the West and the North."_

 _Three white arrows in the first slide, which represented Strike Groups, were labelled '1', '11' and '13' as they headed towards the Abyssals from Tokyo Bay, the West and the North respectively, and Admiral Mako continued._

" _Along with the Torpedo Squadrons of the 2nd and 3rd Strike Groups, the carriers of the 4th and 5th Strike Groups and the battleships of the 6th and 7th Strike Groups, you will all be stationed further behind in order to provide support during this stage."_

 _The supporting Strike Groups were positioned like the seats in an amphitheater, where the 2nd and 3rd Strike Groups were located at 10 and 2 o'clock in order to allow their torpedoes to cross-fire and catch more Abyssals that way, while the battleships and carriers were positioned in between 11 to 1 o'clock to damage the Abyssals at long range._

 _Admiral Mako continued, signalling for them to turn to the next slide which corresponded with the next stage of the battle._

" _After which, we'll proceed to the second stage of the battle, the tactical retreat._

 _This is where we disperse like a receding wave, and the supporting Strike Groups are to cover the 1st's escape, especially the battleships and torpedo squadrons._

 _The 1st, 11th and 13th Strike Groups will be provided with smokescreen grenades to be used in their retreat, and they'll be ordered to perform incomplete combustion with their riggings in order to provide the mother of all smokescreens to block the Abyssals right where you'll see the black smoke symbol._

 _We've predicted that the weather will be rather favorable in these upcoming days, especially since it's summer, and the Abyssals will have to sit outside and endure our long-range shelling while we escape into the smokescreen, for fear of an ambush._

 _And when we're all clear of the area, we wait until they follow us in or piss off back into the ocean, that's if they don't fall for the bait."_

 _Watching the white arrows of the 1st, 11th and 13th retreat beyond the green rectangle of naval mines, a smokey-black translucent wall now overlapped the naval mine formation and blocked the Abyssal horde from advancing._

 _There was another symbol on the ocean which was a simple boat hull with sails, yet everyone knew what it was since it was marked with an ominous, yet simple,_

'FD' _._

 _But it wasn't the focus of the briefing right now as Nagato saw that all the Strike Groups were now beyond the smokescreen, and the Abyssals were now advancing into the smokescreen, although it was now more of a best-case scenario since they couldn't predict what the Abyssals would do when the time came, and these were only plans for every possible scenario._

" _Now, these are speculations on what the enemy would do, and this is the best-case scenario, but you all know not to expect the best, just the worst._

 _I'll be directing the battle in real-time, so rest easy._

 _Should the Abyssals advance and pursue the fleeing 1st Strike Group, we have the naval mine formation to force them to surface and go over the mines, and should they be sailing over the mines while still in the smokescreen, this is where we go to stage three, the bombardment phase._

 _Everyone will dog-pile all their torpedoes, shells and payloads onto the Abyssals on Nagato's command, and under the most ideal of circumstances, we can destroy a large portion of their invading forces with this._

 _And a warning for carriers…"_

 _She could see another slide pop up on her HUD, showing a side view of the ocean which occupied the bottom half of the window along with the naval mines, the smokescreen above it colored in black with an approaching clip-art of a bomber plane, Admiral Mako going into detail about how potentially dangerous this stage was for all pilots._

" _Look, this here is a no-fly zone because of the expected large explosions and blast waves which will no doubt ensue as a result of concentrating all our fire in the smokescreen._

 _And don't worry, I'll be notifying the others about this no-fly zone tomorrow."_

 _An Abyssal drawing was standing on the surface of the ocean, positioned within the smokescreen and above the mines, looking oblivious about the bomber plane as the smokescreen was then occupied by a big, red 'X' mark and words saying,_

' _DO NOT FLY HERE!_

 _REALLY BIG BOOM HERE!'_

 _And as the dive bomber approached, instead of diving in and dropping its payload, Nagato saw that the bomber plane flew at a considerable height above the smokescreen, eventually pulling up in order to toss the payload into the smokescreen._

 _A torpedo bomber dropped its payload at a distance from the smokescreen before performing a bank in order to circle back to its carriers, and a jet fighter's JDAM missile flew in while the Strike Groups chipped in with their torpedoes and large-caliber shells, completely annihilating the Abyssal as its eyes were crossed out, and its tongue stuck out as it sank._

 _Admiral Mako pointed out that the smokescreen was a dangerous place for planes, bomber or jet, to be anywhere near it even without factoring in the naval mine surprise._

" _Since we expect a lot of explosions and a large blast wave to radiate from here, if you're sending out dive bombers, please don't fly near the smokescreen, and instruct your fleets and every one of their bombers to fly at an elevated height and drop their payloads as if you're carpet-bombing the Abyssals._

 _The USAF and the JASDF will fire their JDAM missiles as per usual at a distance, but I gave them a heads-up to not get too close for fear of enemy attacks and collateral damage should they get caught in the explosion._

 _But to wipe out a large chunk of the enemy horde is the best-case scenario, and another scenario is where the Abyssals stay beyond the smokescreen and don't pursue us, and we pepper them with long-range cannons and torpedoes._

 _This way, they'd be turned off by the smokescreen and deterred by our naval mines, so they'll be delayed long enough for us to take pot shots at them with shells and torpedoes, and simply waiting for the wind to disperse the smokescreen would mess up the momentum of their invasion._

 _And this is the fourth stage…"_

 _The next slide was simply every single one of the arrows pointing towards the Abyssals, circling the Abyssal horde and simply annotating,_

' _FUCK 'EM UP!"_

 _And everyone was silenced as the Admiral spoke about the final phase of the plan, which in of itself was rather simple._

 _Dogpiling._

" _The final stage of the battle is to simply dogpile the Abyssals with everything we have, and in this case, bring the fight to them when they're confused and crush them before they can regroup and consolidate their remaining manpower._

 _We hold nothing back here, and we throw everything we have at them until they sink or retreat."_

 _Admiral Mako now seemed as if she understood that they would have a few questions, and the slideshow now changed to a simple white slide with a large Q/A in black fonts, speaking._

" _I know that you might have several questions, and I'm pretty sure that one question might be,_

' _Can't the Abyssals send sacrificial units to set off the mines, thus allowing them a chance to slip through the naval mine formation?'_

 _Good question."_

 _The slideshow changed to another slide, this time of Abyssals staying out of the naval mine's increased area of effect due to shock waves propagating further and dealing more damage underwater, causing them nothing but trouble as they had to send sacrificial units to their deaths one by one, drastically slowing down their advance and withering down their numbers in the process._

" _Well, with the aid of the manufacturing lines sponsored by the Japanese government, we've been able to keep our refitted mine-laying vessels busy by laying mines in a tight-knit formation without being too close to set each other off in a chain reaction should one detonate._

 _So even if they wish to initiate a brute-force attack from beneath and screw us from beneath, we can get the front-liners, AKA the 1st, 11th and 13th to retreat and regroup with the backup 8th, 9th and 10th Strike Groups in the time it takes them to break through the naval mine formation._

 _Shock waves deal more damage underwater, so they'd have to slow down their advance while already moving around pretty slowly underwater, especially since they don't want to any more Abyssal units to get caught in the increased blast radius, slowing them down enough for us to implement our contingency plans, which I won't go into full detail in the interest of time."_

 _Now that the slide changed back to the 'Q/A' screen, Admiral Mako moved onto another question which she predicted ahead of time._

" _And to address the elephant in the room, or the whale on the ocean, whatever you all call it nowadays, is the_ Flying Dutchman _, and how we're going to enlist the help of the JSDF to help even the odds."_

 _Everyone, including Nagato, inhaled sharply, because it was clear that the_ Flying Dutchman _wouldn't be missing from the action, especially during such an important battle when it could be providing supporting fire with its frighteningly potent cannons and missiles._

" _The JMSDF will have their submarines and destroyers patrolling the ocean for it to arrive, while the JASDF will try to engage it in the air and the JGSDF with their ground vehicles if it is within range, although we've predicted that it would likely position itself so that only the JMSDF and JASDF can approach it with their ships and planes respectively._

 _But with their M270 MLRS, Type 12 and 88 Surface-to-Ship missiles tinkered to target Abyssal targets courtesy of the Fairies, the JGSDF can and will provide rocket strikes on Abyssal units at any stage of the battle, along with the JASDF whenever they're available."_

 _Showing the range of the land vehicles the JGSDF had on land as they were being moved onto Oshima Island and the coast of Chiba even as they spoke, Admiral Mako continued as the dots and triangles on the map, indicating the naval and aerial combat units of the JMSDF and the JASDF respectively, moved into place._

" _When the_ Dutchman _shows itself, we'll have the JMSDF destroyers and submarines engage it in battle before the JASDF, who will be split between performing bombing runs on the Abyssals and the_ Flying Dutchman _, comes in to assist them._

 _We'll dedicate some reconnaissance planes dedicated solely to the task of tracking and calculating the flight path of airborne missiles fired from the_ Dutchman's _deck in order to display warnings on your HUD and to highlight the area where the missile would hit and cause splash damage._

 _And if you ask why what do we do on the extremely off-chance that the_ Flying Dutchman _sends out missiles in order to disperse the smokescreen, well…"_

 _Clicking to show the map of Kanto again with the green naval mines, white arrows and red blob on the backdrop of the blue ocean, Admiral Mako continued,_

" _Should the Flying Dutchman appear and try to disperse the smokescreen by firing its missiles at the smokescreen, causing it to dissipate with the missile's explosion and shock waves, we are to execute a faster-paced variant of stage three and four, to the point of synchronicity, because the Abyssal armada cannot advance while its missiles are trying to clear the smokescreen._

 _The carrier-based Strike Groups will hang behind as you all coordinate with the 11th and 13th Strike Groups to initiate a three-pronged aerial attack along with the 2nd and 3rd's torpedo salvos, so here's how it's going to go in this case._

 _The_ Dutchman _fires its missiles in order to clear the smokescreen, we coordinate our bomber planes and torpedo salvos such that we free up the main bulk of our forces to charge them and cross the dissipated smokescreen before they do._

 _Should they get distracted by our charge, they can't focus on the bombers and torpedoes and lose a portion of their armada, but if they focus on surviving the bomber plane and torpedo assault, they'll be too late to stop us from fighting them up close and personal, negating much of the firepower they've brought._

 _Not exactly the most plausible of scenarios, but should the smokescreen be compromised, we'll have to wing it and see how the Abyssals play their hand, but I'll there to lead you all in real time."_

 _Everyone looked satisfied with the contingencies put in place for almost any foreseeable scenario, and although their Admiral was by no means an oracle, it was safe to say that she had done her best in trying to think up of how the Battle of Twelve Navies would go, Nagato and Yamato both noticing and leaning in as Admiral Mako leaned in to whisper in their ears, being her closest confidantes._

" _And in the case of the last scenario, we won't be using the explosive surprise._

 _We'll be going with that only if we can bait them to us, and we won't be activating them if we have to resort to contingency plans._

 _I trust you two to lead everyone and pull off my plan to the best of your abilities, and if Nagato is to lead the Strike Groups, Yamato can be the one to judge when the right time is to spring the trap."_

 _The both of them nodded resolutely, understanding that Admiral Mako was entrusting the two of them, essentially the twin embodiment of the IJN by virtue of being the name ships of the strongest battleship classes, with the role of leading them to victory._

 _And even though it was unprofessional of the Admiral should she act this way, but Nagato also suspected that deep down, she trusted them as her lovers to do their best, and that her feelings for them might translate into favoritism and play a part in choosing who to lead._

 _But then, she was in love with her battleships, three of whom were the most powerful ship girls in their arsenal in terms of firepower and prestige, so perhaps it wasn't entirely out of the question to default the leadership role in these cases to those closest to her anyway._

* * *

Looking back at Admiral Mako as she spoke to the crowd of ship girls while the Coordinators spoke to the human officers at the other end of the hall, Nagato felt herself start to tremble a little at the thought of stepping out into a battle as fierce, as large as this in terms of scale.

Controlling her breathing and folding her arms so that she wouldn't reveal any signs of weakness to her comrades, she thought about this warm feeling in her body.

This wasn't fear, she was sure.

It was almost out of the question for her to feel this way, because she was a powerhouse who couldn't be touched, and being the most famous ship in the IJN outside of the Yamato-Class, who was kept secret during the war as a 'secret weapon' (for all the good it did), this would mean that she wasn't afraid of being in the leadership position and being the flagship since she had her terrifying cannons at the ready to annihilate enemies.

No.

This was… _excitement._

To be able to truly let loose on the battlefield, the sting of being shot notwithstanding thanks to her armor, and with her cannons being able to give even the strongest of Princesses a run for their money, she had always found herself secretly looking forward to a day like this.

Facing opponents who wouldn't simply break like toys when she introduced her fist to their faces, and to feel alive where the warship part of herself belonged.

And even when she understood that being a 'land ship' was for the best so that they wouldn't burn a hole in their resources if she stepped onto the ocean, but…

Living on land as a Coordinator for so long with only sporadic battles breaking up the monotonous day to day grind, as a veteran who had been through a few scrapes in her past life, prolonged periods of peace blurred the passing of days and made her restless for battle.

Perhaps the lack of battle dulled her senses, and because she felt no pain during her time on land since no coffee table leg, knife or mosquito bite could penetrate her skin even with her ship girl mode off, it was why she felt as if she was going through the motions of life without feeling afraid of anything, while being constantly wary of breaking everything around her.

However, she could certainly feel something physically in terms of pleasure, something Admiral Mako was quick to confirm shortly after they became an official couple…

Looking away from her Admiral with a slight blush on her face, she got her thoughts back on track as she leaned back on the steel seat, hearing it creak underneath her weight.

She wasn't sure if wanting to protect mankind from the Abyssal menace had anything to do with it, but she liked to think it did, because she was supposed to be a selfless warrior of mankind, and nothing like the 8th Fleet, who indulged in battles mostly to fulfill their blood-lust and to enjoy themselves.

Shameless, utterly shameless.

She disliked how the 8th Fleet fought only for themselves, and how they didn't even try and pretend as if they were fighting for mankind's best interests.

True, a ship girl was created with the primary purpose of fighting, not to leave behind descendants, live comfortably and die peacefully like humans did, and a ship girl's end was usually grisly with piercing- cold seawater embracing them again as they sank back into the abyss, but still…

To fight for the continued existence of mankind and its future generations was the greatest glory a ship girl could be bestowed with, but the ship girls of the 8th Fleet were instead selfish and chose to lead a hedonistic lifestyle by enjoying their sorties, something few ship girls even considered because of how inappropriate it was, to enjoy something so grim and destructive.

And the best counterargument they could give when she once asked them,

"Why are you the way you are?"

Was when she received this answer, paraphrased to encompass a single viewpoint which almost every 8th Fleet member shared.

"You only live twice.

We've sunk once in our past lives during World War 2 in gruesome or pathetic manners, so in this life, shouldn't we try to enjoy our time on earth, even if we're sortieing?

After all, no one cares how messed up we are so long as we get the job done, and our time in this new life is limited with relatively little chance of retiring, so why not live selfishly while we're still here, instead of angsting over the horrors of war and dying without truly living?"

She inwardly scoffed at their life views, having convinced herself that she was nothing like them simply because she looked forward to fighting in the Battle of Twelve Navies.

Just because she wanted to fight didn't mean that she was doing it for selfish reasons, and that was what differentiated her from ship girls in the 8th Fleet; she hadn't given up on the purpose behind the humans bringing them back from the void, and that was to defend the world selflessly from the Abyssal threat in the hopes of a better future.

However, she had to admit, even if she disliked how they only fought for themselves and for the present without sparing a thought for the future, they were truly a force of nature unto themselves in which the Abyssals were hard-pressed to try and counter, because they used extremely unconventional weapons and tactics, like Hayasui's flamethrower, and as the fleet oiler had once quipped, fire beat armor any day of the week.

They ranked as the top auxiliary fleets in the world in terms of performance at the expense of their infamous reputation preceding them and everyone fearing them to the point where others had to be ordered into working with them, and they had their own Strike Group since they had to be monitored that closely, they were a wildcard which everyone had to work around.

She craned her neck to look around at the slideshow on the unrolled projector screen which hung from the top of the stage, and she could see the ship girls arranged into small Strike Group fleets so that they could form up with the mini Strike Groups of other naval bases in order to form a dedicated Strike Group to fight in the Battle of Twelve Navies.

' **1st Strike Group - Assault**

Inazuma **(Flagship 1)**

Kagerou

Sendai

Yukikaze

Haguro

Myoukou

Atago **(Flagship 2)**

Chitose

Kawakaze

Furutaka

Maya

Shiranui'

' **2nd Strike Group - Torpedo Squadron 1**

Abukuma **(Flagship)**

Shigure

Jintsuu

Naka

Akatsuki

Kuma'

' **3rd Strike Group - Torpedo Squadron 2**

Kitakami **(Flagship)**

Murakumo

Hatsuharu

Ooi

Ushio

Choukai'

' **4th Strike Group - Carrier 1**

Kaga **(Flagship)**

Akagi

Zuikaku

Shoukaku

Junyou

Saratoga'

' **5th Strike Group - Carrier 2**

Hiryuu **(Flagship)**

Souryuu

Zuihou

Amagi

Ryuujou

Shouhou'

' **6th Strike Group - Battleship 1**

Nagato **(Flagship)**

Kongou

Hiei

Musashi

Ise

Hyuga

' **7th Strike Group - Battleship 2**

Yamato **(Flagship)**

Haruna

Kirishima

Mutsu

Bismarck

Takao'

' **8th Strike Group - Backup 1**

Kinugasa **(Flagship)**

Suzuya

Chiyoda

Shimakaze

Yuudachi

Hatsushimo'

' **9th Strike Group - Backup 2**

Nachi **(Flagship)**

Tone

Chikuma

Kumano

Fubuki

Kasumi'

' **10th Strike Group - Backup 3**

Ashigara **(Flagship)**

Ayanami

Kinu

Ikazuchi

Isuzu

Hibiki'

' **12th Strike Group - Auxiliary**

Akashi **(Flagship)**

Akitsu Maru

Kiso

Hayasui

Unryuu

Hatsuzuki'

Looking back at the crowd of ship girls before them, she could see that they now sat in their respective fleets which formed Strike Groups in order to discuss team dynamics, and she got up from her seat and tossed her file on the chair for Admiral Mako to look through, spotting her own fleet which consisted of her as the flagship, Kongou, Hiei, Musashi, Ise and Hyuga.

Sitting herself down along with them, she looked around at the battle-hardened faces of her comrades, all of which had seen their fair share of battle, even Musashi, who had endured a valiant last stand at Leyte Gulf.

She saw that even Kongou, who was known for being exuberant and outgoing, was also capable of cutting the bullshit and getting down to business as she leaned in with a serious expression on her face, asking Nagato respectfully.

"So, what's the plan?"

Nagato, knowing everything about how the battle should go, but didn't want to load them down with too many plans to think about before the battle as she simply stated.

"We stand further back during the early stages of the battle, and then when the time is right, and you'll certainly know when it is when the time comes, we'll sail forward and devastate them all at close range.

Just because we are battleships doesn't mean we should resign ourselves to standing back and fire at them with no chance of entering the battle like the days of old; after all, a modern age of naval warfare coupled with new bodies would mean that our doctrines would have to be heavily revised and updated."

Everyone nodded at that reasoning, understanding that the reasons why they lost on the ocean in World War 2 was not just due to falling behind in terms of technological advances and the inability to replace lost units, but their superiors also thought that land tactics could be brought to sea, and their command structure was too rigid back then, which didn't allow for lateral thinking and the ability to act alone and improvise.

The world learnt lessons from all sides, and one lesson from Japan was to 'soften up' command structures and get the ship girls acquainted with doing what they felt was right in order to win, especially since the ship girls were veterans and thus far more knowledgeable about what _not_ to do, and even the Admirals back in the First Decade knew when to listen to their ship girls when they said,

 _'This is a bad idea.'_

Something else which they had to get used to in order to keep up in a battle of doctrines was to think out of the box, because being reincarnated into humanoid bodies meant that a paradigm shift had to follow, lest the IJN make…

Well, not make the same mistakes, but make all new mistakes.

Humanoid steel bodies meant that torpedoes gained an another level to their deadliness, because despite the lessened odds of hitting a ship girl or Abyssal (a ship girl was smaller than a ship, presenting a smaller target), but because of the lessened contact with the ocean, blowing off even one of two legs was all that was needed to cripple and potentially sink them.

Musashi cracked her knuckles menacingly, looking forward to the fight as she boasted.

"This is the day I've been waiting for.

We will shake the heavens awake with the symphony of our cannons all firing as one."

Hyuga lifted an eyebrow as she agreed, speaking for everyone as she spoke.

"Well, that much we can agree on.

I take it we get the chance to get up close and personal with the Abyssals in close-quarters engagement, and not simply stand back as long-range nukers?"

Nagato nodded, turning to look everyone in the eye as she explained how they would get the chance to fight up close and personal.

And while this would have been a suicidal move in the past due to their speed being as slow as molasses, in the modern age, their humanoid bodies granted them extra maneuverability, the extreme example of this being the 8th Fleet who mostly ran and boosted around their enemies despite their boat slippers possessing low top speeds.

"Yes.

In the final stages of the battle, it will be a free-for-all as it's always been, and because we can't afford to waste ammunition and fuel, getting up close and personal can and will increase the accuracy of the former and save on the latter.

We'll have to physically run around with our riggings on, though, since activating our boat slippers will consume large amounts of fuel."

Ise then chirped, lifting her arms and flexing them in the classic bodybuilding pose.

"Oh, don't you worry about that!

I mean, we're super-humans and such; a bit of P.T. never hurt anybody!"

She then turned to look down at her left forearm, her expression softening into a concerned one as she used her right hand to feel up her left bicep as she commented.

"Besides, I feel like I've been gaining a fair bit of weight recently, so I certainly need the exercise."

Hyuga rolled her eyes, and Hiei looked down with a fair bit of concern as she spoke.

"Well, not that I'm a stranger to close-quarters combat in this war, but I'm not exactly what you'd call proficient in any particular martial art, if we need to learn those kinds of things…"

But Ise comforted her, being one of the most knowledgeable battleships about close-quarters combat which played to the strengths of the battleship as she explained.

"Oh, don't you worry.

As battleships, our abundance of strength is a boon since you don't require too much skill or training in order to harness your full physical potential right now.

However, it would prove to be very useful should you train up on how best to apply that strength in the most devastating of ways down the road.

So cheer up!"

Hiei, after looking at Ise as the aviation battleship gave her reasons, looked away while looking a little more convinced of whether her physical abilities could carry her through this battle.

Nagato thought a little more about Apocalypse as she tuned out the conversation, and how the ship girls would fare when they were on land, fighting alongside humans.

She had already discussed things with the Admiral, and agreed that amongst the ship classes, the light cruisers would likely be the ones to gain a newfound importance on land since they were amongst the easiest ship classes to manufacture when compared to the classes above it.

And while the number of destroyer classes outnumbered the light and heavy cruiser classes _combined_ , their body builds weren't ideal for land combat where most of the handheld weapons and vehicles were created with an adult, or at least a teenager in mind.

To have the destroyers fighting a land battle in Apocalypse was a given, simply due to how many of them there were, but the focus would be on light cruisers who had a better chance of going up against Abyssal humanoids, most of whom were at least teenagers like the Tsu-Class, to the fully matured Ru and Ta-Class battleships.

And for situations where physical confrontation was inevitable, the heavy cruisers would also be mass-produced in order to provide some muscle to go up against the Abyssals while light cruiser and destroyers formed the agile but fragile speedsters, and carriers would be the long-range snipers who could hold their own in close-quarters combat while battleships would be the straight-up tanks due to their armor and durability.

Thinking about Anti-Abyssal weapons, she knew that everything about ship girls and Abyssals were all cut from the same steel cloth, and Anti-Abyssal weapons, like their riggings and shells, were filled with impurities much like how carbon was added to iron to make steel, only this was the next level.

This was done in order to increase their durability, so that was why when an Anti-Abyssal sword cut into Abyssal flesh, it didn't simply break apart along with the damaged Abyssal.

The reason why they didn't use these impurities in the ship girl creation process was because it was like plastification in a sense; the steel which made up their flesh and skin was flexible and alive, but should they add these impurities, it would render their muscles hard and inflexible, and while this was a boon to their weapons who would benefit from the added toughness, it was a bane to their flesh since they would essentially become no different from mannequins, and that was definitely _not_ a fate anyone would wish on their worst enemies.

Their riggings and shells possessed a certain amount of impurities so that they could penetrate armor according to the amount of impurities within them, and their steel bodies, while capable of imitating the toughness of their riggings when their ship girl mode was activated, were still considered 'soft armor' in which its surface possessed minute flaws, stretched, squeezed and possessed certain areas of lighter armor like a suit of plate armor, which made it imperfect despite shielding almost their entire body (it was modeled off of the human skin, after all).

'Hard armor', which their rigging was made out of, was more dependable than their steel skin, and was far easier to repair due to the lack of living flesh, tissue and blood to replace or heal.

But without their riggings on land, they would likely have to resort to body armor like human soldiers, simply because the armor of light cruisers were were simply not cut out for protecting them from a lot of the hard-hitting firearms that were out on the market, although one consolation was that it wasn't likely for a single round to kill a ship girl outside of hitting a perfect head-shot.

She wasn't sure if that would make land combat less intense, where both sides tried to place their shots where they counted, or even more intense when both sides kept powering on even in the face of intense firefights, where entire clips could be unloaded into tougher enemies in order to drop them.

Regardless, she knew that they were at a disadvantage, and this was where guerrilla and urban warfare would come in handy in order to tip the scales back to a point where they could convince themselves that they could handle the Abyssals.

Everything was to be used, from landmines to airstrikes, and although the Abyssals could plan where to attack in order to deliver the most devastating of blows, it was still a new playing ground for them, and the humans would have an advantage in that they knew how to play to their strengths, to scurry about and evade where the enemy was strong in order to strike at where the enemy was weak.

Contrary to popular belief, the backbone of every country's war machine wasn't the tough-looking tanks or planes, it was the supply vehicles and the military personnel carriers which delivered the fuel, ammo and soldiers to the front line.

And while it was rather difficult for the defending side to attack these vulnerable auxiliary vehicles in a straight-up fight, urban warfare meant that these vehicles were open to attack as mobile squadrons could use many tactics, ranging from mining the roads to sneaking about in the sewers in order to strike at the enemy's auxiliary vehicles.

Looking over at the engineers Akio and Kousuke, she also remembered that the engineers from several naval bases were banding together in order to work off of a radar-blocking area-of-effect pikes, where placing several pikes would block any radio waves from penetrating the area which was surrounded by the pikes.

This prototype, which was used by the Infiltration Fleet some time ago to capture and speak with the Abyssal known as Woxanne for the first time, was deemed to be too unreliable when used in an urban setting due to the inability of the pikes to detect and coordinate with each other in case a thick enough wall divided them, but the radar-blocking concept was still entertained in the latest concept of a radar-blocking smoke grenade.

Ship girls and Abyssals alike possessed radar, and while they could use their radar in order to find their way through the harmless smoke which only blocked their vision, for humans, they had to block the Abyssals' radar in order to gain something resembling equal ground as both sides would be truly blinded, and the Abyssals couldn't cheat with their radar should a skirmish break out with the humans already at a disadvantage.

Harmless particle-sized deflectors which propagated everywhere while numbering in the trillions, they would reflect radio waves everywhere to the point where the only thing any ship girl or Abyssal would detect was a smokey haze which they couldn't make heads or tails of.

Nagato looked down, feeling rather uncertain about how they would fare should the Abyssals pull off their invasion for real, turning to look around at the ship girls who were oblivious of what came next.

And although she understood why the Admiral didn't want to distract everyone from the battle that was to occur in a few days, she wasn't sure if everyone was mentally prepared for a land invasion, since for most ship girls, they regarded the land as their 'safe zone', where they convinced themselves that the Abyssals couldn't touch them on land, despite evidence pointing to the contrary in terms of the American _blitzkrieg_.

It was a form of solace in their line of work, because while the ocean was where they belonged, it was also a place of life and death where teammates were lost and found, and although they were out of their element on land, it was at least safer in the sense that they didn't have to worry about being shot at or be constantly on the lookout for Abyssals.

And watching the cheery, yet solemn faces of the destroyers and light cruisers, whose enthusiasm was dampened slightly by the fact that the Battle of Twelve Navies was looming on the horizon and inched closer with every day, Nagato was worried that with the advent of Apocalypse, those smiles would be completely wiped from their faces as they slowly felt that there were no safe havens from the Abyssals' advance, and they'd be hunted down to the ends of the earth.

It would be downright disheartening to see them crack under the stress like that, and she strove to do better in order to try and protect everyone, although…

She narrowed her eyes and exhaled sharply as she thought about Sakawa, who was confirmed to be resurrected as the Abyssal secretary who worked for the commander-in-chief Yuubari, and how she, much like Tatsuta and Tenryuu of the New Wave fleet, likely had superpowers which put the previously dominant Princesses in their place.

She had already accepted that it was her fault that Sakawa sank, and she wanted to see Sakawa again, even if she was now part of the Abyssal high command and had devastating powers which were currently unknown to them.

Looking at Shimakaze, she also recalled the rumors which were about an Abyssal Amatsukaze and her Beast speeding across the ocean while producing hellish flames and vapor in her wake.

If Shimakaze was still able to look this carefree, pressure of the upcoming battle notwithstanding, then it was probable that those around her chose not to relay those rumors to her for fear of distracting her from the Battle of Twelve Navies, and having her obsess about her sunk cousin ship wasn't going to do her any favors in the heat of battle.

Unfortunately, as a capital ship and a Coordinator, she had to keep up with the news and the rumor mill on occasion in order to get the full picture, so unlike the Shimakaze-Class destroyer, who could afford to not know or even suspect that their dead had returned as their enemies, she had to know of those who came back to haunt them.

So far, those who were confirmed to have returned as Abyssals were Yuubari and Sakawa, and a strongly suspected one was Amatsukaze of Yokosuka, especially since the Abyssals had dragged her down into the depths as she gave her life to protect Shimakaze.

Thinking back about Sakawa, she was genuinely afraid of how the Abyssalized light cruiser would treat her, and what the Abyssals had done in order to keep her alive as there were talks of some sort of reactor being installed in her chest where the Armored Carrier Princess had shot her, and she, in a fit of rage never felt again since then, snapped the bitch's neck…

A sinking feeling plagued her heart as she looked down with a dark expression and a scowl, and the fact that she had folded her arms meant that her sizable battleship breasts squeezed together and upwards, feeling rather down all of a sudden as she stared down at her cleavage.

She had always prided herself on being a professional, never truly holding a grudge against anyone, and even though she knew that the Abyssals were out for mankind's blood, this was a result of the circle of life where ship girls protected the humans in this life, and as vengeful spirits in the next, they came back as Abyssals in order to haunt the living due to unresolved earthly desires and attachments.

Killing them was a sacred duty to help them pass on and was hence very serious business, which was why it was heavily discouraged for them to either enjoy the process of killing or make it personal.

But in that moment, she was overcome by a hateful, overwhelming desire for revenge which she never knew she possessed, pressing on in the face of bomber planes and glancing shots in order to pull the Princess down from her Beast, giving her one hell of a beatdown and putting her in a headlock, before pulling and hearing the satisfying crack of the Abyssal's neck as she crumpled onto the floor like a puppet with its strings cut…

She closed her eyes and exhaled again as she felt a shiver down her spine, trembling a little at what she felt back then, that sensation being crystal clear in her mind no thanks to her perfect memory as a ship girl.

It wasn't disgust at her own actions.

It was exhilaration.

Joy at making the murderer suffer by her own hand.

This excitement partially came from feeling the satisfaction of being given the chance to exert herself physically, since as a battleship, she was often relegated to a supporting role and could only provide shelling support from afar, especially when she stuck closer to the 'traditional' methods of naval warfare back when she was getting accustomed to modern naval combat doctrine.

Feeling so impersonal in battle when your rigging and boat slippers did most of your work for you, she always felt as if her superhuman strength was never put to good use, and that she had this growing itch deep within her which she always tried to ignore in the past, the ever-growing desire to feel truly alive as a fighter and not feel numb, never feeling pain and always feeling scared of breaking everything around her with her super strength, restraining herself and never getting the chance to go all-out.

The thing about being a battleship was that, unlike almost other ship classes who prioritized movement as one crucial factor in their combat doctrine, battleships and carriers prioritized standing further behind and devastating the enemies with long-ranged attacks, especially if you weren't entirely used to close-quarters fighting, ship-girl style.

While she was certain carriers had their own issues with adapting to modern naval combat, one problem for battleships was the difficulty for newly-crafted units to reconcile their newfound super strength with the lack of opportunity to utilize it in combat unlike other ship classes, leading to a mounting frustration which she felt back then, being so strong but so distant from where the battle was and having to heavily suppress her strength on land, earning her victories with the help of her cannons and never by the sweat on her brows.

The fact that she was supposed to constantly be a role-model to everyone and be the headstrong, stoic leader whom everyone expected to do no wrong didn't help matters, as living up to this image 24/7 was getting to her back then, when she overestimated her ability to solve her own problems by herself, and was too proud to let others interfere.

Sakawa's sinking unleashed a pent-up dam of repressed frustration at being so strong, to be capable of destroying everything and everyone in sight, but was expected to constantly hold back her strength in order to prevent herself from becoming the raging bull in a world of china/ceramic and to be this perfect leader around the clock, and feeling unfulfilled even when on the ocean, where she couldn't utilize her physical strength to earn her victories due to her lack of skill and possessing large cannons which did the job for her, negating her physical gift and rendering her impotent.

And yet, for all her strength, she was unable to prevent someone from dying because she was essentially a goddess of destruction, not of healing, and nothing she could do would be able to bring Sakawa back.

This was before she became Admiral Mako's girlfriend and before Mutsu was crafted, so even if she had restrained herself physically, emotionally and mentally, the last two for the sake of being a professional who expressed no weaknesses and became the immovable linchpin of the naval base (along with Admiral Mako), Sakawa was someone who she could open up to in order to express herself freely and spoil like a pseudo-sibling.

And the Abyssal bitch took it all away.

Tanking the barrage and the bombers, she felt more alive than ever as hatred, a feeling she hadn't felt towards anyone (even the Americans) up to that point, drove her on while she took in all the pain, the adrenaline rush and lust for revenge preventing the pain from paralyzing her as she did something truly unprofessional.

She executed revenge for the sole purpose of self-satisfaction.

It was as if the world itself and its expectations of how she should fight and behave made her physically, emotionally and mentally suppress herself at all times, and Sakawa's death was a release for all three.

Looking back, she wondered if she was projecting her feelings of self-loathing onto the Abyssal Princess, because she hypothesized that in hating herself for not being able to protect Sakawa, even though she had evaded the shell which pierced through Sakawa's chest and the Abyssal bomber planes which forced her to move, she must've rationalized in the heat of the moment that the Armored Carrier Princess was more responsible than she was for Sakawa's sinking by sending out the bomber planes and firing the cannon shells, and she responded in kind by defeating and executing her.

She felt powerful in that situation, looking down at the Abyssal who dawned upon the realization that targeting the battleship's favorite comrade and sinking her was one surefire way to set her off, and as she loaded up her cannons to fire it at the Abyssal's temple, she could see that the Abyssal, lying on the ocean with an oddly-twisted neck, was looking more and more afraid of what Nagato was about to do, expressing genuine fear at dying for real.

And she could remember her power-and-revenge-fueled mind only thinking in response.

' _Serves you right, bitch.'_

The rest was history.

It would forever be a moment of shame for her, and she confided in others like Ashigara, Admiral Mako and Saratoga about her inability to save Sakawa and the addictive feeling of holding a life in her hands, and she had relentlessly trained herself in order to be able to destroy anyone should the Abyssals try to get in close in order to negate her strength of firepower.

Blushing a little at her train of thought, she also now had Admiral Mako to help, um, expertly 'relieve' her of any resurgent feelings of unfulfilled frustration before they hit critical, so this problem was pretty much non-existent right now and wasn't an immediate concern.

And as to that feeling about being the goddess of destruction and tying it back to the repair ship who led the 8th Fleet, she disliked Akashi, or at least, the Akashi of Yokosuka, because of how she wasted her greatest talent.

She could heal others in ways no one else could , yet she chose to deal death to others with her medical knowledge, and although she respected Akashi's abilities and was grateful for her invaluable contribution to the development of Yokosuka as a ship girl base, she disliked how she warped her own talents and views to the point of being,

1) A nihilist in terms of her own mission as a medic (everyone was healed for the sole purpose of being killed and sunk again, so why bother?)

2) A misanthropist for hitherto unknown reasons (although Nagato suspected abuse and neglect, and likely even worse in her past)

3) A hedonist in that she and her fleet of deplorables had no qualms about with exploiting their increased resistance to substance addiction by indulging in recreational drugs, as well as killing Abyssals with the intention of enjoying themselves, not even pretending to do it for the noble and altruistic mission of defending mankind.

But back to the present.

Her greatest concerns right now were these three, which spanned from the near to distant future.

The first was the Battle of Twelve Navies, and this one she was the least concerned about since she was nothing like her past self; She had been through enough battles to know what she was doing, and she now had the right teammates backing her, looking around at Musashi speaking to Hyuga while Ise spoke to Hiei and Kongou as she stuck out her tongue, crossed her eyes and formed a 'L' with her right hand and brought it up to her forehead in order to lightheartedly taunt the Kongou-Class battleships for losing to her in that one training session.

The second was meeting Abyssalized Sakawa, and how she was to face the light cruiser when she was directly responsible for her sinking and had some history with her, but in this case, she wasn't sure what to expect, so in order not to scare herself silly with her own paranoia, she kept her concerns to herself and did her best not to over-predict what Sakawa's New Wave ability was and what her responses would be.

The last concern was the most alarming despite being the longest-term, and it was her deep-seated desire to enjoy the thrill of combat like the 8th Fleet did, a blood-lust which, if left unchecked, drove her to try and feel alive when she felt bullets and shells bouncing of her skin, the sting and pain reinforcing the fact that she was fulfilling her purpose as a ship girl.

To sweat and bleed and push herself even further in order to earn her victories, all while enjoying the adrenaline rush and feeling entirely at home in her element, which consisted not only of the rhythmic crest and troughs of the shifting ocean, but the whizzing of projectiles and the explosions of payloads around her which caused her heart to beat like war drums in her chest and validate her existence as a one-woman war machine, this was what she feared.

She wasn't a barbarian, she was a noble warrior who was called back into service to protect the world and was fighting for something greater than herself.

But some part of her spat at this false notion of selflessness, and perhaps it was due to living on this earth for a while now that she had some time to think about things.

True, she was a machine of war, and the odds of retiring were stacked against her due to the mortality rate of a ship girl, especially with the eventual advent of Apocalypse.

This pretense of killing and suffering for a greater purpose was, in Unryuu's words, an opioid of sorts, for every ship girl to convince themselves in every sortie that everything they did, whatever they endured, it was for the sake of helping mankind win this horrid war and ease the pain that they felt, that it was all for a greater cause.

It was like a belief of sorts that everyone but a handful wholeheartedly believe in, that a better world would emerge from their individual sacrifices, but the heartlessness of their world would plague a ship girl's mind in her final hours, that this 'promised world' wasn't going to include her.

Despite giving her all, being on her best behavior and making the ultimate sacrifice, unlike humans who were promised to be let into Heaven if they did the same, all a ship girl was greeted with was a cold reunion with the crushing depths, with nothing to show but a tear-jerking departure from this world without even able to say goodbye to their sisters and friends, all while mankind marched on with their daily lives, and this similarity to their fates back in World War 2 was theorized to be the turning point where ship girls turned into Abyssals, where their subconsciousness chanted,

' _That's not fair._

 _That's not fair…'_

 _[THAT'S._

 _NOT._

 _FAIR.]_

Nagato exhaled tiredly as she felt another chill run down her steel spine, feeling older all of a sudden after entertaining such morbid thoughts for so long as she turned back to the crowd of ship girls surrounding her, speaking to each other in tones ranging from worried to casual to focused, and she reaffirmed her dedication to the cause of protecting not just mankind, but also her comrades with all her heart.

Sure, this happiness wouldn't last for long, especially when Apocalypse rolled around and shook up their world, but ship girls and humans were tenacious and nothing short of determined in their drive to win, and she believed that her comrades would stay strong in the face of overwhelming odds.

Sure, they'd crack every now and then, but as she demonstrated, no one was perfect, and they had each other to pick up the pieces and heal these cracks, and although they'd leave their marks, as veterans, they were built to be tough, although not invincible.

Not even her, as much as she liked to give off that impression for everyone to place their faith in, but if there was one thing she learnt in her time in this new life, it was that others placing their faith in her as a leader ran the risk of them not believing in themselves enough, and since she learnt the hard way that she couldn't protect everyone, she needed them all to be strong in order to brave what came next.


	43. Chapter 43 - The Art of War

**Author's Note**

 _Sometimes I ponder over tough life choices, like choosing between cat ears or bunny ears, the Nagato, Takao, Yamato, Kaga or the Myoukou-Class ship girls for best waifu, or between the Fortune and Venus swimsuits as the best swimsuit in DOA Xtreme 3._

 _Decisions, decisions._

* * *

It was a fine and sunny day on the 26th of May.

And it was on this day that the Abyssals activated a nationwide alarm around Japan by coming too close to their coasts for comfort, suddenly headed towards Tokyo Bay by advancing along the Izu Islands.

And although the population of Kanto had been placed on yellow alert due to the possibility of a large-scale battle, the prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and Shizuoka were placed on orange alert while the immediate area around the Sagami-nada Sea were placed on red alert by the government and military.

The reason why the Abyssals chose to invade them on a fine day instead of a stormy one was because while it would hinder the ship girls' ability to respond to their invasion, neither side could reliably send out planes for fear of them getting struck down by lightning or being sent spiraling into the ocean by a tempest gale.

And as the Abyssals were invading the Safety Zone, which was their domain, they needed full access to their three avenues of attack from the air, on the surface and in the ocean without any interference (in this case the weather) in order to maximize the potency of their armada and Princesses.

They had alerted the civilian population via the J-Alert warning system beforehand in order to prepare them for the possibility of evacuation in the near future, and on the 25th, the Abyssals had suddenly moved closer to indicate a possible invasion, and the threat was filed under the newly created 'Military threat: Abyssal assault' as they herded the civilians near the coast to safety shelters.

One thing which helped the humans implement the herculean task of installing the J-alert system throughout the country and helped them build safety shelters was the Fairies, helping them make the introduction easier by making the installation process more efficient and cost-effective, since an alien menace who wanted to exterminate all of mankind certainly lit a fire under everyone's asses.

If there was one consolation, it was that coastal prefectures were the focus of the 'Military threat: Abyssal assault' much like the Tsunami Warning System, because the Abyssals would focus their wrath on the coastal prefectures via a Normandy-esque mass landing before digging their heels in and pushing inland, and the Japanese population were sadly rather experienced in mass evacuations thanks to past natural disasters and an increase in mock evacuations in preparation for real emergencies, like in the days leading up to today.

Shiranui, having suited up almost an hour ago, was standing on the ocean along with the two fleets which made up the Yokosuka Division of the 1st Strike Group, and she looked around to see Inazuma, Kagerou, Sendai, Yukikaze, Haguro, Myoukou, Atago, Chitose, Kawakaze, Furutaka, Maya and herself.

Inazuma was wearing the Akatsuki-Class school uniform, but instead of looking her age, AKA looking as if she barely graduated from preschool, she looked significantly older than any of her sisters, almost looking to be about the age of a Fubuki-Class destroyer, which wasn't entirely expected.

Ship girls aged at an exponentially slower rate, with the destroyers displaying the most prominent traits of natural growth since retired destroyers were still aging even after all these years, while heavy cruisers, carriers and battleships barely aged, if at all even after a decade or two of simply existing, which gave way to the theory that their growth spurts plateaued at adulthood.

Remodels, especially Kai Ni ones, provided what was 'artificial growth', and this was where the body aging process was extrapolated, and the remodel process replaced current parts of the ship girl's body with ones which their matured body would possess, increasing the output of the soul and re-uploading the ship girl's consciousness into the brain to complete the remodel.

Unfortunately, this was a process which was refined through time, and the likelihood for a tester ship girl to die as a result of the psyche or mind rejecting the artificial growth was still significant despite the scientific advances and safeguards put in place, and those who went through a normal remodel in their bases had a process which was thoroughly researched and tested to be completely safe performed on them, with rejection an impossibility in those cases.

What was she thinking about again?

Oh right.

Inazuma.

Last she checked, Inazuma was almost half a head taller than her sisters because she aged for about a decade, and she had been through far more scrapes than anyone here did and had a wizened look on her face after going through the motions of combat for so long, and Shiranui had a deep-seated respect for someone who stuck by Admiral Mako so loyally and for so long and performing above expectations solely due to experience, since she wasn't particularly talented and currently didn't possess a well of potential in the form of Kai Ni much like Shiranui.

They had been sailing towards the naval mine formation for a while now, and while she had been silently listening to Yukikaze and Kagerou speak cordially with each others as sisters, she saw that everyone here was already prepared for the battle that was to come.

She couldn't detect the presence of the backup or supporting Strike Groups since she wasn't a carrier and didn't possess their powerful radars, but she knew that they were right behind them as they had seen them off at the harbor, waving at them as they set sail before lining up to suit up and sortie themselves, so that was one concern assuaged.

Honestly, the wait was more excruciating than the battle, since the less-experienced ship girls went to sleep obsessing about whether tomorrow would be when the other shoe dropped and the Abyssals invaded, but when the region-wide signal to evacuate blared, it was almost a sign for them to exhale silently, understanding that the their time was near.

And right now, it was like any other sortie, idly talking about topics they really couldn't give a shit about and being silently wary for any signs of activity or alien presences, but this was all part of the tried-and-true routine, and was no different from their usual sorties where they had to put their best foot forward to simply survive.

Chitose's attention was drawn somewhere else as she spoke up,

"We've got company.

Looks like the rest of the 1st Strike Group's here."

Turning to see the approaching 1st Strike Groups of other naval bases, she was greeted with the faces of those whom she knew, but Shiranui reminded herself that these weren't the same ship girls which she knew back in Yokosuka, an issue which cropped up a lot when dealing with doppelgangers.

And although there were ten naval bases participating in the Battle of Twelve Navies, excluding the Kamogawa, Isumi, Kujukuri, Shizuoka and Shimoda Naval Bases which were from either the West or the North, they had five naval bases around Sagami Bay which sent two fleets each in order to form the complete 1st Strike Group, and two fleets times five bases meant ten fleets, a sizable armada in and of itself.

They tried their best not to include any clones of any one particular ship girl in a Strike Group for the simple reason of simplifying the chain of command and the logistics behind the battle, so that when someone called a ship girl's name, there wouldn't be two replies and one hell of a time clarifying who was called.

On the battlefield, being unnecessarily distracted for even a millisecond could cost a life.

Shiranui, along with Yokosuka's 1st Strike Group, was notified by Atago and Inazuma beforehand about the fleet roster, so she saw the other fleets gather together as she detected the naval mines floating closest to the surface while still underwater, everyone looking ready to face the Battle ahead as the combined 1st Strike Group.

 **1st Strike Fleet**

 **Yokosuka Naval Base**

Inazuma **(Flagship 1)**

Kagerou

Sendai

Yukikaze

Haguro

Myoukou

Atago **(Flagship 2)**

Chitose

Kawakaze

Furutaka

Maya

Shiranui

 **Tateyama Naval Base**

Kongou **(Flagship 1)**

Hamakaze

Mogami

Chikuma

Kako

Umikaze

Yuudachi **(Flagship 2)**

Shigure

Nowaki

Hatsushimo

Ayanami

Hiyou

 **Miura Naval Base**

Iowa **(Flagship 1)**

Ryuujou

Jintsuu

Suzukaze

Haruna

Hiei

Tenryuu **(Flagship 2)**

Harusame

Arashi

Kasumi

Ooi

Kitakami

 **Itou Naval Base**

Zuikaku **(Flagship 1)**

Shoukaku

Murakumo

Verniy/Hibiki

Ashigara

Akatsuki

Houshou **(Flagship 2)**

Hatsuharu

Teruzuki

Yuugumo

Mutsuki

Oshioo

 **Chigasaki Naval Base**

Kiso **(Flagship 1)**

Choukai

Satsuki

Chiyoda

Tokitsukaze

Junyou

Souryuu **(Flagship 2)**

Aoba

Isuzu

Akebono

Kinugasa

Hayashimo

Shiranui looked at the various ship girls who were sent in from other bases, meeting atop the immobile naval mines as they tersely nodded to each other and greeted, with Houshou starting the conversation with a simple.

"Well, today seems to be quite the fine weather for a battle, yes?"

Everyone hummed in agreement, Atago turning to face everyone as she asked if every one of the flagships were capable of receiving Admiral Mako's signal, which was being broadcasted from Miura Naval Base as it was deemed close enough for her to be without being exposed to danger, while the bird carriers and battleships, possessing the strongest radio capabilities, were there to relay important orders to everyone.

"Flagships, carriers and battleships of the 1st Strike Group.

Can you clearly receive the signal which is broadcasted from Miura Naval Base, which is where mission control has been established?"

Shiranui could see them nod, and she suspected that their frequency was likely encrypted to prevent the Abyssals from listening in to their orders and conversations, these suspicions being confirmed as Atago spoke to the ships who were either tasked with communications or leading.

"I'll P.M. you all the password to bypass the encryption so that you all can decipher the signals, and as for the communication ships, you'll relay relevant orders to everyone else.

And as for the rest, I'll P.M. you all the password to the emergency frequency so that we can speak to each other in times of extreme crises without fearing that the Abyssals will listen in on us."

Shiranui entered the secret password and heard everyone testing out the reliability of the emergency frequency, inhaling the humid morning air as she looked out at the ocean horizon.

Now that the battle was so close and the tension amongst teammates running so high, she suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine as she predicted that the ocean would soon be diluted with blood, littered with corpses and filled with the chaos that was the whistle of shells, the thunder of detonating payloads and torpedoes along with the screams of ship girls and Abyssals alike.

And the ungodly explosive surprise that was to come, which, if replicated on land, would level an entire battlefield with its yield…

But she felt a hand clamp down reassuringly on her shoulder, and while she expected Kagerou to be behind her since she was Kagerou's sister, she was instead treated to the sight of Inazuma standing behind her, and Kagerou was standing further behind while talking to Yukikaze, shooting a concerned glance in their direction after seeing Shiranui react so adversely to putting herself directly in the line of danger with her life at stake.

Looking at Inazuma as the Akatsuki-Class destroyer nearly matched her height, which was abnormal for her class, the experience seeped out of her after having been through so many battles as she did her best to comfort Shiranui with the considerable experience under her belt.

"Shiranui-san.

I understand that this might be a battle on a scale which you've never experienced before in this life, or perhaps even in your past one if memory serves…"

Shiranui looked away, wishing to deny Inazuma's frighteningly accurate assessments of her inner thoughts, but her respect for the experienced ship girl outweighed her desire to keep others out of her own business.

Besides, she suspected that the wizened destroyer would pick up on her lies should she go down that route after having lived for so long, and she didn't want to burn any bridges out of sheer pettiness.

She spoke sullenly,

" … Yes.

I want to be strong like you all, to say that I'm not afraid and face this battle with a hardened heart, but I'm not as strong as you all."

And upon hearing that, Inazuma broke out into a sad smile as she verbally pondered over Shiranui's words.

" … Stronger, hmm?

We've certainly become better at our craft, but don't let appearances fool you, Shiranui-san.

In any war, becoming better at fighting and killing doesn't always equate to becoming stronger."

Shiranui, looking out at the ocean as she heard seniors from various naval bases speak with each other casually after being neighbors for so long nodded understandingly as she changed the topic and asked about the Akatsuki-Class's lack of a verbal tic, which her younger doppelgangers all shared.

"Next question, then.

It's also been commonly noted that you rarely include your verbal tic in your conversations, and even then it feels forced, so why?"

Inazuma shrugged, looking away as she answered truthfully.

"Well, after living for a while, you eventually outgrow these things.

I don't want to spook my sisters too badly regarding how my current behavior contradicts their image of who I should be, and that's why I throw in a 'nanodesu' every now and then, but I understand that even they've start to realize that I've been phoning it in for a while now."

Shiranui nodded, looking away as she tactfully changed topics again and asked, genuinely interested in the Akatsuki-Class's fighting experience.

"And I'd like to ask.

If you've been through so much, how many of these battles have you fought in?"

Inazuma looked away distractedly, recounting and sifting through her entire life experience in a span of about ten seconds before answering.

"At least once a year.

Especially during the first few years after the inception of Yokosuka as a ship girl naval base, the oldest seniors in this base had to be pushed very far, and very often.

Nowadays, you all have the luxury of sitting out battles like these and Admiral Mako, being a rare sort of Admiral, can and will find a replacement for you."

Shiranui lifted an eyebrow, looking out onto the ocean horizon along with Inazuma as she spoke.

"And how do you think we'll fare in this stage of the battle?"

She already knew of the explosive mine surprise, but she wasn't enough of an expert to understand if they could live long enough to begin their retreat, especially since they were facing off against an entire Abyssal armada.

But Inazuma, waving to a nearby Tenryuu who hailed from the Miura Naval Base, turned to look back at her reassuringly as she spoke.

"I'm not so idealistic to tell you that we can all make it back alive.

I'd be lying to the both of us that way, and you know it.

But having worked with a lot of the ship girls here ever since I was crafted, I can safely say that it is the Abyssals who need to worry about ending this battle in a draw as a best-case scenario."

Looking at the Kai Ni ship girls around them, which included Shigure, Yuudachi, Haruna, Hatsushimo, Ryuujou, Souryuu, Junyou and Hibiki, amongst many others who were all equipped with top-of-the-line equipment to fight in this battle.

And with the reconnaissance planes which were sent out to fly at maximum altitude in order to avoid being shot down by Anti-Air fire or fighter planes, looking out for and warning them about any missiles fired from the deck of the _Dutchman_ when it arrived, Shiranui felt a little better about their odds.

Kawakaze then sailed up to the two of them, looking down at Inazuma since her Kai Ni remodel did wonders for her height, patting Inazuma and Shiranui on the shoulder as she spoke heartily.

"Well, don't you all worry.

We've got the carriers and battleships backing us up, so we're certainly well-covered here!

Besides, me and my quasi-sisters from other bases are all Kai Ni and are extremely skilled at our craft, so there's nothing much to worry about.

Cheer up, Shiranui-chan!"

Wondering how any of them could possibly 'cheer up' when participating in a large-scale battle where the enemy took the battle to them, she noticed Kawakaze lean in closer, the three of them turned to look as Chitose reported to the Yokosuka 1st Strike Group.

"Careful.

The Abyssals have already surfaced, we're barely detecting the signatures of their reconnaissance planes being sent out.

Everyone prepare for evasive maneuvers.

Don't worry if the Abyssals split up our Strike Group or if we need to space out; just stay at a distance where someone else can reach you, and try not to stray too far from the naval mine formation lest you get attacked from beneath.

We suspect that the Abyssals brought a sizable submarine fleet to the battlefield despite the presence of naval mines; likely as backup for when we try anything funny."

Taking Chitose's word for it since the information likely came from the sailors which hid on the outlying islands' observational posts, everyone slapped on their game faces in order to face their sworn enemy, and she saw the pinpricks which were the Abyssal reconnaissance planes appearing on the horizon, likely so that the Abyssal Princesses and battleships could improve their accuracy with artillery spotting and fire off an accurate salvo, and even if they missed, they could calculate the distance in which they missed the target and re-calibrate their aim to fire off an even more accurate salvo.

She sailed with Inazuma and Kawakaze as the whistling of incoming shells increased in volume, and she detected several torpedoes in the water as she leapt over one, feeling worried for Kawakaze as she gave the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer a quick backwards glance.

But Kawakaze, being a senior who had a few tricks up her sleeve, checked the skies for any shells that were headed her way before she leapt into the air and performed a Cloud Walk, one of many high-skill destroyer feats, over the barrage of torpedoes.

If Michael Jordan ever inspired one technique for the destroyers to emulate, it was the Cloud Walk in which destroyers quickly emptied part of their boost gauge while in mid air to achieve a hang time which was unmatched by anyone save for the most skilled of light cruisers.

Her boost gauge was unloaded in controlled bursts according to her weight and her body orientation respective to the ocean surface, and this move was hard to learn and easy to screw up because each destroyer's weight was different and the required boost needed to keep one airborne without causing her to face-plant into the ocean was different.

And as Kawakaze hit the floor, she achieved nearly 3.5 seconds of hang time, having evaded an entire torpedo salvo as Inazuma jokingly called out,

"Show off!"

Shiranui kept her eye on both the ocean and the air, her superhuman senses coming in handy in order to determine where the threats were coming from and possessing the reaction speed to evade a large number of them before they hurt her, the distance playing a crucial factor in that they were too far away from the Abyssals to be easily hit.

Unfortunately, as more of them advanced while others took their place behind the front lines to provide shelling support, that would soon change.

But the Kai Ni Shigure of Tateyama and Akatsuki of Itou sailed up to them, the former being an older version of Shigure with her hair flaps resembling dog ears as she wore a hair ornament not unlike that on Yamashiro's hair, possessing an intricately-designed, transforming battle backpack with several smaller cannons attached to it, while a hand-cannon was attached to the back of her gloved right hand.

Two upgraded Quadruple Torpedo Launchers were strapped around her thighs, and she was taller than her Yokosuka counterpart.

Akatsuki was wearing the classic Akatsuki-Class uniform with a 'III' pin on her left sailor collar with a grey-black navy hat and a black anchor emblem, and her Kai Ni rigging was more heavily equipped in that she had a searchlight behind her left shoulder.

She had some sort of curved, rectangular plate attached to her left arm not unlike a riot shield, a black anchor, a close-quarters Anti-Abyssal weapon, was hanging from the right of her rigging, and while Triple Torpedo Launchers were attached to her waist, she had a depth charge launcher attached to her left thigh, and she had two 12.7 Cm Twin High-Angle Gun Cannons on her right forearm and shoulder.

Her hair was dark-purple as well as her eyes, and she saw that Inazuma and this Akatsuki, who had likely been through her fair share of battles, shared knowing looks with each other after being alive and knew each other for so long as Shigure spoke up with a more mature voice than she was used to with Shigure of Yokosuka.

… Not that she had a thing about Shigure, mind you.

"Everyone.

Prepare your Anti-Air turrets for the inevitable bombing phase, the enemy planes should be coming any time soon.

The bird carriers are sending out their planes as we speak, so things are only about to get harder from here on out."

Everyone nodded grimly, sailing along the naval mine formation as Shiranui held up the Anti-Air turret which was slung across her torso, and she saw that Shigure, Kawakaze and Akatsuki, likely possessing stronger radar due to their Kai Ni remodels, bristled in response for something entering their airspace, and she could hear Akatsuki speaking up with a voice which spoke volumes about her experiences, no longer only aiming and boasting about about becoming a fine lady in a world as blood-soaked as theirs, but having become one through the blood, sweat and tears which were shed throughout her lifetime, turning her into a lady of war.

"Watch out!

We'll stick together in a diamond formation for now to ward off the bombers, but we'll try to regroup with our fleets later, if the Abyssals don't advance in the time it takes us to-

INCOMING!"

Everyone got into the formation which would guarantee the greatest protection against aerial threats as they lit up the sky with white-hot steel, and the drones of the Abyssal dive bombers got higher in pitch as they dived as per their favorite method of delivery.

And amidst the chaos of everyone shouting over the Anti-Air barrage and the explosions which were either a result of the dropped payloads detonating or the Abyssal bombers crashing into the ocean in a flaming wreck, Shiranui looked up to find their own planes joining in the fight.

An entire flock of fighter planes which consisted of Reppuu, Type 0 Model 21 and 52 and the rare Hellcat and Wildcat fighter planes trying to shoot the Abyssal bombers down, turning her world into a pandemonium which consisted of everyone simply trying to evade threats from everywhere, evading shells and dropping, flaming Abyssals planes while trying to retaliate before the enemy got too close.

As the humans said, just another day at the office.

She could see the Abyssals approaching them now, and the aura of hate and destruction which they gave off as a legion would paralyze any ship girl who was unused to feeling such intense malice being emanated from the pores of their enemies.

But Shiranui, despite feeling temporarily overwhelmed even at a distance, still pressed on as her eyes kept darting around, scanning for threats even as she heard Inazuma speak up.

"I think the others are just about ready to retaliate, seeing how our planes have flown in to stop them.

I don't think that the battleship Strike Groups further behind us will be able to hit the Abyssals at this distance, but we can with our torpedoes and buy time for them to move up.

Move from diamond to double line, and wait for my mark."

Everyone wordlessly moved into place much like a marching contingent knew who went where in order to quickly change the combat formation, Shiranui bearing witness to a dropped payload detonating next to them as Kawakaze shielded herself from the spray.

And eventually, Inazuma called out firmly,

" _FIRE!"_

As everyone dumped their torpedoes in the water while the fast battleships of the 1st Strike Group unleashed their cannons at a distance and the bird carriers sent out their bomber planes to perform a devastating opening strike along with the various Strike Groups behind them, Shiranui suddenly looking back as Inazuma received the first of many bad news from somewhere, Shiranui assuming that it was from the reconnaissance planes in the air.

"U-Um, girls?

Admiral Mako told us that she assumed there would be five Princesses participating in this battle as the worst case scenario.

The reconnaissance planes detected _ten_ Princesses, about a third of which are currently surfacing or have already surfaced."

Everyone was silenced by that, but Shigure was the one to snap out of the shock of facing ten bloody Princesses in order to give out orders.

"Well, if they've sent out so many Princesses in order to sink us, we need to equalize the odds.

Everyone, regroup with the rest of the Strike Group, we'll try and find a way to take them on one or two at a time.

Move!"

Shiranui, secretly feeling out of her depth here, nodded along with everyone else as they sailed back to the gathering 1st Strike Group, everyone having temporarily dispersed so as to present a harder target to hit while still keeping a reasonable distance from the rest of the 1st Strike Group, but they now had to regroup in order to face off against an entire Abyssal horde.

And upon seeing everyone again, she turned back to see the approaching Abyssal Princesses leading the charge with a line of battleships before them in order to deliver a cannon salvo (which wasn't that effective at long range anyway), the Chi-Class torpedo cruisers and He-Class light cruisers blitzing forward as they rode atop their beast-like steed.

Watching Maya provide a hail of Anti-Air fire to cover them all, Shiranui turned back to Atago as she listened to her new orders after knowing that there were more Princesses than they expected.

"Well, after a bit of hasty discussion, we've come to a decision that we will relocate ourselves within the naval mine formation.

This doesn't change anything, except that we can't afford to fight while located before the formation of mines anymore, not while facing ten Princesses.

When they surface and fight us atop the mines, we'll coordinate with the carriers, battleships and the JSDF to try and stave them off for as long as possible, before the next stage of the battle begins.

Chitose-san, radio in the updates about the Abyssal Princess count!

Everyone, straight line formations and start backpedaling while firing forwards!"

Another payload went off next to them, Shiranui getting in between Maya and Furutaka and adding to the Anti-Air fire as she heard the boisterous Kai Ni Takao-Class cruiser scream out in order to taunt the Abyssals and goad them into making a mistake.

" _WHATCHU GOT, BITCHES?!_

 _WHATCHU GOT?!"_

While her rigging erupted into a fireworks display of directed Anti-Air fire into the sky.

Feeling the battle become more intense with every passing second, Shiranui heard Chitose speak with someone on the other line in a strained tone since she had to juggle a conversation with the mental task of directing her planes.

"Yes, Ma'am.

You heard us right, there are _ten_ Abyssal Princess signatures, five of which are known as the others are still submerged!

We're relocating ourselves within the naval mine formation and are about to engage the enemy right now!"

Shiranui aimed her torpedo launchers in the direction of the approaching Abyssal horde, firing them and forcing an Abyssal He-Class to swerve out of the way.

And as a He-Class drove its motorcycle-esque steed towards the vanguard of the 1st Strike Group, she heard Inazuma speak up behind her as she sailed into Shiranui's line of sight, pulling out some sort of black wire with anchor-shaped weights at the end.

"Don't worry.

We've got this."

And as Furutaka provided cover fire in order to force the He-Class to prioritize evading over aiming and firing, Shiranui realized that it was an Anti-Abyssal bola in Inazuma, Akatsuki and Hibiki's hand, the trio sailing forward and swinging them with practiced ease shortly before flinging them at the approaching He-Class.

One of the spinning contraptions caught the He-Class around the neck as it lowered its body frame to avoid getting hit, and spectacularly failing at that as it spasmed at the sudden weight that was thrown in the opposing direction choking it as it spun out on the ocean, its steed spinning out and skidding on the surface as its flank hit the ocean.

And as the Akatsuki-Class trio sailed up to the struggling Abyssal heavy cruiser in order to finish it off, Shiranui saw that Hibiki, as Verniy the Soviet destroyer, wore a white sailor's cap with red trim along with a red star and a hammer and sickle emblem on it, possessing essentially the same rigging and 'riot shield' attachment as her Kai Ni sister, with the difference being that she had an Anti-Air turret on her shoulder, and her hips were equipped with depth charge racks in lieu of torpedo launchers.

She had a chimney stack behind her, and she was pulling out her Anti-Abyssal anchor along with her sisters in order to bludgeon the Abyssal to death as and the trio approached the He-Class Abyssal, said Abyssal hacking and coughing while untying the bola from its neck, wincing at every shot Inazuma took with her 12.7 Cm Single Gun Cannon to its helmeted head.

Shiranui let the destroyer trio do their job in peace as she looked away, watching Maya perform a high-jump as she used her boost gauge to increase the explosivity of her jump, surprising a diving Abyssal Hell Dive Bomber with her jump as she Lebron James'd the Abyssal bomber, slapping it down into the ocean with a vengeance as she screamed, being the most physically active ship girl by far.

" _GET THAT WEAK SHIT OUT OF MY AIRSPACE!"_

A shot from Myoukou was all that was needed to take the downed plane out of the equation, Shiranui turning back to see the two senior Myoukou-Class cruisers who commanded the battlefield with her presence, and Myoukou's rigging was different from her sister's in that her rigging and her black skirt had a camouflage pattern, her rigging, cannon, torpedo launchers and even high heels were patched with earth-brown and army-green paint blobs on white steel, and her skirt was grey with black cloud patterns.

Two Anti-Air turret platforms were on her black belt, and her appearance was smart with a braided black hair bun behind her head, a hair pin on her right temple as her fringe was neatly trimmed above her considerably thick eyebrows.

Her four 20.3 Cm (No. 2) Twin Gun Cannons twitched in response to another enemy entering their 'safe zone' and fired in sync in order to down a Ri-Class heavy cruiser and damaged a Ro-Class destroyer in the process, truly a veteran who had participated in almost all the major battles in the Pacific back in the war, and was one of the most experienced ship girls in Yokosuka.

As Chitose relayed the developing situation to them by announcing,

"Girls!

The battleships have moved up to provide a more accurate shelling salvo, and the JMSDF, 11th and 13th Strike Groups as well as the AC-130U gunships have all re-positioned themselves after the initial appearance of the Abyssal armada and their Princesses!

We can now engage them, since our backup's back online!"

Myoukou turned to her little sister as she instructed in a firm, businesswoman-like voice.

"Let us move up, Haguro.

We must hold our ground right now until further orders come in."

Haguro nodded respectfully as she simply uttered,

"Yes, Myoukou Nee-san."

Before the two ship girls joined the increasingly chaotic clusterfuck that was three Princesses making a beeline for them along with their Abyssal posse while the other Princesses hung back to provide aerial, shelling and torpedo support, and the ten fleets of the 1st Strike Group had to engage the Destroyer Princess, one of two Battleship Princesses and an Air Defense Princess with help of the other Strike Groups as well as the human soldiers, sailors and pilots.

Shiranui fired at an approaching Abyssal destroyer who was lurking in the water, clearing the stage for the heavy-hitting, boisterous butch/assertive ship girls that were Maya, Iowa, Tenryuu and the Kai Ni Hiei, Ashigara and Yuudachi to surprise the Abyssals by running in in order to engage the Abyssals in close combat which they specialized in, while the more feminine, but equally dangerous ship girls went to town on the Abyssals, like Shigure, Haguro, Myoukou, Chikuma, Jintsuu and Haruna, every one of them possessing Kai Ni remodels and were thus skilled and powerful in their own right.

Just as each of the Myoukou-Class sisters honed a particular skill over the years, Myoukou's skills were put on display as she weaved, ducked, strafed and spun between and around Abyssal humanoids who crowded the battlefield, Haguro performing equally swift evasive maneuvers while speaking to their Admiral on the other end of the line.

"Yes, Admiral!

Clear the AC-130U gunship for danger-close firing, we will work around them!

We need them to engage the Abyssal horde behind the front line in order to stand a chance, lest they get comfortable and bombard us!"

And as she heard the last dredges of the conversation be drowned out by the commotion around them, she looked up towards the heavens shortly before some sort of high-speed projectile streaked down and struck a Wo-Class dead.

The howitzer shell obliterated the Wo-Class and engulfed a large area in a grisly splash of blood, fuel, seawater and steel flesh as the splash damage caused to nearby units were mild at best due to their armor, but the Abyssals who were trying to consolidate their forces in order to provide supporting fire had to disperse for fear of a well-placed howitzer shell wiping out a whole lot of them.

Shiranui then heard the Americans speaking up from their flying fortress, the voice crackling a little as they spoke in English, because the Americans ran the risk of miscommunication if they spoke in Japanese; ship girls communicated clearer in English because of their comprehensive language modules.

"Banshee to Birdman, we're seeing a lot of Abyssal activity down there; where do you want us to concentrate our fire?"

She could barely hear Chitose speaking back in English as one of the many communication carriers in every Strike Group who were all designated 'Birdman', helping the Americans prioritize the Abyssals who stood further behind the front lines and were getting ready to provide devastating long-range support.

"Birdman 2 to Banshee, focus your attention on the Abyssal Princesses standing further behind; we can't have them lining up to take us out!

We'll radio for you and deliver the coordinates to you if we need any more danger-close support fire, thank you!"

And upon that, all that was heard was a simple,

"Acknowledged.

Engaging now."

Before auto-cannon and machine gun rounds rained down in a hail of death, Shiranui looking away too late as an auto-cannon round sheared through the pod headdress and the head of a Wo-Class carrier, getting a peek of the brain matter and cerebrospinal fluid barely spilling out from what remained of the Wo-Class's skull along with the damaged machinery within her headdress before the splash from the sizable round hitting the ocean blanketed the gruesome scene.

Another Abyssal, this time a Ri-Class, had her upper right arm ripped off after she attempted to evade the autocannon round even though it led towards her position and hit the ocean shell by shell, and the Ri-Class looked down in horror as she collapsed onto the ocean, trying to clutch the bleeding stump which existed instead of her right arm with her hand cannon, whose protective cocoon hindered the move as she emitted a ghastly shriek.

 _[AAAAHH!]_

Shiranui then saw that to the left of her, the ground vehicles of the JGSDF were firing their SAM (in this case, Surface-to-Abyssal Missiles) and blew several Abyssals out of the water with their explosive payload detonating and taking off entire limbs, if not outright bisecting Abyssals as they were flung into the air.

The overwhelming support which they received was why the 1st Strike Group wasn't immediately and completely screwed from the aft before being forced into retreat by the Abyssal armada, because of the 11th and 13th Strike Group's support from the flanks, the AC-130U Spooky 'II' raining death from above as well as the other Strike Groups behind them adapting to the changing circumstances and providing support with their various combat equipment.

They all worked together to make sure that the Abyssals behind the front lines couldn't clear the path for the Abyssal front-liners with support shelling and bombing and hence allowing their advance to snowball by slowing them down with swift and decisive retaliation right out the gate, halting their advance by making their stand.

Looking back as she saw how the name-ship of the Myoukou-Class physically ran circles around their enemies, Myoukou went into the zone and had an aura of concentration around her, something which most ship girls exuded when in tune with the flow of battle as Myoukou scanned the crests and troughs on the ocean as well as the enemies which she faced before plotting out her path and adapting to unpredictable movements, all done subconsciously with training and experience which was drilled into her mind over the years.

The ocean, much like the weather, was fickle in that it was an even playing field with no cover for ship girls or Abyssals to hide behind and trade shots, and the ocean tide was always shifting with its own unique rhythm without consideration for either side.

And although ship girls and Abyssals had naval experience and background mental modules to account for the tide as they fought in battle, as a certain skilled heavy cruiser found out and exploited like those who came before her, the chaos of battle could throw even the most hardened of veterans off their feet as one psyched them out with feints, were swift enough to pull the enemy into your rhythm, to force them to move along with you and make them plant their feet on the ocean at a wrong angle as the tide shifted…

This was the ship girl ankle breaker.

Of course, this was harder to pull off against slow enemies, who were tortoise-like but were firm-footed most of the time, as well as Abyssals who either rode on vehicles or weren't bipedal since they didn't get around on their own two feet.

But as demonstrated in real-time, a Ne and Ri-Class cruiser as well as a Wo-Class were all attempting to overwhelm her with sheer numbers as the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser blitzed in between them in order to run interference, moving into certain spots within the Abyssal ranks.

And as the humanoid cruisers and carrier were pulled into her rhythm and planted their foot down on certain spots of the shifting ocean, their center of gravity shifted as they all fell onto the ocean in the wake of Myoukou.

Cleanup duty was performed by Haguro, whose threat-perception abilities helped her to detect enemies in her presence through their killing intent and her heightened spatial awareness, allowing her to blind-fire accurately and shooting them either on the upper torso or in the head, uttering all the while,

"Sorry, sorry, sorry…"

As every shell landed on their intended targets.

But as a Tsu-Class fell onto the floor after a 20.3 Cm shell broke her helmet, Shiranui turned to Haguro as the Tsu-Class had blood trickling down from her temple into her left eye, possessing a bruised face since the shell cracked her steel helmet and dealt superficial damage, but didn't get to penetrate her head since the Abyssal miraculously angled her head correctly and caused the shell to bounce, lifting the cannons on her left arm in order to fire at Haguro's back.

Shiranui called out with genuine concern,

"Haguro-san!"

But the Myoukou-Class, while still sailing forward, angled her body sideways in order to point her handheld 20.3 Cm (No. 2) Twin Gun Cannon behind her, unceremoniously firing a round into the Tsu-Class's head without even looking back.

Shiranui turned back to see the headless Tsu-Class fall back onto the ocean, a fountain of blood and steel polluting the ocean as it hit the ocean like a string-less puppet collapsing onto the floor before disappearing underwater, Haguro uttering her last,

"Sorry."

Before sailing on, but Haguro eventually gave her a backwards glance as she thanked Shiranui with a shy smile.

"And thank you, Shiranui-chan."

Looking away abashedly while remembering the mines beneath them, Shiranui understood the reason why the Abyssal corpse wouldn't set off a naval mine was because the Abyssals tried to use Abyssal corpses as dummy units to set the mines off, back when they only programmed the mines to activate in the presence of an Abyssal, dead or alive.

Needless to say, the 'dead dummy' cheese tactic was patched, and mines now only activated in the presence of live Abyssals.

Another large-caliber shell flew in her general direction, and it was simple enough to evade since her superhuman senses allowed her to take in everything quickly and make snap decisions, wincing at the splash of seawater which was thrown up in the shell's wake, and she heard Kagerou sail up to her while keeping a low profile as she spoke loudly to Shiranui.

"Come on, Nui-Nui!

We're missing out on all the fun!"

Before sailing away in the direction of the Abyssal Battleship Symbiotic Princess and the Destroyer Princess, and Shiranui followed along while vainly attempting to use her pathetic cannons to distract Abyssals who were occupied with fighting other ship girls of the 1st Strike Group.

Erratically evading enemy shells and torpedoes at every step while firing her own torpedoes back at the Abyssals in retaliation, Shiranui now started to see how out of her depth she was as more Abyssals tried to join in the fray, but she looked up to find another two waves of allied dive bombers flying in opposing directions, surmising that they were planes sent by the 11th and 13th Strike Groups as they delivered death from above.

As other Abyssals were devastated by the dropped payload which leveled the ocean, it left Shiranui stumbling at the blast wave which threw her off-balance and shifted the ocean beneath her feet as she saw that a Wo-Class carrier, in evading the detonating payloads dropped from above, stumbled into the path of a seasoned Tenryuu, who sported a slasher smile as she engaged an unprepared Wo-Class in combat by calling out,

"En garde!"

She slashed down diagonally at the Wo-Class as the latter held her cane in a reverse-grip, and for her trouble, she had a nasty gash torn into her left hand as the tip caught her bare abdomen and left a bleeding slit in its wake, the Abyssal spinning back and wincing in agony as Ooi came in running.

And as she sailed through the battlefield, she could feel the moistness of the air on her skin as the detonation of the payload threw vaporized seawater into the air, and she could see that the torpedo cruiser Ooi had drop-kicked the damaged Abyssal for Kitakami to finish off, calling her sister ship.

"Kitakami-san!"

Kitakami sailed in as she idly responded,

"Hai, hai, Ooi-chi.

I've got this in the bag.

Nice setup b.t.w., Tenryuu-chi."

The Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser brought up her free arm in order to hold a torpedo which was still nested in the launcher which was strapped to her left arm, swiping her right arm in a clockwise motion as she grabbed hold of the torpedo in order to fling the lone torpedo at the downed Wo-Class on the ocean surface.

Ooi scrambled away as she used her rigging for cover from the blast wave and as a shield from the blood, oil and steel flesh which flew everywhere, Shiranui making her way to the Destroyer Princess as the battle raged on.

Bomber planes from both sides were now starting to drop like flies, being shot down by opposing sides in a bid for air supremacy on the battlefield while denying the enemy the same opportunity, and while the Abyssals had an Aircraft Carrier Princess or two on their side, the occasional howitzer shell and the hail of good ol' American freedom raining down on them as the AC-130U 'Spooky II' gunship, code-named 'Banshee', couldn't be touched by World War 2 Anti-Air fire due to the altitude which it cruised at.

And as she laid eyes on the Destroyer Princess, she heard something like the sickening crush of steel and the sound bubble shield plates made when they broke as the ocean trembled from the impact, surmising that some Princess behind the front lines had their shield broken by a howitzer shell from above, but the shield did its job by crushing the shell like a beer can on a ship girl's forehead and protected the Princess within.

The Destroyer Princess was surrounded by her posse as the ship girls of various naval bases engaged them in battle, and she could see that Houshou was standing further behind as she had the remnants of a ship girl strapped to her back with steel wires, Shiranui's HUD updating her of who it was and her current status.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

YUUGUMO-CLASS DESTROYER 133

"YUUGUMO"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Ah, that explained the burnt green hair, looking to previously tied in a braid.

Her corpse pretty much consisted of only her head and her upper right shoulder-slash-arm, a torn up and charred inner torso revealing her disemboweled insides as they slowly flopped out and messily slid down Houshou's back while what little remained of her battle backpack belched out smoke.

Her right arm was uselessly flopping about as her lolling head was tucked in between Houshou's neck and right shoulder, Houshou looking uncomfortable all the while and doing her best to focus on the battle ahead and not the slimy, bloody insides of a dead child sliding out of her seemingly bisected corpse.

Shiranui had seen this kind of wound before.

The thing about torpedoes was that their warheads were exposed to the elements to be fired on a whim, but a stray shell hitting a torpedo (a rare occurrence due to their relatively small size and the mobility of the ship girls who carried them) would cause one hell of an explosion to occur at point-blank range, and you were considered lucky if there was anything left of you to salvage.

One shell must have struck Yuugumo's right torpedo launcher, blowing off everything beneath her waist and likely destroyed her rigging in the process, taking off her left arm and leaving an arc diagonally across her body as her purple school uniform and white collared-shirt were set ablaze.

Licks of flame likely caught her braid and worked their way up her hair, forcing others to dunk her in the ocean, explaining the dampness of her clothes and hair.

Before them, the Destroyer Princess was firing all her cannons as her expression was a rictus of focus on making their complete and utter annihilation a reality, looking like Harusame as her glowing purple eyes shone with determination.

Her white hair was tied in a long left side ponytail as her headdress possessed horns atop it, the longer one on her right and the shorter on her left as it bore a significant resemblance to Harusame's beret, albeit larger.

She wore a black steel choker with a sleeveless sailor uniform colored in the usual Abyssal black with a maroon-purple neckerchief, and her pale abdomen was exposed as her nether region was covered up by a dark cloth, and it was commonly accepted that the Destroyer Princess had no legs as she had two steel rings covering the stumps at the end of her sheared-off thighs.

Two armed Abyssal destroyer-esque attachments to the sides of each thigh was what supported her as she sailed with their assistance, each possessing Quadruple Torpedo Launchers of their own on their flanks and a small-caliber cannon on their snout, and her steel cuff held up her black-colored right glove while her left hand and forearm was enveloped by a twin-barreled hand-cannon.

She was fighting off the two fleets of the Itou Naval Base as well as the second fleet of the Tateyama Naval Base, and Kagerou ducked underneath a Ri-Class's attempt at a backhand as she spun around counterclockwise while jumping and pulled off an airborne reverse heel kick into the solar plexus of a nearby Tsu-Class.

And although it didn't do much damage since Kagerou was still a Kai destroyer going up against a light cruiser, it temporarily stunned the Abyssal and bought enough time for Shigure to run up, delivering a devastating blow to the same spot on her abdomen as her Kai Ni strength blurred her fist, causing the Abyssal to nearly double over.

Kagerou scrambled out of the way while providing cover fire to keep the Tsu-Class occupied as Shigure boost-kicked the Tsu-Class in the groin, and while she didn't possess male genitalia to feel too much pain, the blow caused the Abyssal to become weak in the knees as she doubled over this time, almost in a bowing position as her bent legs trembled.

Shigure took the chance to plant her hand-cannon near the nape of the Tsu-Class's neck, uttering her parting words,

"It's over."

Before pulling the trigger and causing the Tsu-Class to drop dead from the nervous system running down her neck being severed by a shell fired from a point-blank hand-cannon shot.

As Yuudachi, Hatsushimo, Shoukaku and Ayanami engaged the Air Defense Princess and the Abyssals in their area, she could see that Ashigara was cooperating with Murakumo to take out the Ri-Class who tried to backhand Kagerou, Ashigara holding Murakumo's hand as she spun the Kai Ni destroyer about in a merry-go-round with her boat slippers sticking out dangerously.

And as the undersides were sharp in order to cut through the ocean, they slashed the Ri-Class across the face and left a nasty gash as the Ri-Class bled out, Ashigara making sure to throw Murakumo towards a safe spot on the ocean as she let go before continuing her spin on the spot, jumping and performing a dynamic entry kick without any running start.

Siding up beside Hiyou, Shiranui fired off a few torpedoes to keep the light carrier safe from harm as Hiyou sent out a few more bomber planes to keep their teammates safe, and she could tell that the light carrier was even more out of her depth than she was.

That was probably why she was standing so far away from the battlefield; her Admiral, possessing a lack of carriers to send to the front lines, had to send Hiyou to provide air support, but because of her inexperience compared to the rest of the Strike Group, she was ordered to stand near the rear of the formation and not unnecessarily expose herself to danger, Hiyou asking Shiranui worriedly.

"U-Um, why are our ship girls engaging the Abyssals in such dangerous close-quarters combat?

Isn't it safer to simply stand further behind and bombard the enemy with our shells, instead of allowing the enemy to come too close and fight them while being outnumbered?

And on that note, why are the Abyssals advancing and allowing us to destroy them en masse?

I'm so confused!"

Shiranui, firing her cannons and torpedoes while her Anti-Air armament barked in retaliation to enemy bombers loitering about in her airspace, turned back to speak to her gruffly.

"Naval warfare is always changing.

Ships in the Age of Sail had their own distinct style of fighting, and so do the ships of both World Wars which are all considered irrelevant in today's human navies ever since the march of technology sped up after the end of World War 2.

We ship girls have our own way of fighting, and I think you can understand that the old ways of 'stand back, guesstimate and fire' won't work here when our enemy has a limitless pool of resources to tap into.

Every shell matters, and that's why we've gotten _very_ good at close-quarters combat, since this method of engagement conserves our ammunition for when they're truly needed."

She watched a drunk Kai Ni Junyou in the distance boost-jump onto a Ri-Class's upper torso, clamping the panicking Ri-Class's head in between her thighs as she locked her legs and sat on her shoulders while keeping a low profile so as not to get shot at, and Isuzu performed a sliding tackle from behind the Abyssal, tripping the Ri-Class up as she fell backwards and left herself vulnerable to Kinugasa's torpedo salvo while Junyou rolled off the supine Abyssal and scrambled away.

Shiranui continued,

"Besides, even if they tried to simply stand behind and bombard us to smithereens in a place like this, we can simply stand beyond their range, or even hunker down and form a turtling defense in Sagami Bay in order to force them to advance beyond the naval mine formation.

But that way, neither of us can reliably engage the other, since they wouldn't want to sail too close to our shores without taking a few of us out first and not when the shore's full of JGSDF vehicles laying in wait for them to come closer, and we can't do much except spam torpedoes and bomber planes in that situation, which would take a huge toll on our bauxite resources.

I suppose this is a compromise in battles like this, where both sides have their vanguard combatants engage each other in close-range combat while others provide support from behind and try to disrupt the opposing side's backup fleets, in our case, with the backup of various Strike Groups as well as the American gunship, known as 'Banshee'.

In scenarios like this, the battle'll probably go on until one chickens out and retreats, allowing the other party to advance.

Their quantity versus our quality.

Who will win?"

Of course, Shiranui thought to herself.

It wasn't as if either side could wholly invest in one and ignore the other attribute, as Abyssal quality was shown in the Princesses while the ship girls, even though they didn't possess the well of infinite resources which the Abyssals exploited in order to create reserve units, had to respond primarily with quality along with a sizable quantity in the form of their armada, since quantity was indeed a quality all on its own.

While both sides had a preference, they never risked overspecializing in either by investing in both attributes.

Hiyou nodded, sending out a Ryuusei Kai torpedo bomber as Shiranui saw that Hiyou noted something else being transmitted over the air, likely from the humans who were doing their part to contribute to the battle as she smiled in relief and announced through the ship girl radio channels in a hopeful voice.

"Everyone!

The JDS _Myoukou_ and the JS _Atago_ are patrolling the ocean, and they've brought friends in the form of Mitsubishi F-2, F-15 Eagle and F-4 Phantom fighter jets, and the F-35 and F-22 fighter jets are taking off from the mainland as we speak!

In other words, the cavalry's here!

Banzai!"

And fate threw them another curve-ball as a faint splash was heard in the distance, a customized warning signal for this battle used to indicate the presence of the _Flying Dutchman_ blaring on her HUD as everyone around them turned back and gave Hiyou the stink-eye for jinxing the situation, the Hiyou-Class light carrier withdrawing within herself as she meekly squeaked,

"Oops…"

But their attention turned back to the Abyssals who found a second wind upon seeing their commander grace their presence with a capital ship which was upgraded to fight battles in a modern age, advancing with a newfound vigor as Shiranui heard Admiral Mako speak with the leader of the Fighter Squadron 'Sparrow' and captain of the JDS _Myoukou_ on the emergency channel, since the _Flying Dutchman_ 's presence required everyone to understand what was going to happen next.

"Captain Akihiro, Pilot Yamamoto of Flight Squadron 'Sparrow', the _Flying Dutchman_ is here.

You both know what to do?"

And Shiranui heard the Captain of JDS _Myoukou_ speak up, the sounds of sailors preparing for a naval engagement apparent in the background along with a blaring alarm of sorts to notify everyone to get to their battle stations.

"You got it!

We'll try our best to lay down cover fire with our missiles whenever possible, but we're gonna need several submarines and destroyers to take the _Dutchman_ down first!

She was modeled after the pride and joy of the IJN, after all!"

And the leading pilot of the incoming Fighter Squadron responded, his voice sounding muffled since he likely had his oxygen mask on in order to breath easily while flying, using the call-sign of the carriers for some coordinates to fire their missiles at without flying too close into the no-fly zone.

"Acknowledged.

We're coming in hot right now, Birdman, we need one of you to relay coordinates for us to fire at for maximum damage."

In which Admiral Mako, being the one who coordinated the various Strike Groups and the JSDF trinity behind the scenes, spoke up to try and direct everyone while standing further behind the front lines.

"Alright, any one of you girls spot the Princesses or a cluster of Abyssals who are easy targets, call them in and Sparrow Squadron will engage them in their missile barrage.

After making a pass on the Abyssals, Yamamoto-san, try to double back and flank the _Dutchman_ with your planes."

Cue Captain Akihiro's concerned response,

"Copy that, we'll hold our own until then.

Watch out, though.

The _Dutchman_ seems to be heavily armored with what seems to be missile launchers from what I'm seeing, and it's not unreasonable to think that as an Abyssal aviation battleship, it's likely got several Hell and Revenge Bombers on hand to try and ward you guys off."

Shiranui turned around to watch the approaching squadrons of fighter jets flying in fours in diamond formation as she heard the pilot speak up,

"Alright, thanks for the heads-up, Captain.

Birdman, we've received coordinates from several of you.

Missiles away."

Before she saw the pinpricks that were the JASDF fighter jets unleashing a barrage of missiles, Shiranui recognizing them as JDAM missiles as they flew past her and blew the Abyssal aliens to kingdom come, watching them pull up above the no-fly zone so that they would avoid the dogfight between the Fairy pilots and Abyssal planes as well as the Anti-Air fire which the Abyssals would no doubt unleash upon them, suddenly seeing something new appear on her HUD.

Her HUD blatantly displayed in red,

'INBOUND MISSILE'

As it projected a red circle on the ocean before her, the color intensity fading as it radiated from the epicenter in order to show the projected splash damage caused by the airborne missile as proof of the reconnaissance planes doing their work, hearing a ship girl yell out,

"Evasive maneuvers!"

And an unknown pilot shouted over the frenzied burst of activity on the radio,

"Shoot 'em down!

Shoot 'em down!"

As everyone scattered, even the Abyssals who didn't want to get caught in the explosion as the missiles didn't discriminate in their destruction.

Not for the first time today, and neither would it be the last, the ocean quaked in terror as the _F_ _lying_ _Dutchman_ 's missiles rained down upon them like fire and brimstone, Shiranui pulling Hiyou's sleeve as she led the inexperienced light carrier away from the explosion, performing sidewinders and steering clear from the red circles on her HUD, barely hearing a humanoid Abyssal shout to another as they performed evasive maneuvers and paid the two ship girls no mind since they weren't really high-value targets.

[Come on!

Since when did Commander Yuubari care about danger-close?!]

A missile detonated next to them, a blast wave throwing her off her feet as Shiranui wondered how the Dutchman tried to engage them.

The missiles didn't seem as if they were locked onto any particular ship girl signatures, and in her daze as she shook the seawater and sweat from her hair and face, she surmised that the _Dutchman_ likely used geographical coordinates to direct their missiles instead of other missiles which required a lock-on onto an enemy signature before firing.

Bloody hell, if the _Dutchman_ could devastate enemies at such long range, how did the ship girls at Mikura Jima Island survive at a closer range?

Hiyou, since she was taller than her as a light carrier, pulled her up as she tried to be gentle with a recovering Shiranui, speaking worriedly into her ear,

"Come on!

We have to keep moving!"

Nodding, she put her weight back onto her own two feet as she continued her run, joining Atago just as the heavy cruiser was being attacked by a Ha-Class Abyssal, the fish-like Abyssal destroyer trying to take advantage of the situation by leaping out of the ocean and aggressively attacking.

But as much as she wanted to help her senior, she knew that the Takao-Class heavy cruiser had this in the bag, her faith being rewards as the heavy cruiser rolled backwards onto her back, bringing her shapely legs in before slamming her heels into the Ha-Class's underbelly, displacing it upwards as it let out an unholy, banshee-like shriek in pain.

Atago rolled with the momentum as she continued rolling backwards, catching her beret just as it slipped off her head and hit the ocean, coming full-circle as her backwards roll transitioned into a kneel, one knee on the ocean as she looked up with her drenched hair clinging to her skin and uniform.

She uttered a pre-mortem one-liner,

"Pan-paka-pa~n!"

Before one of her three 20.3 Cm Twin Gun Cannons fired two shells into the sky, entering the Ha-Class's belly and ending its life.

Sailing on in order to join the fight, both light carrier and destroyer joined Hibiki and Akatsuki, Shigure and Yuudachi and various others in fighting the Destroyer Princess, noting Yuudachi's upgrades to her look as she sported the ear flaps on her hair as her left fringe was held up by a hair clip, a white scarf wrapped around her neck, possessing crimson pupils as she had a twin-barreled hand-cannon on her right hand.

Her rigging had a white flag on it to reflect her past misadventures, small-caliber cannons attached to platforms which extended from her waist, a golden throat guard on her collar and Quadruple Torpedo Launchers attached to her thighs, her attitude rambunctious and aggressive as she taunted the isolated Destroyer Princess.

"Just because it's daytime right now, doesn't mean the nightmares stop haunting you, baby!

Let's get this party started!"

And the Destroyer Princess responded,

[I won't be defeated!]

Before launching her torpedoes in a broad salvo and forcing everyone to disperse, Shiranui emptying her 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon into the Princess's shields for all the good it did, the shields stopping the shells and spreading the impact over an area as evidenced by the transparent red spots blooming on the bubble shield.

Upon seeing another red circle blooming near her position, she simply remarked disdainfully,

" _Shit."_

Before strafing away from the area, hearing another explosion sound out behind her as her world was shaken again, being thrown across the ocean as she felt her steel bones rattle a little this time while the intense heat took her by surprise, almost heat-drying her sweat-drenched clothes.

Too close.

Shigure evaded a large-caliber shell which was fired in their direction, likely because the Destroyer Princess called for backup and the _Flying Dutchman_ provided it in spades, Akatsuki and Hibiki sailing in tandem as they spoke with each other, their uniforms soaked in the blood of the Abyssals which they had melee'd to death before this.

Akatsuki, sounding as if she was insinuating something, asked Hibiki about something which sounded somewhat random,

"Hibiki!

Want some flying lessons?"

Hibiki simply responded,

"Please.

You don't teach a phoenix how to fly."

Before sailing up to Akatsuki, Shiranui now realizing it was a password of sorts to lead up to a certain move being executed, Hibiki sailing up to her sister as Akatsuki held up her riot shield parallel to the ocean surface for Hibiki to vault onto, now standing on the riot shield as they both bent their knees in preparation for the next move.

As the both of them boost-jumped, Akatsuki's momentum was transferred to Hibiki and allowed her to jump higher, easily clearing a battleship's height and almost hitting the minimum height which dive bombers usually reached in order to drop their payloads.

Upon reaching the apex of her jump which was located above the Destroyer Princess, Hibiki dropped her prepped depth charges like a hail of explosive death upon the Princess's upper shield layer, completely demolishing it as explosions engulfed the Princess, the Destroyer Princess yelping in pain while Hibiki landed on her feet.

But sudden movement within the smoke which belched out after the explosion caused everyone to be on edge, the Destroyer Princess surprising them all with a burst of speed which no one expected from a legless humanoid Abyssal, Shiranui jumping to the rescue and pushing Hibiki away as the Abyssal boost-jumped with her unusual mode of transportation, judging herself to be of less value and hence more expandable than the Akatsuki-Class destroyer, taking the brunt of what came next.

The middle layer of the shield smacked her like a bubble football, except that this time, she didn't have her own bubble football to protect herself, and unlike bubble footballs which were somewhat soft due to the material used to make them, the bubble shield of the Destroyer Princess was unyielding and tough like steel despite being invisible.

Shiranui felt her entire front profile burst out in spasms of pain as she was displaced by the surprise attack, tasting her own blood flowing from her mouth and nose as she hit the ocean hard, and she picked herself up with shaky limbs as she saw the Destroyer Princess looming over her with malice dripping from her expression, every weapon at the ready while she was still partially paralyzed from the impact.

But Yuudachi was already flying above the Destroyer Princess, with a positively demonic smile and bloodthirsty expression on her face as she dropped her torpedoes and fired at the Abyssal in mid-air since the Abyssal's upper shield layer was destroyed and left her vulnerable, the Abyssal looking up in surprise at the Nightmare of Solomon while Shiranui spotted a shadow streaking towards her from her flank.

The shadow turned out to be Teruzuki saving her from the resulting explosion which occurred from within the bubble shield, and since the bubble shield only blocked solid objects which approached from the outside, the internal explosion freely radiated from its epicenter as Yuudachi landed and boosted away, everyone hearing the Destroyer Princess's screams upon being hit with torpedoes.

 _[AAAHHHH!]_

Shiranui looked up at her savior, noticing that Teruzuki had armor-plated Rensouhou-chans with her (or whatever the Akizuki-Class called them), and in this case, one closed its right eye while looking to be smoking a cigar (actually a small-caliber shell) while the other on the destroyer's right simply had its left eye closed, and they both had twin turret barrels sticking out of their boxy foreheads.

Her rigging was a pair of 'wings' which spread out from the base of her spine to envelop and protect the platform on which the two Rensouhou-Chans were located, and on Teruzuki's thighs were drum magazines which fed shells into the twin Rensouhou-Chans' platforms and indirectly into them, and she had a large Quadruple Torpedo Launcher on her back like Shimakaze.

Much like her sisters, she wore an armored corset and thigh heel boots (although her boots were red) with white stockings, wearing a pleated black skirt with a white stripe and a white sailor uniform top with a black sailor collar and white stripes, and she wore an unusually long yellow neckerchief with a small Fire Detector holding it together while snugly located in her sizable cleavage.

On her black headband, in golden fonts, were the Japanese words which translated into '61st Destroyer Division', and her light-brown hair was tied up in twin braids which were held in place by golden propeller hair ornaments at the ends, and she possessed grey eyes which looked down at her with concern as she flashed an easy smile at her, asking sincerely

"Be careful, Shiranui-san.

I was glad that you weren't knocked unconsciousness by that attack…"

Shiranui nodded tersely, looking at an approaching Hibiki as the Akatsuki-Class destroyer looked rather solemn at the face that another destroyer had to take a mortal blow for her, apologizing while on the move.

"... Sorry about that.

To think that I was unable to react fast enough to that attack, despite being a senior…"

Shiranui waved her apology away, still feeling a little short of breath as the bubble shield impact hit her on the chest and caused her to cough a little, gasping for breath to avoid antagonizing the throbbing chest pain as she wiped the blood from her cracked nose and felt out the location in her mouth where she accidentally bit down on her inner cheek upon impact, now oozing blood as she tasted its metallic flavor.

She gathered up the blood in her mouth along with her spit and crudely spat it out into an unoccupied spot on the ocean before speaking hoarsely.

"Don't… don't worry about… it.

Let's just focus on… the task at hand."

Hibiki nodded, watching Houshou, Hiyou, Ashigara, Murakumo, Hatsuharu and others hold the line and clear space for them to engage the Destroyer Princess freely as the Kai Ni destroyer responded simply,

"... Fine."

Replacing her remorseful expression with her game face as Akatsuki, Shigure, Yuudachi and Teruzuki joining them, making it six versus one, with the Abyssal Princess possessing the _Flying Dutchman_ to even the odds somewhat.

And as the smoke cleared, it was clear that the Abyssal Destroyer Princess had suffered damage, but wasn't going down easily as her partially burnt face contorted into a pained scowl, uttering a mantra to focus her attention and efforts into one singular goal.

Their deaths and sinkings by her hand.

[Unforgivable…

Unforgivable…

 _ABSOLUTELY UNFORGIVABLE!]_

Her rigging was damaged and broken in places, revealing wires and machinery in some areas and bleeding flesh in others as her left arm's pale flesh was marred with second-degree burns, bleeding from her right temple and bringing her panting breath under control while everyone visibly recoiled from the killing intent that was emitted by the demure Princess.

And as Yuudachi remarked about how this lookalike of Harusame had the exact opposite personality traits,

"Yoo, Shigure…

Even though this Abyssal looks like Harusame-chan, she behaves in the exact opposite manner and really makes you appreciate how nice Harusame-chan is in real life, hmm?"

Shigure responded as they stared down the seething Abyssal Princess, getting into a martial arts stance as she did so.

"Even if she shares the same looks and, on the extremely unlikely off-chance, the same memories, she's but a shadow of her former self.

To be driven by pain and hatred like the Abyssals are, I think that is a form of torture in and of itself.

Whoever she was in her past life, she deserves to be put out of her misery.

That is what I believe, and that is why I fight."

The Destroyer Princess growled menacingly as she fired her cannons and several torpedoes in order to scatter them, another large-caliber shell fired from the _Dutchman_ entering their general vicinity as Shiranui shielded herself from the spray thrown up by the resulting water column.

The Destroyer Princess likely called in shelling and missile support in order to balance the scales, and Shiranui tossed a torpedo of her own into the Abyssal's middle shield layer, causing another explosion which tested the integrity of the shield plates.

Another red circle appeared next to her on her HUD, forcing her to relocate just as the _Dutchman_ laid down support fire from afar without concern for danger close, likely at the discretion of the Destroyer Princess who wanted support of any kind after her posse was wiped out.

She boosted out of the way just as an enemy torpedo sailed towards her, performing a jump while she watched the Kai Ni Shigure perform a Cloud Walk over several torpedoes before hitting the ocean and preparing for combat.

Her battle backpack unfolded in halves to become tonfa-like weapons with cannon barrels at the ends while still attached to her steel waistband via mechanical arms, firing at the Princess's compromised shield plates while Teruzuki provided Anti-Air fire to ward off any bomber planes who wanted to come to the Abyssal's rescue.

Hibiki, at Akatsuki's wordless urging, threw an activated depth charge in her sister's direction, but before Shiranui could ask them what they were up to, Akatsuki pulled her leg back before she kicked the depth charge in the direction of the Abyssal Princess like a soccer kick, spectacularly shattering the middle layer of the reddened shields with the resulting explosion.

And as the Destroyer Princess staggered back from the explosion, Shiranui noted Teruzuki calling in the carriers behind them for an airstrike while Shigure and Yuudachi stepped in to fight in close-quarters as blue and red auras flowed out from their pores to signify their concentration, Shigure storing her cannon tonfas as Yuudachi stepped in to start the combo.

Yuudachi started out with a jump before transitioning into a drop-kick, bringing her knees in to drive her boat slippers out as she fired her boost gauge into the defending Destroyer Princess's uniform, the Abyssal still somewhat disoriented from the explosion as Yuudachi's overwhelming Kai Ni strength and the boost gauge forced her back and caused her to lose her balance.

Her back hit the ocean, her platform doing its best to re-orientate itself relative to the ocean surface as the Destroyer Princess tried to push herself back up.

Shigure then came in as she grabbed the Destroyer Princess's platform at where she wouldn't be hurt, its exposed bottom which was supposed to be in contact with the ocean surface, but was exposed now that the Destroyer Princess laid back on the ocean, Shigure spinning around clockwise with an Abyssal Destroyer Princess in hand, the spinning Abyssal facing the sky as she was taken for a ride.

The spinning Destroyer Princess gained a bit of air time as Shigure's strength lifted the Abyssal with the help of centrifugal force, and as she let go of the Abyssal, she allowed the Destroyer Princess to fly for a few milliseconds…

Right before Yuudachi, having scrambled back onto her feet while Shigure performed her swing and flung the Abyssal away from them, jumped on the Destroyer Princess as they both flew parallel to the ocean surface, grabbing the Abyssal Princess in a bear hug and putting a lot of spin into her jump in order to pull off a horizontal Izuna Drop as she screamed,

" _HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

And since Yuudachi hugged the Princess's abdomen and tucked her head into the Princess's almost non-existent cleavage, the Destroyer Princess bore the full brunt of the damage as her head was driven into the water, landing on her back while Yuudachi came up on top by landing on the Princess, hurriedly scrambling away after untangling herself.

The Destroyer Princess had seconds to spare as Teruzuki's order for an airstrike was granted in the form of Type 99, Suisei and Type 0 F.M. 62 Dive Bombers all diving in sync, dropping their payloads together on the Destroyer Princess.

But before she could celebrate the death of a troublesome enemy as the payloads streaked towards the Abyssal Princess, she saw that the Destroyer Princess likely took over manual control of her shields as she raised the platform wrapped around her leg stumps, and somehow raising her lower shield layer to face the sky in order to act as a makeshift shield against the dropped payload, still being engulfed in a fiery explosion as Shiranui felt her damp clothes dry a little from the radiating heat.

She saw a Wo-Class soundlessly speaking with a difficult expression on her face in the distance while pointing towards them, every ship girl fleeing the scene as the _Flying Dutchman_ sent a few more missiles in their direction, as evidenced by the three red circles concentrated around their position to get them to retreat from the wounded Princess, which they reluctantly did for fear of being blown to smithereens.

And in their exodus, she heard Yuudachi yelping in surprise at the missiles which nearly knocked the destroyers off their feet,

"Motherfucker!"

And Akatsuki chiding her for her foul language, still striving for some form of elegance even in a battle as heated as this.

"Language, Yuudachi-san!"

She could see Yuudachi's red pupils roll up in exasperation, but Shiranui took the time to check herself for any unexpected injuries and the conditions of her comrades before turning back to the Abyssals as shells started flying, the smoke clearing to show the backup Abyssals cradling the injured and likely unconscious Destroyer Princess away from the battlefield while other Abyssals covered their retreat with cover fire.

Shiranui, noting the partially destroyed platform, lolling head and extensive burns showing through her charred uniform, it was likely that the Princess was unable to participate in this battle, and even as large-caliber shells flew towards them and forced them to evade, their fierce battle in this sector was over, Shiranui hearing the emergency channel crackle with life upon activation, a pilot speaking up as they were likely engaging enemy planes in battle.

Only, they were speaking in extremely confused tones about what was sent out of the _Dutchman_ 's hull, Shiranui's spirit sinking with every word as she slowly but surely realized what was going on.

"Swallow 3 to Minerva, the planes are coming out of the _Dutchman_ , but they aren't anything like the Hell and Revenge Bombers we were told to expect.

In fact, they're… they look like human fighter jets!"

Oh, shit.

Admiral Mako spoke into the emergency channel in order to speak to the pilot while making sure that everyone could listen in on the conversation so as to keep everyone on the front lines fully updated on the developing situation in real-time, speaking urgently.

"Swallow Squadron, can any one of you get a visual on the unknown enemy plane and who the hell's piloting it?!"

Shiranui kept moving as she looked closer at the blue skies with her bionic eyes' zoom function, barely spotting the pinpricks on the horizon flitting about something visually unrecognizable over the horizon as she finally heard a reply, along with a live feed request on her HUD.

"Bogey spotted!

It…"

Shiranui looked up at the corner of her HUD, spectating the aerial battle through the pilot's helmet camera.

It had a bird's eye view of the ocean and the ship girl/Abyssal engagement on its surface, looking to be the size of ants in the distance and required coordinates to ensure accurate bombing with little to no collateral damage.

The JASDF fighter jet flew alongside a jet-black fighter plane which was on his left, clearly looking to be of Abyssal origins if the color scheme was anything to go by, and through the slightly reflective cockpit window which shielded the pilot from the outside elements, it was clear that there was something… not human inside the enemy cockpit, the pilot parroting her thoughts.

"It seems to be… I think it's an F-35 Lightning II, judging by the design of the plane and the shape of its wings, and the engine inlets are the wrong shape to be an F-22 Raptor.

And is that a…

Is that an Abyssal _destroyer_ in the cockpit?!"

Everything clicked into place regarding the choice for the fighter pilot, since the Abyssal destroyers were streamlined in shape, wouldn't weight the plane down too much compared to the other classes and would fit inside the oval or tear-shaped cockpit, and they would still possess equal, if not outright superior reaction time and abilities to the best human pilots even if they were destroyers, thanks to being part machine.

And on the streamed feed of the pilot's point of view, she saw that the F-35 Lightning II suddenly banked left and performed a sharp turn, almost vanishing from the pilot's vision in an instant while another pilot shouted over the air,

 _"Bank!_

 _Bank!"_

And a third voice pointing out the absurd speeds achieved by these new Abyssal fighters,

"Bogey just went supersonic!

Stay on him!

 _Stay on him!_ "

The channel was then filled by the Captain of the JDS _Myoukou_ speaking up in a worried voice, relaying his movements before cutting it short with a curse, and finally a panicked warning.

"This is the JDS _Myoukou._

We're circling around the _Dutchman_ while maintaining a safe distance so that we can approach it from its opposite flank.

There're two portholes or… whatever, opening up on its hull at its bow, and…

 _Fuck they're gun-ports!_

 _ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR I-"_

Shortly before an earsplitting whistle filled the emergency frequency and blocked out all possible communications as Shiranui noted an absolutely horrified Hiyou pointing upwards with a trembling finger, her expression contorted with fright as she called out as a warning.

"Incoming fighters!

T-They're faster than anything I've ever seen!"

Before hearing a grim-sounding Shigure call out with no room for insubordination, argument or delay.

"EVERYONE! ANTI-AIR TURRETS!

FIRE EVERYTHING!"

The battlefield was in complete chaos as everyone spoke, cried and questioned all at once, but they managed to band together as experienced veterans who knew how to follow orders even under fire.

And watching the fruition of Apocalypse in real time, Shiranui's heart dropped as the red dot on her radar flew in at hitherto unknown speeds for any Abyssal plane and slowly transitioned from a black pinprick into an airborne Grim Reaper as its black armor and slip-streamed shape made for on hell of an imposing sight.

One of the F-35's missiles underneath its wings flared up, Shiranui snapping out of her frozen panic over the surprise demonstration of Apocalypse as she joined in the Anti-Air fire which was directed in the alien F-35's direction, and the missile was launched as it flew true towards…

IN HER DIRECTION.

OF ALL PLACES.

MOTHERFU-

She started boost-sailing backwards as she concentrated all her Anti-Air fire on the nearing missile, and even though she wasn't religious, she supposed this was as good a time as any to start as she started praying to a higher power to not die (or God forbid, sink), for all the good it would do against a guided missile to her face.

Her wish was granted as the guided missile exploded prematurely before it could hit her thanks to the Anti-Air turrets shooting it down, and an explosion which wasn't at absolutely close range while her friends were nearby meant that sinking was quite unlikely.

The bad news?

The epicenter of the explosion was only about four meters away from her, and there was nothing standing between herself and the explosion, so a spectacularly gory and fiery death was pretty much an inevitability.

Shit.

As the fireball erupted at near point-blank range, it looked like a mini-sun majestically flickering into existence, and she was flung backwards by the blast wave as her entire front profile was engulfed by the radiant heat which triggered almost every pain sensor in her body, and if the wind hadn't been knocked out of her scorched lungs, she'd already be screaming in agony as she felt weightless in the air, no longer feeling the ocean beneath her.

Everything faded to white.


	44. Chapter 44 - The Thunder Down Under

Admiral Mako was looking at the LED board on the large, circular table in the Miura Naval Base's control room, feeling extremely taken aback that the Abyssals would so blatantly show off their technology, which was secretly developed as part of Apocalypse, in broad daylight and in a battle where so many ship girls and even humans were present.

But perhaps it was because the Abyssals were starting to feel outgunned by the JSDF and the USAF, and the _Flying Dutchman_ chose to even the odds by sending out various homemade fighter jets to engage the JASDF along with utilizing SAM launchers to keep them at bay.

Right now, she heard the Fighter Squadron, named 'Swallow', speak up all at once as Admiral Mako recognized some voices calling out how they were hounded by F-35 Lightning II fighters, while others were engaged in fierce dogfights with F/A-18E Super Hornets and Sukhoi Su 33 fighters, amongst other modern jet fighters which the _Dutchman_ sent out.

She heard a panicked voice shout into the mic,

"Bank! Bank!"

While another voice commented about the amount of technical skill behind the enemy joystick,

"Shit!

I think these bad boys are more than capable of taking the JASDF and USAF's ace pilots on their best days!

Their reflexes are insane!"

And the Captain of the JDS _Myoukou_ spoke into the mic about how attempting to cross over to the left flank of the battleship by sailing past the bow of the _Dutchman_ while they thought it wasn't looking caused them to get shot at with some sort of weapon they hadn't encountered before.

"Shit!

That wasn't like any weapon I ever felt before in my life!

I don't think we were hit because of our destroyer's low profile, but I think the projectile was travelling at supersonic, probably even hyper-sonic speeds, and it's cracked our reinforced windows.

All hands on deck!

Evasive maneuvers!"

She leaned in to press the microphone's activation button in order to speak to the human pilots as they faced off against opponents with superior skill and likely possessed superior technology to maximize their performance, asking with a worried voice as she used her call-sign.

"Minerva to Sparrow Squadron, how much backup do you require?"

Her heart sank as she saw the signature of an allied fighter jet be extinguished, its green, triangular symbol on the map changing into a red 'X', but she swallowed the uncomfortable lump in her throat and listened silently to the pilot as he screamed into the radio in a panic.

"We're pretty much even in terms of manpower, but with their insane coordination and reflexes, it's only a matter of time before they whittle down our numbers!

Send all the planes we have, enough to pull off Pearl fucking Harbor all over again!

 _Send everyone!"_

Admiral Mako addressed Banshee on the intercom while speaking in English, asking them if the AC-130U gunship was under attack and if it could assist the fighter pilots of Sparrow Squadron.

But their answer was met with mixed reception from her, the communications officer aboard Banshee speaking,

"Sorry, Admiral.

Even though we're aren't currently under attack because we're further away from the _Flying Dutchman_ than they are, the ship girls look as if they need our help more than ever, since things look ugly down there.

But our spotters can see the situation of Sparrow Squadron from here, and even though we have a few things to say about Sparrow Squadron's choice of words, we agree with them.

Please, send as much backup as you can, because they certainly need it."

Biting the inside of her lip, she nodded to no one in particular as she made way for a sailor passing by her in the bustling command center, speaking tersely.

"Acknowledged.

Birdnest, you copy that?"

Before the second command center located further inland, which was coordinating the movements of the JSDF and USAF, sounded out in response as they were already trying to deploy as many readied planes as quickly as possible without being wasteful of fuel and ammunition,

"Acknowledged, Minerva.

We heard everything, and the F-22 Raptors and F-14 Tomcats should be arriving on the scene in less than two minutes.

The Japanese will be sending six more F-15 Eagles to your location after we've detected about 11 enemy aircraft in your presence.

Sparrow, confirm our readings that more are being sent out of the _Flying Dutchman_ as we speak?"

Heavy breathing and a slight radio crackle could be heard on the other end, the pilot likely trying to get the _Dutchman_ in its sights without being shot down, finally speaking up with some strain in his voice as though struggling against something.

"Affirmative, Birdnest.

It's sending out more birds, and we're gonna have to shoot them down while the _Dutchman_ fires its missiles at us.

Don't worry, Birdnest, Minerva, we'll give 'em hell before the cavalry arrives, please just hurry.

Sparrow out."

Communication worked in a way such that she could speak with Banshee and Sparrow of the USAF and JASDF respectively, the carriers mainly in charge of communications called 'Birdman', the ship girls on the emergency channel if needed as well as Mallard and Anteater, the names to classify the JMSDF destroyers and submarines and the JGSDF vehicles under respectively for simplified communication purposes while she had the 'cool' call-sign, Minerva.

But only the JASDF would have a lag time between receiving orders, mobilizing their jet fighters and crossing the distance in order to reach the scene on time as the JGSDF were already in position on the shoreline and were bombarding the Abyssals as best they could, and on the ocean were the JMSDF destroyers and submarines facing off against the _Flying Dutchman._

That was why they had 'Birdnest' included to help out on the human side of the battle, who listened in on the communication channels of the JSDF and USAF in real-time, coordinating their movements, improvising and providing backup to the human participants whenever necessary in order to allow her to focus on the ship girls who pulled off the arguably harder parts of the plan.

Like right now.

She then looked back down at the signatures of the 1st Strike Group, wanting a situation update from anyone as she saw certain signatures turn from green to red, or even grey, which made her right hand curl up into an even tighter fist than before, not even noticing the pain as she waited impatiently for an update.

And it was shortly before the reconnaissance planes managed to tally the number of ship girls either dead or sunk, displaying in blatant capital letters.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

KAGEROU-CLASS DESTROYER 092

"SHIRANUI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

YUUGUMO-CLASS DESTROYER 133

"YUUGUMO"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

TENRYUU-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 028

"TENRYUU"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

KONGOU-CLASS FAST BATTLESHIP 149

"KONGOU"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

SHOUKAKU-CLASS CARRIER 262

"ZUIKAKU"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL SIGNAL LOST

CHITOSE-CLASS LIGHT CARRIER 122

"CHIYODA"

STATUS: SUNK'

Her heart stopped at that, but even as her tongue began to sour at the thought of ship girls sinking, she hardened her heart as she asked stoically.

"Minerva to Birdman, can any one of you give me a situation update?

What's your status, and can you continue fighting on at the vanguard?"

She heard Itou Naval Base's Shoukaku speaking up over the radio, and as usual, it never sounded pretty in the background as payload explosions, shells whistling through the air and ship girls of all ages shouting and screaming as Shoukaku narrated.

"Admiral!

We've lost six ship girls, one of which is reportedly sunk, and several more are injured, a few gravely so!

The Abyssals seem to smell blood in the water, and they seem to be advancing without care for our bombing or shelling support!

Recommended course of action, retreating advance!"

Admiral Mako grimaced at how the situation was deteriorating so rapidly as the Abyssals demonstrated their new equipment and destructive capabilities developed as part of Apocalypse, feeling something moist fill her palms as she spoke into the microphone on the emergency channel to quickly speak to all the ship girls on the ocean.

"Then do so, and do so immediately.

Evacuate the injured and dead; those of you who aren't part of evacuation duty, hold the line for those who are with help from the other Strike Groups as well as Banshee until evacuations are done.

When medevacs are done, all ship girls are to retreat beyond the naval mine formation while utilizing the provided smoke grenades and incomplete combustion with your riggings to cover your tracks and create a smokescreen, and further instructions will be given by me later.

That includes the 11th and 13th, retreat to the West and North-East respectively so as not to get caught out!

Any more details, your flagships will give orders on the field on their own judgement.

 _Move!"_

She was greeted with a near-synchronous,

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Before she allowed herself to slow her breathing down, a thin layer of glossy sweat coating her skin despite the fact that Miura's command center was air-conditioned, and she could feel her fighting spirit threatening to take over her mind as her concern for her ship girls seeped out upon seeing them in a pinch.

That wouldn't do.

As one of the Five Dangerous Faults of a General in the Art of War (a heavily-recommended study for aspiring Admirals), although a general should foster a close spiritual bond with his men not unlike that of father and son, to pamper and spoil them was akin to killing them softly as you sacrifice advantages and reschedule plans to prioritize comfort and safety over victory.

Her ship girls were veterans.

Although they were sometimes truly delicate as flowers, their hearts and bodies were tough as steel, and they were capable of handling themselves in battle.

All she had to do was to not make stupid mistakes and lead them to victory.

They could handle themselves.

As she controlled her breathing and slowed down the thumping drum in her rib-cage which was her heart, she unfurled her right fist to find a fistful of blood in the crevices of her palm as four crimson crescent-shaped arcs formed by her fingers digging into her right palm, blood caking underneath her fingernails.

She turned upon feeling someone place a comforting hand on her shoulder and offered a tissue with the other, looking at Ooyodo's equally worried, yet somewhat reassuring expression staring back at her behind her glasses.

She exhaled and loosened up her tense body as she had been obsessing over this large-scale battle for so long, a chill running down her spine due to the sweat cooling down her skin in a cool environment, feeling her nerves transmit slight pangs of pain as she clenched the tissue in her palm, but she sucked it up as she told herself it was nothing compared to what her ship girls were experiencing right now.

Looking back down at the LED screen of the map, which displayed the blue ocean as well as the real-time positions of all the Strike Groups in the Kanto region along with Banshee, Sparrow Squadron, Mallard, Anteater and the _Flying Dutchman_ while the known Abyssal signatures were tracked to the best of the Fairies' abilities, and she asked Ooyodo as the light cruiser stood by her.

"Ooyodo.

What do you do in situations like this, when you've done all that you can and the rest is beyond your control?"

Ooyodo's eyes narrowed behind her glasses, and she gave a surprising yet honest answer which made Admiral Mako turn her head.

"I pray."

Silence ensued as the flurry of activity around them was mentally tuned out by her, and she asked her Coordinator a question out of genuine curiosity despite the dire situation at hand,

"You never told me you were religious, Ooyodo."

Ooyodo shrugged, suddenly looking very old all of a sudden as she spoke with a wistful voice.

"I'm not really into all that, but I think that in any situation, where you've manipulated almost every variable to your advantage while uncertainties lie beyond your area of influence, I think that praying does help to keep a positive spirit.

But while others do nothing to try and make those prayers come true, I think that it's the opposite for you, Admiral; you've done everything in your power for the sake of our victory, but some things require something greater than you or me, greater than all of us _combined_ clicking together just the way we want it.

And I like to think that our prayer does something to tilt the balance of the cosmic scales in our favor in the grand scheme of things, even if it's ultimately just electric signals running through our mind.

After all, other than helping you coordinate and perform the logistics behind the battle as it occurs, there isn't a whole lot I can do back here."

Nodding in understanding, Admiral Mako looked back down at the LED screen as the ship girls of the 1st Strike Group had already begun their painfully slow medical evacuations of the dead or dying, and she understood the wishful logic behind Ooyodo's need to pray.

Sure, it was pragmatic to look at facts, but deep down, humans were hopeful creatures, and they'd jump at the chance to find anything to latch onto in order to fuel their fighting spirit and do what was needed in order to simply survive, be it hope or desperation.

And she found herself doing the same as she stared down at the moving enemy signatures with an intense gaze, as if mentally willing them to move even a bit slower would do any good.

She had done everything in her (and everyone else's) power to prepare for the Battle of Twelve Navies, and even though she was commanding the battle, it was from afar, and she found herself reluctantly hoping for everything to turn out alright (relatively speaking).

Although, her hopes were pinned on her capable ship girls and not some higher power.

She shook these useless thoughts from her mind as she received a sheaf of papers from a fellow sailor and leaned in close to speak with her Coordinator in a conspiratorial tone about the situation at hand, the show of strength from the Abyssals with their developed toys from Apocalypse, and how it would factor into their future endeavors and goals.

* * *

Sendai liked to think that she couldn't be surprised by the enemy any more.

She had been fighting this war for nearly three years now, and was well on her way to receiving her Kai Ni remodel.

She had known that the Abyssals were up to something in the form of Apocalypse, and although she hadn't been on Aogashima Island, she had known that they were developing a new line of vehicles and weapons for something big, like the _Flying Dutchman_ for the ocean.

But to physically witness how far flight technology had come since World War 2 and how it felt to be on the receiving end, it was a truly fearsome sight which no amount of mental fortification could prepare her for.

A lone enemy F-35, judging by the dark steel which its entire fuselage and the various wings adorning it were made out of, went supersonic over her and started spitting out machine gun rounds at their planes and curbstomped them with its superior technological specs, she could hear Atago darkly giving them the order to retreat.

" _Everyone!_

Retreating advance!

Focus your fire on the Abyssals and keep them away from the injured as we retreat into the Sagami Bay!

Move!"

She did as was ordered while looking at her sister counterparts from other bases, Naka wearing a more frilly version of the Sendai-Class's orange dress as she now had white puffed sleeves.

She had a flight catapult attached to her right shoulder, and her bottom now had a white frilled dress in between the 'orange peel' flaps and the black dress which was part of her normal uniform.

Her searchlight was modeled in the form of a handheld microphone in her hands, and her firepower was increased as mechanical arms on her back held up 12.7 Cm Twin High-Angle Gun Turrets on her right and a few more Anti-Air turrets near her left shoulder, and her torpedo launchers were now more like those of heavy cruisers as they were held up by mechanical arms, the base attached to steel bands which were in turn wrapped around her thighs.

Jintsuu, in her Kai Ni form, now had an army-green headband wrapped around her forehead with a blank steel plate displayed between the parting of her hair, and her Sendai-Class dress was sleeveless with a black strip of cloth tied tightly around her waist in order to secure her uniform, and her dress was now black-and-white in vertical stripes while covered by the 'orange-peel' flaps.

The material of her stockings were thicker as they had various slung, black elastic bands tying them in place, and her searchlight was attached to her left thigh via a steel band.

Her two torpedo launchers were on her left hip, sticking outwards like the handles of katanas for quick-drawing, and there were signs that she was wearing a _sarashi_ underneath her clothes.

She felt outclassed when compared to them, but she listened to them as she fired her cannons at the Abyssals in order to stave them off, Jintsuu ordering.

"Sendai, the three of us will fire our salvos together in order to force the Abyssals to disperse.

Naka will try to shoot down the enemy jet fighter, but other than calling in for Banshee's help, I don't have any ideas on how to take it out from the ocean, especially with its speed…"

But her American teammate from her base, Iowa, responded as she roped in Akatsuki and Hibiki to help her out with her plan.

"Yes we do!"

Iowa spoke up, looking like the most American pin-up girl she'd ever seen, with long blonde hair which reached down to her waist, and like most other battleships, was equipped with a rigging which reached out from behind her and bent around to hold her largest cannons.

Three gigantic 16 Inch Triple Gun Cannons (Mk. 7) rested on her rigging, with two on her right and one on her left, and all of the three large-caliber cannons save for one on her right had Anti-Air turrets on them, the AA turrets also lining the platforms on her rigging so that she could shoot while she shot at the enemy, in true American fashion.

And as she already had her large-caliber cannons all pointed towards the Abyssals while her Anti-Air turrets all spat out rounds in order to ward off the Abyssal planes trying to get close, turning to the Japanese ship girls as she asked of them with a concerned look on her face.

"Oh, right.

I know we all have our ear mufflers to help avoid being deafened on the battlefield, but you might want to cover your ears and prepare yourself for this."

They all did as they were told, but Sendai still reeled back from the shock-wave which radiated from the 16 Inch Triple Cannons as they fired majestically, cratering the ocean and pushing Iowa into the ocean as all nine cannon barrels coughed out flames and smoke and shook the Iowa-Class's sizable bosom about wildly, Sendai's bones reverberating within her body as her heart almost felt as if its rhythm was disrupted by Iowa's cannons.

It was comparable to Nagato or even Yamato's cannons, which, when fired, induced a similar sensation which was felt right now, feeling as if the oceans and heavens were being shaken by these supposedly outdated weapons as they unleashed their might on the enemy and roared for the world to hear, to prove to everyone that they were still fearsome in their own right.

Water columns were seen off in the extreme distance, everyone beginning their retreat as Iowa herded the two Akatsuki-Class destroyers, standing in between them and the advancing Abyssals as she spoke to them about how she planned to take down the Abyssal jet fighter, which Sendai suspected was part of Apocalypse and what was to come.

"Look, with my battleship strength, I think I can use my leg in order to kick a depth charge up into the air, like a soccer high kick!"

But Naka, looking concerned about how the impact of Iowa's foot on the depth charge might cause an unintentional detonation not unlike dropping certain firearms from great heights and causing some of them to go off, spoke up as she joined in the Anti-Air fire to help the struggling Fairy pilots.

"But aren't you afraid that the depth charge would simply explode the moment you kick it with your battleship strength?

I'm just afraid that the unintended explosion caused by your kick might take your leg off, if that's even possible with your armor…"

Iowa's face scrunched up into a thoughtful expression while the lone Abyssal F-35, likely judged to be enough to deal with the ship girls and Fairies, performed evasive maneuvers as the heat which the Fairy pilots, ship girls and Banshee the Gunship brought down on it was too much for it to handle alone, likely sent here by itself since they needed as many fighter jets as possible to engage the USAF and JASDF and protect the _Flying Dutchman_ off in the distance.

Iowa mused,

"Well, taking off an entire leg sounds quite impossible, but even though these are upgraded weapons, they're still based off of World War 2 technology, so…"

Scratching her head while brainstorming about the situation as everyone did their best to evade while keeping the Abyssals at bay, the American battleship finally asked in fluent Japanese,

"Well then, how about a baseball throw?

With my battleship strength, which can easily give Yamato a run for her money on a good day, and I'm certain I can hit the enemy plane as I throw the depth charge with all my might."

Sendai then chipped in, predicting their role in this since this plan would require diversion tactics to draw the Abyssal destroyer pilot's attention away from her, and even if its reaction time and abilities were superior to that of Fairies and even human pilots, there were only so many things it could pay attention to in order to react on time, and dividing one's attention increased the chances for slip-ups, whoever it was at the controls.

"Let me guess.

We'll have to distract it, and as it drops its altitude in order to fire another missile at us, you'll throw the depth charge and try to bring it down."

Iowa snapped her fingers and pointed towards her, speaking up with an indefatigable spirit as she resumed her winning smile.

"That's it!

I can't do this alone, and I need you all to help draw its attention away from me."

But Sendai spoke up about how she was so tall compared to them as a battleship and as an American to the point where she was literally towering over the tallest IJN present which was Jintsuu, pointing that out.

"Well, you've found the wrong crowd to hang around with if that's your intention.

You're well over 2 meters tall, and we're all light cruisers and destroyers.

No matter how well we divert its attention, you'll still stick out like a sore thumb if you stick with us…"

But Iowa shrugged as she looked up at the jet-black Abyssal jet fighter, who was performing a wide banking turn around the fringes of the battlefield where the Anti-Air barrage was less intense, speaking grimly as her smile dimmed.

"Be that as it may, I don't want to waste any more time finding another bunch of ship girls to do the job.

Trust me, as an American, I know my baseball pitches, and I'll be putting a lot of force into my fastball.

There's a reason why ship girls, especially battleships, heavy cruisers and carriers are banned from playing a good number of high-intensity sports which can't be brought indoors, like soccer and baseball.

Our titanic strength allows a baseball batter to clear a small base with a swing, a baseball outfielder to smash through weaker walls while catching a falling ball, and we partially uproot trees with a kick of the soccer ball.

That is, if the soccer ball doesn't outright explode when our foot comes into contact with it."

Sendai shivered at the herculean strength required to accomplish all of those feats, and she took Iowa's word for it as she moved into position, looking at the alien jet fighter as it tried to re-initiate its attack, Iowa pulling them in close in order to explain her plan to them.

"I think that the destroyer pilot at the stick, although skilled, likely isn't experienced at flying the jet fighter since no enemy signatures like it were ever detected before, which likely means that the Abyssal destroyer's flying for the first time ever outside of possible simulation training under the sea.

And besides, I think that as a fast battleship, I might be a priority target, so chances are it might fly in my direction to unload its payload.

The inexperience part is what we'll bank on in order to pull off our plan.

Look, Naka, Hibiki and Akatsuki…

Jintsuu and Sendai will come in from here, and…

I'll be waiting for the F-35 to turn my way, and I'll…"

Everyone nodded upon understanding the plan well enough, splitting up into three groups to pull off their makeshift plan.

She saw Naka sailing up along with Akatsuki and Hibiki in order to lay down an intense amount of Anti-Air fire so that the fighter jet would be forced to detour around them, Naka's Anti-Air turrets barking as it fired off rounds along with Kai Ni Akatsuki and Hibiki in their attempt to scare it off.

And sure enough, it worked.

The F-35 Lightning II banked right and turned away as the hail of Anti-Air fire from three Kai Ni ship girls made it feel threatened enough to evade it while making a bombing pass on the ship girls, and approached Jintsuu and Sendai in the process of turning right.

Jintsuu sailed up and slid forward to place her back on the ocean while bringing in her knees in order to launch Sendai into the air, and having seen this move be performed by the seniors, Sendai took this as a chance to put her practice to good use as she jumped onto her sister's boat slippers while getting into a squatting position, ready for take-off.

Both their boost gauges fired off alongside the thrusts of their feet as Sendai felt the air whip around her face, feeling weightless as she fired off everything she had on hand, and although she came up short in terms of height, the surprise move genuinely took the Abyssal pilot by surprise as it turned left.

As Sendai felt the air warp from the jet fighter flying so close to her, she watched one of her medium-caliber shells glance off the dark steel and cause sparks to spray like a fountain upon impact, but since their shells were downsized compared to their real-life counterparts, it was like shooting pistol rounds at it; it wasn't going to do much good.

Which was why she flung a torpedo dud at the jet fighter.

The fact that torpedoes activated with an area sensor along with its contact sensor would scare it off since flying too close while emitting an Abyssal signature would activate the torpedo, and although it was a dud, she understood that the pilot was an Abyssal, and the torpedo would register as enough of a reason to bank even harder to the left, since they made sure to position themselves accordingly to force the F-35's hand.

And upon the jet fighter banking left as per Iowa's prediction, Sendai felt gravity start to pull her back down towards Earth as she heard a shock-wave of sorts, barely a few milliseconds before the F-35 burst into a fiery wreck while still in her vicinity and threw off her orientation while she was falling, feeling the heat radiate from the epicenter of the explosion as she let out an involuntary,

 _"SSHIIITTTT!"_

She temporarily deactivated her ship girl mode in order to 'go limp' as all ship girls did while airborne and weren't sure how they would land on the ocean, like how a person falling off from a moving steed or vehicle shouldn't tense up before hitting the ground.

And instead of landing on the rough ocean surface head-first, she felt the chilling ocean enveloping her while her nerves all surged with the false sensation of pain when it was actually the sudden drop into cold water.

As she re-orientated herself by activating her ship girl mode in order to surface while still underwater, she was knocked senseless by an explosion occurring on the ocean a fair distance away from her, the water heavily distorting the booming noises which she was accustomed to despite being transmitted from dozens of meters away.

Her lungs were burning since she didn't get to inhale much air before she went underwater, and even though it was still daytime, the ocean beneath her was murky and she was starting to flail around a little due to panic, despite her attempts to remain calm.

The resulting shock-wave caused knocked the air from her lungs as she coughed up lungfuls of precious air and inhaled seawater, and as she saw that several arms fished around underwater to try and grab her, she followed the dissolving air bubbles up towards the surface and allowed a gloved arm to grab her by the back of her collar.

Naka appeared before her watery eyes, looking extremely concerned as she hauled a limp Sendai out of the water while she hacked and coughed in order to clear her airway, Sendai barely reacting to a large-caliber shell throwing up another column of seawater near her as Naka asked tenderly despite being shot at.

"Sendai!

Are you alright?!"

Spitting out the last remnants of seawater which clogged up her throat and airway along with some spit, she reined in a cough which was threatening to burst out from her burning lungs as she answered hoarsely.

"I'm alright…

Let's just get out of here."

Naka nodded as she easily hoisted Sendai up with her Kai Ni strength, Sendai miraculously managing to stay on her feet as they both boosted away from a dropped payload, Sendai feeling the blast wave and ambient heat pressing on her back as she scrambled away.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the crumpled, flaming wreck of the Abyssal F-35 sinking back into the ocean while ship girls gave it a wide berth for fear of being caught in a rogue explosion.

A stray thought came into her mind, that although the Abyssal didn't have to worry about drowning because of their amphibious nature, it would have to worry about reaching a depth where the mines were laid, and being unable to escape the cockpit by then would mean certain death.

Iowa was firing her large-caliber cannons as she shouted into Sendai's ear shortly after she cleared her ears and shook some of the water off of her head.

"Well, looks like the plan worked!

But the thing is that the Abyssals are trying to advance, and we have to fend off a few more Abyssals to allow those carrying the our wounded teammates to finish their evacuation!

Be prepared to retreat!"

Nodding in acknowledgement, she joined her sisters in combat, watching Naka shine her searchlight which was attached to her thigh into the face of an approaching Chi-Class torpedo cruiser.

The approaching Abyssal tried to shield herself by leaning down into the windshield of her motorcycle-esque steed, but this only allowed Naka to swipe a torpedo from her launcher in order to fling it in the Chi-Class's direction.

And since the Abyssal heavy cruiser couldn't see the incoming torpedo due to the harsh glare of the searchlight even during daytime, Sendai bore witness to a miniaturized nuclear explosion without the Uranium-235 and hence had no radioactive fallout.

Sendai shielded her face while letting out another uncontrollable,

"Shit!"

As the torpedo entered the jaw of the Chi-Class's steed and inexplicably detonated all of the torpedoes within it, the Chi-Class was instantly annihilated as the fireball consumed the Abyssal in its entirety due to the payload it was carrying, highlighting the double-edged nature of being a torpedo cruiser, because while you carried the torpedoes needed in order to devastate entire fleets by yourself, it made you a walking powder keg in that nothing would be left of you should the enemy get lucky in a worst-case scenario.

She narrowed her eyes and braced herself against the incoming blast wave, feeling the scathing heat and pressure dissipate as the rushing _boom_ which previously resounded across the battlefield faded into a powerful, resonating echo while a thin mushroom cloud, looking to be about six meters tall and still rising, blossomed at the epicenter of the event while Naka scrambled back to her feet, her attack going horribly right and blowing her back towards Sendai, who stood further away.

The Abyssals took this as the opportunity to target them because of the noise they made, Naka looking around worriedly at the advancing Abyssals who were firing at them, everyone performing evasive maneuvers.

"Uh-oh!

Looks like we've got company after that ruckus we made with the Chi-Class!"

Watching the smoky mushroom cloud dissipate like an ephemeral apparition that was blown away by the summer wind, Sendai spoke up as she sailed erratically whilst preparing all her torpedo tubes for the crowd-control technique which she was about to execute.

"Don't worry!

I've been meaning to try this out for a while now, Naka, I need you to watch our backs while Jintsuu and I try to run interference!"

Naka could only utter a disbelieving,

"Ah, wait!"

While she heard Jintsuu speak up while keeping pace with her,

"Not even Kai Ni, and still rushing into battles…

You should know better than to think otherwise when it comes to Sendai, Naka.

This is why our Sendai is in the docks instead of being out on the ocean right now…"

Sendai understood that she was restless when it came to naval battles, and even if they occurred during the daytime, she put her best foot forward in order to try and prevent anyone from dying or sinking, although she knew that it was foolish of her to even try.

But then again, a ship girl's world was somewhat nihilistic in that they were brought back to fight and to sink, but she chose to believe that this allowed them to fight for whatever they wanted.

And although it was 'noble' of them to fight for the civilian population of the world, she couldn't really see the large-scale effects and benefits of their efforts to protect 'the world', but her 'world' right now consisted of the ship girls around her who watched her back, and this, she could see and physically affect by expanding her efforts to protect them with all her might.

She called out,

"Autumn Shower!"

And sequentially threw up all the torpedoes in her torpedo launchers as she watched two Ta-Class fast battleships, an Elite Wo-Class, three Ri-Class heavy cruisers, two To-Class and Ho-Class light cruisers each as well as four Ha-Class Abyssals advance in their direction.

The spinning torpedoes caught the attention of the Abyssals, who opened fire with their Anti-Air turrets in order to shoot them down while Sendai threw out even more, her hands blurring as she tossed up torpedoes as quickly as her launchers could replace them.

She heard Jintsuu call out,

"Shukuchi!"

And as Sendai performed evasive maneuvers while changing directions swiftly, she spotted an orange blur blitzing in like a comet, Jintsuu sailing in an arc to sail towards the Abyssals as she leaned down to her left hip where her torpedo launchers were at.

She flung her torpedoes in a practiced rapid-fire motion, nailing a Ri-Class and a Ho-Class light cruiser as the torpedo detonated when they flew true, but Jintsuu barely fired off her left boat slipper's boost gauge before she was clipped by the next Ri-Class's medium-caliber shell as it struck her squarely in the right shoulder, collapsing onto the ocean just as a Ta-Class's large-caliber shell breezed past her fringe, throwing up locks of her hair.

Sendai's heart stopped at how Jintsuu came to sinking, but she performed the second part of her Autumn Shower as the torpedoes, which had been thrown up several meters into the air, allowed her ample time to close the distance, gritting her teeth and sailing on as she grabbed a falling torpedo in order to throw it at a surprised To-Class Abyssal since it likely didn't expect to be attacked from such an angle.

The To-Class was devastated by an explosion upon kissing her torpedo as Sendai started spinning and streaked across the battlefield like a pinball being thrown around the pinball field, except that she was in control of her motions while the pinball was at the whim of outside forces.

She contained her anger and fear at how close her sister was to going back to her own base's morgue and instead used it to drive her forward and fuel her every action, picking out another dropping torpedo from the air and casually tossing it behind her, spinning counterclockwise on the spot and spotting the spinning torpedo from the corner of her left eye.

Catching it with her left hand, Sendai held the torpedo in a reverse grip as she flung the projectile at a cruising Ha-Class destroyer, boosting backwards while she spotted the resulting explosion, now getting every one of her enemies' attention as her hair and uniform clung to her sweaty skin.

She felt spots of sharp pain pop up on her right shoulder blade, feeling something crack agonizingly within her as her Kai armor barely held its own against medium-caliber shells, using her left leg to push herself out of the way as she caught another Type 93 torpedo, feeling unsafe with so many Abyssals around her to perform any aerial maneuvers right now, but she heard Hibiki's voice speaking up in the distance.

"Back Sendai-san up!"

Along with Akatsuki's simple,

"Got it!"

Sendai twirled another torpedo in her hand as she evaded a large-caliber shell fired from the barrel of a Ta-Class battleship, but her flung torpedo was blocked by a Ha-Class destroyer who body-blocked the torpedo for a superior unit who was more valuable than it was, and Sendai saw Akatsuki and Hibiki working together in sync to destroy several Abyssals, while Naka called in for aerial support on their location.

"Requesting aerial support, send in dive bombers on our location!

Relaying coordinates, we need to take out the advancing Abyssal vanguard!"

Akatsuki fired several torpedoes in the Abyssals' direction, forcing them to abandon their makeshift double-line formation, allowing Sendai more space to maneuver as she spotted Hibiki juggle a depth charge with her feet not unlike a soccer player juggling a soccer ball.

Knocking it into the air with her right knee, she brought her foot back to transition into a soccer strike, and since her Kai Ni destroyer strength wasn't able to set the depth charge off no matter how hard she kicked, the depth charge was sent flying into the face of a Ri-Class.

But despite the fact that the depth charge flew at the Abyssal's face, the heavy cruiser managed to evade the incoming depth charge and not set it off with her signature as Sendai heard an expletive come out of the Ri-Class's mouth after that near-death experience.

[Fuck!

Too close!]

But Akatsuki bravely advanced as she flung a anchor-weighed bola at a Ri-Class heavy cruiser's neck, distracting the Abyssal long enough for her to jump onto the Abyssal's knee and plant her boat slipper at the Ri-Class's kneecap, applying her body weight onto the joint and firing off her boost gauge while launching herself horizontally away from the Ri-Class as she spun around to distract the Abyssal with flashy movements, the fireworks of Anti-Air bullets flying everywhere to distract the Ri-Class as one bullet nearly hit her flaming green eye.

The Ri-Class held up her arm cannons to defend herself from the relatively harmless hail of Anti-Air bullets as her knee buckled from the Kai Ni destroyer's weight, but Sendai and Hibiki helped to provide cover fire as Naka ran in and substituted the retreating Akatsuki, all to the sound of allied dive bombers approaching them as the soft drone of their engines got louder.

Naka managed a running Shukuchi with her nimble light cruiser agility, and was able to launch herself off the ocean, adding a bit of spin into her jump to perform a spinning drop kick to send the Ri-Class Abyssal stumbling back as the Suisei dive bombers descended, the Ri-Class likely putting the wrong amount of weight on her hurt knee as she cringed in pain while falling on her butt, ruining her chance of evading the dive bombers.

Naka shouted,

"Shukuchi!"

And blurred as she got out of the blast range for the allied dive bombers to drop their payload without worrying about collateral damage, the panicking Ri-Class raising her arm cannons too late to try and shoot down the dive bomber, the Fairy pilot pulling up in time to avoid the fireball which devastated the Abyssal Ri-Class, taking her out of the equation.

Akatsuki helped Iowa to set up her move as she shined her searchlight into a Ta-Class's face, stunning her long enough for Iowa to physically walk up close to the immobile Ta-Class, who knew something was up and was blindly flailing her arms about and retreating whilst firing her cannons, some shells superficially scratching Iowa's rigging.

But Iowa, being a fast battleship who could go easily toe-to-toe with Yamato or Nagato, shrugged these off as she spun her hands around in a circular motion, her time in Japan helping her to learn various battleship techniques based off of Eastern martial arts.

The Ta-Class fast battleship didn't recover fast enough to brace herself against Iowa's next move, the American battleship shouting the move's name in Japanese as a _kiai_ in order to focus one's will into his/her attack.

"Iron Mountain Lean!"

The _Tetsuzanko_ , or the Iron Mountain Lean, was a fighting move which was derived from Bajiquan, utilizing her bare, yet heavily-armored right shoulder to swing clockwise, sliding her feet and twisting her body on the spot in order to land a forceful shoulder strike on the stunned Ta-Class's upper torso.

A shock wave radiated from the area of impact as the Abyssal was sent flying backwards, crashing into a Ri-Class before the cruiser could evade the knocked-back Abyssal fast battleship.

Sendai flung a torpedo at the duo in order to finish them off, but she turned around to see the Elite Wo-Class bleeding flaming oil from her left breast as she struggled with Jintsuu.

Someone likely got a lucky shot off by penetrating her breastplate armor with a shell and struck her fuel reserves, sparks flying due to steel striking steel as it ignited the fuel which spilled out from the hole that was located where her left breast was, drenching her lower half in burning fuel while her headdress had caught on fire since the flames likely worked their way up her body.

The Abyssal's face was contorted in a determined rictus of fury despite being immolated as her right cheek was starting to melt from the heat, Jintsuu looking panicked as her Kai Ni strength, after taking a shell to her right shoulder, was unable to hold the Abyssal off for long as they both held the ends of the Wo-Class's conducting cane and tried to physically overwhelm the other, with the physically superior Wo-Class starting to inch closer to victory in a one-on-one.

Sendai was already bringing up her 14 Cm Single Gun Cannons as she heard Jintsuu cry out panickedly, the licks of flame replacing the Elite Abyssal carrier's aura as they hopped onto her neckerchief and orange uniform, but that was nothing compared to the small waterfall that was being spewed out of the Wo-Class's burning-breast-slash-fuel-reserves onto Jintsuu, searing her chest and literally fueling the primal fear of being burnt alive.

" _Get her off me!"_

Several rounds fired from the cannons which lined both her arms served to knock the weakened Wo-Class down, although they wouldn't have had the same effect if the Wo-Class wasn't already severely burned, the life leaving the Wo-Class's limp body as she was flung onto the ocean, Sendai's wracked expression never leaving her face as she stopped performing her Autumn Shower technique and ran towards where Jintsuu collapsed onto the ocean and did the Stop, Drop and Roll maneuver in order to quash the flames that danced on her chest.

She heard Iowa call for her to start retreating, hearing the American shout,

"Sendai!

Our ship girls have finished evacuating the injured and the dead; we need to retreat!

 _We need to MOVE!"_

And Naka desperately speaking into the radio,

"Banshee, Strike Groups, we need you to provide cover fire on our location!

We've taken a casualty in our attempt to hold back the advancing Abyssal horde, and we need the air support in order to evacuate an injured ship girl!"

But her comrades' words fell on deaf ears as she slid forward to where Jintsuu was lying prone on the floor, Jintsuu's chest and torso smoking as the burning fuel which was poured onto her sister's chest was extinguished at great cost, Sendai cringing as she gently placed her hands on her shivering sister's arm and body in order to turn her over, looking at Jintsuu's face which was wrought with sheer agony as tears streaked down her cheeks, her eyebrow knitted together as her facial muscles tensed up from the extensive burns which made her nerves flare up in pain.

Her bosom was charred beyond help save for an extensive dip in the docks as flaking skin threatened to peel off and float away with the wind, and Sendai's eyes nearly teared up at the repugnant smell of burnt fat on a frying pan at a barbecue, except that their humanoid bodies possessed chemicals and substances like iron-filled blood which, when burnt, gave off a coppery and nasally smell which stung her nose and almost made her vomit, and was a sensation which she would never forget.

The nauseating smell was part of what made Sendai feel traumatized by the half-dead sister in her hands, the swollen, painful-red flesh which plagued a large swath of flesh on Jintsuu's bare chest filled with pockmarks, bleeding pores and evaporating seawater since her burnt flesh was still piping hot, parts of her flesh darkened like charcoal while other spots were waxy to indicate third-degree burns as Jintsuu, with sweat pouring down her glossy face and out of any spot of unaffected skin on her upper torso, mumbled incoherently with half-lidded eyes due to being in shock.

"Sen… dai…

Leave me… and run…"

Sendai vehemently shook her head as she tried to drag a limp Jintsuu away from the battlefield while Banshee's hail of bullets and howitzers covered their escape, looking down at her sister's face since she found it too hard to look at Jintsuu's injuries, muttering in desperation rather than determination as she started to tear up at the mere thought of leaving her sister alone to sink.

"No…

 _No!_

I can't leave you here, the Abyssals will sink you; I'd rather go down fighting while protecting you rather than abandon you, Jintsuu!"

She saw a shadow loom over her, her heart stopping for an instant since she thought it was an enemy, but she saw familiar locks of golden hair droop down from the corner of her eye shortly before Iowa appeared, her Anti-Air turrets all firing at once to prevent any enemy bombers from trying to make a pass on them, muttering approvingly as she tenderly lifted Jintsuu with her battleship strength.

"Well said.

Although I may disagree with allowing your sentiment to affect your decisions in the heat of battle, your loyalty and dedication to your sisters is commendable.

Jintsuu-san will be safe with me, but I need you, Naka, Akatsuki and Hibiki-chan to help me spot any torpedoes in the water and keep the Abyssals off of me; it's hard for me to evade them even when I'm a fast battleship, and I'm vulnerable when carrying an injured ship girl!"

Sendai swallowed the lump in her throat as she reluctantly nodded, watching Akatsuki and Hibiki give her Kai Ni sister worried aside glances before sailing on and running interference.

And before she could say anything, Iowa said something as her large-caliber cannons whirred while they turned on their mounts, Iowa ready to help them thin out the herd with everything she had on hand before focusing her efforts on retreating.

"And let it be known that even in a foreign land, the might of the USN's mightiest battleship will be etched into the memories of Abyssals and ship girls alike!"

Before Sendai flinched again from one of Iowa's 16 Inch Triple Gun Cannons firing, and remembering how the Re-Class aviation battleship's 16 Inch Triple Cannons almost perforated Yuudachi and turned her into Swiss cheese, she now had the dubious honor of watching the same thing happen to the Abyssals as Iowa's large-caliber shells blew a He-Class Abyssal's head into oblivion and downed it instantly, a fountain of blood being all that was left as it polluted the murky-red ocean with fuel and more blood.

Another shell punched through the middle of a Ta-Class's collarbone as it cleaved her neck and the frozen expression of shock on her face from the rest of her body, and the last shell cleanly penetrated the left arm cannon of a Tsu-Class light cruiser, the light cruiser only managing to look at the affected area a split second before the destroyed cannon exploded, the ensuing fireball engulfing the Tsu-Class as Sendai reeled back from the fierce explosion, even though it wasn't anywhere close enough or fierce enough to hurt her.

Sendai started firing all the cannons on her two arms, spotting a narrow torpedo salvo as her eyes were actively scanning the oceans for torpedoes which could easily hurt or kill Iowa, who was holding her sister, and she stopped firing the cannons on her left hand to guide Iowa as she held her free hand out backwards while speaking worriedly,

"Incoming torpedoes!

Move to the right!"

She could hear Iowa's loud boat slippers whirring with activity as the Iowa-Class battleship complied, Sendai trusting the fast battleship to follow her judgement as she continued firing while the enemy torpedo salvo passed by them harmlessly, Naka, Hibiki and Akatsuki joining them to form a diamond formation with Iowa in the middle, firing into the air with their Anti-Air turrets.

Akatsuki's Anti-Air cannons managed to shoot down an Abyssal fighter plane, but as it was shot out of the air and spiraled out of control, Sendai saw that it was erratically flying towards her, Iowa and Jintsuu, and although she could trust Iowa to tank an explosion should the Abyssal plane explode for some reason, she couldn't trust Jintsuu to come out unscathed with her critical condition, shouting at Iowa as she partially turned back to make herself heard,

"I got this!

Just keep retreating!"

As she boost-jumped, spinning in mid-air to perform a bicycle kick on the flaming Abyssal fighter plane in mid-air as it was sent flying into the water by her move, landing back on the water and looking down to find her shoe-slash-boat-slipper slightly aflame as the fighter plane's flames transferred onto her foot, chills running down her spine and freezing up her entire body upon thinking about Jintsuu's fatal injury as she desperately reached down to cup some seawater with her hand, frantically throwing it on the wavering flame to douse it before it spread any further.

Sendai heard orders come in from above, her mind still worried about her Kai Ni sister and only allowed her to make sense of the orders, and not identify who was giving them.

"Birdman to all ship girls in the 1st Strike Group, we have finished with our medevacs, and we are to initiate the second phase of the battle, which is a tactical retreat!

To all those who were issued smoke grenades, throw them into the ocean as we retreat, and use them all to create a smokescreen.

Everyone else, if possible, use your riggings to create incomplete combustion to throw up as much black smoke as possible to stop the Abyssals in their tracks and cover our escape!"

Sendai felt for the five smoke grenades on her hip, which were issued to her as well as several other ship girls to be used when the order came from Admiral Mako, pulling the pin and cooking it for a while before hurling it into the enemy ranks.

A few misinformed Abyssals dived out of the way as they probably thought it was an explosive grenade, but Sendai didn't stop as she kept tossing smoke grenades in order to shroud themselves in smoke and prevent the Abyssals from getting a lock-on on their location, watching Akatsuki and Hibiki's rigging emitting thick, wafting black smoke from their riggings in order to throw the Abyssals off, moving in zigzag formations while throwing in the occasional change in direction at random intervals so as not to make their movements too predictable.

But as the smoke around and before them thickened, Sendai saw that the Abyssals, despite feeling emboldened by the horde that was behind them, advanced very slowly in their direction since they knew that neither side could reliably bombard or lock onto each other in the smokescreen, and even though they had the numbers to pull off a human wave attack, it was possible that an ambush laid on the other side.

Taking advantage of the enemy's reluctance to press forward into the unknown, Sendai kept shouting out directions for Iowa to follow as the torpedoes kept coming in droves.

"Retreat in a five o'clock direction!

Shift from a seven o'clock retreat into a five o'clock direction on my mark!

A narrow salvo's coming, Get behind me and retreat in a six o'clock direction!"

And as the smokescreen enveloped them, Sendai felt marginally safer since the smokescreen acted as a safety blanket of sorts against a large portion of the enemy's attacks, and even though shells still flew in their direction as she looked out for any torpedoes in their immediate vicinity, the smokescreen was pervasive and nigh-omnipresent in her eyes as she retreated and joined the other Strike Groups, the first stage of the Battle coming to a close.

* * *

Dyson the Battleship Princess looked at the radar on her HUD, the Abyssals at the vanguard providing information on the enemy's whereabouts as she spoke into her radio for her comrades to hear, their powerful encryption preventing the opposing side from listening in on their conversations and orders.

[Cease fire and recall all your planes!

Those at the vanguard, get them to stop their advance and regroup with us before we take any more casualties!]

The smokescreen in the distance was only growing thicker by the minute, and even standing at the center of their sizable armada, she could see the pitch-black smoke forming a steel curtain which divided the ship girls and the Abyssals, and it was smartly placed atop the naval mine formation to form a truly impassable terrain, since they would have to sail over the mines and through the thick smokescreen in order to advance, leaving them vulnerable to a possible ambush.

But to sit on their hands while located right at the doorstep of the enemy's country wasn't a viable option either, especially when their objective was to invade the Sagami Bay in order to deal as much damage and inflict as many casualties as possible.

This was… troublesome.

She looked at her two advisers, one being the Battleship Water Demon, her alternate form which was considered more 'bestial' and hence more powerful, and the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon, who was sitting atop her Beast.

The Battleship Water Demon looked like a slightly older version of her, possessing a single horn on the left side of her forehead which was ashen-black at the tip, cockroach hair extensions running down the middle of her face and splitting apart at eye level to form antennas of sorts, along with silky black hair running down her back as her flaming-crimson eyes scanned the battlefield.

Wearing a high-collar choker necklace made from black Abyssal steel, she wore a black gown which reached down to her knees, possessing no straps to hold it up by the shoulders as they covered her generous bosom and hugged her curvaceous figure as the fringe of the dress was frilled, her shoulders and collarbone bared for the world to see while she wore shoulder gloves and spiked bracelets on her wrists, all colored black to contrast with her pale skin.

Wearing black pantyhose and steel high heels, she was guarded by her Beast as it out-sized her own Beast and was even more menacing with its two heads shielded by armored exoskeletons, its viscous drool emitting red flames as the Beast made sure not to get any on their Princess.

The broken chains on their steel collars hung down like the broken rope which led to the noose on an execution stand and swung around idly as the Beast moved, and although she was too short to see the full view, there were clearly spikes protruding from somewhere on the Beast's' back.

On its ripped, grey-colored biceps and bulky shoulders were 20 Inch Twin Gun Cannons while other smaller cannons decorated its body, and on its muscular arms whose girth could rival that of large trees, the Beast wore steel cuffs on its wrists with holes punched into them at intervals, and on its right steel cuff was a large chain which was as thick as the Water Demon's slender leg.

With a bodybuilder's build along with bestial proportions and muscle mass, the Beast's bent figure hid its pectoral muscles and guts as it was in a constant kneeling position due to its top-heavy upper half requiring the support of its arms not unlike that of an ape or gorilla (although Dyson was certain that like her Beast Izanami, it could stand on its hind legs if the situation called for it), and behind it was a bladed tail made of several steel sections joined together.

The Battleship Water Demon, having introduced herself as 'Phoebe', turned back to her as she spoke, not looking interested in the least about supplanting her role as the leader of this invasion or defy her orders despite possessing superior specs, something which Dyson appreciated.

[We've recalled the Abyssals at the vanguard of the formation.

The leaders of the other divisions have also reported receiving your order to cease fire, and they're awaiting new orders.]

Dyson nodded tersely as she looked away from Phoebe and her Beast, Janus (aptly named after a Titan and a two-headed god), having previously felt threatened as soon as Phoebe was posted under her command since she felt that it was like a parent or older sibling taking orders from you when they were supposed to be above her in the pecking order.

But Phoebe had reassured her before this battle that she would respect her role as commander and follow her orders regardless of the disparity in specs or seniority which naturally gave her the authority to do so, since Dyson didn't have the power to stop Phoebe from being insubordinate, Phoebe being one of the most level-headed Abyssals amidst their line-up.

Her Beast, Izanami (named after a vengeful Japanese goddess who was stuck in the underworld), also felt the same way, being a bit more blatant in that regard by growling softly as it tried to look tough in front of Janus, but the Battleship Water Demon's twin-headed Beast only bothered to acknowledge its presence while Izanami stayed away from Janus since her Beast knew its place, that Janus would easily put Izanami in its place should it attempt to pick a fight it couldn't win, both her and her Beast feeling some sort of complex regarding Phoebe and Janus.

In Izanami's case, it was cannon caliber and body size while she felt intimidated by Phoebe's height, superior stats and seniority which naturally made Phoebe superior to her and made her anxious about proving herself.

As for Janus, Dyson assumed that by possessing two heads, Janus's two minds probably formed a gestalt intelligence and increased its physical and mental performance, which made it even more dangerous since it likely possessed both brains and brawn.

Turning back to the Carrier Water Demon, she heard the Abyssal carrier speak about how their carriers had stopped engaging the ship girls' planes and were taking a short break as the ship girls temporarily broke contact.

[Hai, hai.

Our bird carriers are refueling and resupplying their planes for what comes next, commander.

We have one Princess knocked unconscious by the enemy, and our front-liners don't think that she's capable of fighting on anymore.]

Dyson nodded as she looked at the aloof Aircraft Carrier Water Demon, who had named herself Lorelei, and thought about how she uncannily resembled Shoukaku the ship girl, with the same snow-white hairstyle with diamond-shaped headbands and pins adorning the top of her fringe and locks of her hair respectively.

She had a black and white striped turtleneck atop a black sleeveless sweater with vertical jet-black lines running down it and a sailor-collar-esque neckerchief tied around her shoulders.

Her arm warmers were styled in the same manner as her turtleneck sweater, leaving her shoulders bare as its ends on her wrists and her upper arms were like her black and white turtleneck while the frilled ends of the arm warmers at her wrists exposed her black-gloved hands for ease of movement.

A strip of thigh skin was bared while her stockings covered the rest, the vertically-striped black and white ends hugging her thighs while the rest was black, and on her lower legs were heavily-plated, heavy-duty high heels made of steel and could knock a ship girl out cold with a well-placed kick to the head, small holes acting as exhaust vents to prevent overheating during hot seasons.

Her Beast, named Cetus, ignored the one-sided cannon-measuring contest and posturing of the other Beasts as its upper jaw acted as a seat for Lorelei, and its triangular jaw allowed for a rounded snout so as not to hurt its Princess, and a sharp chin to cut through the ocean, its teeth made of parallelogram-shaped incisors and tougher steel molars as its throat was emitting a similar blood-red light and hinted at its capability for a breath attack.

Two pincer attachments to the side of its lower jaw acted as steering mechanisms and provided forward movement with the propellers stuck to its back, and Lorelei was leaning back on the backrest of her Beast while to her sides were the black flight decks of Cetus as they could have passed for the ears of the Beast in another life, with three glowing red lines running down the middle of the flat steel pieces.

Cetus carried two Single Gun Cannons and a smaller Twin Gun Cannon as the former straddled the latter while all three cannons were located right behind Lorelei's backrest, a sentient throne built to carry its occupant over the corpses of all that it annihilated.

Dyson nodded at Lorelei's update as she turned back to the map on her HUD, updated with help of the reconnaissance planes estimating the smokescreen's size and its position above the naval mines, and according to the weather readings from Phoebe, they couldn't expect a squall or gale to get rid of this smokescreen anytime soon.

She asked Phoebe and Lorelei since they acted as her advisers,

[Can we split up the Princesses and our forces to go around the naval mines and smokescreen in a two-pronged attack?

If we're forced onto high ground by the mines and can't scout ahead to see where we're going because of the smokescreen, I fear an ambush beyond the smokescreen, and I don't want to put our forces in unnecessary danger because of this.]

But Lorelei spoke up about how that might leave their commander-in-chief's vessel exposed to a frontal assault.

[But Yuubari-sama's vessel, the _Flying Dutchman_ , is right behind us.

It's not a bad tactic, but if we were to go with a two-pronged attack, it leave the ship girls with a clear path to her, and I'm not sure if we want that, despite the fact that her aviation battleship is more than capable of defending itself with its backup Abyssals…

Besides, the JGSDF vehicles are parked at Oshima Island and along the coast of South West Chiba, and circumventing the naval mines might expose us to serious bombardment.

But hey, I'm not in charge of the plans.

You're the commander, you tell me.]

Phoebe patted Janus, speaking about how they also wouldn't want to put all their eggs in one basket by getting the entire armada to advance into the smokescreen as a whole, speaking up in a mature voice.

[Well, it's not as if we can get our forces to march upon their doorstep in a human wave attack; your fear of an ambush is not unfounded as we're in enemy waters, and they have their own jet fighters at the ready to come in and fire their rockets at us…]

Dyson raised her right index finger upwards in a pointing gesture, looking at her older sibling as she made her point.

[Well, they're called missiles instead of rockets nowadays, due to their advanced guidance systems…]

But Phoebe casually waved her concerns aside without looking as if she were putting her down as she continued giving her opinion, respecting her role as the supreme commanding officer of this invasion but taking the time to explain herself.

[Not the point.

The point is that your fears are justified since we are playing in an area where the humans are capable of turning the tide of the battle with their modern weapons and vehicles.

But whatever your decision and plan is, we will follow them without question.]

Dyson was surprised at Phoebe expressing her dedication as a soldier, and although Lorelei tilted her head upwards and puffed out her chest arrogantly, her expression conveyed some extent of faith in her as a leader amidst the shell that was her haughty personality.

Dyson looked down as she felt the familiar sensation of Izanami's steel and flesh on her palm in order to center and calm herself down, and she finally asked the two of them about their opinions on the third possible tactic to be used.

[Fine.

We go with the three-pronged attack which was one tactic discussed in the briefing, but even though the ship girls retreating up North-East and to the West are few in number, I want to split our forces into a 3:4:3 formation as three-tenths of our fleet sails towards the West and North-East each while two-fifths of our forces sails into the smokescreen.

We'll have more carriers in the left and right wing instead of advancing into the smokescreen to allow them to send out their planes when the need arises.]

Torrenting them her plans, she explained to them as they looked at their HUD, which roughly displayed where everyone was supposed to go and how they would cover each other.

[The left and right wings, with their carriers and few battleships, will prepare their planes and watch out for incoming enemy planes while pretending to chase the supporting enemy fleets.

The second anyone, and I mean _anyone,_ detects an enemy bird or human fighter which is headed for the middle section, I want our planes to blot out the sun within the next twenty seconds.

But even though the left and right wings are chasing the ship girls towards the West and North-East, I want you all to pretend to do so while making sure that you can come to the support of the advancing middle at the drop of a hat; we're mainly here for the ship girls from the Sagami Bay and can't be sidetracked by the small fry.]

The mini-map on her HUD displayed three arrows which pointed to the West, towards the smokescreen and to the North-East with the 3:4:3 annotation, but as the planes from the carrier-based fleets at the aft of the ship girl formation flew in along with the human jet fighters, the left and right wings turned back towards the middle section in order to back them up with everything they had as their bombers circumvented the smokescreen, Dyson speaking firmly.

[The left and right wings may be smaller than the advancing section, but combined, they can bring considerable backup to our Abyssals, and we need quick and precise communications with everyone else in order to watch each other's back.

The carriers in the left and right wings will try to intercept the bombers and jet fighters with their planes before they ambush or attack our advancing middle section so long as they're still within the smokescreen, and we'll fake them out by making them think we're splitting up our forces into three before we intercept their ambush and regroup beyond the smokescreen to focus on a three-pronged assault on the ship girls.

Everyone understand the plan?]

Phoebe nodded, her expression grim yet understanding of their duty, which was not to question, but to do or die as she summarized the plan succinctly.

[To split up as a feint to get the ship girls to pull off their ambush, to stop the ambush, whatever it is, and regroup with the advancing middle section, pulling off a three-pronged attack in the process.

No pressure.]

Nodding in response, Dyson considered the list of Abyssal Princesses and how best to split them up, eventually deciding with a line-up which best suited their plan, and how they were going to split up the troublesome Re-Class aviation battleships who weren't Princess-level boss units, but required the same amount of 'babysitting'.

[The advancing section will consist of two of the four Re-Class aviation battleships, me and other-Dyson as well as Southern War Princess.

Lorelei, you'll take the third Re-Class as well as Aircraft Carrier Princess to the North-East.

Phoebe.

You'll take the fourth Re-Class, the Armored Carrier Princess, Northern Water Princess, and Air Defense Princess to the West.

We'll prepare a medevac for the Destroyer Princess, and that's all ten Princess units accounted for as we try to split up the Demons according to our 3:4:3 ratio.

Yuubari-sama, did you get all that?]

And on the radio, Dyson could hear Yuubari speak up from the _Dutchman_ , the familiar firing of large-caliber cannons in the background very evident as soft yet resonant _thoom_ sounds, the Abyssalized light cruiser responding idly despite the commotion outside nearly drowning her voice out.

[We read you loud and clear, Dyson.

We will be be providing support from behind you, and our little boat's almost done with reloading our vertical-launch missile systems.

Give the word, and the _Dutchman_ can and will bring the thunder with our missiles.]

Dyson nodded to no one in particular, turning to her two advisers as Phoebe raised an eyebrow about how Dyson was putting herself in harm's way by accompanying the advancing middle section.

[A questionable move, for the king to advance along with his pawns while entrusting his bishops, rooks and knights to come to his rescue when the time comes.

But…]

Phoebe respectfully bowed towards Dyson, restating her vows to carry out her duties and orders to the best of her ability and not question them out of respect of her position, concluding her sentence.

[As stated before, I shall choose to believe in your plans and orders.

Even if you don't.]

Phoebe met Dyson's gaze as she lifted her upper body, and Dyson had to look away as Phoebe had accurately struck a nerve with seemingly benevolent intentions, to highlight to her that she was lacking in self-confidence because she felt herself to be inferior compared to Phoebe, and Lorelei simply tucked her arm underneath her long hair before tossing it out, looking rather peeved that Dyson's self-esteem was falling apart right now, of all times.

[Oh, please.

Don't go emo on everyone right now just because your metaphorical dick can't compare to Phoebe's, and nobody expects you to be perfect in your leadership role; simply competent enough to be up to standard.

Besides, way to pawn the responsibility of watching your ass off onto me; I thought I could breeze past this invasion by sitting in the back and watching the show unfold by volunteering to be your adviser.]

Lorelei leaned down from her bestial throne in order to look Dyson in the eye, boasting about herself in order to keep Dyson's spirits uplifted.

[Besides.

Their jet fighters and plane count is impressive, no doubt about that, but you forget one thing, Dyson.

I am the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon.

When you look up at the skies and hope for a miracle, pray to me, and my planes shall deliver fire and brimstone from above on a level that will make even God envious.]

Although she cringed slightly at the blasphemous boast, Dyson was emboldened by it to try and believe in their ability to deal significant damage to the ship girls by throwing everything they had at them.

She curtly nodded at her two advisers, her expression becoming dark and solemn as she ordered,

[Split up the armada into sections.

Let's move out.]

They started sailing as they contacted the Princesses, the chief commanding units of the armada right underneath Dyson, as well as the Demons who were section commanders that were one level lower than the Princesses to tell them where they were posted, all of them unaware of the hidden surprise that was to come very soon…


	45. Chapter 45 - Unto The Breach

Nagato looked on and observed the last of the retreating ship girls while her cannons were silenced in preparation for what came next.

A grim-faced Iowa, escorted by Sendai, Naka, Hibiki and Akatsuki, escorted an unconscious Jintsuu away from the rising smokescreen, the unconscious light cruiser having suffered from scathing third-degree burns on her chest as she was held in a bridal carry in the hands of the American battleship, all while an impenetrable black curtain behind them served as the divide between ship girls and Abyssals alike along with the naval mines denying them an underwater advancement route.

A few battleships had taken to sailing closer in order to throw their smoke grenades like baseballs into the fray, while several of the carriers had their bombers jury-rigged into carrying smoke grenades in lieu of their explosive payloads and were sent out to drop these smoke grenades onto the battlefield (albeit while flying at a safe distance from the rising smoke; they didn't want their planes to be be sent into a spiral upon coming out the other end of the smokescreen), and no Abyssals were following their ship girls through the thick smoke, likely fearing an ambush.

She looked to Yamato, who looked even more concerned about their injured and dead comrades than she was, being far softer and more sympathetic to the plight of others despite being more powerful than Nagato.

She spoke to Yamato in order to take her mind off things and distract her from the injuries of their fallen comrades.

"Yamato.

Steel your spirit and look at the enemy ahead; worrying about our comrades' injuries when we aren't repair ships serve as nothing but distractions."

Yamato nodded dejectedly, looking down like a saddened puppy as she spoke.

"Yes, Nagato-san.

I… I understand my role in this battle, and I will do my best in the later stages where close-quarters combat is to be expected."

Nagato gave her an aside glance, and she could see that although the Yamato-Class battleship still looked reluctant to fight since she was a pacifist and an incarnation of a _Yamato Nadeshiko_ in every aspect, she understood her strengths, the overall plan and her role in it.

Nagato could also see Musashi, Mutsu and Kongou, amongst many others, standing amongst them, but she focused on the relatively timid Yamato, whose superior stats and firepower contrasted with her soft and ladylike demeanor, but after speaking to her about matters close to the heart as one of Admiral Mako's girlfriends in the past, Nagato knew that Yamato's soft exterior, which was comparable to silk, hid a steely interior of a warrior which never got the chance to shine in the last war.

Instead, it was hardened throughout the entirety of World War 2, where she felt her own comrades disappear around her while she was incapable of doing anything to help, and the only major sortie which she got to participate in was a glorified suicide mission that was Operation Ten-Go.

Yamato was soft, gentle and ladylike on the outside, sure, but she was created to be a soldier inside and out, and no one went through something like that without being hardened by the experience.

Looking at Yamato, she saw that there was a shift in Yamato's expression, her mental state hardening after seeing everyone getting hurt, but bit down as she realized that she was a weapon of war and had to focus on taking out the threat, not focus on the wounded.

Nagato tilted her head to look at nothing in particular as she heard someone speak up about enemy activity.

"Birdman here, I think we're seeing some movement near the smokescreen.

We can't see everything over the blasted smoke, but the strongest radars of our carriers detect them splitting up and sailing in three directions.

We think they're trying to chase the retreating 11th and 13th Strike Groups while sending out a middle vanguard to engage us!"

And Banshee agreed with Birdman's statement, since it was capable of watching the battle unfurl with a bird's eye view.

"Banshee speaking.

We're laying down fire as we speak in order to cover the 11th and 13th's escape, but the Abyssals at the left and right are starting to sail beyond our range by chasing the supporting Strike Groups, while the middle's starting to sailing towards the smokescreen.

Please advise."

Nagato turned away to face the commotion, looking towards the smokescreen as she ordered grimly, not wishing to jeopardize the safety of the supporting Strike Groups which weren't prepared to face the wrath of the Abyssal armada, ordering.

"Nagato to Birdman.

Get the 11th and 13th Strike Groups out of the way, we don't want them to get destroyed when they aren't the primary targets!

Keep an eye on the advancing middle section of the enemy, and Banshee, focus your fire on defending the left and right Strike Groups while keeping track of the position of the advancing middle section; have they reached the smokescreen?"

She heard a response from the Americans,

"Negative, the Abyssals seem content to advance slowly for fear of an ambush, we estimate that they're two klicks away from the smokescreen.

We're laying down cover fire for the 11th and 13th Strike Groups as we speak."

Nagato responded with a simple request,

"Acknowledged.

Banshee and Birdman, watch the movement of the Abyssal's middle section, let me know the second they've reached the smokescreen.

When that happens, we'll keep closer tabs on them from there on out, and I'll give you new orders then."

Before Banshee responded, Nagato hearing the whir of the plane and the mechanical clank of shells being moved around in the fuselage, the communication officer answering.

"Acknowledged.

Watch yourself down there, Banshee out."

While she heard her carriers speak up,

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Before turning back to Yamato, the IJN's greatest battleship asking about how they were to initiate the third phase of their plan, her eyes narrowing in concentration as her gaze lowered respectfully, Nagato finding it amusing to see that Yamato respected her so much despite being stronger than her, chalking it up to the Yamato-Class battleship seeing her as a senior to learn from since she was created earlier and had more experience out on the field compared to Yamato in both lives.

"Nagato-san.

I just want to ask you something, since it appears we have some time before the Abyssals reach the smokescreen."

Nagato leaning in closer while keeping her attention focused on the smokescreen was the only indication of a 'yes' to her request, Yamato asking in a formal voice.

"How do not fear death, either your own or anyone else's?"

She turned to find Yamato looking rather crestfallen, and as they stood a fair distance behind the other battleships since their cannons had the highest caliber and the longest range, she figured she could spare some time to answer Yamato before the enemy arrived.

It was made apparent to her by Admiral Mako and Akashi quite some time ago that Yamato had been hiding some extremely serious self-esteem issues, stemming from her over-crippling specialization in firepower and armor, and her abysmal performance in World War 2 as well as her empathetic attitude towards the Asians and prisoners-of-war who had suffered during the Japanese Occupation led her to start loathing the fact that she was essentially the manifestation of Imperial Japan, and was their so-called 'pride and joy' when she was nothing but a burden and ultimately disposed of like trash in a suicide mission.

The title of 'Strongest Battleship' also acted as a burden which was placed upon her, and because of her genuinely compassionate personality which didn't wish for everyone's faith in her to falter upon seeing her show any weakness, she took it upon herself to appear elegant and untouchable.

This dangerous line of thinking led down the slippery slope into the 8th Fleet's self-destructive and cavalier attitude towards life and battles, and as a ship girl as well as one of Admiral Mako's partners, she had taken it upon herself to guide Yamato through her issues, and not simply allow her to bury them in her heart.

' _After all,'_ Nagato thought.

' _I also thought that the responsibility of repressing my issues and appearing stoic and invincible all by myself was my cross to bear as the strongest ship girl in Yokosuka back then, and look where that got me.'_

But she shook these depressing thoughts from her mind as she addressed the misconceptions Yamato had, and how she thought not fearing death was a component of strength when she saw it to be the other way around.

"First off.

I do not, for a second, think that the fear of death is a weakness, because without it, you can't fight harder than anyone else without it pushing you on even when threatened with death, and it can keep you alive in precarious situations."

Yamato looked away with a sour expression on her face, and rather than maintain a serene expression which belied her insecurities and fears, which she was eerily capable of doing so in order to hide these problems from everyone except her closest friends and lovers for someone so unassuming and gentle, she was surprisingly candid about expressing herself and her emotions freely in the presence of one of Admiral Mako's lovers, who was also her senior in terms of historic age and experience.

Not that she was one to talk, when she did the same with a stoic expression on her face instead of a peaceful one.

The slow battleship asked bitterly,

"But…

We aren't warships anymore, Nagato-san.

As weapons based off of the human body, fear can make us freeze up at the worst of moments, and although I don't get to express it too often since not a lot can hurt me and I haven't been on as many sorties as you have in both lives, even as a battleship, I felt afraid upon knowing that I was about to sink.

Isn't it more logical for a ship girl to try and… _not_ fear death so that she wouldn't freeze up when facing overwhelming odds in battle?"

But Nagato had a clever retort for that, turning to stare at Yamato as she answered coldly.

"Those who do not fear death are susceptible to using suicidal tactics without regard for their own lives.

And although I understand Admiral Mako's motto that is 'There are no dumb tactics; either the wrong situations or the wrong person in command', you have to understand.

Even in desperation and under threat of death in the heat of battle, we must remain calm and analyze the situation, rather than give in to panic and act rashly when lives, especially our own, are at stake."

Yamato shifted a little, seeming as if she understood the logic behind Nagato's words as she leaned away, Nagato secretly worrying for the taller ship girl despite being friendly rivals in love and war, Yamato muttering darkly and at a volume which Nagato couldn't catch immediately, leaning in closer and lightly knocking the roof of her 41 Cm Twin Gun Cannon with Yamato's 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannon as she asked for clarification.

"What did you say?"

But the next answer caught her flat-footed, never expecting a scathing question like this from someone who was as demure and polite as Yamato.

" … aren't the right person to ask.

You didn't sink… like the rest of us…

We sank in the war while you sank at Crossroads, so what would you know about how it feels to die in battle?"

Nagato's eyes widened in surprise as she recoiled and gave Yamato a strange look, and as per her socially-sensitive personality, Yamato hurriedly drew away from her as she looked down at the ocean at her feet and performed a perfect Japanese bow while apologizing meekly and politely, too afraid to meet Nagato's eyes even when she got up from her apologetic bow.

"A thousand apologies, Nagato-san.

Please, pardon me for my improper words and forget what I just said.

I meant no offense."

Nagato, having pulled her head back a little out of shock at the level of toxicity in that question, intended or not, exhaled as she waved her hand at her in a forgiving manner, thinking to herself,

' _It's always the quiet and polite ones…'_

Before she spoke up, empathizing with the battleship's plight.

"Forget it.

It's just frayed nerves talking, I understand that you're just worried about everyone's well-being.

And as a capital ship, I know how it feels like to feel some form of performance anxiety when everyone expects you to perform well in battle, despite rarely sortieing."

Looking at Yamato as she continued, now feeling that for all her supposed perfection as the 'perfect Japanese woman', she was still human and thus flawed, but because of the image she had to uphold for the sake of everyone else, she hid those imperfections and buried them within her in order to look tough in front of everyone.

' _She's making the same mistakes I did, as well as a slew of new mistakes which would end up either hurting herself psychologically or someone else physically in the long run._

 _I have to guide her off this path, but do it subtly in such a manner which would ease her from this silly 'fearlessness is strength' mentality without causing her to resist my efforts by trying to defend herself and justify her beliefs.'_

Inhaling patiently, she spoke to Yamato while keeping an eye on her radio and radar for emergency updates and signs of enemy activity respectively.

"Look, you're not exactly wrong.

I was one of the warships who survived the war, so I may not understand how it feels to sink at the hands of the enemy, which were the Americans back then.

But I did face death in the form of a mushroom cloud right after two searing nuclear explosions, so let's not be too hasty to judge, alright?"

Yamato nodded, looking like a schoolgirl being told off by her teacher even after she knew she was in the wrong, but Nagato made sure to not sound as if she were telling Yamato off, only to convince her that her preconceived notions weren't quite accurate.

It was something she learnt quickly in this life, to be an unofficial counselor which came with being a capital ship; a lot of ship girls went to them in order to express their own problems, and they, in turn, went to Admiral Mako for help and comfort.

And something to note was that contrary to her image of being headstrong, she didn't like telling people who were confiding in her for the first time to their face that their views were wrong, merely inaccurate.

Despite the Japanese Ship Girl Navy's attempts to prioritize pragmatism over tact this time in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness, when it came to personal issues, Nagato believed that a delicate touch, as well as an empathetic approach, was required in order to resolve them.

"Yamato, your views are… inaccurate, to say the least.

All beings fear death.

Even us, the ship girls, as well as you and me, all but a handful of us fear death to some extent.

And those who don't… they likely seek it, or don't feel much of anything at all."

Looking at Yamato again, Nagato continued as she gave a quick aside glance back at the smokescreen to make sure that a surprise salvo wasn't headed in their direction.

"I dislike pointing fingers at others, but the 8th Fleet is a prime example.

Unryuu-san follows a self-created doctrine of 'No Emotions' in combat in order to fight while making cold and practical decisions without emotions holding her back, but look at how often she has to dock after continuing to participate in battles even when moderately or heavily injured, despite being a long-range attacker.

It's… unsettling, to say the least, to see a teammate suppress her fears and pain to such an extent, because even when we are weapons, we are also human, and we have a right to feel such emotions in moments of life-threatening danger, even if they may hinder us.

But then again, it's not as if she doesn't feel afraid of dying, she's merely suppressing her fears in order to make difficult decisions in a pragmatic manner and without hesitation."

Nagato's gaze faltered as she allowed her own bias and attachment to Yamato enter the conversation before she continued.

"Besides, there are people who wish to see you return.

Me, Admiral Mako, Musashi, Kongou and the other ship girls of Yokosuka.

Sure, feeling no fear may mean that you wouldn't hesitate in battle, but you wouldn't feel pressured enough to keep scanning your surroundings for threats or feel the fire which fear lights under your ass and put a little more effort into evading enemy attacks, and even battleships like us can be killed and sunk, as you're well aware.

You should see yourself in a more important light, because there are others who are not just depending on you, but are all too willing to fight alongside you in battle in order to see you return."

And with that, Yamato looked away sadly as she complained about how she never asked for or wanted the responsibility to be the strongest flagship.

"That's part of the point.

I never wanted to be the strongest battleship.

When I was the strongest battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy back then, I never got a chance to make a difference, and although I love Admiral Mako as well as her girlfriends and all of our comrades, I never asked to be a battleship.

I'd rather be a heavy cruiser or a carrier, even a destroyer who can sortie many more times in several months than I ever could in my lifetime and make more of a difference with all their expeditions and sorties."

Nagato exhaled through her nostrils, looking away as she thought of an answer to that.

Finally, she expressed her thoughts in a monologue, looking back at Yamato as her demeanor softened from that of a drill sergeant or commando into that of a close friend as she spoke to Yamato with words which came from her heart.

"'Sakura trees blossom in the spring, but spend an entire year in wait for the next season to blossom again.

We remember them for the moment when they are at their most beautiful, but even though they may not be able to flaunt that transient beauty for several consecutive seasons, they patiently and silently wait, preparing themselves for their time to shine yet again.'

Even if we battleships rarely get the chance to shine, there will always be one of several large-scale battles which occurs every year, and that is where we will display our might and where every moment, though ephemeral, will be remembered forever.

If not by our allies, then certainly by our enemies."

Yamato was entranced by her words, and Nagato looked down as she addressed Yamato while musing over things in her mind.

"Just as we have to rethink our methods of engagement in a new age of warfare, you should rethink how you see yourself.

True, you never got a chance to shine back in World War 2, but this isn't the same war as back then.

Just as we have humanoid bodies in order to perform new maneuvers and experience new emotions, I think that we should try to find a new value in our lives and not feel that we have to be chained down by our pasts or predetermined roles.

We would never have dreamed of loving Admiral Mako as we do now…"

Yamato broke out in a wry smile, a sign that Nagato was getting through to her friend as the Yamato-Class battleship remarked dryly.

"Or even be capable of dreaming at all."

Nagato nodded while lifting an eyebrow in order to concede the point before continuing.

"Well, my point stands.

A paradigm shift is needed.

Although I can't fault you for assuming that a lack of emotions, fear in particular, would automatically result in a fearlessness of death and can be considered as 'strength', but I stand by my argument.

A lack of emotions would only make the world feel bland, everything looking to be monochrome instead of being filled with color as you would never feel the bond that you do with the Admiral or with anyone else."

Nagato's expression softened a touch while she looked at Yamato's surprised expression, likely never expecting her stoic senior to open up to her while in the middle of a large-scale battle, Nagato seeing how Yamato was starting to spot the flaws in her own way of thinking.

That was alright.

Nagato didn't need her to be swayed into a more positive mindset immediately, smaller steps were more than adequate at this point, especially when they were expected to engage the enemy at any point in time.

"I personally don't feel that it's very healthy to suppress the fear of death, be it your own or anyone else's death and call it 'strength', because it'll build up to a point where everything will come spilling out in a spectacular breakdown, no matter how hard you try to hide it.

And as for being a capital ship, it's something that is beyond control, but know this.

Although the choices you make and the different sides of yourself which you show to those around you will undoubtedly influence those who follow in our footsteps, know that ultimately, as a ship girl who leads and inspires others to do their best and more, you owe it to yourself and to everyone else to make sure that you enter the battlefield with peace of mind.

Anything else which results in anyone dying or sinking is on your head.

To achieve that end, you must make sure that you air any grievances and address any issues which you may have, either with yourself or with anyone else, because that is far preferable than the alternative which is to bottle these issues up 'for the sake of everyone else', for that is to deflect responsibility and blame onto others when it is our responsibility to face and deal with our own problems.

Such behavior is unbecoming of battleships like us.

Do you understand, Yamato?"

Yamato's eyes were wide as Nagato inhaled after that lengthy monologue, shiftily checking her radar and frequencies for any signs of enemy activity or any messages which she may have missed, feeling relieved to find that there were none.

Damn.

She hadn't planned to detract from the battle to become so engrossed with giving Yamato a pep talk, but part of being a senior capital ship meant that she wanted to make sure everyone was coming along well holistically, and to see that Yamato had to live up to such demanding expectations and be a role model while possessing deep-seated psychological issues…

As a fellow lover, comrade and friend, she couldn't let it slide.

She saw that Yamato's look quickly shifted from a surprised one into a reflective one, and it was a while before her expression relaxed a little and melted into a grateful one as she thanked Nagato.

"I… I see, Nagato-san.

Thank you, for you have given me much to think about regarding the flaws in my views."

Nagato opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by the bird carriers speaking up as the recon planes likely saw that the Abyssals were reaching the smokescreen, hearing Ryuujou speak to her over the radio.

"Birdman here, the Abyssals've reached the smokescreen, new orders fer us?"

Nagato's expression hardened as she turned away in order to look into the smokescreen, asking for a situation update.

"Banshee, confirm Birdman's readings that the Abyssals have reached the smokescreen?"

A crackling sound faded away to the sound of the American's voice speaking up over the radio while she tensed up in preparation for battle.

"Yeah, Birdman beat us to the punch, but they're there.

We're also detecting enemy bomber planes attempting to fly around the smokescreen on the fringes of our radar as well as what seems to be the hot launch of several missiles from the _Dutchman_ 's deck in the distance.

Birdman, your planes will have to get ready to calculate the trajectories of those incoming missiles, we recommend getting the Strike Groups ready to perform evasive maneuvers ahead of time."

Nagato thought hard about the situation, wondering about what the Abyssals were up to.

The advancing vanguard of the Abyssals had reached the smokescreen, and their left and right wings were sending out their birds to circumvent the smokescreen in order to protect their vanguard in case of an ambush.

Of course.

They weren't idiots, and there was no way they would allow a good chunk of their Abyssal forces to advance into a smokescreen without aerial support spotting for surprise attacks if possible.

The Abyssal planes would scout ahead and warn the advancing vanguard ahead of time if any ship girl attack was spotted, and the vanguard could make the choice to perform evasive maneuvers or retreat from the smokescreen altogether.

The Abyssal planes were beyond the effective range of their Type 3 'Beehive' shells, and to attempt to get in range was to risk scaring off the Abyssal armada and further prolong the battle.

Looking back at the meek battleship in order to end their conversation properly, she saw that Yamato hurriedly bowed towards her in the interest of time.

And when she pulled back up in order to face Nagato, she could see that the Yamato-Class battleship had grown as a person on the inside, having steeled her mind in preparation for what was to come as she spoke curtly.

"Nagato-san, do what you have to do.

I'm alright, and I'll be behind you all the way."

Nagato, still thinking about how best to counter the incoming Abyssal horde, responded offhandedly.

"If you really want to make yourself useful, don't stand behind me, stand beside me."

Yamato paused to think before making a small bow again in order to acknowledge her words, Nagato noting that she had her hands tightly clenched around her umbrella, which doubled as an Anti-Abyssal rifle and a sheath where her katana was stored.

Nagato made sure that Yamato was prepared for what came next before looking away, confidentially speaking with Admiral Mako in a conspiratorial tone over the radio.

"Admiral, any suggestions on our next course of action?"

She heard nothing but the sound of Admiral Mako's rhythmic breathing as it crackled over the radio, eventually speaking up about how they were to resolve this problem.

"Send the planes out in this manner.

The fighter planes will form the first wave which will disperse the enemy bombers, and the second wave of planes will be the dive bombers and torpedo bombers, which will go up high and down low in order to drop their payload.

The third wave will consist of the JASDF's jet fighters, who will fire their missiles as they fly in from the mainland.

We'll have the Coordinators account for the current position of the jet fighters and Strike Groups and time them so that all of you will be able to land your salvos at once and deal maximum damage.

Even _that."_

Nagato nodded, looking in the direction of the other Strike Groups as she relayed to them the relevant information with her headdress, which granted her the ability to communicate with others over long distances via radio waves.

"All ship girls, be advised.

Ready your weapons and equipment; Minerva and her Coordinators back at Miura will give the signal for you all to launch your respective weapons!

Do you copy?"

She heard a reassuring and solid,

" _Yes Ma'am!"_

From everyone, the Nagato-Class battleship silently waiting for the signal for her and her Strike Group to unleash the might of their large-caliber cannons, the atmosphere of the battlefield becoming even thicker with the knowledge that the battle would be even more intense from here on out.

They spent a good amount of time standing around and waiting for the other shoe to drop, Nagato feeling the summer heat beat down upon them gently and was only broken up by the clouds which drifted above the battlefield, looking to be above their mortal concerns.

Finally, she heard Admiral Mako's voice over the radio frequency as she ordered the carrier-based Strike Groups, since their fighter planes had to engage the enemy planes and clear the path for the bombers and jet fighters,

"The 4th and 5th Strike Groups, as well as any bird carriers who are available right now, send out as many fighter planes as possible; we need them to break apart the flock of enemy birds in order to open up the path for the rest of our bombers!

Banshee, change your target to the Abyssal planes you see loitering around the smokescreen, I need you to tear some of them up with your Gatling guns before the fighter planes reach the scene!

Birdman, can you send coordinates from the recon planes to Banshee in order to improve accuracy?"

She heard the ship girls answer determinedly,

"Yes, Admiral!"

Nagato, upon hearing that, looked back to Yamato as she knew that this was roughly when the Admiral would send a secret signal to Yamato when the time was right (as calculated by the Coordinators) in order to trap the Abyssals in the smokescreen with their strategically-positioned naval mines.

She saw that Yamato, with a grim look on her face, nodded back at her as she held a remote control in her right hand which was retrieved from her skirt pocket, using her large rigging to hide it from anyone who might be looking, Nagato looking back at the smokescreen as she trusted Yamato to accomplish her task in this surprise attack.

Hearing the familiar noise of fighter planes, she lifted her head towards the sky as several dozens of them soared over her while the carriers continued sending out more in order for their Fairy pilots to stand a chance against the numerous pinpricks that were the Abyssal planes, which were loitering in front of the smokescreen.

The Abyssal planes would try to guard the exit of the smokescreen for the Abyssals to safely continue their invasion by helping to spot any preemptive attacks, and the ship girl fighter planes would put an end to that and chase them off, blinding the Abyssals to the combined salvo and surprise attack which would come soon.

She estimated nearly a hundred fighter planes in the air before Admiral Mako continued,

"Torpedo Squadrons and all available ship girls, dump all your torpedoes in the water!"

According to the Coordinators' estimates, the torpedoes definitely had to be sent out first because they traveled underwater, and the relatively slow top speed of the torpedoes compared to shells and planes as well as the water resistance and the relatively long distance meant that if they wanted the torpedo salvo to reach the enemy at the same moment, their torpedoes would have to be fired first.

But since the torpedo-based Strike Groups were stationed to her flanks and their torpedo salvoes were underwater, she couldn't see the underwater projectiles as she heard Yamato's remote control going,

 _Click._

The trap was sprung.

There was a considerable amount of silence on the battlefield, but as she saw the pin pricks before the smokescreen started dancing around each other with the occasional blink of an explosion and a comet-like trail into the ocean in the extreme distance, Admiral Mako ordered.

"Now, all bird carriers are to send out their dive bombers, I'll give the orders to send out your torpedo bombers shortly afterwards!"

The carriers sent out more planes with their quick-fire techniques, which were mandatory techniques for carriers to learn in the ship girl age of warfare, hearing Yamato inhale sharply at the sight of so many dive bombers in the sky which reminded the Yamato-Class battleship of the hail of death which occurred during Operation Ten-Go.

Nagato shot her a concerned look and saw that although Yamato had a grim expression on her face, an expression which she would never deign to show to anyone else outside of Admiral Mako and her circle of lovers, the battleship was holding herself together mentally despite the feeling of deja vu haunting her for a moment.

She looked back and took the initiative by radioing the 11th and 13th Strike Groups in order to ask if they were capable of joining in their bombardment phase as planned, letting Admiral Mako hear the conversation as a spectator but not be allowed to speak.

"Nagato to the 11th and 13 Strike Groups, are the Abyssals still chasing you, and can you send out bomber planes to aid in the bombardment of the Abyssal vanguard?"

She heard a panting Shouhou from the 11th speaking up over the radio while the echo of an explosion sounded out in the background, belying their situation before the light carrier said a word.

"Negative to both, Nagato-san!

Perhaps later, when the Abyssals which are chasing us lose interest and break off their pursuit, but right now, they're hot on our tails!"

The voice of Tone sounded out after Shouhou transferred the right to speak to the aviation cruiser, Tone sounding equally distressed by the amount of heat which they were receiving and how they would be unavailable to participate in what came next.

"Ditto!

I daresay we can regroup and double back to pull off at least one, maybe two more waves of aerial attacks later, but not right now!"

Nagato lowered her head as she muttered,

"Acknowledged.

Keep in touch and let me know when you're available for another attack later.

Nagato out."

She knew that no plan survived contact with the enemy, and Admiral Mako's plan of pulling off a three-pronged bombardment in the third phase of the overarching strategy wasn't going to come true after all, and they had to make do with the carrier-based 4th and 5th Strike Groups and a few more bird carriers which were posted in the other Strike Groups.

The Admiral's next orders came over the radio.

"Now, I need the carriers to try and send out their torpedo bombers!"

Nagato inhaled, knowing that the battleships' time to shine was near, and she could see that torpedo bombers now joined the planes which partially blocked the summer sun with their wings and fuselage, Nagato spotting the prominent torpedo that was attached to the the bottom of their fuselage, which was to be dropped into the water when the time came.

With their relatively fast speed, they would easily catch up with the torpedoes which were in the water, and dropping their own torpedoes en masse to join those already in the water would increase the yield of their salvo before striking the Abyssals.

There.

Nagato spotted the smokescreen shifting in erratic bursts and ballooning in several sections to indicate a sudden explosion of sorts within the smokescreen, and Nagato knew that the trap was working.

The first wall of mines which the Abyssals had sailed over had the highest mine count, so as they rose up to the surface, they would, in theory, form something akin to a buoy line, and even if they sacrificed units to detonate the naval mines which blocked the surface, the rising mines would prevent them from performing a crash-dive escape while surfacing units replaced the detonated mines.

The mines further within the mine formation were dispersed over a large surface area at certain depths to keep the Abyssals moving and evading, and because of the high number of Abyssals trapped inside the smokescreen and the sheer number of mines, several Abyssals would inevitably get blown up by a rising mine.

Certainly not a fate she would wish upon her worst enemy, but it was irrelevant at this point in time as the Abyssals were struggling to escape this surprise trap-slash-ambush.

She heard the final player join the fight, the designated 'Eagle' Squadron, who were designated as the bombardment squadron which wasn't supposed to be sent in until now quickly approach their position on the radar, a Japanese pilot speaking in American for the sake of the foreign pilots amongst them.

"Eagle Squadron incoming, ready to deliver the package."

Before an American pilot quipped about how their callsign and their timely arrival near the end was reminiscent of the same animals which swooped in to save the day in a famous trilogy.

"And as the good book once said, ladies and gentlemen.

'The Eagles are coming', baby!"

Followed by hoots and cheers from the American pilots as well as the knowing Japanese pilots who were in on the joke that the air force was a real tide-turner in battles, despite their high mobilization costs.

The jet fighters flew in formation as they entered Nagato's airspace, and she picked up the signatures of various jet fighters, including, but not limited to, the Mitsubishi F-1 and F-2, the McDonnell Douglas F-15 and Mitsubishi F-15J 'Eagles', F-4 Phantoms, a few F-104 Starfighters, F-22 Raptors, F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35 Lightning II jet fighters swooping in to the rescue, albeit flying at an elevated height to avoid being grazed by an allied large-caliber shell or get caught out by the enemy fighters, which could take them down with sheer numbers.

Nagato sweat-dropped at the amount of aerial firepower her Admiral managed to secure for today's battle, recognizing some of them as planes from other JASDF air bases which had to be transferred here via land transport so as not to risk tipping the Abyssals off, thinking to herself in a tone which contained some parts awe and genuine fright at how Admiral Mako managed to procure these planes for their battle.

' _Admiral, to what lengths did you_ really _go to for the sake of our victory?'_

But she had no more time to think about this as Admiral Mako gave the decisive order which was most relevant to Nagato, speaking into the microphone and addressing all the battleships present.

"Battleships, now's your chance!

 _Fire everything!"_

Nagato didn't need to look back to know that Yamato was ready to do her part, and she held her breath for an instant, enjoying the passing tranquility which came before a great battle, as if the world itself also held its breath before exhaling and unleashing nature's wrath.

And with all her might, she shouted into the radio for all the battleships to hear.

" _ALL BATTLESHIPS, FIRE!"_

Their cannons produced billowing smoke and columns of fire from their barrels, cratering the ocean beneath them and shaking the skies above them with the roar of a battleship fleet's combined might.

* * *

Shigure had already known about this.

The missiles, payloads, torpedoes, shells and naval mines would form one hell of an explosion within the smokescreen off in the distance.

But even as she braced herself for the incoming explosion which would annihilate the Abyssals, she was still struck dumb by what came next.

The torpedo bombers dropped their torpedoes to join their salvo while the dive bombers dropped their payloads from a safe height before doubling back, the fighter planes disengaging the enemy in order to fly well beyond the estimated area of effect which was marked out by the no-fly zone as ordered while the jet fighters took their place and fired their missiles at a safe distance.

What came next was an explosion unlike anything she would see ever again, its intensity not unlike that of a violent volcanic eruption.

The resulting explosion instantly dispersed the smokescreen, the blinding sight that was the ballooning wall of hell-fire ripping apart and displacing the ethereal, pitch-black smokescreen like tissue paper, and the only thing she was capable of doing was to shield her face and squint while the ballooning fireball seemed to chase the tails of the retreating allied planes, who thankfully cleared the area beforehand.

Shigure was then subjected to two overwhelming forces which resulted from the large-scale explosion.

One, the immediate blast wave which closed the distance within seconds and threw all the destroyers in the Torpedo Squadron off their feet, Shigure jumping at the deafening volume of the explosion even when standing so far away from ground zero.

The second artificially-created force of nature were the tidal waves, the largest troughs capable of swallowing her whole while the wave crests threatened to push her under, which were a result of the explosion cratering the ocean and creating massive tidal waves in the process.

Shigure kept her center of gravity low in order not to lose her footing on the ocean as the tidal waves radiated from the epicenter, looking away from the blinding fireballs which rose up spectacularly into the air in lieu of the non-existent smokescreen while she shielded her eyes.

Shigure's mind was still ringing from the explosion despite not suffering from any percussive damage thanks to her internal ear mufflers, and her body was still shaking from the resonant _thoom_ which still sounded out throughout the battlefield as the fireball bloated up and expanded beyond the point where it could maintain its shape and mushroomed slightly before dissipating, Shigure feeling as if electricity coursed throughout her frozen body after that horrifying sight.

All the radio frequencies were filled with a cacophony of voices all trying to make themselves heard over the commotion, Shigure making out several voices as they exclaimed,

"Jesus, what the hell was that?!"

" … think the mainland felt that, shit!"

"- didn't say anything about a fucking - "

"Guys, what the hell is - "

"Birdman, I need a status report, what…"

"Help!"

Naka ran over to Shigure, looking extremely worried for Shigure since she was crafted quite recently, and although she had been through a few scrapes since then, Naka must've felt that she was still someone to keep an eye on as she asked, sincere concern lining her tone.

"Shigure-san, are you alright?!

I'm not exactly sure what happened there, but I just wanted to check…"

Shigure shook her head and shot Naka a determined gaze in return, and as the shock of the explosion started to leave her body and she could feel Naka's hand on her shoulder, she came to the realization that she wasn't the one shivering in fright.

Naka was.

She asked the aspiring idol of the Sendai-Class,

"Naka, are you alright?

You seem to be shivering from the shock of the explosion…"

Naka then looked at her own gloved hand, noting the tremor which plagued her limb and fingers as her expression fell and her smile dimmed, retorting.

"Huh, so that wasn't you either, huh?"

But as a war veteran who fought in a war, as a senior to her and as someone who genuinely wanted to inspire other ship girls with her songs, determination and unwavering enthusiasm, Naka clenched the fist and closed her eyes in order to mentally center herself while taking deep breaths, tremors running throughout her body in order to get the shock out of her system before she opened her eyes.

And when she did, Shigure could see that Naka was a veteran in her own right, her mental strength and fortitude showing through her mature eyes as she gave Shigure a small smile, not an idol's smile which was flashy and bright, but one which was knowing and mature after having been through so much while Shigure looked down her released fist.

It wasn't trembling any more.

Naka spoke to Shigure,

"Thank you, Shigure-san.

But I'm alright, now that I've had some time to shake off the shock of the explosion which took me by surprise."

Shigure nodded, narrowing her eyes and looking back at the fireball which dissipated as she heard orders come in from Nagato of Yokosuka, who was the designated overall leader of the invasion as a whole since she hailed from a major naval base and was a high-ranking capital ship, hence deferring leadership to her was a simple affair.

"All ship girls, move ahead and shoot down the devastated enemy, now!

Do not let them regroup-"

"Belay that order!"

Shigure's head twisted back towards Sagami Bay as she heard a certain repair ship's voice shoot down Nagato's order defiantly, only managing to utter two words while she saw Naka freeze up from the 8th Fleet-slash-12 Strike Group's arrival on the scene out of the corner of her eye.

"Akashi-san."

She heard Nagato ask about how Akashi seemed to have other ideas in mind when she was clearly there during Admiral Mako's briefing to know how the plan was supposed to flow.

"Akashi, what is the meaning of this?!

The Admiral has opened this window of opportunity for us to close in for the kill, we should-"

But Akashi's scathing reply pointed out how the left and right wings of the Abyssal armada were left untouched, and could still destroy them should the ship girls unwittingly turn the tables on themselves.

"And allow the left and right flanks of the Abyssal horde, untouched by our explosive surprise, fuck us over from the left and right?

We'll have played ourselves by then.

All Strike Groups, advance and lay down cover fire to make the weakened Abyssal vanguard retreat while carriers tend to their bombers and send out planes occasionally to keep the Abyssals retreating.

But advance _slowly_ in a giant diamond formation and do not allow the left and right flanks to engage in a pincer attack, and just rip their bombers a new asshole with your Anti-Air fire if they do."

A period of radio silence ensued as she saw that Jintsuu, Abukuma, Akatsuki and Kuma, the ship girls of the 2nd Strike Group and were from her base, all recovered their bearings and fired up their boat slippers since the next phase of the plan definitely involved movement, and Nagato then sounded out as she grudgingly allowed Akashi to call the shots for now.

"Nagato to all ship girls.

Follow Akashi's instructions, and do not allow the Abyssals to our left and right flank us by sticking our necks out.

Keep the pressure on the devastated middle section and force them to retreat, but do not pursue and allow the enemy to easily pull off a pincer attack.

Be prepared to perform evasive maneuvers in case the Abyssals pulls off a surprise attack from any direction in order to cover their retreating forces, especially from the _Flying Dutchman_.

It's been suspiciously silent for a while now."

Abukuma snapped her fingers while she looked back at the silenced Torpedo Squadron, her trembling voice still possessing some semblance of control over her senses as she tersely ordered.

"Alright, you heard Nagato-san.

Diamond formation, and let's move up with the rest."

Everyone meekly followed suit and assumed the formation before sailing into the fray, but Shigure sailed beside Naka as the light cruiser nodded, muttering about one teaching in the Art of War.

"That makes sense.

'When you surround an enemy, leave an outlet free.

Do not press a desperate foe too hard.'

Haste to take advantage of a turn of the tide might lead to more trouble if one does not thoroughly consider the situation at hand.

And although the Abyssals are pressed into retreat whose route leads to the open ocean, they may resort to a pincer attack in their desperate attempt to accomplish their objectives and salvage the situation by inflicting casualties."

Shigure, thinking about the exact same quote which discouraged pressurizing the enemy into an inescapable corner and forcing them to mount a suicide attack which was fueled by desperation, snapped her head around to face Naka as she asked candidly.

"I never knew that you read the Art of War, Naka-san.

… No offense, of course.

Sorry."

But Naka shook her head, likely having received similar feedback from others in the past as Shigure cringed at how she assumed that just because Naka was an aspiring idol, she was unlikely to be an academic as Naka responded understandingly.

"No, I understand.

Because of our predetermined personalities upon being brought into this world, it might seem as if gaining knowledge regarding war tactics might not be of interest to someone like me, whose blatant interest in being an idol might seem… exaggerated, much like Sendai's love for night battles.

A lesson learned, I suppose."

Shigure nodded as she looked away awkwardly, not feeling as if she could meet Naka's gaze any time soon after making such an insulting assumption about her, flinching in surprise as she suddenly felt the ambient temperature jump several degrees, observing her fellow ship girls wince in unison as the explosion left behind a heated atmosphere due to its sheer intensity, Shigure starting to sweat as she saw large-caliber shells, fired from allied battleships, appear from behind her and rain down on the enemy which laid beyond ground zero and were nearly out of sight.

She heard Abukuma speak up as she likely heard orders come in from the Admiral or from Nagato, turning around to face them as she motioned with her right hand in a cutting motion in the direction of the Abyssal vanguard.

"Fire your torpedoes in a standard salvo in the direction of the Abyssals, but keep a salvo on hand for any nasty surprises!"

The Torpedo Squadron followed their orders as Shigure shot out two torpedoes from each launcher while she looked into the epicenter of the explosion, translucent smoke and the intense heat warping the air above the surface, and within it, Shigure spotted the silhouettes of a few Abyssals, wandering the burning ocean in a daze and were unresponsive to their approach while Nagato ordered.

"Torpedo Squadrons and the 9th Strike Group, scout ahead and clear the path for the carriers and battleships.

The left and right flanks are now retreating and regrouping with the devastated middle section, but be warned, they may turn to attack you at any moment.

We have our carrier and backup Strike Groups shortly behind you should that occur."

So their diamond formation was headed towards the retreating Abyssals who survived their surprise attack while the left and right flanks of the Abyssal armada were travelling parallel to their front lines in order to regroup with the middle section before retaliating, and the _Flying Dutchman_ laid beyond them and was ready to lay down cover fire if needed.

Alright.

The ocean burned due to Abyssals spilling their guts, blood and fuel everywhere, the last of which was set aflame by the explosion as flaming puddles casually floated on the surface of the sea, the surviving Abyssals completely numb to the infernal pain caused by the flames that danced on their bodies as the explosion likely sent their minds reeling without any chance of immediate recovery, and Shigure wiped away the sweat which lined her brow and glossed the surface of her throat while she heard Abukuma speak up uneasily.

"Put them down."

Shigure, feeling her uniform stick to her skin due to the sweat on her body, pulled out her dinky little 12 Cm Single Gun Cannon in order to kill whatever remained of a Ri-Class heavy cruiser, but she saw that the Ri-Class's body was plagued with second and third-degree burns all over, hair burnt down to their roots and leaving her bald with a crown of flames on her head.

She exhaled smoke through her mouth and idly waved the bleeding arm stumps which were previously connected to her arm cannons in a feeble attempt to ward off the advance of the 'accursed enemy' in her stunned mind, her arms blown up by the gunpowder within the shells in her arm cannons but left the Abyssal relatively intact save for the flames plaguing her skin and dark bikini.

The flames steadily wore down the Ri-Class Abyssal as the walking corpse's bloodshot eyes rolled up, her own momentum doing her in as she stumbled over her own foot and collapsed lifelessly onto the ocean without her having to fire off a single shot, Shigure gulping uncomfortably at how effective the trap was at killing off Abyssals as everyone gave the sinking corpse a wide berth, fearing a rogue explosion going off in the heavy cruiser's body.

It was becoming as hot as a furnace in the area of ocean directly above where the naval mines were previously laid down on the ocean, and Jintsuu fired a medium-caliber round at a Wo-Class carrier, aimed at her center mass and sent the weakened Abyssal flying backwards, Abukuma walking up to the downed Abyssal carrier in order to put another shell into the Wo-Class's head, enforcing the double-tap rule whenever possible.

Bobbing naval mines were an uncommon sight around them despite many of them having been set off in the surprise attack, some of them not having detonated while on their upward trip since most of the descending Abyssals were wiped out spectacularly by them, and the weights which were supposed to hold them in place at a certain depth were dropped, allowing them to rise up to the surface in the first place in order to pull off the surprise attack as they bobbed around innocently like apples in an apple-bobbing game in spite of their lethal nature.

Whatever the case, they steered clear of the naval mines despite knowing that their ship girl signatures wouldn't set them off, and Shigure jumped at the sound of an explosion ringing out in the distance as an Abyssal was vaporized by blindly stumbling into an Anti-Abyssal naval mine, hoping in the back of her mind that none of her allies were hurt.

But as they sailed through the heated atmosphere of the ocean, Shigure spotted red circles filling her HUD and was displayed on the ocean before her as Eagle, Banshee and Birdman all shouted at the same time, but she only paid attention to a few crucial words,

"Missile,

Evade,

Inbound,

Retreat."

And the fact that there were two words blatantly displayed on her HUD,

"INBOUND MISSILE"

As she heard Abukuma shout in her signature high-pitched voice for all those in the Torpedo Squadron to hear,

" _EVASIVE MANEUVERS!"_

Before everything went to hell, the fleet dispersing before she spotted the bright-white exhaust of the missiles, easily identifying them even in the daytime as they betrayed the missile's presence like the phosphorescent tails of fireflies, Shigure starting to feel chills plague her entire body upon thinking back on the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, and how her comrades were killed and even sunk by these airborne projectiles.

But she had no time to think, her battle senses forcing her frozen limbs into action all while adrenaline coursed throughout and fueled her body, watching Jintsuu boost out of the way of a descending missile before it kissed the ocean and let loose a fireball, the shock-wave sending the Sendai-Class light cruiser and the observing Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer stumbling away.

She spotted several other fireballs descend on the strip of ocean to the left and right of her, right above the naval mine formation and likely setting off a few of the floating naval mines while the world shook once again, Shigure unfortunately spotting a few displays popping up on her HUD to update her of the 2nd and 3rd Strike Groups' status.

And while not all of these ship girls were from her naval base, their deaths still stung, even in the heat of battle.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

AGANO-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 138

"NOSHIRO"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

AYANAMI-CLASS DESTROYER 070

"USHIO"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

MUTSUKI-CLASS DESTROYER 235

"KISARAGI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

She saw several missiles get shot down either by Banshee, who shot down some of the missiles with their Gatling gun before they reached anywhere near the ship girls, or by the ship girls who possessed insane Anti-Air stats and peppered the incoming missiles with their Anti-Air turrets, their superhuman senses and reflexes as well as their top-of-the-line equipment coming in clutch as fireballs eclipsed the sun with the intensity of their heat and brightness.

Being thrown down onto the ocean once again, Shigure was glad that that the disaster at Mikura Jima Island allowed them to learn of and prepare for these missile barrages so that they wouldn't be caught flat-footed again and allow anyone to sink, wishing to check the condition of the deceased Ushio since she was from Yokosuka, and was a sister ship of her fleet-mate Ayanami.

But she swallowed the lump in her throat as she reminded herself that she wasn't a repair ship, and Akashi, who sailed on behind her, might be able to do something to stabilize her condition while she could only provide eye power with her lack of extensive medical knowledge, and she had to scout ahead and keep applying pressure on the retreating Abyssals with her torpedo salvos.

Focus.

She had to focus on her role.

Banshee suddenly spoke up over the radio for all to hear, as the next piece of news was critical to their success.

"Banshee here, the retreating Abyssal vanguard seems as if they're regrouping with the left and right flanks, and the relocated _Flying Dutchman_ 's sending out reinforcements in the form of more Abyssal signatures.

Quite a few enemy bombers and fighters are also located ahead of where the smokescreen was and where the ship girl vanguard is soon approaching, and you all are at a distance where shooting down the plane missiles are getting a little difficult for us due to the ship girl vanguard approaching danger close range.

Please advise."

Admiral Mako asked over the radio,

"Minerva here, Birdman, Eagle and Sparrow, can you all confirm Banshee's readings?"

Shigure followed Abukuma's raised fist as it was clenched to indicate the halting of movement, and she turned around to echo,

"Halt."

To the other members of her Squadron before looking back at the ocean before them, spotting enemy signatures on her radar to indicate the presence of pin pricks in the sky as she prepared whatever Anti-Air turrets she had on hand.

The carriers, who had recalled their previous wave of reconnaissance planes in order to refuel them, had sent out another wave of reconnaissance planes to scout ahead as Ryuujou spoke up about what laid before them.

"The Abyssals 're regrouping ahead a' us, that's fer sure.

And these are readings on the fringe of our radars, but ah think that the Abyssals sent by the _Flying Dutchman_ are regrouping with the Abyssal vanguard an' the two flanks."

Shigure turning to see Nagato and Yamato strolling towards the front of the vanguard formation along with the 8th Fleet, everyone giving the approaching crowd of ship girls a wide berth out of respect and fear respectively as she saw Akashi giving her a simple glance while Akitsu Maru waved at her, Shigure respectfully bowing to the both of them in return.

And upon hearing the AC-130U gunship warn them about the activities of the Abyssals,

"Banshee to all, the Abyssals seem like they're sending out their planes to cover their asses, now that they're within sight of each other and are likely trying to gauge their losses."

Nagato ordered for another wave of bombers to interrupt the enemy while getting the jet fighters from before to back them up again,

"All bird carriers are to send out all available planes for the final push, do not let up on the pressure and allow them any breathing space.

Eagle and Sparrow, double back and retreat, but give the Abyssals hell on your way out.

11th and 13th Strike Groups, since the Abyssals have abandoned their pursuit of you, regroup and double time it back to our location in order to pull-off a three-pronged attack, where you'll attack the flanks of the Abyssal formation."

Shigure gulped at the lethality of the incoming aerial bombardment the Abyssals were going to face from all sides, Nagato continuing with her slew of orders for the JMSDF.

"All Mallard units, retreat.

You may be modern JMSDF destroyers and submarines, but we can't risk losing even one of you to the _Flying Dutchman_ at this point in time."

She heard a chorus of Japanese and American voices respond stoically,

"Yes, Ma'am!"

And Shigure supposed this was Nagato's way of referencing Apocalypse, and how the JMSDF destroyers and submarines, despite being few in number, were still a relatively powerful naval force which would come in handy in the future, where vehicular units in the form of planes, helicopters and amphibious assault vehicles crafted for Apocalypse would be available for them to target.

Shigure turned to find that their ship girl armada, although remaining in their diamond formation, was now located considerably closer to each other than before, where they had to be located further away from the vanguard which was the 1st Strike Group to ensure that they didn't easily get bombarded by the _Dutchman_ 's missiles while staying at a reasonable distance to provide backup, which they did now with their wave of planes which threatened to blot out the sun.

It made her shiver at how much destructive power carriers could unleash as the planes flew ahead in droves and made contact with the enemy planes, bullets flying in the air while she heard a ship girl ask a reasonable question over the radio,

"So what are we supposed to do now, Nagato-san?"

But Akashi spoke up about what they were going to do next in order to rapidly close the distance and engage the Abyssals in close-quarters combat in order to conserve ammunition.

"Simple.

With our planes assaulting them from all directions, our battleships and carriers standing further behind to perform long-range bombardment in order to soften them up, it's now up to us to close the distance rapidly and wipe out whoever's left behind.

We'll Banzai Charge them."

This comment single-handedly silenced the entire armada and allowed the sounds of battle to replace the chirping cricket in times like these, everyone becoming deathly silent upon remembering their past military's catastrophic tactic of overwhelming their enemy through sheer numbers and only had death tolls reaching up to four digits and few victories to show for it, at least when facing off against the better-armed and better-trained Americans.

Nagato turned back to face the ship girl armada, seemingly unafraid of being hit by anything while she spoke with an authoritative, yet inspiring voice while Yamato and the 8th Fleet stood by her and backed her up with their intimidating presence.

"Do not hesitate!

Centuries of historians shall look back upon today, and what do you want them to see?!

A bunch of cowering maidens, or ladies of war who gave their all for the sake of victory?!"

She got everyone's attention with the start of her rousing speech, Shigure barely able to detect the planes of the 11th and 13th Strike Groups appearing on the fringe of her radar in order to provide aerial support and bombard the Abyssals' flanks, but Nagato ignored this as she continued.

"Admiral Mako has opened up a window of opportunity for us, where a large chunk of the enemy has been wiped out in one fell swoop and are forced into retreat because of our surprise attack.

And although the enemy is retreating, we cannot be sure that they won't mount a second offensive, and as Admiral Mako said before, 'There are no bad tactics, only the wrong situations or the wrong person in command'.

With our planes surrounding them from all sides, our weapons at the ready and our unyielding wills pushing us on while the enemy is in retreat, instead of senselessly throwing away our lives, this time, we shall instead push them out of our territory and emerge victorious!"

And although Nagato pointed towards the mainland in order to illustrate a point, everyone's attention was on her and was also on the lookout for any missiles, payloads, torpedoes or shells which could come flying in at anytime despite their planes trying to buy them more time, all while Nagato finished her speech with one hell of a mic-dropping monologue.

"Behind us are the humans, not just of Japan but also the world, whose fate rests on our shoulders.

Standing beside us are our comrades who fight, sweat and bleed alongside us!

And standing before us and impeding our path to victory are the Abyssals, who threaten everything which we hold dear!

So where else must we move but forward, into the fray?!

Once more unto the breach!

 _Charge!"_

Nagato turned and charged towards the Abyssals by physically running towards the Abyssal horde while Yamato joined her, their allied bombers starting to drop their payloads en masse onto the Abyssal armada in order to distract them and soften them up for the ship girls to get in close, the 8th Fleet following up the brave as the insane followed their leader into a hail of shells, payloads and torpedoes while the bomber planes and jet fighters terrorized the Abyssals from the front and back respectively, hearing Akitsu Maru's untamed scream of,

" _TENNO HEIKA BANZAI!"_

As she wielded her katana, her pariah teammates all equally enthused about being the first ones to savor the taste of victory on the battlefield.

Shigure, emboldened by Nagato's rousing speech, letting the adrenaline of battle take over her sense of reasoning and having been desensitized to this 'against overwhelming odds' situation back in Leyte Gulf, was the first to follow in Nagato and Akashi's footsteps as the pitter-patter of her own demure boat slippers hitting the ocean accompanied the 8th Fleet's charge.

But as the JASDF and USAF jet fighters flew over their location after breaking up a large chunk of the enemy formations with their payloads which blossomed into fireballs of doom, she was relieved to hear the sound of others closely following behind her as the ship girl armada let out a passionate roar not just to induce fear and hesitation in their enemies, but to reaffirm each other's fighting spirit when pulling off risky attacks like this.

The sheer intensity of their combined wills, which was articulated through their spirited roar, managed to help everyone gain a second wind which propelled Shigure forward along with their spirited screams of,

" _TENNO HEIKA BANZAI!"_

Reality set in as her small body build and unremodeled state meant that other ship girls easily outran and outpaced her, but the enemy bombers dropped their payloads as often as they were shot down thanks to their own fighter planes covering their approach as well as their Anti-Air turrets firing a hail of bullets into the skies, Shigure evading flaming Abyssal bombers which dropped out of the sky like flies as well as large-caliber shells, both ship-girl-sized and life-sized, flying in their direction thanks to the humanoid Abyssal battleships and the _Flying Dutchman_ respectively, the red circles showing up again on her HUD as the _Dutchman_ tried to ward them off with its large-caliber cannons and missiles with Shigure's HUD displaying.

'MISSILE INBOUND'

But none of the ship girls around her were deterred in the least as they performed evasive maneuvers while unleashing everything they had, Shigure trembling partially from excitement and fright while the sea shook from their Zerg Rush causing a stampede and from the sheer amount of payloads and shells landing around them.

Shigure spotted the Abyssals panicking upon seeing swarms of Fairy-piloted dive bombers descend from above, ship girl battleships at the rear of the diamond formation raining death upon them with their large-caliber cannons while they pulled off a massive human wave attack with overwhelming cover fire backing up their advance, their screams resounding throughout the battlefield in order to echo in the minds of the retreating Abyssals.

" _TENNO HEIKA BANZAI!_

 _TENNO HEIKA BANZAI!"_

" _BANZAI!"_

" _BANZAI!"_


	46. Chapter 46 - The Burning Sea

Unryuu ran towards the horde of Abyssals as she faced off against enemy shells, bombers, torpedoes and missiles while she struggled to suppress her feelings in the heat of battle, hearing the spirited roar of her teammates as they caught up with the 8th Fleet and slowly overtook them, the Abyssals trying to maintain their formation and lay down fire in order to stop their Banzai Charge.

She heard pained screams behind her, but to her, they were like the wind which howled in her ears as she kept running forward, spotting the whites of her enemies' eyes as the Abyssals realized that they were thoroughly screwed since the ship girls assaulted them from the front, the 11th and 13th's bombers attacked their flanks and the human-piloted jet fighters had devastated the hind of their formation with a barrage of missiles, some of them circling back for more.

Unryuu ignored the pop-ups on her HUD which indicated the grim situation behind her, which read:

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND  
NAGARA-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 109  
"KINU"  
STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND  
MOGAMI-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER 130  
"KUMANO"  
STATUS: DECEASED'

She mentally directed her bombers to drop their payloads and withdraw from the scene, lest they get shot down by the enemy fighters, hearing Nagato shout.

" _ONWARDS!_

 _FIRE EVERYTHING!"_

And the ship girls behind them roared yet again, Unryuu hearing another chorus of their spirited voices as they called out in unison,

" _TENNO HEIKA BANZAI!"_

Although she saw the benefit of everyone screaming out in sync to surprise the enemy and bolster their fighting spirit, she secretly found it silly of them to call out their attacks before getting within fighting distance, but she kept these thoughts to herself at this point in time.

She saw that several of the Abyssals opted to crash dive rather than face them head-on, while others were lit aflame by the Fairy bombers dropping their payloads and engulfing them in fiery explosions as they either flailed their arms about uselessly or dropped onto the ocean and started rolling around in order to extinguish the flames.

And that was while more bombers were still approaching them, leaving them vulnerable to machine gun fire or more dropped payloads.

Unryuu spotted a Kai Ni Yuudachi as she transitioned from a bestial four-legged sprint into a running pounce, inexplicably evading a medium-caliber shell in mid-air before slamming her body frame into a Ri-Class heavy cruiser who fired the shot, looking positively feral with her glowing crimson eyes as she used her fingernails and canines to dig and bite into the Ri-Class's armored skin and vulnerable eyes while shifting around on the heavy cruiser's body to avoid getting shot at, both ship girl and Abyssal screaming for entirely different reasons.

" _RRAAWWWRRRHHH!"_

[AAAHHHH!]

Evading another torpedo salvo, which she extensively learnt how to spot and evade in this life, Unryuu saw that faster and/or heavier-built ship girls came in contact with the Abyssal vanguard first, watching Maya charge into before flipping a He-Class over her shoulder like a charging juggernaut, allowing Iowa the chance to elevate her cannons high enough to pump a shell into the airborne Abyssal's torso before continuing their charge.

The missiles and payloads kept dropping, and although their fighters were hard at work trying to shoot the enemy planes down before they could do so along with the hail of Anti-Air fire from the ship girls, there were just too many threats from above as Unryuu physically strafed away from the red circles which showed up on her HUD, hearing Hayasui shout out,

"Shit!"

Before her fleet split up in half in order to clear the blast radius, Unryuu barely fazed by the resulting fireball and radiant heat as she evaded a small-caliber shell and used her conducting staff to smack an airborne Ro-Class destroyer away from her as though swinging a baseball bat to hit a home-run, her face contorting into a grimace as she kept a lookout for any threats, the Abyssals all too happy to take advantage of an opportunity to sink a carrier, even if it was a low-ranking Unryuu-Class.

Just because she suppressed her emotions in battle didn't mean she was going to stand there and tank incoming attacks like a chump, shooting the dissipating fireball one final glance before looking ahead.

In her doctrine, they were to steer clear of avoidable damage despite not feeling fear, because to tank such damage when they weren't gifted in terms of stats was to be taken out quickly, which would in turn prevent them from participating in battle any further and render themselves useless.

It worked on simple logic taken to the extreme, free from emotional bonds which weighed a ship girl down in the heat of battle, where deaths and losses were likely, and they had to make pragmatic and logical choices when under stress.

Lifting her right foot before performing a well-placed high kick into a Ha-Class destroyer's flank and sending it flying, she opened up an opportunity for Kiso to fly in as she shouted,

"Flying Thunder God!"

And she promptly bisected the airborne, fish-like Abyssal destroyer without setting anything off as she performed a perfect landing before kicking the ocean in order to accelerate away.

Unryuu saw that several ship girls, namely Shigure, Abukuma, Maikaze as well as a Kai Ni Murakumo and Hatsuharu were circling and protecting her, since a carrier who was on the front lines was more exposed and vulnerable than one who commanded her planes from afar.

Unfortunately, except for Hatsuharu who had worked with her before, they all looked as if they wanted to be guarding anyone _but_ her.

Not that she cared.

She sailed on with her fleet while keeping a low profile and constantly checked her surroundings to watch out for incoming threats, everyone sounding out in concern and raising their hands as if they could actually stop her, even when she was a relatively weak standard carrier.

She heard Abukuma ask worriedly,

"U-Um, Unryuu-san, do you think it's wise of you to fight up close with the Abyssals?

I understand that you have some experience, but this Abyssal horde-"

She didn't have time for this.

Sending out several fighter planes to deal with the enemy bombers which dropped their payloads on them without caring too much about danger close, she turned back to face the light cruiser, who was inexplicably looking more afraid of her than she was of the enemy.

She spoke in an emotionless tone, diffusing and suppressing the slight irritation she felt towards the light cruiser in order to give a collected answer.

" _I am capable of holding my own in close-quarters combat, and although your support is appreciated, it is not necessary._

 _Be silent and support us, or find someone else who can stomach that responsibility."_

Abukuma pulled back, looking downright terrified as she squeaked, the rest of the destroyers buying time for them to converse.

"P-Please don't hurt me.

I was j-just trying to help-"

Foolishness.

All of them were fools (Well, most of them anyway).

Did they think that just because she suppressed her emotions in battle, she automatically became a psychopathic murderer who didn't discriminate between her allies and enemies?

Even if she were one, she'd prioritize self-preservation above all else and work with others (albeit only to benefit herself) and was unlikely to be anything like her emotionless self right now; a psychopathic ship girl would do her best to blend in with the facade of an amiable personality which was assimilated from self-help books and from the behavior of others around them, because they didn't feel emotions and form social bonds like others did.

At least, that was how she understood it.

Her left hand shot out to grab Abukuma by the collar, causing the light cruiser to temporarily flinch at the assumption that she was going to get hit by the Unryuu-Class carrier, but Unryuu allowed a bit of derision to seep into her voice as she spoke in her icy tone.

" _You are an ally, and you are still of use to everyone with your skills and weapons._

 _Striking you down is highly illogical._

 _So long as you perform your tasks and do not betray us, I see no reason to shoot you in the back."_

Noting Hatsuharu's concerned cry of her name without her usual 'noblewoman' attitude,

"Unryuu-san!"

As well as recognizing a suspiciously stationary red dot on her radar, she extended her left arm and threw a surprised Abukuma towards a safe spot of ocean before twisting out of the way of a cannon salvo in her attempt to evade.

Spotting torpedoes in the nick of time, she launched herself into the air and tucked her legs in so as not to activate whatever proximity sensors were in the warheads.

She spotted the incoming medium-caliber shell a millisecond before it hit home, her nervous system at the end of her right collarbone and near her shoulder flaring up as a shell hit the affected area, Unryuu immediately focusing on diagnosing the severity of the injury and gauging its possible effect on her performance rather than let the pain get to her head, going limp as her body was disorientated by the glancing blow and she landed head-first into the salty ocean.

Lifting her drenched head out of the ocean and shaking her soaked, snow-white hair and braid after she successfully categorized the pain away, she saw Shigure and Murakumo dealing with the Ri-Class heavy cruiser who shot her while Abukuma and Hatsuharu helped her out, the former apologizing profusely for her lack of situational awareness.

"I'm sorry, Unryuu-san.

I should have seen the Ri-Class coming…"

Useless.

Apologies couldn't heal her wounds, expressing anger towards them would affect their performance, and since she was speaking to Abukuma in the midst of a battlefield while shells flew in every direction, she was partially to blame for her own injury.

She shook her mind both to dispel the pain from her mind and to shake off the ship girls around her as she pushed off of her bended-knee position and curtly ordered.

" _I'm alright._

 _Just watch my back."_

It arguably wasn't even Abukuma's fault that they were both distracted by choosing to talk to each other in the heat of battle, why was still looking so apologetic?

She ignored that question as she pushed on, flexing her fingers to determine the working condition of her arm as she watched Hayasui unload another breath of hell-fire from her flamethrower onto the horde of Abyssals, Unryuu noticing an I-Class destroyer pointing its cannon at Hayasui's exposed back and rigging.

In a split second, Unryuu prioritized Hayasui's safety over her own since she was carrying a heavily pressurized canister along with flammable substances on her back, lunging forward and reaching out with her left hand in order to block the incoming small-caliber shell with her left forearm.

The shell stung as the small-caliber shell mushroomed and flattened on the surface of her armored skin, but she only bothered to express it through a slight cringe as her eyebrows furrowed, and she saw that a thrown torpedo hit the I-Class in the flank, the I-Class going up in a fireball as the armor which formed its exoskeleton flew everywhere like the shrapnel in a grenade explosion, the blast wave accelerating them to lethal speeds as she reflexively closed her eyes.

Unryuu never lowered her arm as she felt shards of armor embed themselves into her skin, feeling the scathing armor fragments fly into her forearm, thigh, rigging and her gut as she tensed up, hearing Murakumo call out in a panic as she likely feared Unryuu's wrath.

"So-Sorry, Unryuu-san!"

Hayasui's head snapped back to find Unryuu shielding her from the potentially lethal shot of the I-Class destroyer and the following explosion which sent the Abyssal destroyer flying everywhere, whistling while Unryuu felt a chill run down her spine upon feeling the heated atmosphere dissipate and cooled down her skin in the process.

"Whoa, U-chan, you do care!"

What a ridiculous notion.

She pointed out bluntly as she walked away while fishing some of the armor shards from her bleeding skin regardless of the pangs of pain she felt, because to leave these fragments embedded in her skin was even more troublesome.

" _Do not delude yourself._

 _You were still capable of fighting, and the Abyssal destroyer would change that should your rigging get compromised and set on fire._

 _I merely defended you with my armor, because I knew I could tank it and you couldn't."_

Hayasui puckered up her lips and had a exasperated look in her eyes as she remarked.

"Heeee…

How cold of you, U-chan!"

Before turning back and unleashing another jet of flaming fuel onto a Wo-Class carrier, who partially succeeded in shielding herself from the breath of flaming liquid by holding up her cape to shield herself from the incoming fireball, but it only _partially_ succeeded as the fire mushroomed and stunned the Wo-Class with first and second-degree burns.

This opened up the chance for Unryuu to get in close and deliver a high-kick to the Abyssal's throat guard, cracking the beast-sized set of teeth which protected the Wo-Class's throat.

Her high kick sent the Wo-Class flying as she planted her right boat slipper back into the ocean, shifting her body weight onto it before she spun around whilst lifting her left boat slipper in order to deliver a powerful hind kick into the Abyssal's lower abdomen.

Allowing the momentum to carry her forward and spin her around in order to face the Wo-Class who was sent flying, Unryuu planted both her boat slippers on the ocean and dual-wielded her conducting staff like a baseball bat in order to unceremoniously smash it down on the Wo-Class's torso like a baseball bat, delivering the blow which caused the Abyssal carrier to crash back into the ocean, her expression wracked with pain.

But Unryuu noted the Abyssal's Dive Bombers coming to their mothership's rescue as she strafed out of the way just as a hail of payloads detonated harmlessly beside her, Hatsuharu and Maikaze coming to her rescue as the three of them focus-fired their Anti-Air turrets in order to bring down one Abyssal dive bomber.

Turning back to face her escorts, she saw Maikaze and Hatsuharu as the former called out energetically.

"Hell yeah!

We got one of them!"

The Kagerou-Class destroyer was dressed very similarly to the name-ship of her class with her white, short-sleeved collared shirt and black, sleeveless vest along with a red bow holding her collar together.

In between her black miniskirt and knee-high stockings were Anti-Air turrets, and on her rigging were two Quadruple Torpedo Launchers while two Twin-Gun Anti-Air Turrets were slung diagonally across her torso and were held in her hands in order to be used, their barrels smoking after she emptied Anti-Air rounds into the air.

Her green eyes contrasted with her blonde hair which was tied up in a short ponytail behind her, her eyes transfixed on the flaming mess which was the crash-landing Abyssal Dive Bomber, burning fuel spilling out of the holes which their Anti-Air bullets punched into the dive bomber and pooled beneath where the spiraling dive bomber flew, smoke being coughed out at regular intervals and tracing the descending plane's flight path before it plopped into the shifting ocean with a hellish, flaming fuel trail strewn behind it on the ocean.

Maikaze, seeing that the Unryuu turned her attention to her, turned away to fight the Abyssals rather than face an awkward conversation with the stoic Unryuu-Class carrier, dual-wielding her Anti-Air turrets in both hands while her rigging helped her fire off her torpedoes as she shouted passionately.

"Come and get some!

Whoo!"

Unryuu's eyebrows furrowed at the amount of unneeded passion which would possibly get her killed, but she mentally directed her planes to back Akitsu Maru up just as she heard her teammate shout into the radio.

"Yo, U-chan!

I need you to send some torpedo bombers to my location; things are getting heated over here!"

Sighing at the incompetency of her comrades as they indulged themselves and their carnal desire for combat with only their sheer amount of experience as well as their unorthodox fighting styles keeping them (mostly) out of life-threatening trouble, she jumped over a salvo of torpedoes before marching on, spotting Hatsuharu getting roughly thrown onto the ocean as a Ne-Class heavy cruiser manhandled her and flung her into the distance to fire a torpedo salvo at her without getting injured by the blast wave, a lone enemy dive bomber tag-teaming the Abyssal to deliver death from above.

Unryuu noted Akashi flinging her operating hook towards the Kai Ni destroyer, Kiso cleanly evading the Ne-Class's tails firing their shells and decapitating the Abyssal heavy cruiser whilst in mid-air too late to stop her from firing her torpedoes, and Unryuu had already sent out her Type 0 Model 52 Fighter Plane to the rescue.

Akashi's hooks, when used in combat, were capable of being electro-magnetized through insulated copper wires within the steel ropes the instant contact was made so that even if her hook inexplicably slipped from the position it lodged itself into on someone's rigging or steel skin, there was still a good chance it would be attracted to a metallic surface for Akashi to reel them in, regardless of whether it was a ship girl or Abyssal.

Luckily, Akashi's hook snagged one of the mechanical arms on Hatsuharu's rigging while Unryuu's Model 52 Type 0 Fighter shot down the Abyssal Dive Bomber and detonated its payload prematurely, Akashi speedily twisting her body whilst yanking on the steel wire to pull her away from the incoming torpedo salvo and the descending fireball which engulfed the enemy dive bomber, Hatsuharu being thoroughly drenched in seawater as it went into her sleeveless sailor uniform top, skirt and ultimately into her face as she could only utter an unintelligible,

"Blarahghhahurgh!"

But the destroyer was at least pulled out of the projected travel path of the enemy torpedoes as they silently passed by, while Unryuu's Type 0 Fighter pulled up in time to avoid getting caught in the fiery explosion and hitting the ocean surface as Unryuu redirected her other fighter planes to back up their allied bombers in order to make sure that they didn't get shot down before they dropped their payloads and flew back to their carriers in order to reload.

And as the Kai Ni destroyer recovered, it was clear that Hatsuharu's fabulous mop of hair now looked even worse than Unryuu's drenched hair as it hung from the back of her head like a gigantic, purple paintbrush, Hatsuharu gasping, hacking and coughing in order to clear her airways as Akashi retrieved her steel hook.

The Hatsuharu-Class destroyer even allowed herself to spit out seawater like a hardened sailor before recovering some of her elegance by snapping her fan (which was miraculously still in her hand) open, breathing heavily as she looked down and expressed her genuine gratitude at being rescued from an explosive death.

"Tha…

Thank you, Unryuu-san, Akashi-san."

But Unryuu and Akashi had already turned back and were sailing away, the repair ship idly waving her hand about whilst remarking offhandedly.

"I don't need your thanks!

I just need you to get good!"

And upon hearing her saviors treat her rescue in such an inconsequential manner, despite knowing how they operated on the battlefield, the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer still looked crestfallen at being treated like small fry despite having attained her Kai Ni remodel, nodding once as she answered forlornly,

"Yes, Akashi-san."

But Unryuu and Akashi had already left her behind, not caring of her emotional state, only that she did her job.

Although they had the element of surprise, were fighting on their own turf and had a solid yet flexible strategy on their side, losses were a naturally recurring part of battle, and in such a large-scale battle, for every five Abyssals they sank, they ran the risk of one ship girl either becoming heavily damaged, killed or sunk outright as Unryuu saw the pop-ups appear on her HUD.

'UPDATING COMBINED FLEET SHIP GIRL STATUS

PLEASE WAIT…'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND  
SHOUHOU-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 113  
"ZUIHOU"  
STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND  
KAGEROU-CLASS DESTROYER 167  
"ISOKAZE"  
STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND  
UNRYUU-CLASS CARRIER 202  
"AMAGI"  
STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND  
NAGARA-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 045  
"YURA"  
STATUS: SUNK'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL SIGNAL LOST  
KAMIKAZE-CLASS DESTROYER 276  
"KAMIKAZE"  
STATUS: SUNK'

Ship girls were crying out in pain, in aggression or in anguish all around her, and although she tuned these voices out with the implementation of her doctrine, she ignored the sight of light cruisers and destroyers dumping depth charges en masse around the battlefield to deny the submerged Abyssals space to move about and destroy them from beneath as she went against her own doctrine, thinking about her sister Amagi.

If Amagi, despite standing so far behind the front lines, was killed in action, it could be anything which got to her.

Submarine, torpedo, bomber, large-caliber shell, missile.

She should have-

Upon feeling an enemy medium-caliber shell bounce off her abdomen and inflict a pang of pain sharper than that of starvation-induced agony coupled with a punch to the gut, Unryuu quickly dispelled these thoughts of 'what if's, because they were nothing but distractions from the present, hastily checking her surroundings as she continued moving, for to stay still on the battlefield was to invite someone to take a shot at you, as demonstrated.

If that was a large-caliber shell which hit-

' _Shut up!'_

Unryuu mentally ordered herself as she sent out more torpedo bombers before recalling planes which were running low on fuel, suppressing the self-chastising mood she was getting into as she checked the wounds she incurred, a blue-black mark marring her left forearm while several Abyssal armor shards were still embedded in her flesh after blocking a shell for Hayasui.

Her abdomen was starting to bleed a little as the shell had partially worked its way into her skin armor before losing momentum and dropped back into the ocean, but other than that, she was fine.

As to Amagi…

Unryuu reminded herself of the Five Remembrances, and Number 4 read,

' _I must be separated and parted from all that is dear and beloved to me.'_

Part of her doctrine was to accept that everything and everyone was ultimately expandable and would eventually leave or die.

Admiral Mako, herself, Amagi, even her teammates.

They would eventually leave her, and she stressed the prevention of attachment or lust (in the non-sexual sense), where the desire to be reunited with her loved ones could be manipulated and warped upon death to turn a ship girl into an Abyssal, and if one were capable of cutting these bonds at any time should someone sink, be it oneself or someone close, it was quite simple for the practitioner to accept it all as an eventuality in order to detach herself emotionally from the situation to prevent unwanted fallout.

As much as she wanted to break down and cry over her beloved sister's death, it would do nothing but adversely affect her performance, and in this situation, she couldn't afford that.

Besides, they could be revived, so knowing that greatly diminished the threat of death in her eyes, yet she still found it puzzling how some ship girls cried when it was clear that their deceased sister ships could be revived.

Looking back at the front lines, she simply thought to herself,

' _Sorry, Amagi-nee.'_

Before swallowing the lump in her throat and sailed on, suppressing all thoughts about her sister in order to solely focus on mapping out an attack plan for her flock of Reppu fighters, Ryuusei torpedo bombers and Suisei dive bombers.

The _Flying Dutchman_ didn't let up on its missile barrage, and when a red circle appeared on her HUD, ship girls and Abyssals alike ran out of the way, diving onto the ocean surface and hugging it for dear life as the missile devastated everything within its blast radius, the Abyssal high command having no qualms about firing danger close as they were more concerned with crowd control.

Unryuu detected the Abyssal jet fighters as they traded shots with several JASDF and USAF jet fighters who still possessed enough fuel to fight on, looking up at a F-22 Raptor duking it out with an Abyssal F/A-18 E Super Hornet, their Fairy planes unable to keep up with the improved performance specs of the modern jet fighters and could only play a spectator role.

That was fine.

Unryuu knew that their flight technology had limits, and the military brass knew that unless they sent out enough jet fighters to engage the Abyssal jet fighters, they'd lose air superiority as the Abyssal jet fighters, modeled after existing military jet fighters of various countries, could fly circles around their relatively outdated Fairy planes.

Another fireball majestically ballooned before dissipating, causing a roasting Abyssal to erupt in a harsh explosion of burning fuel and steel in a contained space that was her body, the intense heat warping the air above it as Unryuu saw Hayasui squeal in glee over the sight of Abyssals burning and writhing in agony, looking entranced by the fires which she created as she muttered.

"The flames…

They just dance so beautifully, don't they?"

Before unleashing another controlled jet of fuel at the retreating Abyssals, who were forced to leave behind their comrades as they were dropped by the fire, devolving into a screaming, writhing mess on the ocean surface for Akitsu Maru to deliver the killing blow with her Kagutsuchi katana and Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun.

The fuel spray caught an unfortunate Ne-Class heavy cruiser who didn't get out of her flamethrower's range quickly enough, igniting her clothes while the flaming fuel seared its way into the Abyssal's bare flesh, both the Ne-Class and her twin tails crying out in agony as the latter wildly fired off shells in its series of fits and feral spasms upon being immolated, three voices calling out at once.

 _[AHHH!]_

 _[GRRRAAAGGHH!]_

 _[NNHHGAAHH!]_

And even though the Ne-Class still had her wits about her to do the Stop, Drop and Roll maneuver, Akitsu Maru placing her barrel next to the downed Abyssal's head right before emptying two shotgun rounds into the Ne-Class's head at point-blank range caused the flaming Abyssal to convulse as though suffering an epileptic seizure for a split second, before ceasing its death throes and sinking back into the ocean.

The sight of the Abyssal's steel skull breaking apart like a porcelain pot didn't faze her in the slightest, and neither did the spilling of the brain matter and the cerebrospinal fluid which were all previously enclosed within the shattered dome that was her skull, watching one bloodshot, glazed-over eye idly bob on the ocean as it was connected to what remained of her heavily charred head by the bundles of steel wire that was her optic nerve.

The still-twitching eyeball slowly sank with the rest of her corpse as the cerebrospinal fluid and blood which floated around her head loitered about on the ocean surface along with the burning fuel which wormed its way into the neck through the well-done tongue and throat, Unryuu stepping away as the corpse was cooked and illuminated from within and unwittingly exuded a noxious perfume of burning human flesh before going under.

She heard someone retching behind her, only bothering to look behind and see the bent-over form of a pallid Maikaze throwing up chunks of undigested breakfast along with vomit into the sea while Shigure patted her back, sighing as she focused on her own comrades, Akitsu Maru cheerily speaking up as she swung her flaming katana towards the neck of an evading Ri-Class and quipped merrily.

"Ah, well, remember kids!

It's best to not to lose your head in the heat of combat!

 _Ahahaha!"_

With her radar granting her increased situational awareness, Unryuu directed another dive bomber to attack a partially submerged Ro-Class Abyssal in order to prevent it from targeting Hayasui and her vulnerable rigging as the pyromaniac fleet oiler worked with Akitsu Maru, the amphibious assault ship scattering black gunpowder onto the Wo-Class as she shouted,

"Cremating Flame of the Iron Sands!"

And retreated before Hayasui squeezed the trigger and unleashed yet another jet of flaming liquid onto the Wo-Class.

The Wo-Class's cry was nothing short of heart wrenching to the uninitiated as her cape was lit aflame and clung to her back while the naked flames licked her bare, pale skin.

 _[AAHH-]_

But it was cut off just as soon as the black powder ignited and produced a rapidly expanding, roaring-red fireball which drowned out her cries mid-scream with a booming _whoosh_ , her headdress producing flames from its deformed jaw and exhaust ports despite not being an Elite carrier, a brilliant display of ballooning fireballs enveloping the Abyssal carrier as she disappeared within it.

Akashi then called out,

" _Unryuu!_

 _Watch out!"_

Just a millisecond before Unryuu tensed up from her teammate calling her name out with such concern in her voice, taking in all of her environment at once and instinctively evaded to the left with numerous sorties' worth of experience behind her, feeling the brush of a powerful beam attack pass by her, but managed to scorch her right arm as she hauled her burnt arm away from the heated air surrounding the incoming beam.

Smoke wafted from it as she felt the relatively cool air send signals of pain up her hand as first-degree burns reddened the surface of her forearm and part of her palm up to her ring finger, consciously trying to stop the tremors which plagued her arm while her spine tingled with the pangs of pain, as well as the grim thought of the beam attack burning a hole through her body had she been a sec-

Focus.

She shut these thoughts out of her mind as she betrayed no weaknesses or pain with her gaze and instead focused her attention on the enemy before her, a Re-Class aviation battleship standing with a Northern Water Princess as the former had a smoking tail to indicate its recent use of a beam attack, and backing them up was the 1st Fleet of Yokosuka along with the makeshift escort fleet from before, since they couldn't count on the fleets of other naval bases to back them up without being repulsed by their tactics and possibly be scarred for life.

The Northern Water Princess wasn't wearing her brimless top hat, instead wearing a black tiara on her long, snow-white hair whole on the crown of her head was a lone _ahoge_ swaying with the wind, but the 'cape' cloaking her unfortunately wasn't doing the same as it was actually a large, balloon-like Beast on her back which was attached to her back, covering whatever indicators which might give them a clue as to whether the Princess herself had actual, humanoid arms.

The Beast occupied the space directly behind the Princess, a grey, spherical body stuck to her back with a hood and cape on the upper half on the Beast along with a chimney column sticking out of the 'hood' as it, along with two other exhaust ports, belched out black-red smoke, unlike its 'top hat' mode which puffed out blue smoke to indicate an undamaged and thus less imposing and powerful form, two sets of fat, grey-colored arms with stubby fingers protectively hugging its Princess and attending to her large-caliber cannons.

The Northern Water Princess had blood-red irises as the corners of her eyes emitted red flames in her limit-break mode, and just atop her generous bosom was a chest-guard, not unlike the Wo-Class's throat guard but more resembling a necklace which was located closer to her cleavage as she wore pure-white thigh-high stockings which seamlessly transitioned into high-heels, and the only two things which barely protected her modesty were,

One, her messy Godiva hair which covered her nipples while the Beast's 'cape' upper half covered half of each breast, and,

Two, a mini- _mini_ triangular-shaped, black-colored steel plate stuck to her nether regions with no strings for support, and the the world's smallest Post-It note _cut into quarters_ could easily provide more cover than what passed for 'clothes' according to the Abyssals' standards.

And the Abyssal Princess had the gall to stand with her legs slightly spread apart.

That didn't stop her from boasting intimidating firepower, health and armor in an unholy trinity, and the closest thing the Princess had to 'humanoid' arms were two humongous, jet-black bionic arms that had three thick fingers, the girth of each easily matching a tree trunk while its 12 Inch Triple Gun Cannons were mounted on the top of each wrist like watches.

Its forearms led back up where the Princess's humanoid arms were supposed to be while its elbows were supported by the Beast, and throughout her armed contraption and even on the large-caliber cannons were cracks, gaps and openings in the armor plates where red light seeped out, shaped like hellish veins which pulsed with energy, ready to crush any ship girls caught within its iron grasp with overwhelming mechanical strength.

The Re-Class's tail breathed out the smoke which was an aftereffect of the hyper beam attack and almost looked like a smoker exhaling after a puff, the Re-Class herself whining,

[Ahh, we almost got one of them with my attack…]

Her gaze hardened as she scanned the ship girl horde for signs of one specific ship girl, asking them threateningly when she couldn't find her desired target.

[Where is Kitakami?

I'm certain she's from Yokosuka, and you bitches from the 8th are also infamous for being Yokosuka's dark horse.]

Pointing to Kiso while her Beast, Quetzalcoatl, growled menacingly, the Re-Class finished her sentence while ship girls and Abyssals alike gave them a wide berth in anticipation of a heated battle which they wanted absolutely no part of, since it involved an ax-crazy Abyssal aviation battleship and a Princess against the dreaded 8th Fleet.

[And since I know you're related to her, Little Miss Chuunibyou, I'll make it simple.

 _Since she isn't here, how loud do I have to make you squeal in pain to get her to double-time it here and meet me again?]_

Unryuu could hear Hayasui, Akashi and Akitsu Maru drawing back and speaking in hushed breaths,

"Ooohhhh…"

"That was a sick line."

"Yep."

And it was the fact that their muscles were coiled in anticipation and their fingers were on the triggers of their weapons in order to respond to any attack at the drop of a hat, as well as a lot of self-restraint on her part which stopped her from rolling her eyes in exasperation at the seemingly lax attitude of her comrades, scanning her sonar and radar for any oceanic and aerial threats and coordinating her fighter planes to ward them off.

Kiso smirked at the chance to kill powerful Abyssals in order to boost her reputation amongst the ship girls and Abyssals, as a so-called 'inspiring' figure for the former and certainly a fearsome enemy in the eyes of the latter, brandishing her cutlass as she retorted.

"The only way you're meeting my sister again is as a taxidermied Abyssal head which will be mounted outside the 8th Fleet's bedroom."

Akitsu Maru, Hayasui and Akashi all exploded into a chorus of,

" _OOOOHHHHH!"_

While back-stepping and holding their hands up in faux-surrender, and while Unryuu didn't appreciate the trash-talking which wasted precious time, the closest she got to expressing something resembling a laugh was exhaling sharply through her nose.

She saw that the ship girls supporting them, which consisted of Yokosuka's Hiei, Shigure, some other base's Shouhou in lieu of Junyou, Ayanami, Jintsuu and Naka in lieu of Tenryuu and Tatsuta, as well as Maikaze, Murakumo, Abukuma and Hatsuharu were looking extremely uncomfortable just by being in their presence and listening to their banter, and they looked really confused as to whether they should initiate the fight while chaos raged on around them.

The Re-Class growled menacingly, and Unryuu felt a large-caliber shell fly in from the direction of the _Flying Dutchman_ as she called out curtly,

" _Evade!"_

Everyone dispersed swiftly just as a water column was thrown up from the _Dutchman_ 's shell hitting the ocean with devastating force, Naka stumbling a little as the resulting tidal waves tripped her up a little.

But the _Dutchman_ 's danger close firing was nothing compared to the Re-Class, who leaned back on a coiled Quetzalcoatl and pulled her legs in before being catapulted into the air, everyone evading the salvo of large-caliber shells fired by the silent Northern Water Princess, but in their attempt to do so while the Re-Class was still in mid-air, the Re-Class Abyssal managed to throw everyone off-balance by pulling off a ground-pound which shook the very ocean beneath them.

Unryuu's fighter planes battled the Flying Fish Dive Bomber which the Re-Class sent out as well as the abomination which was the Patrolling Attack Hawk which the Northern Water Princess sent out, a one-eyed skull exposing sets of teeth without any lips, its flesh the signature Abyssal black as its triangular wings looked like the underside of a shoe with its horizontal grooves, and on its aft was something resembling a hybrid between a frog's webbed feet stretched out to become a vertical stabilizer fin, and its two legs were the only things which resembled her namesake as they were muscular grey talons with pitch-black claws.

It held a depth charge in their grasp, Unryuu struggling to recover from the Re-Class's ground pound as the Attack Hawk scouted its targets out with its neon-blue eye while evading her fighters' machine gun fire, Shouhou quick-firing several bombers and fighter planes to back Unryuu's planes up, because even if they were uncomfortable with the 8th Fleet's cavalier behavior, they still had to watch each other's backs in battle.

The Abyssal Flying Fish Dive Bomber made its dive by attacking Jintsuu, and she could see the panic in Jintsuu's eyes like a deer frozen in the headlights while Naka, losing her composure, bolted towards her sister and screamed,

" _JINTSUU!"_

But the Re-Class Abyssal used this as a chance to close the distance and try to sink either or both of the Sendai-Class light cruisers, screaming while consumed by her blood-lust.

 _[NOW YOU DIE, BITCH!]_

Akashi had other ideas, though.

Swinging her steel hook around before flinging it in the direction of the moving Re-Class, she managed to catch her scarf, her hoodie as well as one backpack strap, causing the Re-Class to lurch to a stop as her tail shot out towards Naka in order to finish the job, but Naka managed to see the attack coming due to Akashi stalling the aviation battleship's advance just long enough for her to spin out and hit the ocean as Quetzalcoatl's jaws clamped shut at the spot of air where Naka was previously at.

As for Jintsuu, Akitsu Maru managed to reach her and shove her out of the way as she aimed upwards and emptied a Dragon's Shell upwards with her shotgun, acting as a makeshift Type 3 'Beehive' Shell to pepper the diving Flying Fish Dive Bomber with an incendiary round in a narrow funnel full of fire and shards of flaming magnesium.

The Abyssal Dive Bomber emerged from the funnel of fire as a flaming wreck, and Akitsu Maru was no longer smiling or joking as she screamed into Jintsuu's ear,

"Move, bitch!"

While roughly hauling Jintsuu to her feet and shoving her out of the way, but like a dud grenade hitting the floor, unlike the spectacular explosion they were expecting, the falling wreck which was the aflame Flying Fish Dive Bomber and the comet trail of fire and smoke which it emitted plopped into the ocean with a pathetic little splash, and Unryuu directed her torpedo bombers to the Re-Class while all those who weren't part of the 8th Fleet tried to hold the Northern Water Princess at bay.

But aviation battleships weren't simply constrained to the confines of the ocean, the Re-Class using Quetzalcoatl to launch herself into the air as Shouhou's Tenzan and Type 97 Torpedo Bombers cross-fired their torpedoes with Unryuu's Ryuusei torpedo bombers, and Unryuu pulled Ayanami out of the way as Quetzalcoatl bent her tail forward and aimed its cannons in their general direction.

But Kiso flew in 'like a superhero' as she drawled,

"K-God in da house!"

She spun around in mid-air as she slashed the Re-Class Abyssal in the right forearm while the aviation battleship, despite her hotshot personality, did have some self-preservation skills and decent reflexes as she achieved moderate success in defending herself from the incoming Anti-Abyssal blade which was used to pull off a Flying Thunder God.

Her three shots went wide as Quetzalcoatl was distracted by Kiso's Flying Thunder God, Unryuu hearing Ayanami scream in fright as the incoming 16 Inch Cannon shells likely reminded her of her demise back in World War 2, at the hands of Washington the Battleship.

"AAHHH!"

But even as the shells missed them by a large margin, she knew that Ayanami would be incapacitated by the horrid flashbacks and the crippling fear as she shoved the shivering name-ship of the Ayanami-Class into Shigure's capable hands, gruffly ordering.

" _Keep an eye on her."_

Before turning back to the battlefield, watching Akashi fish another destroyer out of the water with her hook as it likely intended to even the odds in their favor by attempting a sneak attack.

The _Flying Dutchman_ was still raining missiles down on the battlefield, sending destroyers flying while other ship girls were busy engaging the horde of Abyssals in combat with help from the long-ranged Strike Groups positioned further behind as well as the jet fighters above, who were manned by human pilots.

And although it wasn't readily apparent over the chaotic and noisy battlefield, there were muffled cries and screams everywhere as ship girls cried over their legs being blown up by torpedoes and were lying down and sobbing about their lost limbs, or were bombarded by dive bombers and suffered extensive burns and lost body parts while others around them tended to their burn and internal injuries.

She knew that those injuries hurt, because she had suffered those exact same injuries before, and instead of sitting around and having others kiss her injuries (a completely unsanitary act in and of itself), she instead shut out the pain and powered on through sheer willpower.

Those who were strong and talented had the right to feel and express emotions, kindness and mercy on the battlefield, while the weak had to be ruthless and unfeeling in order to get an edge over others and close the disparity in terms of strength.

Few of her teammates outside of the 8th Fleet had understood that way of thinking, and to her, those who were outclassed and weak yet assumed that they had the right to express compassion, empathy, pain and fear in the heat of battle, and worse yet, be swayed and adversely affected by them at the most crucial of moments, were downright hopeless in her eyes.

Sighing as fought the Re-Class aviation battleship and the Northern Water Princess with a mad doctor, a pyromaniac, a chuunibyou with a hard-on for glory and often basked in the spotlight as well as an ax-crazy psycho with self-esteem issues, and she sighed before thinking to herself.

' _Why must I be burdened -_

* * *

 _'- with such shitty teammates?'_

Kiso kept herself airborne by alternate-firing her two 14 Cm Single Gun Cannons and quick-firing her boost gauge, thinking to herself as she landed on the ocean surface and physically strafed to her left in order to avoid another large-caliber shell.

' _Oh, well._

 _Even if they're weak, they aren't entirely useless either._

 _They're my bestest of friends, and that's why I accept and accompany them on sorties, when it's so clear that they're more fucked up than I am._

 _But when going up against stronger opponents, that's when they have to depend on someone as skilled and talented as me._

 _I'll just have to outshine them and steal the spotlight from them by being the MVP of this fight, nothing Kiso the Great can't handle._

 _Knowing them, they wouldn't mind, anyway.'_

She faced off against the Re-Class, who was honestly not the Abyssal she wanted to fight as the 1st Fleet and the escort destroyers faced off against the Northern Water Princess off in the distance.

The Re-Class's bleeding gash on her right forearm had already closed up, although the time needed to properly heal up from the damage dealt outstripped the battle's duration.

She had to end the battle here and join up with the 1st Fleet.

The glory she would receive from sinking the Northern Water Princess was outstripped by the genuine concern she had for the 1st Fleet, because despite the skilled destroyers that were a Kai Ni Murakumo and Hatsuharu along with a Kai Abukuma and Maikaze backing them up, the 1st Fleet was still woefully unprepared to take on a full-fledged Princess by themselves.

… Which meant this battle with the Re-Class was a time attack of sorts.

Well, it wasn't as if she was against taking up a challenge.

The Re-Class lunged forward as she fired Quetzalcoatl's two 12.5 Inch Twin Gun Cannons, introducing herself to Kiso as her cannons flared.

[I don't normally introduce myself to the prey I'm about to eat, but the name's WReck!

Not that you're going to live to remember it!]

Kiso replied as she readied her left torpedo launcher for what she had in mind next, coolly retorting.

"I don't introduce myself to scrubs trying too hard to matter when playing with the adults, the Northern Water Princess is who I'm really after.

Besides, you know my name."

That hit a sensitive spot in WReck's ego as her focused expression contorted with seething rage upon seeing others look down on her when stronger Abyssals were nearby, bolting forward and pulling her fist back for a sucker punch while Quetzalcoatl charged up another beam attack.

[Oh, yeah?!

Well, let's see how that attitude holds up when I shove my fist through your rib-cage!]

Kiso, understanding that although WReck was a small fry compared to the Northern Water Princess, she was still a credible threat to her survival, and as she strafed to avoid the Re-Class's blow which warped the air around her fist with its speed, she remarked.

"Oh well.

I suppose you can look, but don't touch.

Well, on second thought, you won't get to look either."

Before she performed a Shukuchi and blitzed out of WReck's sight, firing her prepped torpedo launchers in a broad salvo whilst evading what was arguably the Abyssal's strongest projectile attack, which was a crimson beam capable of annihilating anything less tanky than a heavy cruiser as it vaporized the sea it traveled over.

But learning high-level maneuvering techniques paid off as WReck, despite firing her cannons one at a time in order to lay down continuous fire, still couldn't hit Kiso, the Abyssal howling in frustration at the Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser.

[Stop. Moving!]

But Kiso ignored that in favor of detecting a whizzing sound headed in her direction and was quickly getting louder and nearer out of the corner of her eye, coupled with an incoming missile lighting up the spot of ocean right beneath her with a bright red circle on her HUD.

Joy.

Emptying whatever was left in her boost gauge, she managed to evade both threats as she sprinted out of the immediate blast radius which guaranteed instant death, springing up from the ocean surface with a gigantic bound which could easily clear a light cruiser's height.

The column of seawater which was thrown up by the _Flying Dutchman_ 's large-caliber shell was nothing compared to the missile's shock-wave which threw her off-balance while in mid-air, but as a torpedo cruiser who had spent a lot of time in the air, she shook off the water which engulfed and weighed her down as she kept track of her airborne orientation to get into a landing posture which allowed her the opportunity to evade anything quickly, noticing WReck running in to try and catch her off-guard when she landed.

But an army-green sphere smacking into and rebounding off of WReck's left arm exploded instantly as Akitsu Maru ran in, having cooked the grenade beforehand before throwing it as a distraction in order for her to run in with her Anti-Abyssal Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun and cover Kiso's landing, mockingly calling.

"Hey, bitch, time for your meal!

It's full of nutritious 12 Gauge shells with a healthy serving of _FUCKING DEAD!"_

Before emptying five 12 Gauge shells at WReck without having to pump the shotgun in order to reload, her shoulders, bosom and head shaking slightly with every shot fired.

But Akitsu Maru had the body of a young adult, and she managed the recoil rather well as Kiso whipped out her 14 Cm Single Gun Cannon and joined Akitsu Maru's hail of gunfire, allowing Unryuu the chance to direct her torpedo bombers in for the kill.

But WReck was tougher than they expected as she shrugged off the 12 Gauge rounds despite obviously being hurt to some extent, screaming at the top of her voice while Quetzalcoatl whipped around to find a convenient target to take down.

 _[Enough!_

 _Let's kill them, Quetzalcoatl!]_

Her sentient tail roared in agreement and produced a minuscule shock-wave in the process, and they homed in on a seemingly vulnerable Hayasui, but Akashi, Kiso and Unryuu were as thick as thieves as they ran to save Hayasui, Unryuu swinging her conducting staff and causing it to splinter into dozens of steel bits as it came into contact against the back of WReck's steel skull much like a baseball player performing his wildest swing, except with superhuman strength.

Akashi went to work on WReck by flicking her wrists, jumping onto Quetzalcoatl and using a combat knife to dig into the tail's steel flesh and act as a grip as she called out, her eyes consumed by the blood-lust which was reflected in her bloody uniform, the caked blood on her skin and the deadly glint in her eyes.

" _Let's see how your little pet cries when I dissect it before your very eyes._

 _Besides, I always wanted to determine how long your tail would remain alive if sundered from you."_

Slyly and sensually evading Quetzalcoatl's coiling form, WReck's tail attempted to shake off the repair ship who was atop WReck and was uncomfortably close for a medic-slash-surgeon who had her tools out and had a dangerous look in her eyes, Akashi continuing her Bucking Bronco with Quetzalcoatl as she continued.

" _Would it die instantly from lack of signals coming from you, or would it be another case of Mike the Headless Chicken and live on for awhile before expiring?_

 _For science, of course."_

Unryuu brought up her boat slipper in order to slam it into the Re-Class's kneecap from the side, and this caused WReck's leg to buckle as Akitsu Maru fired one 12 Gauge round into the temple of WReck's head.

It likely wasn't going to kill the Abyssal as its skull was likely reinforced to give her a thick skull (which would explain much of her behavior).

But hey, it wore down WReck's defense, and dealing some damage was better than no damage.

WReck's head snapped to the side as 12 Gauge shells were driven into her steel skull while Akashi was drawing blood by slashing at Quetzalcoatl's body-slash-throat, Akashi's arms deftly swinging and flying around like a skilled cook preparing a high-class meal, the Abyssal tail thrashing around as it charged up another hyper beam at danger-close range.

Kiso saw that Unryuu, upon seeing a Ha-Class destroyer open up its bestial jaw while floating on the surface of the ocean in order to fire the cannon within its jaw, spun the cracked half of her conducting staff, placing both hands on it in order to flex her carrier strength, arm veins bulging slightly as she straightened the slightly warped pole before she held it up like Zeus holding up his lightning bolt and harpooned the Abyssal destroyer as though flinging a spear.

The projectile flew true as it entered the Ha-Class's jaw barrel, the Abyssal destroyer only managing to gurgle a little in response as its jaw twitched in trying to clamp down on the foreign object and failing at that, blood leaking from the sides of its mouth and its bionic eye unfocusing before sinking back into the ocean.

But WReck saw this coming as she got Quetzalcoatl to bite down on her teammate with the hyper beam partially charged, Kiso cringing as she saw the searing jaw clamp down on Unryuu's left shoulder and collarbone, but the so-called 'silver lining' was that Quetzalcoatl simply tore off Unryuu's shoulder by utilizing its jaw muscles to shear through Unryuu's fairly thin carrier armor, Unryuu's burning flesh and bone bearing the full brunt of the close-range hyper beam shortly after.

Kiso felt herself shouting out with genuine concern, barely-restrained emotions choking up her voice as Unryuu hit the ocean hard.

 _"UNRYUU!"_

As Unryuu's flesh and bone in the tail's jaw was blown apart by the beam and dealt superficial damage to Quetzalcoatl itself, it succeeded in scaring the 8th Fleet away as Akashi disembarked the ride from hell, but she left behind a parting gift in the form of one last cut into Quetzalcoatl's flesh before she hauled a wounded Unryuu away from the scene, Kiso recognizing what Hayasui had been preparing as she threw herself before Unryuu, holding up her cape and holding out her arm out of genuine fear at what the fleet oiler was about to unleash, shouting while retreating.

"Get back, _get back!"_

Hayasui had relentlessly trained in order to improve her lung capacity to be able to breathe fire, holding the dislodged faux-cannon which was really a refillable kettle contraption in her left hand and a lighter in her right as her increased lung capacity, reputation for speedy sucking and fleet oiler job meant that she could retain a large amount of fuel in her mouth and spray it out as a fine mist.

And since their kind drank fuel on a daily basis and was powered by it, this attack was far less harmful to their bodies than compared to human performers of the same art, Hayasui naming her fire-breathing technique,

Dragon's Desolating Sigh.

The fuel spray would go over the naked flame produced by the lighter, and the result was a majestic display of a fire breathing technique taken to the extreme by their superhuman capabilities, a funnel of hell-fire shooting out of her mouth and engulfing the Abyssal battleship while Hayasui stood at a fair distance, because her increased lung capacity allowed her to propel the jet of flaming fuel away from her and increased the range of her attack.

That meant that WReck was engulfed in a ballooning fireball which, although not doing too much initial damage, ignited her clothes and dealt damage over time as the flames ate away at her armored flesh, tortuously burning through each layer of skin as the aviation battleship screamed in pain, Quetzalcoatl similarly emitting a pained, animal-like howl as it wildly fired shells everywhere, being overloaded with pain while the signals it received from WReck were garbled since they were both immolated, hence the unpredictable lashing out without sense or reason.

It was because of this reason which made her even more dangerous than before, Kiso now shielding Akashi as she stabilized Unryuu's condition while she fired her 14 Cm Single Gun Cannon for what it was worth, and Akitsu Maru joined Hayasui in their attempt to keep pressuring the Abyssal aviation battleship, emptying 12 Gauge rounds into the Re-Class battleship in order to buy time for Hayasui to take another swig of fuel before unleashing another Dragon's Desolating Sigh, Akitsu Maru excitedly shouting out a rather suggestive order.

"Blow her!

 _BLOW HER!"_

Hayasui held up one middle finger with the hand which gripped her lighter, but WReck managed to punch the ocean once more to throw them all off-guard, Kiso managing to circumvent the move by propelling herself forward into a running jump over the tidal waves.

Hayasui was left rocking about on the ocean surface, but Kiso made her presence known by shouting,

" _INCOMING!"_

Quetzalcoatl, noticing her approach, fired off a shell in her direction as WReck's flaming, serpentine tail did its best to hold itself steady despite being set on fire, but the medium-caliber shell only managed to tear Kiso's black cape as she boosted while in mid-air to change direction and descend quickly.

As the Re-Class shifted its attention back to Hayasui as she was the less mobile and more immediate threat, Kiso reached her in time to pull her rigging and the back of her blazer, planting her boat slipper onto the sea and added more spin into Hayasui's spinning dodge as they evaded Quetzalcoatl's attack, which involved firing its large-caliber cannons where Hayasui once stood.

The fleet oiler unleashed another Dragon's Desolating Sigh on Quetzalcoatl's burning, elongated neck-slash-body, causing the flaming tail to writhe about in unthinkable pain, swinging wildly and lashing out as Kiso dragged Hayasui down onto the ocean surface in order to avoid getting sideswiped and hurt by the flailing, burning Abyssal tail.

The Re-Class, in its attempt to Stop, Drop and Roll, likely decided to just dive back into the ocean in order to extinguish the flames which clung to her skin and burning hoodie, a large plume of smoke wafting from where WReck disappeared into the ocean.

And upon WReck crash-diving to escape the fight, Kiso pushed Hayasui off of herself and ran over to Akashi and Unryuu.

Unryuu's relatively thin armor stood no chance against Quetzalcoatl's bite force, but Quetzalcoatl's scalding-hot teeth shearing through Unryuu's flesh managed to cauterize the wound before Unryuu bled out, making Akashi's job easier.

 _Relatively_ easier.

Unryuu's breathing was still ragged and shallow after Quetzalcoatl chewed off her left shoulder and collarbone, which in turn sundered her entire left arm from her body, the body part lost to the ocean but could be picked up by a fellow submarine, several of whom were patrolling underwater.

Her skin was still pallid and glossed with sweat due to the shock of losing so much blood with the loss of an arm along with the burn injuries inflicted by Quetzalcoatl's searing jaws, but Unryuu's trembling, supine body was coming back under the stoic carrier's control as her eyes, although unfocused, still shone with the stubborn refusal to roll over and die.

Kiso leaned in as ship girls who were part of the backup Strike Groups formed a defensive perimeter around the wounded, but they were on the peripheral of Kiso's attention scope as she leaned in to ask Akashi with a grim expression.

"How bad is it?"

Akashi was suturing parts of the bleeding wound which the internal valves failed to shut off with help from her medical Fairies, answering bluntly.

"She's seriously damaged when WReck's tail tore off part of her chest.

Good thing Unryuu immediately threw herself onto the ocean to quash the flames before the internal fuel valves shut off fuel flow to the affected area, which was heated up by the charged hyper beam.

Otherwise, instead of a Cloud Dragon, we'd have a Burning Dragon followed by a Charred Dragon soon after."

Unryuu furrowed her profusely sweating brows upon hearing that, but her bosom slowed down its rapid rise and fall as she attempted to get up despite her injuries, speaking coldly.

" _I can still fight."_

Kiso narrowed her eyes as she asked dubiously about the carrier's weakened state.

"Uh, yeah, no, bitch.

Besides, without your conducting cane, this would mean that that more brainpower is needed to send out, direct and land your planes, further putting a strain on your mind and slowing down your reaction time.

Stay down."

But Unryuu's eyes had already iced over like her heart and mind as she retorted.

" _They can bleed me white, they can kill me, but they will never stop me._

 _Let me back int-"_

Before Akashi placed a hand on Unryuu's right shoulder, looking her in the eyes with a dead-serious expression as she requested.

"Hey, Unryuu?

Need you to stand up, there's something I want to help you out with.

I'm also a little afraid of getting bombed when you're still lying down, so please."

Everyone narrowed their eyes upon hearing that, but one thing about the military was that they were already lucky enough to have a repair ship sortie regularly with them, and the last thing they should do was to question Akashi's orders.

The circular perimeter formed a defensive wall of Anti-Air fire and torpedoes as Akashi held Unryuu's right arm to help her up, Unryuu's shapely legs wobbling like a newborn foal underneath her miniskirt despite her focused expression looking as if she were trying to do so without assistance, and Akashi released one hand to point at Unryuu's exposed abdomen as she ordered with a deadpan expression.

"Kiso, punch her solar plexus with all your might, please."

Kiso's eyes flew open as did Unryuu's, but before the Unryuu-Class carrier could use her one working arm to defend herself, Kiso flexed her arm as she put her teammate down by delivering a mortal blow to a weak spot which they all shared as humanoids, Akashi now using both hands to hold Unryuu's working arm back.

Unryuu released one hell of a cough with drops of blood being spat out from her mouth and onto Kiso's clothes, swiftly doubling over as Kiso's fist made contact with her bare abdomen while the white-haired carrier's legs buckled and spasmed, her carrier strength leaving her as she looked up and asked, no longer maintaining her stoic persona as her voice was more of surprise, perhaps even bewilderment upon seeing her teammates put her down for her own sake.

"Et tu, Kiso…?"

Before hitting the ocean hard, her face slamming into the ocean as Akashi squatted down and held her up by the collar to prevent her from inhaling seawater before pointing to Kuroshio and Samidare and giving orders to them, Kiso's attention already shifting to the 1st Fleet's battle with the Northern Water Princess.

"You, and you.

Escort Unryuu back to whatever base has docks available."

The two destroyers looked unsure of what was going on and what they were to do, Kiso sympathizing with them as they had seen the 8th Fleet in action, and then saw a repair ship order one ship girl to put down another, then ordering them to cart the unconscious carrier back home.

But Kiso, like Akitsu Maru, Akashi and Hayasui, had no more time to think about teammates whose well-being she couldn't change anymore, running towards the 1st Fleet and the supporting destroyers to get back in the fray and help those who were still alive and well.

* * *

Hiei realized that they were in quite a pinch.

Even as the members of the 8th Fleet came in to back them up, Abukuma and Maikaze were already down for the count, and in the case of the former, she was suffering from a bad case of dead.

Having your body crushed like an insect in the palm of the Northern Water Princess's deadly grasp would do that to you.

They fired everything they had in order to get the Northern Water Princess, calling herself Helena and her Beast Atlas as she seemingly carried her spherical Beast around on her back, to release Abukuma from her cast-iron grip as she screamed in a ghastly tone.

Oh, how she screamed…

Hiei shivered at how bones were crushed and vessels broke to ooze out a mixture of fuel and blood, and the life slowly left the light cruiser's eyes as her rabid thrashing in order to break free slowly gave way to teary begging, then finally uncontrolled sobbing which became increasingly muted and difficult with every breath as the life was squeezed from her body, Hiei unfortunately being at the perfect angle to see Abukuma's lifeless eyes roll up while blood flowed from every orifice as her rib-cage and her vital organs within were all now mush, her expression a rictus of absolute agony as Abukuma's cheeks were stained by tears flowing from the deceased light cruiser's eyes, her HUD reading.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

NAGARA-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 110

"ABUKUMA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Hiei wondered if she would be able to interact with Abukuma again without having a flashback to this very moment, or be able to sleep without hearing her grisly scream ringing in her ears and her final moments replaying in her mind for the next few weeks, trying to hide the slight tremor in her limbs when facing off against Helena the Princess.

Naka was dragging Abukuma's corpse around as the Nagara-Class light cruiser's body was warped by the crushing force on her body, splintered bones protruding from her rib-cage, shoulders and arms as blood and fuel leaked out from blue-black wounds, her bloodied uniform forming a unsightly depression as the mechanical hand pressed down on her and caused internal damage which required a dip in the docks to recover from.

Her collarbone and shoulders were also completely broken since Helena pressed down on Abukuma's shoulders and guts while her steel thumb pressed on her back and broke her spine, her limp shoulders flopping about like vomit-inducing Jello and making it extremely hard for Naka to try and hold her, as her broken shoulders slid out of Naka's grasp and hit the ocean.

The fact that Helena the Princess had called down a missile on their location didn't help matters any, Naka looking increasingly panicked about whether to leave Abukuma to die or not.

But as she fired her large-caliber cannons and saw them smash into the bubble shield of the Northern Water Princess, she saw that hooks flew out to catch Naka and Abukuma, Akashi hooking the two of them and hauling them backwards, with help of Kiso's Kai Ni strength lifting them clean off the ocean surface as though pulling fish out of the water while Naka screamed at the surprise move.

" _KYAAAA!"_

She was concerned about their well-being as the fireball didn't seem to engulf them, but it managed to block her view of the two light cruisers while the smoke surrounding Helena cleared to show red plates radiating from where her shells hit the shields as they diffused the force of the impact to prevent any one plate from outright breaking, Helena noting the presence of new ship girls as she asked coolly,

[Foolish...

Sink into the chilly place…]

But Kiso brandished her bloody cutlass before her, her torn cape billowing dramatically in the wind as she drawled, looking absolutely confident of their odds of victory.

If the 8th Fleet was still looking so chipper about facing down a Princess, she surmised that Unryuu, the missing member which was present when they faced off against the Re-Class, was likely hauled off in a medevac either in an unconscious or dead state.

"Well, your little Abyssal comrade literally ran with her tail between her legs as we trashed her.

We're now backing our little teammates up, since they look as if they're having trouble in trying to take you down."

Hiei tensed up as she noticed additional Abyssal signatures backing the Princess up, and the Northern Water Princess noticed them too as she barely turned her head to acknowledge their presence before turning back to face them, traces of a smirk forming on her face as she retorted.

[Well…

Looks like you should have brought more friends…]

But Hiei, strangely, was somewhat reassured by the next boast which the Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser threw out there, because even though the 8th Fleet's members were eccentric, and their methods were bloody and unorthodox despite being effective, their familial bonds with each other, easygoing attitude and unwavering confidence in their own skills at least allowed those around them to believe that they could ultimately get the job done.

"Hmph.

I don't need friends.

The 8th Fleet are as close to me as my sisters are, and they're all I'll ever need to sink you.

Now then…"

The ship girls tensed up for the battle with the Northern Water Princess and her posse of Abyssals, Hiei suppressing a strong shiver which ran down her spine at the thought of someone else dying or sinking on her watch, focusing on coming out alive with everyone else while Kiso lifted her eye-patch, firing up her spotlight eye as she asked coldly.

 _"Shall we dance?"_


	47. Chapter 47 - Titanomachy 2

**Author's Notes**

 _Playing games with gacha are such a pain, and yet I come back for more._

 _I have a feeling Fate Grand Order is never going to give me Artoria Saber, Jeanne d'Arc Ruler or both their Alters, Nero, Saber Lily, Medusa Rider,_ _Scáthach Lancer, Gorgon or Passionlip._

 _I fear this is going to turn out like IdolMaster Starlight Stage where Star jewel-drawing so many times and playing for so long only nets me only one SSR (Which isn't even one of my many waifus), and I'm getting Vietnam flashbacks over it._

 _Well, at least I have Boudica and Shielder, they are rather well-endowed._

* * *

Hiei pumped her left leg to evade to the right as Helena's large-caliber cannons fired, narrowly missing her while Murakumo, Shigure, Ayanami, Hatsuharu all fired their torpedoes in a combined salvo.

She saw Kiso and Akashi engage the Princess's posse which included two Ri-Class heavy cruisers, a Wo-Class carrier, two Ho-Class light cruisers and three I-Class destroyers.

They dispersed as Helena's mechanical arms opened up a cache of torpedoes where her wrists were, firing them into the ocean while holes opened up on her palms, ominous red lights dazzling the frightened ship girls as Murakumo yelled, firing the cannons on the mechanical arms of her rigging as she did so.

"Move!

That's two hyper beams charging up in her palms!

I'll try to draw her attention, so go!"

Murakumo had voluminous, billowing white hair as cut-off locks along her face were tied up with red ribbons, and her hair was flipped over her boxy rigging which was modeled after her real-life warship's superstructure, extending two mechanical arms with platforms at the ends as these platforms housed her Improved 12.7 Cm Twin Gun High-Angle Turrets for her to ward off enemy planes.

An anchor was attached to the bottom of her rigging for close-quarters engagement, and on the top of her head were two mechanical ears resembling rabbit ears with their sharp tips.

Her white dress had black buttons in a square formation on her gut while a red tie was laid down along her uniform with a tie clip holding it in place, and on the fringe of her dress was a dark-blue trim while her legs were entirely covered by her black pantyhose, and her black school shoes had red soles fused to the rudder-esque high heels.

Red wires led from where her lapels were supposed to be all the way to her sleeves, where similarly-colored cut-off brush ornaments were fastened to as they swung about wildly, Murakumo evading and firing her Anti-Abyssal turrets in order to destroy the Abyssal dive bombers and fighters which swarmed them.

Hiei fired two of her large-caliber cannons while getting in close, watching Jintsuu run in with Naka as she spoke up, having recovered during the 8th Fleet's banter with the Northern Water Princess in order to become the hardened veteran that she was, like everyone else.

"Naka, let's do this!

Follow my lead!"

And Naka loyally followed suit as she kept a low profile, jumping over one torpedo as she traded shots with the Ho-Class Abyssal before answering without a second thought.

"Of course, Jintsuu-chan!

Let's get them!"

Approaching quickly behind them was another ship girl fleet, recognizing that they were the 3rd Fleet of the Miura Naval Base which had been with them at Mikura Jima Island.

And like before, they consisted of Haruna, Kasumi, Naka, Hibiki, Kitakami and Ooi to back them up in battle.

She heard Kasumi loudly announce their arrival and intentions,

"What up, scrubs!

We're back for more and I just got my Kai Ni remodel, so let's send these Abyssals back to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch where they belong!"

Before they fired their cannons in unison, Hiei joining in the cannon salvo to try and take down as many Abyssals as possible before she saw several red circles pop up on her HUD, and she was located on the peripheral of one of these red circles, while other ship girls were smack right in the middle of where other missiles were projected to land.

Shit.

There was nothing else she could do for everyone else, and she had to keep herself alive to make a difference, slamming her boat slippers into reverse as her stamina was finite, and despite being strong physically, she didn't want her legs to fail her at a crucial moment just because she overestimated her non-remodeled strength.

The missile came down like a meteor as it hit the ocean at breakneck speed, Hiei shielding her face and torso from the blast wave while her sense of hearing was protected from the drastic increase in volume by her internal mufflers which muted the explosion.

But even then, the detonation of the warhead's payload was enough to cause her to stumble back, and since her rigging was heavy and was stuck to her back, she fell on her bum while she heard other ship girls cry out at the amount of pressure the Abyssals were placing on them by firing so many missiles towards them.

But this wasn't her first time dealing with the wrath of this technological weapon, which allowed her to shake off the shock of the attack fairly quickly, gritting her teeth before focusing on leading her fleet as she shook the hollow ringing from her mind and powered on despite reading the pop-up on her HUD,

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

AKATSUKI-CLASS DESTROYER 072

"HIBIKI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Rolling over and pushing herself off the sea, she shouted into the radio for the other ship girls to hear, since the roar of the missile's shockwaves coupled with the din of the battlefield made communicating via shouting out orders nigh-impossible without the radio.

"Listen up!

We can't just allow them to pressure us without retaliating; fire back at them and whittle down their numbers!

Otherwise those who fight can't do so without fearing getting attacked by both the Princess and the Abyssals!"

Everyone nodded at that, and she saw that Kasumi, Shigure, the twin Nakas, Jintsuu and Ooi all fired their torpedoes, devastating (and in some cases, outright sinking) the Abyssals which got caught in the salvo, and even Helena, despite her Princess status, still reeled back from the impact of Ooi's accurate torpedoes threatening the integrity of her shields with a grunt.

[Grrrkkhh!]

Ooi smirking knowingly at how much of a threat she was, knowing how to keep her personal and professional lives separate as she focused on the Abyssals, calling out with narrowed eyes which belied her focus after putting aside her love for Kitakami.

"Let's see you bleed!"

But Helena had a quip ready for that, flames flowing from the corners of her eyes as she retorted.

[More ship girls… for target practice.]

Before unleashing her salvo of large-caliber shells, Hiei unfortunately hearing a ship girl cry out in a pained voice which was becoming horrifying familiar to the Kongou-Class battleship as one echoed by an injured teammate.

She heard Shouhou shout out a warning,

"Hiei-san!

Left!"

Following the order by pushing off her right leg and feeling the stress of doing so with her rigging on her back, Hiei exhaled sharply while she felt a shiver shoot up her spine at the sight of an enemy torpedo silently slipping past her boat slipper by a safe margin, wondering what would have happened had she questioned Shouhou's orders and was a split second later in doing so.

But her attention shifted back to the battle as the pressure didn't let up, torpedo bombers trying to take her down as she looked around at the planes which flew close to the ocean surface as per the procedure to drop their payload in the water, feeling conscious of her own expression shifting into one of increasing fright.

Damn it, were they trying to isolate her with torpedoes?

She suspected the Abyssals were trying to zone her out by firing torpedoes which threatened to hit her, forcing her to go around them, slowly goading her into making a mistake.

She couldn't keep up this intense dodge-ball with torpedoes forever, and she knew that the Abyssals knew this, because even though she wasn't weighed down as much as the slow battleships, as a compromise, her body was slightly, but significantly weaker in terms of strength.

But if she didn't use her physical abilities to evade, her escape options would be severely limited, and when they chose to focus her down with their birds and torpedoes…

But she saw on her radar that other ship girls protected her by forming a diamond formation around her, Ayanami coming within view as she did her best to reassure Hiei about how she wasn't alone in this, although it was clear that she was still shaken up by the Re-Class's 16 Inch shells reminding her of her sinking in the past.

"I… It's alright, Hiei-san.

We're here for you.

We'll cover you so that you can engage the Northern Water Princess with your large-caliber cannons, which are undoubtedly the only ones which are capable of breaking her shield's middle layer."

The Ayanami-Class name-ship then turned back to fire in the water, which was made easier by the fact that as humanoids, they could aim and depress their cannons in almost any orientation, but within reason.

Firing into the ocean, a torpedo bomber flew through the resulting water column and was surprised enough by the move to the point where it lost control and spun out.

Were it flying at a higher altitude, the Abyssal torpedo bomber could have easily recovered and pulled up in time to avoid kissing the ocean.

But alas, it was flying too close to the surface in order to perform its bombing run, and it hit the water at terminal velocity while her HUD displayed another casualty.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

SENDAI-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 047

"JINTSUU"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Another torpedo bomber, after being shot at and riddled with holes by the destroyers, was belching out smoke as it spun out and flew over Hiei's head, coming into view and spiralling into the ocean while she heard Shigure shout behind her.

"Hiei-san!

To the right!"

Hiei took Ayanami's hand as the two of them sailed in the direction of where Shigure shouted whilst firing their Anti-Air turrets, their Fairies opening fire at the fighters and dive bombers in a hail of white-hot Anti-Air rounds, Hiei trusting her teammates enough to believe that Shigure wouldn't give her false information.

Being a fast battleship had some advantages in that she was more maneuverable than an Ise, Nagato and Yamato-Class battleship, and as she saw the torpedo which Shigure spotted pass by her boat slipper, Ayanami was engulfed in seawater as the _Flying Dutchman_ 's large-caliber shell flew in again, hearing the familiar pitch of the incoming shell flying in from a blind angle and pulling her comrade towards her just as the Dutchman's shell flew by them and hit the ocean before them.

The sonic boom reached them as Hiei tried to blink away the seawater from her eyes while a column of seawater unceremoniously crashed down upon them, hearing Ayanami scream at a battleship's shell coming so close to killing her,

"AAAHHH!"

And she did her best to shield her destroyer teammate from the possible splash damage which might affect destroyers, but since she was made of tougher steel, she could handle it as the water drenched her miko uniform, hearing Shouhou shout their name out of concern.

"Ayanami-san! Hiei-san!"

She shook her head as she was suddenly thankful that her short hair wouldn't cling to her skin, which the long hair of others would have done so and hindered their sights and movement, feeling the cold air chill her skin through her drenched clothes as she guided Ayanami away from the swarm of fighter planes that were pressurizing her into making a mistake.

These machine gun rounds were the real deal, Hiei feeling these minuscule rounds bounce off her armored skin, yet deal stinging damage like ant-bites to humans as she shielded Ayanami, her Anti-Air turrets all firing upwards to try and ward them off as she squeezed her right eye shut after one round hit her slightly beneath the eyebrows, nearly grazing her eye as she flinched and cursed.

"Kkkhhh!

Fuck!"

She brought up her right hand to check for injuries just as she felt something cool streak down the side of her face, wiping the blood away from her eyes as she noted two I-Class destroyers standing at 45 degrees on both sides, both firing their torpedoes in their direction.

She fired one of her large-cannons in a Hail Mary shot, and by some inexplicable miracle, it managed to hit one of the two Abyssal destroyers as it sheared off the partially-submerged destroyer's skull due to her cannon caliber, and it left parts of the cannon barrel undamaged while the lower jaw hung loose from the lack of jaw muscles joining it with the brain and the upper jaw, sinking back into the ocean.

But the torpedoes were getting closer, and in her attempt to help Ayanami evade the incoming underwater projectile, she grabbed Ayanami underneath the armpits and lifted Ayanami clean off the ocean with her battleship strength, making sure not to inadvertently expose her teammate to more danger as she lifted her right boat slipper to let the torpedo pass by them both.

But Ayanami called out after looking at something behind her, Hiei spotting a red dot on her radar and feeling something coming up beneath the ocean,

"Behind you!"

Hiei strafed to the left to evade an Abyssal lining up for a shot behind them as Ayanami fired her handheld 12.7 Twin Gun Cannon, but she realized that the threats didn't all come from above and around her, shouting for Ayanami to take care of the submarine which was approaching their location while still submerged.

"Ayanami!

There's a submarine sailing around underwater, I need you to take care of it!"

Ayanami looked concerned about not laying down cover fire on the Abyssal behind her which allowed it to hit her, but she eventually relented as she reached into her rigging and pulled out a depth charge whilst storing her 12.7 Cm Twin Gun Cannon, twisting the two halves and pressing the activating button as per the two-step arming procedure before Hiei planted her back on the ocean, suddenly feeling a shell slam into her right shoulder blade.

It hurt as always since their clothes didn't provide any protection from the enemy's attacks, but as the waves of pain radiated from her shoulder while she felt her spine tingle from the pain, she did her best to shake off the pain as she heard the tossed depth charge hit the water in the distance after Ayanami threw it.

But a Ho-Class light cruiser fired its torpedo salvo at them both, and she held Ayanami by the back of her collar and rigging in order to desperately throw her into a spot of ocean where she would be safe from the torpedoes.

But this left her vulnerable as she tanked the Ho-Class's shots, shielding her face with her hands and fired back wildly, missing all of her shots while narrowly avoiding getting shot in the head as the shells struck her on the forearm, kidney, beneath her left collar bone and on her belly button, inhaling sharply as she involuntarily froze up from the pain despite her best attempts to keep moving, suddenly feeling the dread creep into her soul at the thought of dying by torpedoes blowing her legs up.

But a shadow sped into her field of vision as it managed to detonate the torpedoes prematurely before they reached Hiei, and the last thing she wanted was what she heard as a teammate cried out before her, using her held-up arm to shield herself from the detonation of the torpedo's warhead as someone's voice screeched out in agony.

No.

Uncaring of the searing heat which caused her skin to smoke a little or the blinding fireball which dissipated into smoke as she entered the ground zero of the explosion, her eyes narrowing as the intense heat hit her like a cushioned wave.

Kneeling down in an ocean of blood and guts, she saw that one of the two Nakas had taken the full brunt of the salvo since as an unremodeled light cruiser, she probably saw herself as less valuable than a Kongou-Class battleship, but that didn't stop her heart from breaking upon seeing the upper half of Naka lie down uselessly on the ocean surface.

In fact, that was all that was left of her as the torpedo detonation had taken off her legs as well as most of her ribs, and it was by some miracle that the explosion consumed but didn't set off the torpedo launchers on her hip, Fairies attempting to keep Naka afloat without her blown-off boat slippers by deploying motorized rafts and floats from her rigging, which were attached to Naka's remaining body half via steel wires.

Hiei bore witness to the teenager's guts strewn out on the ocean, grabbing her by the shoulder to make sure that she didn't sink since she was missing her boat slippers while her large-caliber cannons provided cover fire, and she looked away from the sight of Naka's strewn intestines coiling around on the ocean surface like crimson snakes, Naka's stomach partially hanging out from her body as her flesh was warped by horrid third-degree burns which ended in waxed flesh, blood flowing out copiously and tainting the hem of Hiei's skirt and her thigh highs.

Her hands also became equally tainted as she tried to hold Naka's internal organs in, and she felt the sickeningly-organic feeling of the intestines which were lubricated by the crimson blood and seawater as she secretly dipped her hand into the ocean in order to try and wash off some of the blood from her hands.

Naka's hands were covered in scathing second-degree burns due to being held close to the fireball, and Naka was clearly in hellish pain as her eyes were unfocused and she was clearly crying, since good intentions in trying to shield your comrades from a torpedo salvo didn't save you from the fact that you'd be screaming your lungs out in a limb-losing explosion.

"AhHhhhhHHHHh!

It hurts!

Ple-e-ease! Medic!"

Bloody hell.

An uncomfortable lump refused to leave her throat no matter how hard she swallowed in order to digest the fact that someone had to cover her in her time of need by throwing herself in front of certain death upon seeing her in trouble.

But so engrossed was she in her thoughts that she nearly missed another large-caliber shell fly in from the _Flying Dutchman_ , one shell clearly more inexpensive than a missile strike on a dying destroyer and an uninjured fast battleship, instinctively spinning around to protect Naka by physically shielding the supine destroyer with her body and punching the incoming shell with her left hand, squinting as she felt the shell break apart into smithereens upon contact.

Some of the steel shards went into her skin, but these only dealt superficial damage since she was a fast battleship and had decent armor protecting her, but they still drew blood nonetheless as she finally registered the pain which shot up her left arm as she looked down at it after she made sure that the larger pieces of the life-sized shell didn't hurt Naka.

There was some discoloration where her knuckles and the longest sections of her fingers were after punching an incoming shell which traveled at a lethal velocity, and she could feel that several bones were cracked or broken while skin broke and oozed out blood, but her hand maintained its structural integrity to be used only in the most dire of situations, since even flexing it sent signals of pain so intense it temporarily stunned her.

She looked down at the sight of the Fairies doing their darnedest to keep a sinking Naka afloat while Hiei dealt with the incoming threat, but even with their advanced technology, it was like a bunch of humans trying to keep an oil tanker afloat with tugboats and floats; there was a limit to even their capabilities.

Without a second thought, Hiei plunged her uninjured hand into where the Fairies' taut steel wires converged, shouting the light cruiser's name in the vain hope that she'd hear her cries.

"Naka?!

Naka!"

She desperately fished around underwater before feeling Naka's unresponsive, burnt hand, getting a good grip before hauling her out of the water.

She'd later wish she hadn't.

Naka's organs fell out in spades, Hiei unable to grab them as they plopped into the ocean along with a bucketful of blood hitting her boat slippers, Naka's skin pale while her expression was almost as if she were falling asleep, but with half-lidded eyes and an unfocused gaze into nowhere.

And on her HUD, it coldly displayed,

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

SENDAI-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 048

"NAKA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Fairies were hauled into the air by the steel wires which were attached to the floats and boats, the entire contraption looking like a ghoulish jellyfish from hell with Naka's upper half as the hood, and the various steel wires and organs dangling from her upper half as the tentacles, floats and Fairy-sized boats bundled together at the ends after Hiei lifted them from the ocean.

Some of the little helpers had released their hold in order to drop into the ocean, the Fairies floating on the surface and were shaking their stubby fists at her.

Lowering Naka's corpse, she scooped up the floating Fairies with her injured arm while Ooi sailed up with a grim expression on her face and gestured to take over possession of Naka's body, Hiei nodding towards the torpedo cruiser before lifting the bobbing Fairies onto her rigging, speaking to them in a grateful tone.

"Sorry about just now.

And thanks for keeping Naka afloat for as long as you could."

And upon hearing that, some of the Fairies nodded sadly after seeing the state Naka was in despite their best efforts.

Ooi sailed up, firing her torpedoes for effect while she firmly held Naka's burnt arm to make sure she didn't lose a fellow comrade to the ocean.

And even if this was well within the Safety Zone and allied submarines, either ship girls themselves or vessels manned by humans or Fairies would be patrolling the ocean, it was possible for the Abyssals to shanghai the corpse away to corrupt and reform it for their own nefarious ends.

That was when a ship-girl-sized large-caliber shell nearly struck them, Hiei shooting out an arm to grab Naka's corpse as a water column collapsed onto them after the Northern Water Princess took pot shots in their general direction, cold seawater chilling her to the bone her yet again as she maintained her grip on Naka's clammy and ice-cold forearm while she heard Ooi cry out in surprise.

"Goddammit!"

And as she shook the water from her eyes and looked Ooi in the eyes, the Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser was looking more and more impatient as she ordered Hiei.

"We can't have the Northern Water Princess keep firing on us like this when we have so many casualties!

You need to get in there, join the ship girls fighting the Princess and stop her, Hiei!"

Hiei looked down at Naka's corpse as she worried about protecting the dead and dying as well as those who either cared for them or evacuated them from the battlefield.

But as she remembered telling Yamato during their training, she was supposed to be a weapon which attacked, and defending wasn't her specialty.

Closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath, she opened her eyes and gave Ooi a determined look, getting up and dusting off her thoroughly bloodied miko uniform in order to enforce the adage that sometimes, the best defense was a good offense.

A Ri-Class's medium-caliber shell threw up sparks as it scraped the surface of one of her large-caliber cannons, but in order to conserve ammunition, Hiei did her best to feint sailing to the left when she intended to strafe to the right.

She pulled off her feint just as the Ri-Class fired her torpedoes in a broad salvo, and she managed a skip over one torpedo before barreling towards the shocked Ri-Class, who tried to prepare her cannons before getting pummeled by a charging fast battleship.

As Hiei closed the distance, she drew back a fist and coiled her muscles before taking in a deep breath, crying out in order to boost the next attack in her mind,

"HIIYAAHH!"

Before her fist blurred, and she heard a satisfying crack of the Ri-Class's jaw joint as a minor shock wave was produced, suddenly feeling two sharp pangs of pain spread out across her gut as the Abyssal heavy cruiser dealt mutually-assured damage by firing medium-caliber shells at point-blank range, and Hiei's mind spun from the pain threatening to disorientate her.

But even as spots of blood blossomed on her blood-soaked miko uniform, through heavy panting, doubling over while gritting her teeth, clenching her fists so tight to the point where blood was drawn by her fingernails and sheer force of will, she managed to power on as she lifted her boat slipper just as the Ri-Class was getting up, drool rolling down the Abyssal's lower jaw which hung open dumbly, since dislocating her jaw prevented her from closing her mouth in order to swallow the saliva, causing it to escape her gaping mouth and drip into the ocean.

Hiei smashed her boat slipper down on the Ri-Class's neck and put her back in her place, leaving the prone Abyssal to the ship girls behind her to finish off as she ran forward to join the fight against Helena and Atlas.

Hayasui, Akitsu Maru, Kiso, Murakumo, Shigure and Kitakami were on the case, and Hiei could see that although the ship girls had been worn down by doing battle with Helena, the Northern Water Princess and her Beast were also injured by the fight, Kiso flying in as she shouted,

"FLYING THUNDER GOD!"

But the sword stopped upon contact with Helena's skintight thigh-high-heels at the skin as the Abyssal raised her lower leg in order to defend herself, Kiso's eyes widening in surprise as she commented in bewilderment.

"Huh.

That same amount of force worked on the Southern War Princess."

Sword and cloth screeched as Kiso was slowly being overpowered by Helena, the aviation battleship huffing indignantly before answering.

"Oh, you mean Jayme and her Beast, Tezcatlipoca?

Please don't group me and Atlas together with trash like that."

Before kicking out and sending Kiso skidding backwards, and as she readied her dual 12 Inch Triple Gun cannons, Hiei surmised that the Princess's middle layer of shields were gone as Hiei fired her own cannons en masse to either hit Helena the Princess or at least distract her

But Helena's Beast, despite being a giant sphere of flesh attached to her back, was surprisingly mobile as it compressed and deformed to allow Hiei's shell to fly past unharmed, her Beast spinning around to position Helena so that she could raise a high heel in order to kick vertically upwards, deflecting Hiei's shell with a well-placed kick as another shock wave radiated from her location and caused small tidal waves to be formed on the ocean.

Everyone was shocked into silence by the Abyssal battleship's move, Helena raising her heel as she menacingly flexed her right leg's muscles and let out the cracks in her joints, completely at ease with her harlot-like appearance as she gracefully lowered her heel and glared daggers at them, exuding a menacing aura from her very being as she spoke.

[I have crushed a fair number of ship girls' skulls beneath my heels.

Are you sure you wish to continue?]

Hiei's body shivered at the thought of her head being crushed by sheer force, but she steeled her heart and looked onward while she saw others do the same, and Helena's murderous aura flared up as she commented.

[Well, I never expected to come to this battle without sinking a few of you.

On guard!]

Before digging the tip of her heel into the ocean and kicking out again, imitating the carriers' Storm Leg with the strength of a battleship, turning it from a move which mimicked a shotgun bird-shot into a potentially deadly buckshot as Shigure was late to evade, crying out in pain as she hit the ocean.

And above them, the flighty abomination which was the Abyssal Patrolling Attack Hawk went into a dive, emitting a shrill, metallic cry from its jaws and only got closer in spite of all the Anti-Air rounds emptied into the sky.

[KKRRAAAWW!]

It narrowed its relatively gigantic eye in order to minimize the size of its most vulnerable spot as well as to prevent the air from irritating its eyes, targeting Haruna as one of the core ship girls who could bring down the Northern Water Princess.

Helena tried to clear the area for it as she brandished her 12 Inch Triple Gun Cannons, calling out.

[Not gonna let you!]

And fired her cannons at the ship girl horde, forcing them to prioritize dispersing over shooting down the Attack Hawk as Hiei, despite all her armor, had to physically strafe as an enemy large-caliber shell whizzed by.

Akashi's hook flew out while Akitsu Maru emptied a 12 Gauge round into the air, but the evasive movements of the ship girls coupled with the Attack Hawk's acrobatic prowess as it performed a controlled loop to evade these attacks, Hiei already moving towards Haruna as she saw her sister's rigging lighting up with Anti-Air rounds being fired.

She didn't like to use a cannon to kill a mosquito, but this was her sister they were talking about.

There was always the option of overkill in order to save her sister.

Dropping down onto her knees while leaning backwards, she managed to elevate the angle of her cannons to a height that was nigh-impossible for any World-War-2 warship as she fired an entire cannon salvo into the sky, aimed roughly at where the Attack Hawk would fly as she led her shots, hearing the satisfactory shriek of the Attack Hawk as her large-caliber shell tore a bloody hole into its tail and threw it off-course.

[KII-YAAAWW!]

But the downside to that was the fact that an injured Attack Hawk reflexively released its depth charge in mid-air and dropped in Haruna's direction while the Attack Hawk spun out into the sea, Hiei instantaneously getting on her feet and throwing up troughs of seawater as she sprinted towards her sister ship.

Tackling her to the ground just as the depth charge plopped into the ocean since it failed to detect any nearby ship girl signatures, Hiei was now lying atop a slightly flustered Haruna as she became slightly conscious of the body contact and non-existent distance between them, speaking offhandedly about one of them being atop the other.

"This really has got to stop."

And since this Haruna was from another naval base, she could only utter a confused,

"Um, what?"

Hiei suddenly became even more self-conscious of her actions as she was speaking to a doppelganger from Miura and not Yokosuka's Haruna, shaking her sweat-drenched head as she tersely deflected.

"Nothing.

Are you alright?"

Haruna's face became somber, but she shook her head in order to indicate her answer, and Hiei got up before lending a helping hand to Haruna just as more torpedoes headed her way.

They both strafed in opposite directions as she shouted out another order,

"Evade!"

But to her battle-hardened sister, she was stating the obvious as Hiei heard another missile hit a spot of ocean where some ship girls were at, hoping that no other ship girls were taken out by them.

But as Akitsu Maru fired her Benelli M4 shotgun at the Princess it bounced off the reformed shields around Helena and Atlas as the amphibious assault ship cursed.

"Motherfucker!"

But Murakumo and Kitakami were working on wearing those shields down again, Hiei's Fairies reloading her cannons while Murakumo fired her Anti-Air cannons into the spaces in between the shield plates, and Kitakami was busy firing all her torpedoes while leading them such that even if they were to miss, they could zone the Northern Water Princess out or corner her into the path of other incoming torpedoes.

Hayasui attempted to get in close with her flamethrower, but she was now a priority target which Helena did _not_ want to get up close and personal with as she fired off torpedoes in her general direction in order to scare her off.

Hiei aimed her cannons so that they would roughly hit in the same direction, and she fired her shells consecutively while Murakumo and Kiso distracted the Northern Water Princess with their own cannons.

But as the smoke cleared to show each shell weakening the shield as the shield plates reddened with each impact after diffusing the large-caliber shell's impact, Helena suspected that something was up as she strafed away and caused Hiei's fourth shell to only strike a glancing blow on the spherical shield, but this allowed Kiso the chance to distract the Abyssal by performing a Shukuchi, and as she got within range, she tilted her head and amped up the brightness of the spotlight in her right eye as she screamed.

"Reflections of the Eight Hand Mirror!"

And the sharp increase in the luminosity of the directed light beam originating from Kiso's right eye stunned Helena as she squinted and stopped dead, allowing Kitakami to hoist Kasumi up, the Asashio-Class destroyer having joined the fight after mopping up the Abyssal horde which Hiei left behind.

Kasumi was wearing a battle backpack with black straps as her Kai Ni uniform, and she was wearing a red ribbon on her collar while her black jumper dress partially covered the long-sleeved white shirt beneath it, and dual Quadruple Torpedo Launchers were attached to her thighs as she held a firearm with two Anti-Air turrets attached onto it in one hand and a 12.7 Cm Twin Gun Cannon in another.

Her red-colored kid's heels were pointed at the Northern War Princess, arms tucked close to her body as she formed a tubular shape with her body and yelled.

"And laaaunnccchhh!"

Kitakami heaved as she used two hands to hurl Kasumi through the air like a torpedo, Helena unable to do anything as Kasumi brought in her knees and forced her boat slippers into the swollen-red shield plates, breaking them as Kasumi drop-kicked the Princess's shields and fired her boost gauge for maximum damage.

The shield gave out underneath her weight and allowed the destroyer into the Northern Water Princess's personal space, and Kasumi fired whatever was left of her boost gauge while Helena slammed her mechanical left palm down as though swatting a fly just as another hyper beam was partially charged up in that palm, discharging the partially-charged hyper beam down on the ocean in order to throw Kasumi off-guard for the fully-charged hyper beam in Helena's right palm to fire at Kasumi.

But just as a 14 Cm shell glanced off Helena's temple while a burning signal flare flew into her field of vision to throw off her aim, a steel hook flew in and caught Kasumi's rigging, Akashi hauling the Asashio-Class destroyer away from the incoming beam of death as it carved a valley across the ocean and vaporized seawater.

And although it would have missed Kasumi anyway thanks to Ooi and Hayasui's interference, Akashi's hook provided a safety net as Kasumi hit the ocean after escaping the hyper beam's travel path and the area in which she would have suffered lethal burns due to her proximity to the scalding beam.

And as Murakumo applied pressure by firing Anti-Air turrets at Helena's face to distract her while Shouhou delivered death from above, Hiei fired her cannons while she heard Akitsu Maru dog-whistle and comment in genuine awe at Akashi's clutch hooks.

"And another Dendi-level hook from Akashi!

A round of applause, everyone!"

Hiei then turned back in order to check on Shigure's condition, and even though her unremodeled comrade suffered from several red splotches on her skin due to the seawater hitting her at velocities which would severely injure a human, her armored skin came in useful and defended her as best it could, Shigure firing off another salvo of torpedoes from her right torpedo launchers.

This was in conjunction with Murakumo's torpedo salvo as they approached the Northern Water Princess from the 10 and 1 o'clock direction, Kitakami readying her torpedoes in case Helena managed to evade both their salvos, in which she could deliver the final salvo which would almost certainly hit its mark.

The fact that the other ship girls were firing their cannons at her while bombers dropped their explosive payloads from above didn't do much to make her situation any easier, Atlas having produced Anti-Air turrets to defend the both of them from the aerial menace.

But the Northern Water Princess wasn't completely done in yet.

Akitsu Maru flung a cooked grenade at her, but Atlas lifted its Princess off the ocean and spun around, allowing Helena to kick the grenade away a fraction of a second before it detonated just outside of lethal range, and although Atlas plopped its Princess at a location facing away from an oblivious Kasumi and left itself open to small-caliber fire from the Asashio-Class destroyer, Helena had another trick up her sleeve.

With no time to spare due to the torpedoes closing in for a pincer attack, she flexed her leg muscles and lifted Atlas clean off the ocean, shifting its center of gravity onto her foot as she charged up her twin hyper beams before launching herself and her Beast backwards with a long jump, the unleashed hyper beams acting as thrusters in order to propel the both of them in Kasumi's direction while Atlas served as the shield against small arms fire, a bewildered Kasumi only able to utter a simple,

"Motherf-"

Before boosting out of the way.

Too little, too late.

Atlas acted as a gigantic cue ball being struck and sent flying across the battlefield, inflicting a glancing blow on Kasumi after Helena's makeshift thrusters added more velocity to her attack, Kasumi hitting the ocean hard as Helena landed, but Hayasui and Hiei covered Shigure in her attempt to help Kasumi up as the fleet oiler fired off a jet of flaming oil to keep the Princess at bay while Hiei fired two of her four 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannons, keeping the other two in reserve in case of emergencies.

Helena retaliated by evading Hayasui's flames before firing her 12 Inch Triple Gun Cannons en masse, Hiei watching one of her shells inexplicably striking Helena's shell on the nose, both of them mushrooming in slow-motion in Hiei's adrenaline-addled mind as their velocities drove them into each other before the shock wave radiated from the epicenter, cratering the ocean and distracting Helena long enough for Kiso to boost in while running on the ocean.

Flashing her spotlight for a second like the bulb of a camera's flash going off in order to buy herself more time, she emptied her boost gauge and went for a dead run as she called out,

 _"ATOMIC CUTTER!"_

Helena instinctively fired off a left-legged high kick to intercept Kiso's attack as contact was made and they both traded blows within the space of a millisecond.

But just as Hiei was wondering just how much more effective that attack could've been if only Kiso hadn't called out her attack, she heard Helena speak up as she gracefully lowered her raised leg.

[You… truly are dangerous.

Playtime is over, and I should get serious in trying to sink you all.

I have a feeling that any less simply wouldn't… cut it.]

Hiei heard Akitsu Maru and Hayasui giggle like schoolgirls upon hearing that morbid joke, and she saw why the Northern Water Princess said so.

On her lower left leg was a thin red line caused by Kiso's blade, Abyssal blood oozing from it and indicating the fact that although Helena was powerful, she wasn't invincible.

Akashi highlighted that by quoting,

"'If it bleeds, we can kill it.'

I know that there's a killer joke about the Abyssal Princess bleeding 'down there', her being on her period and lashing out at us due to PMS as well as that Arnie quote, but it just escapes my mind.

Whatever.

Get her, girls."

The girls of the 8th Fleet giggled maniacally at that thought while Hiei, upon detecting Ayanami sail up beside her, looked down at her teammate as they exchanged uncomfortable looks with one another at how off-kilter their sense of humor was like, but they eventually joined in the fight as the Princess's shields came back online.

Shigure fired her torpedoes while Shouhou's fighter planes flew in, peppering the shields with low-intensity but continuous machine-gun fire while Kiso boost-jumped above the Abyssal Princess, hitting her top layer of shields with dual-wielded 14 Cm Single Gun Cannons as she orientated herself vertically upside down and spun around, stretching her body out in order to increase spinning speed and act like a pseudo-machine gun before landing on the ocean.

Watching several more missiles streak down from the broken clouds as red circles were blatantly displayed on her HUD along with the warning,

'MISSILE INBOUND'

She unleashed a hail of Anti-Air fire in order to try and shoot some of them down while she shouted to the others,

"Move!"

She recoiled as the missiles targeted strategic locations either to break up their formation or cover the Northern Water Princess's movements, her heart stopping as she saw Shigure get lifted clean off the ocean and be thrown about like a tumbleweed which was at the mercy of a strong gale.

It only started beating again as she exhaled upon seeing Shigure get up after being drenched in seawater, hearing Haruna speak up urgently over the radio.

"Hiei nee-san!

Let's fire our cannons together!

On my mark!

 _Fire!_ "

Haruna and Hiei fired their large-caliber cannons in a cannon salvo to draw Helena's attention.

This allowed Murakumo, Kitakami and Ooi to fire their torpedoes, and the Princess's underwater shields gave out as they successfully protected Helena and Atlas from all the torpedoes, but at the cost of her shields completely crumpling as Helena flinched at the sight of the torpedoes detonating at a safe distance thanks to her downed shields, underwater explosions blossoming around her.

Hayasui got in close with her flamethrower as she attacked Atlas from the rear by letting loose a stream of unholy fire which went through the shields, since fire and fuel weren't solids and couldn't be blocked.

And the shrill howl of the Beast shocked them all to the core due to its apparent lack of vocal organs and an orifice to project its voice as Atlas warped, deformed and squeezed in its unique way of flailing around in order to shake off the flames which stubbornly clung on its back, Helena's expression sharply darkening as her Beast submerged into the ocean and left her in an awkward position in which she was lying on the partially-submerged form of Atlas with slightly-spread legs and was without her shields, Shigure taking the opportunity to go on the offensive by firing all her torpedoes at the Princess.

But with a titanic amount of effort and with the aid of her mechanical arms, Helena grunted as she dug in her heels and lifted Atlas with her leg muscles, strafing to the right with her burnt Beast on her back as she grunted with the exertion.

[Grrkkt!]

Her mechanical arms charged up to fire at an incoming Hatsuharu and Akashi, the former boosting away while the latter strafed, Ayanami and Murakumo unleashing a torpedo salvo to keep her on the move while Hiei's cannons fired en masse, Shouhou's torpedo bombers coming in hot to drop its payload.

But even as Atlas's Anti-Air turrets successfully damaged a Tenzan to force the Fairy pilot to eject, the pilot-less torpedo bomber wildly spun out and spiraled into the bubble shield, and both the payload and bomber caused a brilliant fireball which caused Helena to stagger from the force.

Hiei saw this as a chance to allow Shigure the opportunity to save the airborne Fairy pilot, which had already deployed its parachute, and to maintain the pressure on the Northern Water Princess.

Shouting into the radio,

"Shigure!

Move up and rescue the Fairy pilot!

Haruna, lay down cover fire with me!"

She ran in with Shigure while Haruna followed her orders and fired at the Princess's shields along with her, but Hiei pushed Shigure into the ocean just as the aviation battleship fired her large-caliber cannons.

Struggling with the pain dealt by a large-caliber shell took a whole other level of hardheadedness and determination, and even if she spotted the incoming shells in the midst of evading and angled her body to allow the shells to hit her collar bone and liver, she gritted her teeth to the point where her gums began to hurt while sweat poured from her forehead and body, her miko uniform completely drenched in blood, sweat, and possibly some tears as her eyes watered, salty tears threatening to cascade from the corners of her eyes.

But she banished those tears by shutting her eyes, remaining in her 'doubled over' position for awhile longer in order to catch her breath before plowing through the pain, barely noticing Kiso, Kitakami and Ooi get in range to bombard the Northern Water Princess's shields by hurling them with their bare hands while Shouhou's Suisei Bombers swooped in for the kill.

Just as Hiei got in close to fire her shells, Akitsu Maru and Akashi approached Helena's point-blank range while brandishing their weapons, and Kiso had landed on the top of her shields after Shouhou had recalled her planes, the torpedo cruiser seemingly standing on thin air as the shield shimmered in the daylight and supported Kiso's entire weight.

Helena could only look up in surprise as Kiso held two torpedoes in a reverse grip in each hand, grinning maniacally before boost-jumping with everything she had in order to escape the blast radius as she swung her arms downwards, flinging her torpedoes down at the topmost shield layer where she stood, the resulting explosion causing the shields to cave in as Helena cursed.

[Shit!]

Akitsu Maru lunged with her katana, vaulting over her giant mechanical arms to strike at Helena, but as demonstrated by the Anti-Air turrets on its body, Atlas's body hid several more cannons as two more protruded from within its body, holes opening up in the 'fabric' in order to stick out two medium-caliber cannon barrels which coughed out shells at Akitsu Maru.

Being an experienced sword user, Akitsu Maru managed to cut through one shell with her blade, but at the cost of allowing Helena enough time to retaliate by digging her foot into Akitsu Maru's side and driving her into the ocean, the amphibious assault ship crying out in genuine agony.

"Gah!"

But as Helena fired her hyper beams at the ship girls who tried to assume a formation in order to fire a combined salvo, the Abyssal raised her heel to stomp down on the vulnerable 8th Fleet member which would potentially send her into medium damage, but Hiei got in close.

And as her cannons were still reloading, she raised her foot to block Helena's stomp attack, grunting at the sheer amount of power needed to hold a Princess's strength at bay while Akitsu Maru scrambled away from the scene.

But she shifted her center of gravity behind her planted boat slipper and allowed the weight of her rigging to do part of the job, flexing her leg muscles as she met Helena's stern gaze as both of them, with dark expressions, tried to out-muscle the other.

But as she heard metallic movement at her sides and heard Ayanami, Shigure and Shouhou shout desperately into the radio,

"Hiei-san, run!"

"Watch out!"

"You're gonna get crushed!"

She removed her foot in order to allow Helena to slam her heel into the ocean, but before the Abyssal's sole touched the ocean surface, she pumped all her strength into her legs and slapped her hands on the Abyssal's shoulders in order to perform a handstand on Helena's shoulders.

Supporting her entire weight and rigging with her own two hands, she felt Atlas's Anti-Air turrets tear into her clothes and skin, hurting like vicious ant-bites on her back while paralyzing pain shot up her injured left hand due to punching out a life-size large-caliber shell in a moment of hardheadedness as sweat free-flowed from the skin on her throat, face and forehead due to the exertion and the pain.

But the Northern Water Princess's mechanical arms slapped together in a metallic, screeching clang where she once stood as Hiei winced at the volume of the deadly clap which would no doubt have cracked, or outright broken some of her steel bones.

She received an update that her cannons had finished reloading.

Well, better late than never.

Flexing her arm muscles and pushing off of Helena's shoulders in order to land on the spot of ocean where she once stood facing off against the Northern Water Princess, she fired all her cannons at point-blank range into Atlas and Helena as the Abyssal's mechanical arms were brought apart.

But even before she landed, she could tell that Helena was charging up hyper beam attacks in both arms, coiling up her muscles just as she detected Akitsu Maru, Kiso and Akashi moving in.

Helena's left steel palm raised to fire a hyper beam at an airborne Kiso and forced her to land and skid on the ocean in order to avoid getting turned into cinders, but Akitsu Maru held up her sword as though it were a cue stick before pulling off her attack with a passionate roar,

"Triple Fiery Impaling Strike!"

While Akashi flew into the air with a pounce and a predatory look in her eyes, surgical scalpels flying towards the Abyssal's face.

And even as Hiei pumped her legs in order to evade the Northern Water Princess's remaining hyper beam in her other palm, an ominous whiz was picked up by her sharp hearing, tensing up at the amount of pressure she was facing.

The _Flying Dutchman_ 's shell came flying in as she skidded to a halt, and since she just stopped and couldn't immediately move off due to her heavy rigging and the nigh-paralyzing pain plaguing her left arm and torso, she had no choice but to punch the shell with her right hand as she sharply twisted her torso to put more energy into her punch, having no boost gauge of her own to accelerate away, and she was feeling fatigued after sprinting around so much.

The bones in her fist cracked as it felt as if someone took a sledgehammer to her finger joints and sections, feeling glad about closing her eyes before this as she felt a steel shard slice into the bridge of her nose and left cheek as she hissed sharply, losing the feeling in both her hands as they became numb to any more sensations.

Looking back at the Northern War Princess, it was clear that the battle had taken a toll on her as she was panting heavily, sweat glossing her snow-white skin as cuts ripped across her shoulder, left breast and a blade managed to nick her in the neck as several blue-black marks were left by their large-caliber shells.

Atlas suffered from burns, torn flesh, gaping wounds and even the occasional slash to its spherical body, Akashi looking as if she had been bathing in blood which had thoroughly dyed her uniform and body, idly swinging her hooks about whilst giving the Abyssal an ultimatum.

"Well, looks like your Abyssal comrades can't seem to back you up.

Not that it's your fault, you all were screwed by the chain explosion and were forced into retreat, and we chased you into a corner and called in for backup.

So I suppose I'll give you an ultimatum, since we're both adults and can understand when to throw in the towel in a losing situation.

 _Do. You. Yield?"_

It was a thinly-veiled threat, and Helena knew it.

They could definitely kill her given enough time, and the outcome likely wouldn't change one bit in either case, but any soldier worth their salt would understand that it was better to retreat and fight another day than to stubbornly fight on when there was no chance of a comeback.

Helena lowering her head and her cannons in defeat as she began to sink was her answer, her voice soft and tired as Hiei only managed to catch it thanks to her super-hearing, being more preoccupied with hiding the uncontrollable trembling in all of her limbs as well as the blood which free-flowed from her raw knuckles and split skin on her hands.

[Very well.

I shall humbly admit my defeat and take my leave.]

But admit it.]

Hiei's taut muscles flexed as her unwavering expression darkened upon hearing the Northern Water Princess's next few words.

[Even with three fleets, you couldn't sink me.

I'm far stronger than the one you know as Southern War Princess.

And to my understanding, you may be a threat, but to secure the kill and ensure the safety of your members, you require _real_ backup, not these inexperienced children.

Do you really think that you could have carried out your threat with that motley crew behind you, filled with unremodeled ship girls who lack experience and possess untapped potential?]

And slightly, ever so slightly, Hiei exhaled as she dropped her gaze and broke off the staring contest she had with Helena, because she knew that the Abyssal was right.

The 1st Fleet had been formed relatively recently, and in the heat of the moment, Hiei was the one to suggest helping out in one of the boss battles, and the only one they could find amidst the chaos was the 8th Fleet engaging in combat with the Re-Class aviation battleship and the Northern Water Princess (and Re-Class).

Jintsuu and Abukuma were dead while everyone else had suffered extensive damage and were fatigued from the battle, but the stinger was the fact that they simply couldn't kill the Northern Water Princess without taking on more casualties of their own.

But her trembling legs finally gave out on her as the Abyssal submerged, collapsing on the ocean floor as her completely blood-soaked arms, legs and body crumpled due to her strength leaving her, feeling completely bewildered at how she fell like a puppet with its strings cut as she stuttered while lying prone on the ocean.

"I-I… Impossible…

I can still fight… this can't the end…"

But her body ached thoroughly and failed to respond to her prompts as she awkwardly looked up to see Shigure, Ayanami and Shouhou reach her, Akashi standing over her crouching and kneeling teammates like the Grim Reaper herself as she retorted.

"Bitch, this _is_ the end for you.

Probably for the best if your fleet retreats too.

Honestly, you may have made some plays worthy of MVP for this battle, but it's a miracle that the adrenaline in your body and your willpower managed to stave off the impossible for this long."

Hiei glared at Akashi as she said that, but Akashi's blank stare and her teammates' concerned looks forced her to relent as she backed off, knowing that Akashi was only speaking the truth and was a certified repair ship, which would explain how she could see Hiei had hit her physical limit.

Her Fairies had taken to holding up pom-poms in order to try and reinvigorate her while the rest conducted after-battle damage assessment, but Hiei had to disappoint them as her four limbs were unresponsive and she sustained cuts, wounds and contusion injuries all over her body after tanking shells and blows.

And as the adrenaline wore off, it allowed her to feel the stinging salt water cleansing the wounds on her hands after punching out the _Flying Dutchman_ 's shells twice, the sea rhythmically lapping up the blood flowing from her abdomen after the Northern Water Princess fired a large-caliber shell in her direction, the world went out of focus in her mind as the last thing she saw was of Shigure and Ayanami preparing to evacuate her from the battlefield.

* * *

Musashi walked across the battlefield, punching out the occasional Abyssal who dared cross her path as well as deftly sidestepping torpedo salvos and avoiding pot shots taken at her, heading for what she felt was the strongest Abyssal signature present.

The thing about Princesses was that their signatures were unbearably powerful to the point where they easily signaled their presence via their intense aura, and in cases like this where the radar was a clutter of red and blue dots, it helped that their aura was essentially a 'I'm over here!' sign for ship girls to either engage them or flee.

Sure, they could try to hide their auras by consciously suppressing them, but to do so in the midst of battle meant that you'd be focused on suppressing your aura in plain sight (which defeated the point) while fighting off ship girls, which was why they only did it when sailing underwater and not on the battlefield, where they could unleash everything they had.

That was fine by her.

She wasn't intending to hold back her punches anyway, unlike during training where some restraint was required lest she accidentally break someone's bones with a single punch, and that was why she only sparred with fellow battleships; they could take her hits without immediately breaking apart.

Unfortunately, that also meant that the enemy Abyssals also broke apart like porcelain when she introduced her fist to their faces, but that was why she was suited to take on stronger foes.

Namely, the Battleship Water Demon.

Approaching the location, she noted the Nagato-Class battleship engaging the Demon in battle along with Ise and Bismarck along with Hiei, Kongou and Iowa from other naval bases.

The Kai Ni Kongou Sisters had upgraded riggings as they shared the same miko uniform top and sleeves as well as the wired golden headdress which replaced the paddle-like designs in their original and Kai forms, 15.2 Cm Single Gun Cannons attached to their waists while their footwear had red soles with a golden knob as a heel platform, two of their four 41 Cm Twin Gun Cannons possessing Anti-Air turrets on them while an antenna and their chimney stack stuck out from their rigging behind them.

But where their getup differed was the jade-green dress Hiei wore in contrast to Kongou's black dress, and only Kongou's rigging had shell-like steel plates on either sides of her rigging which could be brought forward in order to form a physical shield before her, but was currently folded in to be used later.

Firing all her cannons in order to cover them, she sank well beneath the ocean surface in a basin of seawater as her shells formed a narrow salvo, watching it reach the Demon's bubble shield as several shells connected and engulfed the Demon in smoke while others missed the Battleship Water Demon by a small but significant margin.

But as her enhanced sight allowed her to see, the Demon wasn't fazed in the slightest by the cannon salvo as her shields and her Beast protected her just fine, and by some coincidence, it was then that a Southern War Princess joined them, the newcomer confusing Musashi as she sailed up to Nagato and asked when within earshot.

"Nagato.

I thought the Southern War Princess was caught in the explosion, so why is the one before us looking perfectly fine?"

Nagato glowered at the two Abyssal bosses as they met up before them while the ship girl battleships tried to encircle them without stretching themselves out too thin, Musashi hearing the slight exhaustion in Nagato's voice after charging the enemy, tanking some damage and having to physically fight the Battleship Water Demon for awhile.

"The _Flying Dutchman_ 's deployed another Southern War Princess after we took out one Southern War Princess and one Battleship Symbiotic Princess with the explosion.

The jet fighters destroyed the Aircraft Carrier Princess and managed to injure the Air Defense Princess, putting them on the ropes.

Enough that they'd deploy one more Princess from the _Dutchman_ in order to even the odds."

Musashi nodded tersely as the Southern War Princess leered at them and taunted,

[Hey, bitches!

We may be outnumbered, but you're clearly outmatched!

Two is one too many Abyssal bosses needed to sink you all, but there's no kill like overkill!]

Musashi got into a combat stance as she felt a shiver shoot up her spine upon feeling the Southern War Princess's aura flare up menacingly, the Abyssal getting ready for a fight.

But not before the Battleship Water Demon partially lifted her arm to stop her, the Southern War Princess deflating as she looked at the Demon standing before her and sneered.

[What'sa matter, Granny Phoebe?

Pussyin' out when you're facing off against too many enemy battleships?]

Shaking her head, Phoebe looked poised even under pressure as she responded to that question by answering confidently.

[Quite the contrary, Jayme.

I'm becoming rather fired up myself.

I will sink them all, but not before making every single one of them realize their sin of daring to even dream that they could put a scratch on my armor with their sticks and stones.]

The air became even heavier and denser than before as Phoebe flexed her spiritual pressure on a scale previously thought unimaginable by Musashi as she tensed up, Phoebe's aura weighing down the air itself and created small waves in the ocean as she silenced even Jayme the Southern War Princess, who started sweating upon seeing a Demon demonstrate her might.

Phoebe held her head up high as she looked down at even Musashi even though she was but a few centimeters taller than the Yamato-Class battleship, speaking.

[I am the epitome of all Abyssal-kind, that which represents the embodiment of everything you could never hope to become.

In the company of ants, what has a Titan to fear?]

But the shot of a large-caliber cannon interrupted the conversation as a familiar silhouette graced their presence, a slug-like headdress causing the edges of Musashi's lips to lift up in something resembling a smirk as a confident Mutsu cut in.

"An Olympian!"

Nagato turned back, her stoic expression belying some element of surprise as she gasped,

"Mutsu."

Jayme cackled, having found it within her to take light jabs at her hierarchical superior without crossing the line as she commented.

[Hah!

Slug-girl really got you good there, hmm, Granny?]

Phoebe shrugged, having toned down on the intimidating aura as she gracefully lifted her heel like a soldier performing marching drills, being mature enough to roll with Jayme's attitude as she responded.

[Touche.

But it's not just words that win you a battle, you need the strength to back them up for them to make a difference.

Allow me to demonstrate.]

Before slamming her heel into the ocean, causing even Musashi to stumble around due to the titanic might behind her move as it created towering tidal waves, and in the confusion, Phoebe shot forward and inexplicably left behind her twin-headed Beast to fend for itself.

In her surprise, Musashi found it within herself to fire off several shells in a Hail Mary shot as the ocean rose and fell, but what completely stumped her was how Phoebe, due to her armor, punched her 46 Cm shell which flew towards her, her smoking fist revealing nothing more than some reddened skin after pulling off that obnoxiously overpowered move.

She sprinted towards a Kai Ni Hiei who was from Tateyama, tanking two glancing 35.6 Cm shells as Phoebe attempted to grab the Kongou-Class battleship by the throat, but Hiei was experienced enough to duck and evade the pale, clawed hand flying towards her.

Phoebe then attempted to knee Hiei in the face as her right knee, covered in black stockings, shot out from underneath her black dress and was about to cave Hiei's face in.

It was by a small miracle that the Kai Ni battleship's hands shot out and caught the dome of Phoebe's knee, causing a compression wave to form as Hiei's palm slapped Phoebe's knee hard and sent her stumbling backwards, Phoebe punching the ocean again to keep everyone off-balance before performing a sweep with her left feet, nearly crippling Hiei as she scrambled away in a panic and shook her reddened palm.

Musashi intended to provide cover fire for Hiei, but was interrupted by Phoebe's Beast and Jayme both covering the lone Demon on the battlefield, the Princess now wearing a psychotic smirk as she called out.

[I got your sexy back, Phoebe!

Let's mow 'em down, Janus!]

The two-headed Beast, appropriately (albeit sacrilegiously) named Janus, roared in agreement and caused the air itself to crack while tidal waves radiated from its position, firing the rest of the 20 Inch Twin Gun Cannons on its body as Jayme sensually licked her lips before following suit with her 16 Inch Triple Gun Cannons.

The sheer amount of firepower forced even Musashi to evade as Abyssal reinforcements arrived in the form of three Ta-Class battleships, two Chi-Class torpedo cruisers, two Ri-Class heavy cruisers and three Ro-Class destroyers, Musashi looking towards Nagato and suggesting.

"Nagato!

We need to take down the Abyssal small fry, otherwise we can't focus on the Princess and the Demon!"

But Iowa spoke up on the radio, not wishing for those fighting the Abyssal duo to lose too much firepower and be taken out in the process as she suggested.

"Well, I think that Musashi and I can take them on, if you don't mind!

If Nagato and Musashi-san are to fight them, my concern is that it'd put the remaining battleships at too much of a disadvantage!"

But a Kai Ni Kongou from Chigasaki interjected as she took offense to the unintentional insinuation that they were helpless without assistance from the top two classes of the IJN's battleships.

"Hey!

We're Kai Ni battleships, even if we can't match your cannon calibers, don't look down on our skills, desu!"

And Iowa uttered a hurried but sincere,

{Sorry!}

In English.

And as they spoke, Phoebe looked perfectly content to stand where she was and let them talk whilst retreat-firing at the Abyssal horde, Musashi hearing Ise putting forth a suggestion of her own.

"And if you want more backup, I have a few more battleships I can call to chip in.

Oh, Hyuga~?"

And Musashi, firing back and testing the integrity of Jayme's shields, could hear Hyuga speaking up as cannons, explosions and screams could also be heard on her end.

"Acknowledged.

I have Fusou with me here, and we're headed in your direction.

Estimated time of arrival, one minute."

In which Ise chimed, clearly happy about getting to join in the carnage as she sang.

"Yay!

I'm gonna join Musashi and Iowa-chan in taking care of the Abyssals!"

Musashi headed away as she fired at the Abyssal horde in order to break up their straight-line formation, noticing the torpedoes in the water as Mutsu shouted.

"Then go!

We'll keep Phoebe and Jayme at bay here for you to return!"

Musashi sidestepped the torpedoes, wincing as she evaded the Ta-Class's 16 Inch shell and heard the metallic screech of steel on steel occurring next to her ear, releasing a breath which she didn't know she held as she retaliated by unleashing whatever cannons she had left.

But the Abyssals weren't done yet.

Musashi looked up as she detected something unnaturally fast streaking across the skies, her HUD confirming that it wasn't one of the few confounded Abyssal jet fighters which were engaged in fierce dogfights with the JASDF and USAF planes as it displayed,

'MISSILE INBOUND'

Two were headed for the ship girls fighting the Demon/Princess duo, and the other two were headed for them.

With a simple,

"Tsk!"

She evaded just as she saw Ise perform a simple front-flip over the torpedoes which were sent out to bottleneck them, the Ise-Class aviation battleship apparently stumbling but was somehow able to boost-accelerate out of the way without losing her balance as the missile landed on none of them, but the situation behind them was less favorable as her HUD blatantly displayed,

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

BISMARCK-CLASS FAST BATTLESHIP 172

"BISMARCK"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Although the death stung, Musashi had no time to weep.

She bravely looked forward as the Abyssals dispersed and kept their distance, a reasonable tactic when fighting with battleships; kite them with your superior speed and keep them at arm's length to prevent them from hurting you with their battleship strength.

But that was an outdated way of fighting a ship girl battleship.

Raising her fist, Musashi yelled into the radio,

"Hang on to something!

Seismic Pulse!"

She swung her fist down and struck the ocean like a meteor, her physical strength capable of giving Phoebe a run for her money as the surface cratered yet again, the ocean rippling and wobbling as the heavier battleships, practically hugging the ocean, were able to maintain their balance somewhat while the Abyssals stumbled from the impact, the echo of her ground pound still resounding slightly in the background.

Iowa boosted as soon as the waves calmed down a little, watching her approach a Ri-Class Abyssal as her arm winded up for a punch while she screamed.

"Eat my knuckle sandwich, bitch!"

The Ri-Class backtracked whilst evading the incoming fist, and it apparently seemed as if Iowa's reckless charge opened her up to a point-blank medium-caliber shell, but Iowa instead rolled with the momentum and spun around to face away from the Abyssal heavy cruiser.

Leaning forward while bending her knees, she boost-accelerated in a retreating fashion and stuck her buttocks out in order to pull off an R. Mika, her rigging crashing into and displacing the Ri-Class with a compression wave sounding out as the American battleship called out her attack after executing it.

"Bubble Butt Bazooka!"

Looking away from the sight of the Ri-Class crashing into the ocean, she saw Ise stabbing her katana into the ocean before slashing at the other Ri-Class on the ocean, the tip of her blade throwing water into her eyes as it caught the heavy cruiser off-guard even after the Abyssal halted and pulled her head back, but it was too late as the high-speed seawater flew into her eyes and stunned her long enough for Ise to fire a large-caliber shell in her direction.

The shell caused significant internal damage as it crashed into her bare abdomen, leaving a nasty contusion wound marked out with blue, black and uncomfortable looking purple, but even though the Ri-Class coughed out a mouthful of blood and had snorted out drops of blood, she wasn't down for the count as she blinked the seawater out of her eyes, grunting hoarsely.

[Ghhkkk!]

But it was enough for Ise to get in close with her wet katana, Anti-Abyssal steel reflecting sunbeams as the Ise-Class battleship, with an uncomfortably enthusiastic smile on her face, sang with anticipation.

"Off with your head!"

And even though the Ri-Class wore a throat guard as part of her uniform, it did little good against a battleship with a sharp object as she decapitated the Ri-Class, bloody steel shards which previously made up her throat guard steel being forced into and beyond the Abyssal's throat as Ise's flight deck managed to block a shell which was fired wildly and wasn't aimed at anything in particular, but would've hit Ise's gut had she not reflexively raised her flight deck in order to deflect the shell as it plopped harmlessly into the ocean.

Musashi had no more time to spectate as she saw two Ta-Class battleships encircle her along with a Chi-Class torpedo cruiser which made things even deadlier.

The Chi-Class taunted as she revved her mount obnoxiously,

[It's over!]

Before dumping a broadside salvo of torpedoes in her direction, the Ta-Classes readying their cannons to shoot her down.

But the dark-skinned Yamato-Class battleship wasn't someone to mess around with in the past, present or future.

Firing a salvo at the Abyssal battleships in order to get the first hit in, one shell messily punching through a Ta-Class's cannon before it exploded in a fiery explosion which caught and engulfed the Ta-Class's entire left side, igniting her ivory cloak and setting her hair on fire as her horrified scream pierced through the chaos of the battlefield in a primal howl of fear at the thought of being killed via immolation, as well as being alive to experience every second of her agonizing and undignified end.

[KKYYYAAAHHH!]

The other concerned Ta-Class helped to dunk her flaming comrade into the ocean in a rare display of concern for each other, but got her palms slightly scorched in the process as it bought Musashi some time to evade the incoming torpedo salvo, bracing herself against the medium-caliber shells fired from the arm cannon on the Chi-Class's left hand as Musashi was forced into a certain path by the torpedo salvo and had no space to maneuver without either getting her legs blown off or shot at by the torpedo cruiser.

But aiming at Musashi meant she wasn't paying attention to where she sailed, her steed likely notifying her about the American battleship standing before her with her arm stuck out to perform a lariat, the Chi-Class lowering her head and tried to turn, but as she grazed the ocean while her steed slid on the ocean in order to pass underneath Iowa's arm, she fired several torpedoes to scare the battleship off, the Iowa-Class battleship hopping over the inaccurate salvo as she commented.

"You left yourself open!"

Landing on the ocean, Iowa only needed a second to aim before firing, one shell punching through the Chi-Class's upper left arm and into her torso, her chest collapsing as her sundered arm cannon dropped into the ocean, a surprised 'O' formed by her mouth complementing the features of her shocked face as her body, like a chrysalis, blossomed into a brilliant fireball which consumed the Chi-Class's motorcycle steed.

The late Chi-Class, still burning like the radiant sun, rode atop her bucking steed as it careened across the battlefield like a panicked horse, nearly missing Ise as she shielded herself from the flaming, stampeding wreck and commented.

"Oi!

Watch it!"

But they had no more time for banter as Iowa fired her salvo at the previously burnt Ta-Class in order to take her out of the equation as the enemy battleship sported charred skin as well as partially burnt-off hair on her crown, but the Abyssal displayed undying tenacity as she threw herself onto the ocean to evade the shells, two Ro-Class destroyers flanking her and firing their torpedoes at the American.

But as Musashi leaned forward to depress her cannon in order to scare one Ro-Class destroyer off with a 15.5 Cm shell while Ise deflected an incoming shell from an Abyssal Ri-Class who wisely kept her distance, flipping her katana into a reverse grip before holding it up like a harpoon and flinging it into the Ro-Class's flank, earning herself a bestial cry from the struck Abyssal destroyer as she quipped.

"I put the cute in execute!

I put the laughter in slaughter!

 _And the katana in the Abyssal, ahaha!"_

Reaching the sinking Ro-Class, Ise ignored the small and medium-caliber shells which struck her repeatedly and drew blood as she regained possession of her katana by pulling it out as if ripping the cord on a lawnmower, splattering alien blood on the burnt Ta-Class and distracted her long enough for Ise to dig her boat slipper into the Ro-Class carcass, sending it flying into the Ta-Class's face and forced her to catch it in mid-air, raw skin coming into contact with steel as the Ta-Class winced in pain.

But that, too, was but a distraction.

Ise boost-accelerated forward and thrust her katana forward like a Chinese sword into the Ro-Class's body, but put her weight behind it to force her katana all the way through in order to pierce the Ta-Class in the face, cleanly going all the way through but allowing the Ta-Class a few more seconds of movement as she feebly clawed at the Anti-Abyssal sword that was stuck in her eye, valiantly struggling to remove the foreign object before collapsing onto the ocean as the sword was likely plunged into her brain, Ise finishing off by ripping her sword out as though slashing, partially bisecting the dead Ta-Class's head.

After another Seismic Pulse which shook the ocean with a battleship's mighty ground punch, Iowa managed to catch a stumbling Ri-Class as she called out for Musashi's assistance.

"Musashi!

Shoulder-to-Shoulder!"

Musashi understood as she stomped over to where Iowa kicked the Ri-Class Abyssal in order to keep her immobile before performing a Tetsuzanko, shoulder meeting chest as she sent the Abyssal stumbling into Musashi while she readied her own version of Tetsuzanko.

Her rigging got in the way of perfectly mimicking the move, but that didn't stop her as she used the roof of her 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannon right above her shoulder as a substitute in her version of the Tetsuzanko as she slammed her cannon roof into the approaching Ri-Class, sending her flying back to Iowa as the fast battleship brought her palms together and intertwined her fingers as though in prayer, bringing her arms up in a clockwise motion much like a guillotine raised for the execution.

Bringing her hand hammer down on the Ri-Class's head and likely sending the Abyssal into a coma in an instant, Iowa's expression contorted in fury as she was swept up in the fervor of the battle, screaming.

 _"MJOLNIR IMPACT!"_

The Ri-Class went down hard.

Another Ta-Class battleship fired at her, Musashi wincing at the feeling of the 12.5 Inch shell hitting her in the upper left arm as muted pain signals were received by her brain to indicate some damage, but she had sortied enough times to know that it wasn't anything significant to someone like her as she touched the slightly swollen area with her other hand.

She looked on as Ise raised a detached cannon sword over her head, having somehow forced a Chi-Class torpedo cruiser off her steed and was now trying to crawl back onto her motorcycle ride, but Ise stopped any chance of that by smashing the Abyssal's skull in as she gleefully spoke to herself.

"Ha!

'The aviation battleship meta is over', they said!

What a load of bull, am I right?"

Her cheery expression didn't leave her face even as she got blood on her cannon and on herself as the Chi-Class hit the ground from a baseball-like hit to the head, and Iowa sweatdropped as she and Musashi prepared her cannons in order to fire at the remaining Ta-Class battleships.

"Wow…

The Ise from your naval base sure is unhinged.

If she's like that when she's happy, I'd hate to see if she's angry or upset."

Before turning to Musashi and asking worriedly about Ise.

"I mean, she _does_ get angry, right?"

Musashi opened her mouth to answer, but then thought really had about the question and recalled all the times she had seen Ise in her lifetime, feeling unsure of her initial answer as she responded.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I've never seen her behave in anything resembling outright anger, really.

Thinking back about how often she appears happy really makes her seem creepy in hindsight, but whatever helps her cope with the stress and keeps her on our side."

Iowa lifted an eyebrow in morbid agreement as Ise brought up her right boat slipper in order to evade a torpedo salvo fired by the Ro-Class destroyers whilst firing the cannons to the right of her rigging in order to produce a clockwise motion, pirouetting on her left boat slipper like a ballet dancer as she evaded large-caliber shells fired by the Ta-Class battleships while she hummed, looking serene with her easygoing smile and eyes closed while spinning out of the way, allowing Iowa and Musashi a clear shot at the last two Ta-Class battleships.

The two Ta-Class battleships evaded the salvo rather easily due to their fast speed, but as Ise planted both boat slippers onto the ocean and accelerated towards the Abyssals with cannon sword still in hand, the Ta-Class took inspiration from their list of moves as she kicked up some seawater in Ise's direction in order to distract her.

But the thing about using conventional moves against a (likely) mentally disturbed ship girl was that it was likely to be ineffectual, Ise simply powering through the move by boost-accelerating and launching herself forward, exposing the crown of her head to lethal caliber fire as the Abyssals fired everything they had, but they certainly didn't expect the aviation battleship to torpedo through their cannon salvo as several shells struck her rigging, cannon roof and even her body, but none of them hit near her head as Ise merrily called out.

"Heads up!"

Slamming her head into a Ta-Class's abdomen, it caused the shocked Abyssal to cough out spit as she was sent flying backwards by the flying headbutt while the other Ta-Class got in close to try and get a few hits in, Ise crashing into the ocean after pulling off her reckless attack.

Big mistake.

For the Abyssal.

Grabbing her cannon sword and using it as a counterweight, Musashi saw Ise lean on the ocean and re-position her left leg, raising her right leg and performing a sweeping kick that would've knocked the Ta-Class out cold had she not stopped dead and leaned back, Ise's boat slipper throwing up strands of snow-white hair due to her battleship strength leaving an air wave in her foot's wake.

Ise then got up as her smile grew and the blood-lust in her eyes intensified, shouting,

"PSYCHE!"

And shifted her weight onto her boat slippers in order to hurl her cannon sword at the Abyssal, the cannon thankfully devoid of Fairies within it as they knew better than to stay inside them when the Ise-Class battleships used them as makeshift weapons, the relative size of the cannon and the close distance forcing the Ta-Class to catch the airborne cannon blitzing towards her upper half.

Ise then screamed,

"DOUBLE PSYCHE!"

And performed a nasty, close-range drop-kick on the Ta-Class, her boat slippers slamming into the Abyssal's abdomen and sending her flying backwards while Ise recovered, scrambling to her feet and picking up her partially-submerged cannon while she aimed her available cannons into the Ta-Class's body with the intention to put her down, throwing up a peace sign next to her joyous face while speaking to a downed Ta-Class as she emptied shell after shell into her body.

"That was fun!

Let's play again!"

Musashi and Iowa were busy finishing off the stragglers as Iowa punched the ocean again as though playing Whack-A-Mole, commenting on how the Abyssal destroyers were particularly difficult to catch due to their ability to quickly evade, swearing in English.

{Motherfucker!}

"These Abyssal destroyers are like fucking rodents; hard to catch, are innumerable and can easily fuck us over with their abilities!"

Musashi nodded, looking down at the corpse of the Ta-Class which Ise had headbutted, having stepped on her stomach and emptied a 46 Cm shell into her chest before the Abyssal could crash-dive, the remains of the Ta-Class and the bloody hole in her chest disappearing beneath the ocean as she turned back to Ise and Iowa.

The latter hadn't taken too much damage as Iowa had played it rather safe, but Ise's rigging was smoking a little, her uniform completely soaked in either seawater or blood.

Iowa make a call by ordering,

"Well, no point chasing destroyers when they're all that's left.

Let's get back to the rest of the battleships; I have a feeling that they're having some trouble with the Abyssal Demon and Princess."

Musashi nodded, and Ise was experienced enough to know not to make any smart remarks in times like these as she lifted an eyebrow in agreement, the three of them sailing in the direction where the occasional ocean-quaking blow originated from and where ship girls and Abyssals alike gave the widest berth.

After all, it was easy on paper for a destroyer or cruiser to dart around and fire torpedoes at battleships, but if they had two traits in abundance, it was titanic strength and endurance, and punching the ocean was a simple way to disorientate and unbalance the uninitiated, opening them up to a possible cannon salvo or physical attack.

Their monstrous strength meant that they could, circumstances notwithstanding, close moderate distances with a pump of their legs.

And while submarines had sunk battleships like Kongou in the past, punching the sea would produce an underwater shock wave which would not only throw off their aim as water was an excellent conductor of said shock waves, but these waves would resonate and resonate in their minds as repeated exposure could potentially cause tinnitus, dizziness, migraines and possibly even minor, but recoverable brain damage.

Musashi snapped out of her thoughts as she noted the swarm of allied fighter planes trying to hold off the other swarm of enemy dive bombers along with the Anti-Air turrets on their riggings all lighting up the skies.

Enemy torpedo bombers had trouble targeting the ship girl battleships since the ocean quaked and threw up troughs of seawater as they punched and stomped, forcing them to either pull up or risk crashing nose-first into a sea crest, Musashi noting the presence of two other aviation battleships.

Hyuga was there, and the aviation battleship beside her had two Prototype 41 Cm Triple Gun Cannons on both sides of her rigging near her shoulders with Anti-Air turrets and machine guns on the roof, along with two 41 Cm Twin Gun Cannons next to her hips and an askew, pagoda mast-like hair ornament atop her silky, long black hair, hair ends tied up in a white strip of cloth just like her forehead and fringe which was also wrapped up in a white bandanna.

Fusou carried a flight deck with two flight catapults, wearing a sleeveless _miko_ uniform which exposed her shoulders with _miko_ sleeves covering her forearms and elbows while being held up by armbands armed with Anti-Air turrets, her rigging connected to her via the steel wrapped around her waist in lieu of an _obi_ , or a cloth belt.

Her red, pleated _miko_ dress barely reached halfway down her thighs, her flexible kneecap armor armed with more Anti-Air turrets as well 12 Cm 30-Tube Rocket Launchers on both knees, the bottom ridges of the kneecap armor similar to her hair ornament in that the bottom was decorated with golden pieces which hung down from them and jangled along with the wind, wearing white socks and red-colored, flower-patterned slippers with steel attachments beneath them which acted as platform heels, Fusou's red eyes silently focusing on the enemies before them.

A partially submerged Hiei was being hauled away by Kongou, the dead Kongou-Class battleships's limp body unable to put up any resistance as her head lolled lifelessly while Kongou, holding her sister up by the armpits, was speaking into the radio in an emotionally strained voice.

"Kongou to anyone!

Please, send a medevac to bring Hiei back to the docks, desu!

 _Please!"_

Along with the grim notification.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

KONGOU-CLASS FAST BATTLESHIP 150

"HIEI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Musashi's body tensed up in a barely-restrained rage as she saw that Hiei had a bloody, arm-sized hole messily punched through her chest, and the fact that Phoebe the Battleship Water Demon's black elbow glove was soaked in crimson-red blood, connecting the dots and realizing that Phoebe had run her hand through Hiei's chest, instantly killing her.

Nagato and Mutsu were slightly bruised, but didn't look significantly worse for the wear as Nagato asked the Abyssal about why they didn't bother to target a retreating combatant.

"You know…

Despite being put on the ropes, aren't you going to fire at Kongou and Hiei over there, or call in a missile and force their hand?

Not that I wish to give you any ideas, but it seems like something Jayme…"

Motioning towards the Southern War Princess with a nod and using the Abyssal's self-christened name, she continued.

" … would do, and this Hiei's considered a very valuable asset since she obtained her Kai Ni remodel.

So what's stopping you?"

Phoebe considered the question, finally choosing to unleash her aura which weighed down the air around her, Musashi tensing up at Phoebe's poised, yet slightly condescending gaze as she answered.

[Personally, I do not like or condone unsportsmanlike or dishonorable behavior.

Besides, even when putting us on the defensive and outnumbering us, did you think I would deign to strike down someone who was _hors de combat_?

Please.

 _The strong have no need to resort to such despicable acts to win.]_

Musashi gulped nervously, but her cannons bristled in retaliation just as she saw Jayme and Janus point their cannons at them to cover Phoebe's advance, hearing Fusou shout.

"Evade!"

Musashi obeyed, the Abyssals' large-caliber cannons cratering the ocean as Musashi could feel the Beast's 20 Inch shells throw seawater on them, outclassing Iowa and Yamato's cannon calibers despite the fact that the two were the epitome of American and Japanese firepower back in World War 2.

Jayme's cannon caliber was also dangerous as they were similar to Iowa's 16 Inch Triple Gun Cannons, Musashi deciding to go on the offensive by firing her cannons in a concentrated salvo, watching her own and Fusou's shells flatten against the bubble shields of the Princess and the Beast as their shield diffused the force of the impact, red circles blossoming from the point of impact as she saw that Phoebe had already reached Nagato.

Fearing for her friend's life, she burst out into a sprint while Mutsu backed Nagato up by tag-teaming with her sister, Phoebe's unrivaled strength forcing the two Nagato-Class battleships to resort to deflecting her blows instead of outright blocking them, for that would run the risk of cracking or breaking their steel bones.

Musashi entered the fray as she pulled her right fist back, thrusting it out as she performed a physical attack known as the Lone Wolf Cannon.

Twisting her torso to allow the combined momentum of her entire body to accelerate her fist into Phoebe's face and allow her to plant her fist through lesser Abyssals, but Phoebe simply caught her left fist as a compression wave radiated from their gloved hands connecting, Musashi slowly getting muscled out as she saw Nagato lift a boat slipper in order to slam it into Phoebe's knee.

But Phoebe surprised them all yet again.

Jumping up while still holding Musashi's fist, Phoebe evaded Nagato's boat slipper slamming into the ocean as she crossed her legs around Musashi's arm and shoulder in a pseudo-arm bar and used her body weight and the strength of her back muscles to break Musashi's arm while she felt the Demon's calves pressing on the back of her head and face, barely able to flex all the muscles in her arm to stop the Demon's move and keep her suspended in mid-air.

Mutsu swung her fist upwards in an uppercut motion towards the Abyssal's exposed back, but Phoebe anticipated this as she stopped struggling against Musashi's titanic strength while using her legs as if they were pincers or chopsticks to tighten her hold on Musashi in order to lift herself as though performing a sit-up, the move catching Musashi by surprise as the continued application of her strength helped to pull the Demon up into a sitting position above her, the Demon's crimson eyes contrasting with the shadow that darkened her features as she eclipsed the sun in Musashi's eyes.

Leaning forward with great effort to look over Musashi's head as Nagato and Mutsu were forced into retreat by another large-caliber shell flying their way, Phoebe endured Anti-Air rounds fired at her as she struck Musashi in the side of the neck, paralyzing her and causing her head to spin from the disorientation caused by it, the nerves in the area flaring up with intense pain which was unlike getting shot at or struck anywhere else.

It reached her mind and stopped almost all activity due to its intensity and proximity to her head, but she still had the presence of mind to steady her trembling legs as she looked up at the stoic Abyssal, huffing.

"You will… never make a Yamato-Class… battleship go on her knees… with such an attack!"

Phoebe tanked several shells fired from Nagato, Fusou and Iowa's cannons as her expression barely changed into a wince of irritation, raising her fist before striking down on Musashi's neck twice with full-force, causing her legs to give out due to the stars which she saw, her spinning mind becoming numb as her feeble attempts to maintain her balance failed due to Phoebe shifting her center of gravity before Musashi and forcing her to plant a wobbly foot forward before awkwardly crumpling onto the ocean.

Tasting seawater as Phoebe, with her legs around Musashi's face, forced her head into the sea, Musashi was weighed down by her own rigging and Phoebe as the Demon got off of her, but her mind was still in a wreck as she tried to clear her mind and gather the strength to get back up again, but as she expected Phoebe to step on her back and dislocate, if not outright break her back, she heard someone run up to Phoebe as a crunchy, metallic grind of something breaking when slammed against something stronger was heard.

Stopping the spinning in her mind and watching the world come back into focus to some extent through sheer willpower, she craned her neck to see Hyuga holding a broken 35.6 Cm Twin Gun Cannon in her hands, holding the barrels to be used as a cannon sword while the roof of the large-caliber cannon had caved in after bringing it down on the Battleship Water Demon, Phoebe turning back to the aviation battleship as Hyuga deadpanned.

"Huh.

That almost never happens with most Princesses."

While Phoebe retorted.

[Hmm.

Unfortunately for you, I'm not like 'most Princesses'.]

And Hyuga, having released her right hand to transfer the broken cannon to her left hand, quick drew her katana to try and cut Phoebe.

But the Demon ducked beneath the katana's swing, bringing up her bloodied, gloved hand to block the incoming kneecap which was aimed at her face before using her shoulder to perform a Tetsuzanko, a pressure wave being produced as she drove her shoulder cap into Hyuga's chest and sent her flying, Phoebe quipping about how their moves weren't only privy to the ship girls.

[Hmm.

A few of your close-quarter combat moves are quite effective, and unlike other Abyssals who die too quickly to master them, I'm rather long-lived.]

Turning back to Musashi as she struggled to get back up and defend herself, fully lifting her heel as though performing a vertical split, looking down at the Yamato-Class battleship as the Demon continued.

 _[Too bad for you.]_

But as Phoebe brought her heel down like a scythe, heavy splashes could be heard from beyond Musashi's field of vision before Ise shot into view, having performed back-flips before this as she supported herself with her left hand, pulling off a one-handed handstand as she used her foot to stop Phoebe's scythe-like attack.

The ocean cratered beneath them as their legs came into contact, Musashi's prone body feeling every crest and trough which was produced as Phoebe's eyes widened in genuine surprise at the aviation battleship's capability to stop her attack before narrowing, commenting on the limits to Ise's strength.

[Just an aviation battleship after all, hmm?]

Musashi looked down at Ise's arm and saw that as a low-tier battleship, her strength couldn't match that of the classes above her, and it showed as the muscles in Ise's planted arm were tensed up from the exertion of supporting her body and rigging's weight as well as resisting the Demon's strength, trembling from fatigue as Phoebe was out-muscling her, sweat free flowing from her forehead, face and throat.

But Ise's tense smile relaxed into a carefree one as she looked up, commenting on something entirely unrelated to the battle.

Namely, the risque view.

"Ooh, erotic-black lingerie with lace, hmm?

Admiral Mako would be so thirsty for you."

Phoebe blushed a little upon hearing that, but as Musashi felt more battleships run towards their position, Ise bought herself enough time for her cannons to point up at the Demon, forcing the Abyssal to spin away and retreat just as Ise fired a cannon salvo at point-blank range, Mutsu helping her to her feet while Ise retreated to allow Nagato to tag in, performing a double-fist attack as she drew both her arms back before launching them out whilst shouting,

"Twin Wolf Cannon!"

Her fists blurred as they made contact with Phoebe's abdomen, causing ripples to form on her black dress while the Demon let out an uncontrollable,

[Grrk!]

While her heels slid back on the ocean, forced out of position while Musashi saw that Fusou, Hyuga, Iowa and Kongou engaged Janus and Jayme in combat with their cannons wearing down their shields, the Kai Ni Kongou-Class battleship likely having transferred her dead sister to ship girls who were in charge of medevacs so that she could get back in the fight.

Ah, so that was why the cannon shots hadn't been coming her way for a while.

An enemy dive bomber's payload detonated close to their position, and although she could see Mutsu's Anti-Air turrets managed to shoot down the dive bomber as it spiralled into the ocean in a flaming wreck, Mutsu was still unnerved by the explosives and flames being rained down from above as she hissed with a terse voice.

"Tsk!

Too close!"

Musashi finally regained full control of her body as her mind cleared, Phoebe's blows being on a whole other level and left her immobilized for longer than she anticipated as she turned back to Mutsu, reassuring her with a determined gaze while she asked.

"Let me back into the fight, Mutsu!

I let the Battleship Water Demon get the best of me before, but with Ise and Nagato, we can take her on, and you know it!"

Mutsu blinked, before nodding again as they circled around to find Ise swinging her katana around while Nagato resorted to her secretly-armored gloved fists and the occasional shot from her large-caliber cannons to keep Phoebe on her toes, Mutsu and Musashi's presence turning it into a four-on-one.

Not that it made things seem any harder for Phoebe, deftly evading even as the four of them coordinated their attacks, Phoebe's boasts being backed up by her skills as she caught Nagato's punch, sidestepping Musashi's stomp and spinning her baby-making hips in a counterclockwise motion to avoid Mutsu's horizontal kick before pushing off of Nagato's fist and sending the name-ship flying backwards, the law of equal and opposite reaction pushing Phoebe back and putting some distance between her and everyone, this giving her the space needed to spin out of the way just as Ise brought down her katana in a vertical slash.

Another red circle was displayed on her HUD right on their position, Nagato allowing panic to creep into her voice as she shouted,

"Move!"

She could hear the irritation in Phoebe's voice as she bemoaned the unwanted assistance,

[Tsk.

I never asked for her support…]

Everyone ran away in order to avoid the incoming missile, the fear now becoming more evident in Mutsu's eyes as the missile was capable of inflicting splash damage in the form of a fireball.

And considering Mutsu's past and how she sank, it was understandable that she'd fear missiles and their capacity to leave behind nothing but a flaming wreck.

The missile struck the ocean and caused a fireball to erupt in its place, and even though it was unlikely for these explosive missiles to outright sink a battleship, as Bismarck's death showed, it was entirely possible for them to die as a result of getting caught in the blast radius.

She sidestepped the dissipating fireball only to find a 20 Inch shell flying into her rigging, cleanly penetrating her 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Cannon and smashing into her left shoulder, feeling the alien sensation of mind-numbing pain shooting through her body again as she fell onto the ocean and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"AAAHHHH!"

And that wasn't the end of it.

Her trashed 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Cannon exploded in her face, cracking her glasses as the resulting fireball nearly blinded her and she felt scathing pain plague her face, hair, left shoulder, arm and breast before she hit the ocean, her mouth now awash in seawater as her screams now translated into bubbles before her very eyes, pain radiating from her left shoulder while her skin stung from the burns she had sustained.

Her armor came in clutch by preventing her shoulder from being cleanly sundered from her body and minimized the burn damage caused by the resulting fireball, and upon feeling a gloved hand which belonged to an allied signature help her up, she gritted her teeth and seethed as it grabbed and helped her up by her left elbow and shoulder.

This aggravated her shoulder dislocation as a fresh wave of pain spread throughout her body, but being an adult and a warrior, she bit down and endured the agonizing pain, her affected limb already numb from the shoulder down as Mutsu revealed herself to be Musashi's guardian angel.

Enduring the stinging sensation of raw burns being exposed to the relatively cool air, she could see Phoebe shake off 41 Cm shells from Nagato as she stomped towards Mutsu, the slug-like battleship turning around and lifting a boat slipper to catch Phoebe's incoming kick as their heels caught each other, Musashi grunting as Mutsu had to lean on the roof of her 46 Cm Cannon, her knees buckling as she supported Mutsu in a bended-knee position in order to resist Phoebe's strength, and the only thing going through her mind then was,

 _'Ise managed this while doing a bloody handstand?!'_

But in her own defense, she was still reeling from the point-blank explosion since there was still a chorus of shrill ringing in her mind to complement the slightly wonky vision in the wake of her own cannon blowing up in her face, but she could feel Mutsu flexing her Nagato-Class strength, commenting.

"Hmm… not bad!

But don't underestimate me!"

Before firing her cannons in a salvo to hit the Demon at close range, and while Phoebe looked unfettered by the slow battleship's salvo, the physical stress of battle was starting to take its toll as her breathing was significantly faster, and she was actually starting to sweat.

Ise roared as she performed a flying kick to Phoebe's gut, but the Demon still had the presence of mind to spin out of the way, catching her by the leg and throwing her into Mutsu in order to knock the three of them down like bowling pins, Musashi tasting seawater again as she went under.

Fortunately, this time, she managed to prop her body up with her working arm which allowed her to quickly pull her face out from the ocean, her drenched pale blonde hair and twin-tails hanging limply alongside her swollen shoulder and immobile arm, turning back to face the battle.

Mutsu recovered faster than she did, a fire burning in her eyes as she teamed up with Nagato in order to pressure Phoebe.

It was strange to see the normally playful and easygoing Mutsu try so hard in battle, but against an enemy like this who outclassed them in every way and didn't need her Beast or shields to take them all on, it was justified for her to drop everything and go all-out, and since there was no need to think too hard about tactics save for 'punch and shoot until dead', there was also no need to hold back and plan out their next move.

All that was needed from her were her swift reflexes and her raw, titanic strength.

Every instance of contact transferred some damage due to their superhuman strength, and Mutsu deflected an incoming left fist with her right forearm, it left one of many red splotches on her limbs and body after coming into contact with Phoebe's limbs as they hissed through the air with sheer speed.

Musashi joined in the fight by using her right arm and two legs to take on Phoebe while keeping her swollen left shoulder as far away from the Demon as possible.

Phoebe not only evaded, but also caught her right arm's Lone Wolf Cannon in her left hand and positioned herself so that Musashi was in between her and Mutsu, the Demon performing a sweeping hook with her left foot to move Musashi's right boat slipper, but upon seeing that Musashi had a strong foothold and wasn't budging an inch, she paid Musashi a genuine compliment,

[Not bad.]

Before drawing her free right arm back seemingly to strike Musashi's dislocated shoulder.

Musashi panicked as her body bristled in retaliation, thinking to herself,

 _'Shit!_

 _I'm not down for the count, so it'd stand to reason that she'd still see me as a threat and aim for my weak point!'_

It was a logical and reasonable conclusion, but it was incorrect as Phoebe had other ideas.

Lifting Musashi's working arm up and leaving her exposed since none of her cannons could depress low enough to cover her, Phoebe instead bent her right arm in like a chicken wing before twisting her entire body to inflict maximum damage, thrusting her right elbow forward while pulling Musashi forward by yanking on her arm, shouting.

[Six Grand Opening, Elbow Upthrust!]

The next blow knocked the wind out of her as its force was felt throughout her body, but even as her body spasmed and trembled from the elbow strike to her solar plexus, her stubborn and unyielding nature acted as a strength as she refused to go down on her knees, although this could arguably be seen as a weakness in the same vein as she didn't know when to quit and had thrown herself back into the fray.

Phoebe was then treated to a devastating Twin Wolf Cannon from Mutsu, who ran forward and thrust both her fists into Phoebe's side which in turn forced her to stumble away, Musashi's blurred sight sharpening as she thought,

'Now!'

Seeing her opportunity, she counter-hooked Phoebe's foot just as Mutsu raised a heel to drive into the Demon's wounded inside, causing Phoebe to release Musashi's working arm whilst tripping over Mutsu's boat slipper, and this allowed Musashi to retreat slightly before firing all her cannons at point-blank range as the spray of her own shells engulfed her body.

Nagato sailed in to fire an accurate cannon salvo at where Phoebe laid as she was repeatedly bombarded by high-caliber shells, running in and lifting her boat slipper to perform a punt kick into Phoebe's head.

But Phoebe's hand shot out from the smoke to catch Nagato's foot, the Demon's slightly bloodied face being revealed as she snarled.

[Not so fast.]

And spun her legs around in a clockwise rotation as if pulling off a dance move to get back on her two feet while forcing Nagato into a push-up-like position as the Demon still had a death grip on the Nagato-Class's boat slipper, raising it into the air to force Nagato to support most of her own and her rigging's weight with her arms.

Musashi, Ise and Mutsu triple-teamed the Demon as Nagato used her other boat slipper to kick at Phoebe's head whilst shifting her planted hands to keep up with Phoebe, raising them one at a time to block any kicks which Phoebe sent flying into her face.

Ise swung her katana down at Phoebe, but held back for fear of striking Nagato while Mutsu and Musashi lashed out with their attacks and kept Phoebe on the retreat, but Nagato seemingly lost the strength in her arms as her body dropped onto the ocean, her free leg pulling in as the motion caused Phoebe to temporarily halt.

It was a trap.

Nagato used the temporary pause in battle to kick into the Demon's abdomen while Mutsu performed an uppercut headed for Phoebe's face, shouting.

"Volcano Fist!"

The incoming kick or uppercut.

Phoebe couldn't block both in time.

She tried anyway as she released her hold on Nagato's foot to block her incoming kick as well as Mutsu's uppercut, but failed to pull off the former as Nagato drove her boat slipper into Phoebe's abdomen, sending her stumbling back to allow Musashi and Ise to follow up.

Ise performed a clean cut into Phoebe's left forearm before pirouetting on the spot to face backwards and deliver a heel kick, and Musashi stomped on where Phoebe's foot was to keep her foothold loose before backing Ise's landed kick up by performing her Tetsuzanko, feeling Phoebe stumble backwards before witnessing the satisfactory fall of Phoebe as the Abyssal hit the ocean hard.

They surrounded Phoebe as the Abyssal pushed herself back up, all of them already in their combat stances as Phoebe looked significantly worse for the wear with her dress being outright torn in certain areas, bruises plaguing areas of skin on her two arms and shoulders while her left glove was neatly cut and was seeping blood, indicating a superficial but ultimately damaging slash which penetrated her armored skin.

Phoebe's breathing was labored, although not to the extent of the fatigued ship girls as they had to contend with someone whose physical strength transcended class, although as demonstrated by the Demon coughing into her palm while blood was spat into her hand and rolled down her lower jaw, and she was still capable of being hurt, killed and ultimately sunk, albeit at great cost.

Phoebe looked away, apparently distracted by something not in the immediate area before relaxing her poised posture and making a T-sign with both hands, commenting.

[Alright, that's it.

I give up, it's your win.]

Musashi, like the rest of the comrades who stood beside her, didn't relax their combat stances for fear of an ambush or a nasty surprise as Phoebe continued.

[We received the signal for a mass retreat, so it seems as if our time together has come to an end.]

And it was right then when she heard the explanation for the deflation in the Abyssal Demon's fighting spirit, her radio transmitting a broadcast for her to hear some ship girl announce,

"The Abyssal flagship has been taken down!

They're retreating!"

Followed by a chorus of muted cheers in the background, everyone still slightly wary of whether the Abyssals would press on regardless of the loss of their flagship.

Phoebe's heels began to sink into the ocean as Musashi dared to exhale in relief after having fought so hard, and although the Battleship Water Demon wasn't down for the count, against her, getting her to bleed was the best they could achieve right now.

Phoebe voiced her thoughts by lifting her unstained glove to wipe the drop of blood from her lower jaw, bringing it up for everyone to see as she continued.

[Besides, I admit my defeat to those who can push me this far.

It's also the fact that you made my back touch the ocean which made me admit defeat.]

And as the water line went above her waist, Musashi briefly considered shooting her in the head, but Phoebe's eyes exuded a dangerous glint as she warned.

[And if you get any funny ideas about shooting me when I'm retreating, please know that those who have attempted this are no longer in the world of the living.

I play by my own rules, but that is because I have the strength and authority to enforce them upon everyone.

 _You really don't want to see me let loose.]_

But Musashi gritted her teeth and stepped forward, eager to settle this fight with someone who was so much stronger than all of them combined as she called out in anticipation.

"Well, I do!"

Ship girls and Abyssals alike were silenced as she continued, now having seen enough of what the strongest existing Abyssals were capable of in order to redouble her training efforts, exclaiming.

"We, the battleships of Yokosuka, are gonna be the ones to take you down!

Your days are numbered the second we all receive our remodels, you hear me?!"

And instead of a biting retort or an outburst of prideful denial at the notion of being sunk, Phoebe's gaze softened as she displayed a forlorn smile as the seawater came up to her collarbones, the surprised battleships listening to the Demon as she sounded as if she were looking forward to it, but not for the reasons they thought as her expression seemed as if she was humoring them, but some part of her wanted to believe that they could live up to their boast.

[Is that so?

We won't be seeing one another for a long while, and I believe you all know why.

But I look forward to that day where I can truly go all out in our fateful confrontation, ship girls… of Yokosuka.]

Her head disappeared beneath the ocean surface, her mop of floating hair being sucked down along with her as Musashi relaxed, hearing Mutsu and Nagato exhale in relief as one while Ise, having lost her smile long ago, lowered her katana in order to sheathe it.

In the distance, she could see that the Abyssals were retreating, although no one was celebrating since the possibility that this was a trap to lower their defenses wasn't out of the question.

Musashi looked to Mutsu as the Nagato-Class battleship pondered over the Demon's sudden shift in attitude upon seeing them remain so confident about sinking her.

"To be strong and long-lived…

Perhaps it's not all it's cracked up to be to be able to live for so long."

Musashi was nursing her dislocated arm while Nagato was trying to catch her breath, so all she had to say was a simple,

"Elaborate."

Mutsu looked unnaturally solemn as she continued her train of thought, speaking about how being too strong made it near impossible for her to be sunk by her enemies.

"Well, I think that she's too strong to be sunk by battleships alone, and her saying that she's long-lived meant that she's seen a fair number of comrades sink around her.

Even as an enemy, I think I could feel that some part of her wanted to believe that we could live up to our boast of sinking her.

But not before we force her to go all-out in battle, because I can understand the feeling of sinking without being able to fight to your fullest potential; she wants to experience a battle which pushes her to the absolute limit before she sinks."

Ise was also uncharacteristically silent, although Musashi could see that she was listening to them and was taking the conversation seriously, Nagato nodding as she added on while slowing down her ragged breathing.

"I think I felt something like that too, and it's more obvious with the benefit of hindsight.

Playing by her rules, taking all four of us on at once, even splitting up with her Beast as a handicap…

It's all just to handicap and force herself to fight harder.

To think that monsters like her could still exist after all these years…"

Musashi nodded as she heard the cries of the wounded and the heartbroken as they still sounded out across the eerily silent battlefield, Fairy-piloted planes still circling the air to scout the area for potential ambushes while she noted the absence of the _Flying Dutchman_ , since the oceanic vessel likely submerged back into the abyss once its commander realized that all was lost in this battle.

Ship girls either towed back corpses, were deathly silent themselves or were crying all the way back to their bases, and Musashi started the long sail home as she braced herself for the agonizing wait for a slot in the docks to open up, in which a repair bucket would likely be used to heal her up within hours right after the docks were used to stabilize or revive the mortally injured or the dead (if they hadn't already been filled with both as the Battle of Twelve Navies went on; hence the wait).

But the last question which flashed through Musashi's tired mind on the battlefield before zoning out was,

 _'Who took out their flagship?'_


	48. Chapter 48 - Everything On The Edge

_Twenty minutes before the end of the Battle of Twelve Navies_

Yamato sailed across the chaotic battlefield, understanding that there had to be a flagship for them to sink in order to stop this battle.

To either heavily damage or sink an enemy flagship was to cut off the snake at the head, because while another ship could take over command, it was normally be deemed too risky to continue a sortie if the flagship, who was in charge of decision-making and leadership, was to be compromised in battle, and a heavily damaged ship girl could no longer do battle without placing her at a significantly higher risk of sinking.

In addition, sensitive information (possibly pertaining to some grand, overarching strategy) given as instructions to the flagship prior to the sortie might be leaked should they continue and cause the flagship to sink, allowing the Abyssals to capture, revive and interrogate them for information.

All the Princesses were engaged in battle with several fleets, and Yamato clenched her Anti-Abyssal umbrella even tighter as she considered the enemy bosses present.

She could feel the Northern Water Princess engaging in battle with Yokosuka's 1st and 8th Fleet, and she could detect several battleships heading towards the Battleship Water Demon and a Southern War Princess.

The Air Defense Princess and the Armored Carrier Princess were taking on entire fleets solo, and the remaining Battleship Princess was tag-teaming several fleets along with the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon.

That was all her reconnaissance planes and radar could pick up, and she surmised that either the Battleship Water Demon, Battleship Princess or Aircraft Carrier Water Demon could be the flagships.

They wouldn't allow the volatile Princesses like Southern War and Armored Carrier Princesses to take command of an invasion as important as this.

The Air Defense and Northern Water Princess were fighting entire fleets solo, and unless they had an insane amount of faith in their flagship to survive alone even after the explosive fiasco before this, it was unlikely for them to be the flagship.

She trusted her battleship comrades to take on the Battleship Water Demon as she sailed towards the Battleship Symbiotic Princess and Aircraft Carrier Water Demon, circumventing a red circle on her HUD as a warning blared,

'MISSILES INBOUND'

Yamato still shielded herself against the fireball which landed right where the reconnaissance Fairies predicted, but the missiles served as a form of crowd control to force ship girls that were gathered in formations to disperse before they could dole out any serious damage.

Enemy dive bombers droned as they battled with Fairy-piloted fighter planes, and Yamato had to struggle to suppress her tremors upon thinking back to her sinking at the hands of dive bombers and fighter planes, and while she had made her peace with the American carriers who carried out the deed, the trauma and abject fear of planes was still present in her heart and mind.

But still she persisted.

Perhaps it was being given a chance to make a difference between victory and defeat, or the fact that she wanted to make up for past failures, but she powered on as her rigging's Anti-Air turrets were all blazing, aggressively firing at any and every Abyssal plane who dared to make a pass in their direction.

She saw two Junyous, one unremodeled and the other possessing Kai Ni, passing an alcohol flask about, baseline Junyou finishing one while Kai Ni Junyou unbuttoned her coat to pull out another two flasks from her generous cleavage, passing one to baseline Junyou who was already devouring the empty metallic flask.

At a distance, she could see that Battleship Symbiotic Princess and Aircraft Carrier Water Demon were engaged in battle, two Junyou mentally controlling their planes along with Kaga, Hiryu, Chitose and Saratoga while the ship girls on their side were Hatsushimo, Shimakaze, Yuudachi, Kirishima, Inazuma and Yahagi as well as a Kai Ni Sendai, Ashigara, Myoukou, Tone, Shigure, Kako and Kawakaze, several of whom were from other bases.

The enemy side consisted of four Ri-Class and two Elite Ne-Class heavy cruisers, four Wo-Class carriers, five Ho-Class light cruisers, two Chi-Class torpedo cruisers, five I-Class destroyers and two Yo-Class submarines.

Leading them was the Battleship Symbiotic Princess whose damage status tethered on medium damage with the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon providing aerial support by taking on several carriers at once.

Yamato inhaled sharply, unsheathing her katana as she fired a warning shell into the ocean, instantly killing one I-Class destroyer and silencing everyone.

All her troubles and woes were then purged from her mind as she focused her attention on the enemy before her, speaking regally and confidently.

"Yamato, beginning combat!"

The Aircraft Carrier Water Demon chuckled darkly as she leered at Yamato, speaking up about how much simpler this made things.

[Hehehe…

Well, this saves us the trouble of having to find a capital ship to sink in order to recoup our losses!

Dyson, get Izanami to fire your cannons; I'll dole out death from above!]

Yamato could hear the Battleship Symbiotic Princess, named Dyson, respond darkly,

[Yes.

Let's.]

Before Izanami, Dyson's Beast, opened fire on them, and Yamato could hear ship girls shouting as they scattered, the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon holding her hand out as she ordered,

[Get them, Cetus!]

Her Beast roared as it charged up a beam attack as part of a pincer attack as Yamato detected dive bombers and fighter planes headed down towards her.

If she strafed to evade the beam, the enemy planes would swoop down to destroy her, and if she focused on taking down the planes, she would leave herself vulnerable to the beam attack.

But she wasn't entirely helpless.

Shifting on the spot to evade a large-caliber shell, she placed her umbrella in the holder which was part of the rigging, firing all her Anti-Air turrets to ward off the dive bombers and fighter planes as she tuned out the stinging prick of fighter planes which got past her defenses or the Hail-Mary payload drops which missed and threw seawater on her.

She squinted just as the insides of Cetus's mouth became as bright as a miniature nova before firing, having estimated the distance between her and the Beast and the speed at which the beam would cross said distance as she unsheathed her katana from behind her, calling out over the din of the incoming beam whilst slashing down with both arms.

"Heaven Splitting Blade!"

The entire view before Yamato was almost blinding as she failed to see anything beyond the blade of her katana, struggling to cleave the beam since the propulsion force behind the beam resisted her strength as she performed a downward slash while bracing herself against the thunderous boom of the cleaved beam passing by her on both sides, and the luminosity of the hyper beam was so intense at close range that the radiant light threatened to burn through her eyelids and sear into her retinas in order to blind her.

The beam dissipated around her as her grip on her handle threatened to unravel due to the red-hot blade's heat being felt through the handle, the shrill ringing in her ears fading to allow her to hear the sound of allied ship girls attempting to get close to her whilst shouting,

" … Yamato?!"

" … you alright, Ya-"

"Yamato-san!"

Feeling the cool air soothe her airways and cool down her skin after feeling as if she had been standing in a furnace and breathing in its heated air, she realized that Izanami, cradling Dyson in its muscular right arm, had finished charging up a hyper beam and was about to let it rip.

Pushing some of her comrades out of the way, she warned loudly,

"Evade!"

And strafed out of the way whilst holding up her katana to shield herself, shortly before stabilizing her foothold and firing off a few more large-caliber shells with the help of her rigging in order to stun the Beast as they crumpled upon contact with the shield and left vibrant circles expanding from the point of contact.

Cetus and Izanami's jaws were smoking by the time they were done, Yamato checking her radar to find that nobody was grievously injured, in which she rewarded herself with a sigh of relief as she heard the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon comment dryly.

[Hah, looks like you weren't strong enough to split two hyper beams in a row, hmm?]

Yamato snorted as she saw the flaw in that deduction, retorting,

"Well, there's only one of me and two of you. I can certainly block two of them, but then it would wear me down twice as quickly.

Can you fire off two beams in a row without tiring yourself twice as quickly?"

Dyson tilted her head as she lifted an eyebrow, conceding the point.

[Touche.]

Yamato then turned to look as she heard Saratoga point out an interesting similarity between the Water Demon and a certain Shokaku-Class carrier.

"Wait.

Doesn't the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon resemble Shoukaku-san somewhat?"

Everyone turned, unsure of how to answer the question without becoming distracted and allow the enemy to strike first, but the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon smirked as she remarked darkly,

[It's only skin-deep, I assure you of that.

Unlike my weaker and softer ship girl counterpart, I, Lorelei, will not be giving any quarter in this battle.

Prepare to sink!]

She sent out another swarm of enemy planes which consisted of Abyssal Revenge Torpedo Bombers, Hell Dive Bombers and Cat Fighters to join those which were already in the air, Yamato looking up and seeing the white exoskeletons protecting their innards while cracks permeated the surface as they glowed from within.

Sharp, pearly-white teeth gnashed in rabid anticipation, and while circular orifices doubled as eyes and aided in navigation, it apparently wasn't necessary as the Revenge had none.

And although they all seemed similar to each other at a glance, the Revenge Torpedo Bomber had four ivory horns forming a crown whilst carrying a lone torpedo tube on its underbelly.

The Cat Fighter's twin horns made it look like the devil of the skies, and with its one crimson red eye looking at where it flew, a crack which revealed red-hot flesh and machinery within streaked across the front of its face like a scar.

The Hell Dive Bomber only had one horn, but its tail was displayed and used as a hooked paddle to be used as a pseudo-fin stabilizer, with one crimson eye locked on Yahagi.

Yamato hesitated as she was rather close to the Agano-Class light cruiser, but seeing her try equally hard, arguably even harder than she did to do her part in this battle, Yamato recalled Nagato sharing with her the tale of Sakawa's loss.

She wanted to intervene immediately, but she maintained her fire on Dyson's shields with her 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Secondary Cannons, and shouted out a warning for anyone who didn't notice the sight of Izanami raising its muscular fist like a hammer that was about to be brought down on the ocean.

"Everyone, brace!"

In the heat of battle, it was unrealistic for her to expect everyone to notice an incoming attack no matter how obvious it seemed to her, and sometimes, calling out warnings as a precaution did save lives.

She kept her center of gravity low by getting into a crouching position and even planted her hand on the ocean to further ensure her stability as Izanami's fist hit the ocean in a ground pound, causing the ocean itself to quake in fear as everyone hit the ocean, Yamato watching the Abyssal fleet move in for the kill.

But she whispered into her radio to address the carriers in this battle,

"Carriers, I'll be making my move, and it's best that you keep your torpedo bombers away from the ocean surface!"

Before she raised her katana again, still feeling the slight heat of the blade through her handle even after letting it cool down for a while, calling out her attack just loud enough for herself to hear.

"Sweeping Crescent!"

The Abyssals expected a vertical slash.

They were wrong.

Yamato's vertically raised sword rotated into a horizontal one, taking two quick steps forward before lashing out with all her might and unleashing a horizontal air wave into the ranks of the Abyssals, hearing several ship girls cry out in surprise at the devastating move.

"Kyah!"

"Whoa!"

The air wave sundered a Ri-Class heavy cruiser and shredded the flesh of a Ho-Class light cruiser, the submarines and destroyers ducking underwater in order to evade the attack while a Wo-Class awkwardly dived onto the ocean floor in order to evade her horizontal slash, noting her airwave nick the back of her headdress and shave off a few steel shards.

The air wave crashing into the sea also caused seawater to spray everywhere in an arc, distracting the Abyssals long enough for Yamato to shout into the radio whilst readying her cannons,

"Everyone, now!"

Before firing all of her cannons along with her comrades, who unleashed their torpedo salvos as one in order to catch as many Abyssals as possible.

It partially succeeded in that one of her shells inexplicably struck an Elite Ne-Class square in the torso, and as Yamato's cannon caliber was beyond what the Abyssal's armor could handle, her large-caliber shell simply obliterated the Abyssal as its velocity caused her ribcage to cave in.

A vacuum was left in its wake as blood, guts and fuel were flung out the other side, and her bosom was dematerialized by the shell's caliber and speed as jagged steel bones, a pink-colored lung and parts of her severed vertebrae were all visible in an extremely bloody and visceral explosion of body parts while the rest of the humanoid Abyssal corpse dropped dead, her tails partially stuck underwater as they flailed around in order to recover whilst being splattered in alien blood.

She could hear Saratoga's warning,

"My planes can't the bombers off for long!

Look out above!"

Yamato looked up then to find three Hell Dive Bombers headed down for her and Shimakaze, and the Wo-Class's Torpedo Diver was coming in from a distance to try and catch them off-guard with a torpedo cutting them off from the flank.

But Yamato diverted Shimakaze away from the scene as she saw Hiryu sail towards the incoming torpedo bomber, and while Yamato was worried about the Kai Ni carrier from her base, her worries were assuaged as the Hiryuu-Class carrier raised her right foot before kicking the wave crest in order to throw up a voluminous amount of seawater, calling out.

"Storm Leg!"

The seawater swallowed the enemy torpedo bomber whole, its glistening form emerging from the ocean before hitting the ocean hard and throwing up seawater yet again as its tubular payload prematurely detonated underwater.

She reminded herself that threats came from not just above and around, but also beneath her in the form of submarines as she sidestepped the payloads dropped by the Dive Bombers, futilely swinging her palm at one which buzzed her in an attempt to swat it out of the sky.

The threats never stopped coming as she heard Yuudachi call out,

"Watch out!

The Princesses are firing their cannons!"

She ducked as another salvo of large-caliber shells bombarded the ship girl ranks, Yamato's heart stopping at the sight of one shell missing Hatsushimo by a hair, the resulting column of seawater lifting the Hatsuharu-Class destroyer clean off the ocean as Hatsushimo screamed in fright.

"KYA-"

Before the seawater pushed her back into the ocean, and Yamato prayed for her safety as she saw Shimakaze and Yuudachi run over to where their comrade went under and fished around for her, Chitose's swarm of Type 96 Fighters watching their backs.

It was then when she noticed a Yo-Class submarine stealthily surfacing, her long, black hair appearing from the depths along with her rigging which resembled a beast which had its hippo-like jaws perpetually open.

The Yo-Class leaned forward on the beast's lower jaw as her bare, generous bosom squeezed together, the submarine glaring daggers at them with a flaming blue left eye as her long fringe blanketed part of her face and helped to give off a Ring vibe.

A cannon was located above the humanoid Abyssal's back and was pushed up against the roof of the beast's upper jaw, the Yo-Class submarine lowering her head beneath the ocean as a torpedo shot out from the cannon tube, gaining a few seconds of air time as it sailed above the Yo-Class's head so as not to knock the warhead on the back of the Abyssal's head.

Yamato fired a 15.5 Cm shell from her rigging's cannon, but the Abyssal submarine demonstrated the inherent Whack-A-Mole nature behind trying to wipe them out that way as the submarine crash-dived, her shell hitting nothing as she spotted a nasty little present the Yo-Class left behind.

Namely, an incoming torpedo.

Yamato stabbed her sword into the ocean at the angle which the torpedo approached her, wincing at the stinging sensation of small-caliber shells bouncing off of her armor as she waited for the enemy torpedo to come close enough.

She then slashed in a vertical arc in order to throw up seawater, this move pushing the torpedo backwards and throwing it off its projected travel path.

The Abyssals were sailing up to engage the ship girls in combat because they likely felt emboldened by their superiority in terms of manpower and arguably even firepower, but they were going up against some of the best-trained ship girls in Japan.

Everyone got in a straight-line formation before firing a cannon salvo, inflicting superficial damage to several enemies as the Abyssals returned the favor in kind.

Yamato let out an involuntary,

"Grrk!"

Just as she managed to singlehandedly slice through a medium-caliber shell but felt half of the shell tear into her uniform and bruise her shoulder, watching Sendai, Kawakaze, Ashigara, Kako and Tone lead the charge.

She heard a voice cry out in pain behind her, but she reminded herself that she couldn't do anything for them, and hoped that one of her comrades behind her managed to do something in her place.

Firing her 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Cannons to disperse a group of I-Class destroyers which tried to form up and attack them, she saw that both Chi-Class torpedo cruisers unleashed a criss-cross torpedo salvo from both directions, Yamato instead opted to sail into a spot of ocean which was free of incoming torpedoes.

But the second Yo-Class submarine was there to greet her with a torpedo, calling out grimly.

[Sink… back to the depths… with us!]

Those words chilled Yamato's heart as she noticed the Yo-Class's torpedo coming straight at her, along with the two Chi-Class torpedoes coming in from two angles and would catch her should she strafe to either side.

She bravely replied,

"Someday… but not today!"

Before she dipped her katana into the ocean yet again, using her superhuman strength to pull off another Sweeping Crescent, this time pushing all the torpedoes away by spinning in a counterclockwise circle and creating another tidal wave which threw them all off-course, the Yo-Class having submerged by the time she was done.

Kawakaze performed a Cloud Walk in order to evade several torpedoes while Sendai was hopping from side to side in order to evade enemy shells with her heightened light cruiser agility.

Her Kai Ni uniform was sleeveless with a white scarf wrapped around her neck, and with an radar-like hairpin on her left temple, her uniform now matched that of her sisters with a white section covering her bosom and black buttons securing it in place along with the obi sash around her waist.

She was missing her plane catapult, although it was made up by the addition of a searchlight which was attached to her right hip, the searchlight's steel band located above her right black thigh-high legging as its length contrasted with the knee-high legging on her left leg.

Strapped to the base of her spine were two Quadruple torpedo launchers, and Sendai was holding a drawn torpedo in her hand as she flung it at a Ho-Class's center mass, causing it to be blown to smithereens in a fiery explosion and would be remembered by them as one more kill at the hands of the the light cruiser, Sendai of the Itou Naval Base blitzing through the enemy ranks as she worked with Myoukou to take down a Ri-Class heavy cruiser.

Myoukou slid down as her back and rigging hit the ocean in a slide, using her boost gauge in order to spin counterclockwise on the ocean while sliding towards the Abyssal heavy cruiser as the Ri-Class's shells flew by harmlessly over the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser.

She performed an aggressive scissor kick on the Ri-Class's legs and entangled them in her own in order to force the Abyssal to her knees, Sendai running up for a tag team as the Ri-Class cruiser managed to stop herself from face-planting the ocean by using her arms to support herself.

Sendai performed a front flip as she brought her knees up to her face in mid-air before planting her boat slippers down on the back of the Ri-Class's head, firing her boost gauge whilst thrusting her feet downwards to force the Ri-Class's face into the ocean, Sendai holding her right hand up in a ninja hand signal as she called out as a cry of focus,

"Nin!"

Before the two of them strafed out of the way to allow Yuudachi's incoming torpedo to destroy the Ri-Class by slamming into her insides, Sendai shouting out the name of her next move in order to enhance the intensity of her moves.

"Shukuchi!"

Her drastically heightened agility allowed her to become a blur on the battlefield, and even as Dyson and her Beast tried to shoot her down, the light cruiser managed to evade, firing her shells along with Kirishima to keep the Princess and Demon at bay, spotting Ashigara as the heavy cruiser performed a vehicle hijack on a Chi-Class.

Baiting a torpedo salvo as the underwater projectiles headed towards Ashigara, she leapt over them and tanked the incoming 5 Inch shell to her collarbone, seething as she powered on and sprinted towards the Chi-Class torpedo cruiser with outstretched arms ready to throttle the Abyssal, clawed fingers twitching as she roared,

"RRRAAARRRGGHHH!"

She managed to grab onto the Chi-Class's throat guard with one hand, changing directions and jumping in a direction parallel to the Chi-Class's velocity to prevent her arm from being outright dislocated as she was dragged in the wake of the moving Chi-Class's steed while her other hand went for the Abyssal's mop of black hair, making herself comfortable by sitting behind the Chi-Class Abyssal.

Yamato provided cover fire with her 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Cannons in a continuous-fire cycle in order to prevent the other Abyssals from interfering with Ashigara's Grand Theft Abyssal, the Myoukou-Class's rigging furiously firing all their Anti-Air turrets to keep fighter planes off of her as Ashigara tried to maintain her grip whilst evading the shots the Abyssal fired wildly behind her, motorcycle-esque steed careening wildly on the ocean while enemy fighter planes tried to get in a shot into a vital area.

Kirishima sailed in close as the steed haphazardly sailed in her general direction, firing at the Chi-Class to no avail as the accuracy of moving battleships was atrocious, but it was enough to keep the Chi-Class's steed turning and powersliding everywhere to shake Ashigara off, but the Kongou-Class battleship adjusted her glasses by the bridge as she spoke in a collected manner.

"As I predicted…

Placing my shots at E2 and C5, the Abyssal would be forced to end up sailing…"

Boosting forward and holding her left arm out, she shouted,

 _" … HERE!"_

Her lariat smashed into the Chi-Class's collarbones and forced her off of her steed, Ashigara taking the chance to perform a suplex as she hugged the humanoid Abyssal by the waist and tilted her head, tucking it in so as not to avoid injuring herself in the process.

Both occupants hitting the ocean caused the Abyssal steed to spin counterclockwise vertically, its rear wheel overtaking the front wheel as it spun out into the air without a rider, the Chi-Class humanoid now put in a suplex by Ashigara while it's steed had gone on ahead and took off into the sky, the Abyssal's neck bending at an uncomfortable angle as Ashigara's body was in a backwards arc and her arms were wrapped around the Chi-Class by the waist.

Looking up at a large-caliber shell flying in after being fired from the barrel of the Flying Dutchman, she considered simply evading the shell, but noticing her comrades located behind her in a diamond formation on her radar, she instead opted to call out,

"Everyone, brace!"

She freed up a hand by holding her katana in a single-handed grip, forming a fist with her free hand before punching the incoming shell with all her might, feeling the sharp tip of the shell heavily bruise her knuckles while she squinted so as not to risk having a piece of flying shrapnel injure her eyes, wincing at the piercing sensations of the shell pieces hitting her on the chest, face, abdomen and arm, reflexively grunting,

"Grk!"

She felt the sting of open wounds being exposed to open air as the shrapnel left behind superficial scratches, blood oozing out of them and propagating on her uniform as crimson stains.

Yamato focused on the battle as she sailed up to Myoukou, speaking to her urgently as she fired her 15.5 Cm Triple Gun Cannons, because she wanted to save her trademark 46 Cm Twin Gun Cannons for when they really mattered.

"Myoukou-san, I need to try and get in close in order to fight the Battleship Symbiotic Princess, I suspect that she might be the flagship of this invasion.

I need to take her out in order to stop this battle before anyone else gets hurt!"

But strangely enough, Myoukou giggled knowingly despite firing all of her 20.3 Cm (No. 2) Twin Gun Cannons at the enemy, explaining herself to the confused Yamato-Class battleship.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Yamato-san.

I understand your enthusiasm, but there's no point engaging them when having to deal with all these small fry taking pot shots at you.

Sometimes, it's like a game of chess, where it's best to work your way up the food chain and clear the board of as many pieces as you can before even thinking of winning the game."

The heavy cruiser's demeanor shifted as her elegant laughter died down, Yamato gulping as Myoukou emitted an aura of strength from her very being and spoke solemnly about the situation at hand.

"But I do see where you're coming from.

 _'Though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.'_

We'll still have to take the Abyssal posse out, but with Admiral Mako's successful trap, I suppose we can afford to apply more pressure on our retreating foes.

Now then… shall we?"

She sailed forward and left Yamato standing there, the slow battleship snapping out of her reverie as she spoke into the radio.

"Ah! Uh…

Carriers! Please cover our entrance, and the rest shall move up to pressure the Abyssals!

T-Try to sink them if possible!"

Myoukou evaded incoming medium-caliber shells from an Elite Ne-Class and a Ri-Class heavy cruiser as well as a lone Wo-Class carrier while Yamato either deflected their shells with her katana or blocked them with the roof of her 46 Cm Twin Gun Cannons, Myoukou stopping before the Abyssals as she spoke.

"Let me pass."

The Ri-Class angrily voiced what all the Abyssals present thought, likely feeling insulted that one would even bother to ask for such a thing even in battle.

[Yeah, right!

As if we'd simply say 'Sure'!]

And she fired a salvo of torpedoes along with the Ne-Class Elite, the Wo-Class resorting to firing the cannons on her headdress in order to hit both the Myoukou-Class cruiser and Yamato-Class battleship.

But as Yamato deflected one of the Wo-Class's shells and allowed another one to bounce off of her skin with no repercussions other than a stinging sensation similar to an ant bite to a human, she saw Myoukou blitz forward and worm her way through the torpedo salvo, darkly replying.

 _"That wasn't a question."_

Before shifting her center of gravity about while running up to the Abyssals in order to draw them into her pace, Yamato watching an experienced ship girl at work as she pushed off of her right boat slipper and leaned in close to the ocean surface.

The Ri-Class cruiser attempted to mirror her actions, but her left boat slipper dug into a wave trough at the wrong angle as any attempts to push off of her left foot only resulted in her stumbling and falling onto the ocean surface, arm cannons outstretched in order to catch herself as she yelped.

[What the-]

But Myoukou and Yamato fired shells into her, 15.5 Cm and 20.3 Cm shells puncturing her skin armor as it tore through her flesh, and one messily penetrated the side of her head as Yamato observed the dome of her skull shattering and breaking apart in a spectacular explosion of shrapnel, flud and grey matter as the shell exited from the other side of her head.

Yamato shivered in fright as she witnessed the gruesome sight of the Ri-Class's lower jaw and tongue lolling about as they were all that remained of her head, shortly before her body gave out from the lack of signals coming from the now non-existent brain, dropping onto the ocean like a puppet with its strings cut.

The gore was almost enough to make her dry-heave in disgust even after several sorties, but her more experienced and battle-hardened side suppressed this reflex and allowed her to power on with a sour taste in her throat, hearing allied dive bombers and torpedo bombers back them up in combat.

Myoukou's elegant maneuvers forced the Wo-Class onto her butt as she fell onto the ocean, but as a Ryuusei torpedo bomber dropped its payload into the ocean and began to pull up, the Wo-Class's headdress cannons managed to shoot off one of the Ryuusei's wings before crash-diving to safety, Yamato's heart stopping as she feared for the Fairy's life.

Myoukou was about to delay her showdown with the Elite Ne-Class to save the Fairy in the downed torpedo bomber, but Yamato snapped back into action as she called out to her comrade,

"It's alright, Myoukou-san!

I'll save the Fairy, you focus on the fight!"

Myoukou turned back to the Ne-Class Elite without saying a word, but Yamato knew that in her situation, there was no time for words.

She walked over to the slowly-sinking Ryuusei, scooping the plane up with one hand as she saw that one wing had been cleanly sheared off by the shell, and the Fairy pilot was in the midst of getting out of its cockpit, partially covered in soot as Yamato gritted her teeth while the smoking wreck of a plane slightly scalded the skin on her bare palm.

But she detected another Abyssal signature pop from beneath the ocean, her prediction right on the mark as a Yo-Class submarine ejected a torpedo in her direction, stealthily submerging again.

Gripping the bomber as tightly as possible without crushing it, she looked down at the Fairy in her hand, the little pilot possessing medium-length silver hair with a dripping-wet ahoge as she wore a Japanese headband and a light-brown, long-sleeved top and dress.

She uttered a warning,

"I'm about to perform a move, please hang onto something.

She watched the Fairy pilot nod resolutely and hugged Yamato's thumb for dear life, tucking the Fairy and wrecked plane close to her stomach before she looked back at the incoming enemy torpedo as it closed the distance, while the Yo-Class submarine was nowhere to be found.

Yamato dipped her katana into the ocean and slashed outwards in the direction of the torpedo in a vertical Sweeping Crescent, throwing up seawater and messing up the trajectory of the incoming torpedo as it sailed in a completely different direction upon landing back in the water.

She stored the Fairy as well as the plane wreck in her rigging while her own Fairies hosed down the wreck to minimize the risk of a rogue explosion, because to them, every piece of equipment lost to the ocean was more wasted resources, and it wasn't up to her to determine whether the dive bomber's flying days were over.

She noticed Myoukou causing the Elite Ne-Class to stumble on the ocean with her ankle breaker, finally being pressured by a worthy opponent as she was forced to spin out of the way of the Ne-Class's shell, the second tail body-slamming into her as the Elite Abyssal got the upper hand.

Not for long.

Cutting in by aggressively striding up to the Elite Abyssal and holding up her katana in a kenjutsu pose, she performed a Heaven Splitting Blade as she saw the Ne-Class's eyes widen in absolute terror, scrambling away from her descending blade.

The Abyssal then fired her torpedoes at point-blank range as a wall of seawater and foamy spray separated the Abyssal from Myoukou, Yamato seemingly maneuvering herself into a disadvantageous position by getting up close.

That would be true in their warship days.

This was a new age of warfare.

Yamato, with the tip of her katana still in the water, pointed her katana in a different direction and transitioned into a Sweeping Crescent, the spray of the seawater also serving as a distraction to distract the Elite Ne-Class as it engulfed the Abyssal.

Pulling her katana back and holding it parallel to her shoulders like a Chinese sword, she was stunned by the Elite making full use of the spray to hide her own attacks as she felt four medium-caliber shells strike her in the left shoulder, kidney and right collarbone while the last shell grazed her cheek.

But despite feeling her heart stop at the near-death experience, her warrior's spirit pushed her on as she thrust her sword out and into the Ne-Class's chest, aiming for the center of mass even as the humanoid Abyssal brought up both hands and curled both her tails inwards in order to protect herself.

She called out loudly as she felt her own expression darken,

 _"Heavenly Jeweled Spear!"_

And pierced the Ne-Class through her twin tails and the forearms of her outstretched hands in her attempt to kill the Ne-Class, turning her into a living _shish kebab_ as she utilized her momentum and weight to push the sword in.

Squeamish squelching noises could be heard as the twin tails squealed in agony upon being thoroughly impaled, cannons firing reflexively into the water as Yamato saw the Elite Ne-Class's face darken due to exhaustion, simultaneously cringing from the katana piercing through her chest and came out the other side, completely drenched in blood.

Yamato uttered a simple,

"I'm sorry."

Before looking away as she ripped her katana from the Abyssal's body in a downward motion, disemboweling the Ne-Class as her tails and arms were partially bisected, and since the Abyssal was stabbed through her chest, the blade cut through several of her internal organs as well as the base of her spine where her twin tails were connected.

The blade exited by cutting through her nether regions, Yamato's battleship strength making it disturbingly easy for her to cut through Abyssal steel as she turned away, unable to face the bloody splash as the Ne-Class hit the ocean.

Her own strength made her sick sometimes, to think of what she could _really_ do if she went all out.

But she sailed up to Myoukou and looked down at the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser, feeling concern and genuine anger over the fact that Myoukou, one of her comrades as well as a fellow lover of Admiral Mako, got hurt in combat, asking worriedly.

"Are you alright, Myoukou-san?"

But even though she looked somewhat worse for the wear while her heavy breathing was slowly being brought back under her control, the senior heavy cruiser gave her a sincere smile as she answered.

"Oh, I'm alright, dear.

I've survived worse scrapes than this, and you managed to take down that Elite cruiser by yourself, so I took the chance to recover my strength."

Yamato nodded, but she felt two distinct Abyssal auras flare up from behind and threatened to sink her, turning back along with Myoukou and tightly gripping her katana as Dyson and Lorelei sailed up and took the stage, the Battleship Princess speaking up.

[I told you we should've fought them head-on instead of standing behind and bombarding them.]

And Lorelei retorted,

[Ah, stop your whining just because you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with your cannons!

At least I took out three of them with my planes, hmm?]

[You had help.]

[Nyeh, nyeh, excuses, excuses!]

Lorelei stuck out her tongue at Dyson, the rest of the Abyssal horde retreating in order to congregate around their leaders.

Yamato reviewed her HUD notifications as she was too caught up in the heat of battle to notice her fallen comrades, and while she was glad no one around her had sunk due to their tight teamwork, it still hurt to see her friends get killed, despite knowing that they would eventually be revived in the docks.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

LEXINGTON-CLASS CARRIER 233

"SARATOGA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

FURUTAKA-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER 217

"KAKO"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

SHIRATSUYU-CLASS DESTROYER 082

"YUUDACHI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Yamato lowered her katana, but remained ready to strike as she dared to ask.

"So, if I might ask, who is the flagship of your Abyssal armada?"

She expected a noncommittal reply along with a few of the ship girls which included Kaga, Kawakaze and (strangely) Inazuma, but Dyson then stepped up as she jerked her right thumb at her chest, boasting.

[I am.

Why do you need to know?]

Yamato's expresssion softened ever so slightly as she spoke up defiantly.

"Oh, nothing.

I simply wanted to know who to kill in order to end this battle."

Lorelei called out in irritation,

[Oh yeah?!

Do you really think that you're strong enough to put your money where your mouth is?!]

Yamato dared to smirk in the face of the two Abyssal bosses flexing their menacing auras of strength in order to try and intimidate her, answering boldly.

"Yes."

Raising her katana in a two-handed kenjutsu pose, she felt her heartbeat resonate throughout her body while the flow of her blood resounded through her ears, focusing only on taking out the enemy as she stated.

"Allow me to demonstrate.

Heaven Splitting Blade!"

Before slashing down at the ocean and creating an air wave which flew towards the Battleship Princess, everyone else choosing to scatter as Izanami blocked the attack for Dyson, its muscular arms flexing protectively while Yamato fired her cannons along with the Battleship Princess.

Evading enemy shells as she heard the hair-raising screech of steel on steel along with showers of sparks being thrown up in their wake, Yamato fired all her Anti-Air turrets and watched for any torpedoes in the water, and Kawakaze sailed up alongside her as she encouraged.

"Yo, Yamato-san!

Don't worry, we'll carve out a path for you, because other than Kirishima-san, you're pretty much the only one who can break the Princesses' middle shields!"

Yamato gave her a resolute nod in response, watching Shigure kick an I-Class destroyer with a torpedo in its jaw out of the water shortly before slamming her hand cannon into its exposed abdomen and firing off a shot, taking it out of action.

Myoukou accompanied her just as Dyson noticed their approach, turning to them as she fired the rest of her cannons in order to force them to disperse, growling.

[Go… away!]

Kawakaze shouted,

"Shigure-Aneki, let's do this!"

And although they weren't from the same naval base, the Kai Ni Shigure's response was as determined as ever in spite of her wallflower personality.

"Yes… let's!"

Before jumping to avoid the tidal waves as Izanami slammed its fist into the ocean, landing on a wave crest and dumping all her torpedoes in the water before moving away while the Princess fired her medium-caliber cannons in order to try her luck at hitting them.

Yamato stepped in to split a shell which almost hit Kawakaze, the fiery destroyer thanking her in relief.

"Yeow! That was close!

Thanks, Yamato-san!"

Dyson then got off her Beast's left palm, disconnecting some sort of thick, black wire which was plugged into the back of her head as it slithered back into Izanami, Dyson suddenly blitzing forward in a terrifying burst of speed as Shigure flinched, Myoukou and Yamato rushing in as Myoukou performed a circular motion with her two arms to deflect Dyson's punch while Yamato swung her katana at her head.

But as Dyson ducked beneath her katana slash, she grabbed the back of Myoukou's collar and hooked her right leg around the heavy cruiser's left leg in order to perform a Judo throw.

But just as Yamato noticed Izanami sailing towards them with tensed arms ready for combat, Shigure held up her hand cannon in order to fire into Dyson's eye, speaking defiantly.

"No you don't!"

Firing a bullet into Dyson's left eye caused her to loosen her grip, and Myoukou managed to counter Dyson's leg hook by getting in close to make sure their calves were touching before using the instep of her foot to hook around Dyson's ankle, Yamato tripping Dyson's other up in order to force the Abyssal down on one knee.

But the Princess's haunting aura weighed down on them all, and even Yamato was unable to control the tremors plaguing her entire body as Dyson looked back at them, Yamato feeling all of the Princess's hatred and malice for ship girls and humans alike as she retorted.

 _[Don't what?]_

Yamato could only think to herself,

 _'Her eye is still working even after a point-blank shot?'_

But just as Myoukou managed to unravel her complex hold in order to put some distance between them, Izanami appeared behind Yamato as it roared and shook the ocean beneath them with the intensity of its voice alone, slamming its fist into the ocean to disorientate both the heavy cruiser and slow battleship whilst straight-up launching Shigure into the sky since she was on the fringe of the crater formed by Izanami's fist.

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer let out a terrified,

"Eek!"

As Dyson stepped forward, unaffected by the tidal wave after mentally coordinating the attack with her Beast and preparing herself for it, closing in for the kill as she pulled her right fist back and called out,

[Eight Postures of the Buddha Guards!]

Before crushing Shigure's body with a blurred fist, pressure waves being produced by the impact while Shigure coughed out mouthfuls of blood, her uniform rippling due to the force transferred from Dyson's incoming fist as bones loudly cracked within her body for all to hear.

Yamato's heart stopped at the sight of a comrade getting hurt, but she stumbled and was unable to stop Dyson from twisting her body and transmitting all her momentum as well as her entire body weight into her fist, transferring it all to the airborne Shigure as she spoke,

[It's over.]

Before sending the Kai Ni Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer flying away, Shigure hitting the ocean hard and skidding on the ocean surface while Kawakaze abandoned her offense to save her sister.

Myoukou pointed her cannons at Dyson, but was forced to evade as Izanami laid down cover fire with its large-caliber cannons, and Yamato swung her katana down on the Abyssal Princess, but what came next surprised even her.

Dyson used the bracelet on her right wrist to deflect the blade, Yamato noting the fact that the Princess deflected it at an angle instead of outright blocking it, which would have risked her bracelet cracking or even breaking from her attack.

The hail of sparks which were produced upon contact fizzled out of existence upon scattering and hitting the sea, and Dyson's smug expression contrasted with Yamato's look of shock, retorting.

[Did you really think that the little thing you called a sword in your hand was capable of cutting through everything?]

But Yamato narrowed her eyes, expressing a calm demeanor despite feeling threatened by the sight of Izanami rejoining Dyson and watching the pop up on her HUD read,

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

SHIRATSUYU-CLASS DESTROYER 145

"SHIGURE"

STATUS: DECEASED'

She silently struggled to bring her breathing under control as she responded.

"I don't need to be able to cut everything under the sun.

Right now, your armored skin and steel flesh will do."

Dyson smirked at the defiant retort, Izanami growling as Yamato back-stepped, firing both of her 46 Cm Twin Gun Cannons as she either deflected several medium-caliber shells with her sword or tanked them with her steel skin, watching as an enraged Kawakaze and calm Myoukou were joined by Shimakaze and Ashigara along with Kaga and Inazuma.

Kawakaze shot forward, looking beyond pissed off at how Dyson managed to one-shot her sister, her expression contorted in a snarl as her burning eyes promised a painful death to those unfortunate enough to incur her wrath, brandishing her torpedo launchers as she yelled.

"You're dead, bitch!"

And fired a broad salvo in order to catch the Battleship Princess as well as the two Yo-Class submarines, three Wo-Class carriers and all four Ho-Class light cruisers which sailed up to defend their flagship.

As another missile descended upon them and had the redhead destroyer located in its sights, Yamato, upon dispersing for fear of being caught in the blast, saw Kawakaze utter a disdainful,

"Shit!

Shukuchi!"

Before blitzing out of the blast radius, still being rocked by the ensuing explosion as two Abyssal Dive Bombers descended upon her, attempting to use the missile explosion as an opportunity to take a mobile threat out.

Not if Yamato had anything to say about it.

Taking gigantic strides towards her little friend, Yamato performed an aerial swing of her katana to create another air wave in order to disorientate the enemy bombers, and since she was the strongest battleship in the world, she had more than enough strength to keep spamming these air wave attacks so long as she didn't utilize her full strength in a Heaven Splitting Blade.

Shielding Kawakaze as the dive bombers blew up upon hitting the ocean, she felt her skin and hair singe a little from the heat, and as she looked down, she could see that Kawakaze looked surprised at how the Yamato-Class battleship shielded her from the nearby explosion, asking incredulously.

"Y-Yamato-san?!

Why did you shield me, I could've survived that!"

But Yamato shook her head, Anti-Air turrets all firing in every direction in order to ward off the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon's bombers which flew in from every direction as she answered.

"But you're hurting on the inside because of Shigure, Kawakaze-san.

I don't want you to be hurt any more when you're like this."

Kawakaze was dumbfounded by the answer, but before Yamato could explain herself, her breath stopped at the sight of Dyson flying in at an incredible speed, barely registering Izanami posing as if it had thrown a baseball like a pitcher as well as the voices of her comrades shouting into her radio before acting on reflex and pushing Kawakaze away.

Dyson was getting insane air time as she flew over the ocean surface, slamming into her and causing her to topple over with the element of surprise as she grabbed Yamato's neck, whispering threateningly in her face as the Battleship Princess had to contend with her superhuman strength, and her face was strained due to the effort required to do just that.

 _[Don't make promises you can't keep.]_

Yamato's lungs burned as she tried to wrestle with the Princess while her windpipe was being crushed, but an anchor-weighed bola flew in a counterclockwise direction and struck Dyson on the temple as it wrapped around her head, causing her to loosen her grip on Yamato for an instant as she took the chance to headbutt the distracted Abyssal, bringing her knee up to Dyson's stomach repeatedly to get her to let go.

She felt another hyper beam slice through the battlefield, but thankfully, none of them got caught in it as she turned to find a bloodthirsty Ashigara sprinting forward and jumping in order to performing a running drop kick as her boat slippers flew into Dyson's gut.

The Abyssal Princess certainly felt that as she grimaced and stumbled, but Ashigara was like a stubborn hound who refused to let go of its prey, her expression as fierce and unyielding as she grabbed onto Dyson's hair, stopping her in her tracks as she drove her gloved fist repeatedly into Dyson's face as though the Abyssal's face had offended her in some way.

But Dyson caught her fist on the fourth blow, Yamato gasping and coughing in order to clear her throat and was unable to interfere with Dyson kicking Ashigara in the gut and pulling the heavy cruiser's fist to stretch out her shoulder joint, the final nail in the coffin being the downward punch into her shoulder cap in order to either dislocate or outright cripple Ashigara's right arm.

The Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser coughed out blood as her expression morphed into one of agony, but Dyson was forced to throw Ashigara onto the ocean beneath her as Yamato swung her katana down with a vengeance, a laser-focused Myoukou sailing as she followed up Yamato's deflected sword strikw by gracefully lifting her left leg and swiftly delivering two highs kick to Dyson's shoulder and head

A prone Ashigara used her legs to entangle Dyson's legs in order to make her stumble, Dyson being forced to block Yamato's Heavenly Jeweled Spear while tanking Myoukou's spinning hind kick as the latter finally caused her to hit the floor, although Dyson was kicking away Ashigara's legs in order to disentangle herself and was already getting back up.

Myoukou immediately took a sidestep forward with her right foot, getting into a half crouch as she lowered her body in a counter-clockwise motion and leaned forward in order to put her weight on her crouching left leg, her right leg sticking out to her side as she brought her fists up with bent arm ready to strike, the ferocity of her aura intensifing threefold.

Like a windmill, Myoukou swung her hips around whilst pushing out with her left boat slipper, transferring all her weight onto her right leg, and by extension, into her two fists as they both shot out to strike the Battleship Princess in the solar plexus and abdomen in a Piguaquan attack, sending her rolling back on the ocean with her Kai Ni strength.

However, they had to break off their offense as Izanami fired a shell in their direction, throwing up copious amounts of seawater as Yamato unleashed her cannons and Anti-Air turrets in order to ward off the swarming dive bombers as she felt her uniform and skin get scorched by one of them, but she endured it as she saw Dyson catch her breath and nodded with a look of something resembling respect at Myoukou's skills, the Kai Ni heavy cruiser helping her fallen sister up.

Yamato leaned in and used a subdued tone to speak into her radio in order to address her comrades and share what her plan was.

"Everyone.

I need a clear shot with all three of my 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannons to break the shield, it seems as if the Battleship Princess knows that close-quarters combat by herself just won't cut it against all of us.

My cannons are strong enough to break her shield plates, but unless I utilize all three cannons, I have a feeling that her shields will still stay up."

She sneaked an aside glance towards the ship girls who were huddled together in a tight diamond formation in order to defend Kaga from the Abyssal horde, who tried to break their defense as Kawakaze, Inazuma and Shimakaze were dropping depth charges into the ocean.

She heard Kaga stoically comment.

"Fine.

You'll have your opening, but I must implore of you."

Holding out her long bow, she finished her sentence with a simple,

"Don't miss."

Quick-firing several arrows, they burst into flames before three Suisei dive bombers and two Ryuusei torpedo bombers emerged, the Abyssals taking this as the signal to move into position and retaliate.

The two Yo-Class submarines fired their torpedoes along with the four Ho-Class cruisers, Yamato hearing someone call out.

"Evade!"

Everyone sprung into action as she watched Myoukou transfer Ashigara into the grasp of Natori and Isuzu, both of whom were part of the medevac crew as the heavy cruiser's tussle with Dyson had injured her legs and right shoulder, but Ashigara's expression still possesed unyielding tenacity as she gave Myoukou a firm nod, giving her elder sister some peace of mind as Myoukou simply responded,

"Very well."

Before turning away to rejoin the battle.

Kawakaze sailed in between the gaps in the torpedo salvo and then lowered herself in order to slide on the ocean, the Battleship Princess's large-caliber shell flying over her before springing back up, and she performed another Shukuchi in order to present herself as a high-speed target to an Abyssal Dive Bomber which streaked down at her, the little destroyer yelling.

"Get the fuck away from me!"

Yamato had problems on her end as she maneuvered around and evaded descending dive bombers who tried to bring her down like the Americans did in World War 2, although an increase in physical mobility allowed her more escape routes as she heard a dive bomber coming down with the signature drone of its engines.

She planted her foot in the ocean in order to stop herself from sailing into the dropped payload as it threw up seawater upon hitting the sea.

Another dive bomber was smart enough to wait for her to grind to a stop since her slow speed and heavy rigging meant that she couldn't immediately gather up the strength for another burst of speed, and it was agile and skilled enough to avoid taking on the full brunt of her hail of Anti-Air bullets.

And for that, Yamato let out an involuntary,

"Khhh!"

As she endured the accurate payload which successfully hit her rigging, praying that nothing would either explode or catch on fire.

Feeling the shockwave of the explosion shake her rigging, its aftershock was felt the strongest in the base of her spine as the attachment which was connected to her hips and back trembled, Yamato feeling her legs forcibly wobble while her shoulders were seared by the fireball as it mushroomed and singed her ponytail, sharply inhaling through clenched teeth as the fireball dissipated and allowed cool air to take its place, stinging her reddened flesh in the process.

And although there was pain, death and unabated chaos all around her, Yamato strangely felt something well up within her, warming her up like a flame.

Her breathing stopped just as she suspected an internal fire in her body, but since there were no warnings popping up on her HUD and forcing her to prepare for the worst, she grabbed her left breast and examined this feeling.

It was her fighting spirit.

She felt a medium-caliber shell glance off her shoulder whilst hearing the incessant bombings and cannons going off all around her, but the noise of war and all the pain she felt thus far only served to stoke a warrior's fighting spirit hidden deep inside her heart, where social niceties and upheld images of oneself were all ignored in favor of sheer force of will.

Here, she was no longer Yamato the lover, the battleship, the personification of Imperial Japan.

Here, she was Yamato the warrior, the strongest battleship on Earth.

Nothing else mattered.

She heard Kaga speak into her ear through the radio with a tinge of concern in her voice, asking tersely,

" … amato, are you alright?

We are in position, so-"

Yamato shook her head, taking deep breaths in order to calm herself down and did her best to tune everything out as she stepped forward, and unbeknownst to her, she unconsciously emitted a red-white aura of strength as she answered serenely.

"Yes.

Move on with the plan."

Lashing out with another Sweeping Crescent which cleanly bisected the bestial jaw of the beast which housed the Yo-Class submarine, the humanoid Abyssal's eyes widened to the size of saucers upon seeing her attempted torpedo attack get foiled with a single slash as the air wave sundered her head from the rest of her body, Yamato circumventing the explosion as her airwave attack likely set off a torpedo warhead in the submarine's ride as the other Yo-Class looked at her with pure and unadulterated fear, her eyes narrowing as she dived in order to avoid the same fate as her late doppelganger.

She barely noted the deceased Yo-Class's head plopping into the ocean somewhere else as she walked on.

The three Wo-Class carriers formed a tight perimeter around the Battleship Princess while the four Ho-Class light cruisers formed a second defense perimeter, loosely circling the carriers and the Princess while making sure they could cover each other as they formed a defensive turtle perimeter.

Myoukou, Shimakaze, Inazuma, Kaga and Kawakaze were poking holes at their defense as they encircled them like sharks which smelled blood in the water, Kaga standing further behind and sending out planes en masse, more concerned with quantity in order to match amount of planes which the three Abyssal carriers deployed as the Wo-Class trio were able to defend their Princess with their headdress cannons, requiring the use of more planes to overwhelm them.

But the Abyssals weren't completely done in yet.

All at once, they fired all their cannons at Kaga once they sailed into various positions which ensured that they wouldn't block one another's line of sight, Kaga instinctively using her flight deck as a makeshift shield against the shells which flew towards her while Yamato took the chance to unleash a one-handed Heaven Splitting Blade in a Wo-Class's direction.

The Abyssal carrier evaded in time such that her airwave only destroyed her headdress and tore apart one of her twin headdress tentacles, the Wo-Class spinning on the spot before falling onto the ocean before the two halves of her headdress followed suit.

Yamato then ran forward, tanking shells and avoiding torpedoes as she shrugged off the pain while keeping her eyes on the prime target, her comrades getting into position in order to fire their torpedoes as they came in from all directions.

This doubled the chances for the torpedoes to hit something, as demonstrated when a Ho-Class light cruiser evaded an incoming torpedo, but that move allowed the torpedo to continue on and hit the lower layer of Dyson's shields, Yamato warning just as Izanami raised its fist to smash into the ocean.

"BRACE!"

The muscular Beast slammed its fist down on the ocean and shook it again as Yamato struggled to maintain her balance on the terrain which was affected by an earthquake-esque attack, but she saw that Dyson aimed all her cannons at Yamato, and even as her Anti-Air turrets fired non-stop into the sky, dive bombers still descended upon her in droves.

She prioritized evading the dive bombers first due to a deep-seated fear of them as well as their ability to sink her, accelerating forward as she felt the strain on her legs after running around so often with her rigging weighing her down, but Shimakaze sailed up behind her as Yamato felt someone climb up her rigging before the scantily-clad destroyer used her rigging as a launching platform, Rensouhou-chan all ready to fire as she called out.

"No bullying my top-heavy friend when I'm around!"

Spinning around in the air and firing all her Rensouhou-chan cannons in order to either destroy or scare off the dive bombers before landing, Yamato staring down the barrels of the Battleship Princess just as Shimakaze attempted to get out of the way.

Without thinking, she jumped forward and shielded Shimakaze just as Dyson's cannon barrels flashed, the enemy shells carving through parts of her rigging before feeling her back get scorched by the flames which erupted behind her.

But shockingly, none of her cannons blew up in her face in spite of the hail of shells flying their way and partially destroying her rigging, labored breathing escaping through her clenched teeth as her Fairies got to work on extinguishing the flames which plagued her rigging and seared her burnt back, and she got up from her prone position after making sure she hadn't crushed Shimakaze or any of her Rensouhou-chan trio.

In her mind, nothing mattered more than taking down Dyson, her cannon barrels glistening with seawater as she had them facing forward while she stood up straight, which meant that they were dipped into the ocean and were thus drenched, falling water drops reflecting sunbeams as she aimed her two large-caliber cannons at the Battleship Princess.

Izanami started to strafe by launching itself away with its muscular arms, but Yamato's cannons were faster on the draw as four of her six shells landed on the mark, the Beast stumbling back from the impact of _the_ most powerful naval guns in history as it growled,

[GRAAHH!]

But as it fired its 12.5 Inch Twin Secondary Guns which punched Yamato's skin and caused her to flinch, Izanami bizarrely chose to launch itself forward at the battleship, Yamato shielding Shimakaze as the looming form of Dyson's Beast blitzed towards her, yelling at the retreating destroyer.

"RUN!"

But she heard Dyson retort ominously,

[You really should follow your own advice.]

Yamato saw and felt a translucent-red wall slam into her body and rigging, the force field shimmering from the force of the collision as Yamato was displaced by the unmatchable strength of the Beast and fell back on the ocean while the Battleship Princess crashed into the ocean, now almost within range of using its girthy arms to crush Yamato in its grasp.

But Kaga's planes came to the rescue along with Kawakaze, who launched herself into the air with help from Myoukou as the heavy cruiser brought her palms together for the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's shoe to step on before Myoukou launched her with a Kai Ni heavy cruiser's strength, adding to her air time along with her boost gauge being emptied in a Cloud Walk.

Yamato and Dyson both looked up as Kawakaze spun in mid-air, landing and boost-launching off of a Wo-Class's headdress like a certain Italian plumber jumping off of goombas, reaching new heights as her fiery expression matched the torpedoes she had in a reverse grip in both hands, shouting at the top of her voice to draw the Princess's attention even if for an instant.

 _"YAMATO-SAN!"_

Being greeted with a hail of Anti-Air fire was Dyson's response, and Kawakaze was forced to throw the torpedoes lest a lucky bullet hit and prematurely detonate the torpedo in her face, and she hit the ocean hard as the flung torpedoes detonated on the Battleship Princess's shields along with Kaga's Suisei dive bombers dropping their payloads which further strained her swollen-red hexagonal shield plates, Yamato watching Izanami shield Dyson from Yamato's move.

But it was too late.

Yamato used the time everyone had bought her in order to flip her last 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannon out from behind her as she sheathed her katana and skipped the aiming phase, yelling,

 _"FIRE!"_

The ocean cratered beneath her as all nine 46 Cm shells hit the mark and shattered Dyson's shields, the Battleship Princess staggering back in surprise just as Yamato cringed from the strain of the cannon's recoil being felt in her lower back and butt, since they were never trained to fire in a reclining position.

But before she could fold her large-caliber cannon back in place, the handheld cannon before her was literally ripped from her hands as Izanami held it by the cannon barrels, tore it from her rigging and flung it into the distance, Yamato being completely exposed to Dyson as the Abyssal stepped down from her Beast and leaned in close, a predatory look being reflected her eyes as she spoke.

[Props to you for destroying my shields.

I'll make it quick for you as a reward.]

Yamato got to her feet and quickly drew her katana in order to bring in down in a one-handed slash, but Dyson caught her arm by the wrist before leaning in darkly, uttering.

[Six Grand Opening, Elbow Upthrust!]

Yamato caught Dyson's incoming elbow in time, but when the Princess put her entire body weight behind her attack and spun her body in order to transfer her momentum into the elbow strike, it did little good as Yamato was stunned by the blow to her gut and felt her breathing become labored.

And that was before Izanami's right fist came flying in as it performed a nasty right hook.

With both arms occupied, Yamato was unable to block the incoming fist which struck her in the side, shoulder and hip, coughing out blood as she was sent flying for the very first time in her life, her boat slippers losing contact with the ocean.

Hitting the ocean head-first, she could barely hear the concerned cries of her comrades, an ominous red circle being displayed on the ocean in her HUD to indicate an incoming missile.

And she was smack right in the middle of its blast radius.

No time to rest.

She had to move.

 _MOVE!_

Commanding her weary and injured body, she forced herself into action just as the missile barely made itself seen and heard by tearing through the clouds at breakneck speed, grunting as she summoned the strength to blitz forward in a physical burst of speed.

The explosion almost caught her in its blast radius as she felt the blast wave throw her off-balance while the radiant heat roasted her skin, guarding herself against it as she stumbled out of the way and prepared her cannons to fire again.

Her internal injuries and battle fatigue were taking their toll, and she wiped the blood from her lower jaw as she watched Inazuma fling another anchor-weighed bola at Dyson, snagging her wrist and head as Myoukou fired her cannons in a salvo into Izanami and Dyson, the humanoid Abyssal tearing the bola apart with sheer physical strength while Izanami swiped its left arm in their direction.

Kaga, hauling her wrecked 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannon around via steel cables while her rigging housed the Fairies which previously manned said cannon, sailed up to Yamato as the battleship looked around for the Abyssal horde, asking the injured carrier about their whereabouts.

"Um… Kaga-san?

Where are the other Abyssals that were in this battle?"

Kaga exhaled through her nose as she answered honestly, seeing no reason to lie.

"They were all wiped out by us while you fought the Battleship Princess.

Your plan to engage her and her Beast in close-quarters combat was…"

The 1st Division carrier sighed and simply rolled her eyes after failing to find an appropriate word to encompass the danger, absurdity and outright lunacy of such an idea, but she continued nonetheless.

"Regardless, Inazuma and Myoukou wiped the floor with them while Kawakaze and Shimakaze had to break off their offensive to assist you.

I naturally had to watch over everyone, but thanks to you distracting the Princess, the seniors could go all-out in destroying the small fry."

Yamato nodded, watching Inazuma boost-evade a 12.5 Inch shell fired right where she previously stood, and everyone got ready to evade just as Izanami charged up another hyper beam in its jaw.

Time to do or die.

Yamato grimaced, not wishing to waste even a second of their opening as she fired her 46 Cm Triple Guns at the Abyssal, and instead of evading the shells and wasting even more stamina, Izanami raised its arms to block two of the incoming shells while Dyson leapt into the air and performed something like a volleyball spike, her raised hand making contact with the pointed tip of the shell and slapping it back into the ocean as it caused a thunderclap-esque shock wave to resonate across the battlefield due to the intensity of the impact, Yamato gulping at the colossal strength which rivalled or even exceeded her own.

But Yamato wasn't done just yet.

Evading the incoming hyper beam, she performed a Sweeping Crescent as she approached the Battleship Princess, forcing Izanami to block the incoming air wave as a cut was engraved into its flesh, the Beast crying out from the injury as it produced a minor pressure wave in the process and sent the ship girls scurrying away from it, but not before dumping all their torpedoes into the water and shattering the Princess's lower shield layer.

The Suisei and Type 99 Dive Bombers descended, but the flagship of the Abyssal horde was still protected by various enemy planes sent out by Lorelei, the insanely powerful Aircraft Carrier Water Demon as Kawakaze voiced her irritation over the radio, her ragged breathing being transmitted as crackling static.

"Tsk…

What the hell are the ship girls doing over there, allowing the Carrier Water Demon's planes to interfere in our fight?!"

But Kaga steered the conversation back on track by stating.

"Focus.

Our comrades who are doing battle with the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon are doing their best.

We have no choice but to accept the fact that the Demon's area of influence simply extends that far.

At this rate, the Princess will have her shields back up in no time, and we have to either take her down before then or separate her from her Beast."

Another missile descended on their position and forced hem to disperse, but she could see that Dyson was only focused on taking her out with her 16 Inch Triple Gun Cannons, this being the logical thing to do since she was the slowest and arguably the strongest ship girl in the current fleet.

But Shimakaze and Inazuma took advantage of the tunnel vision which Dyson suffered from in her desire to sink Yamato by pulling off drive-by torpedo salvos from both sides, the salvos connecting as they distracted the Princess long enough for her to load up the Type 3 shells inside one barrel of each 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannon.

Firing them felt as if the sun itself was being ejected before her as she had to squint at the drastic increase in luminosity and braced herself against the intensity of the heat before charging through it, detecting allied and enemy bombers flitting through the sky while shells either hit or missed, Dyson's accuracy suffering from the sudden flash of the Type 3 Shells while Yamato endured the flames and embers which engulfed her body and danced on her skin as well as the pain of enemy shells crashing against her body.

She barely avoided a detonating payload courtesy of an enemy dive bomber as it caused her to stumble in her seemingly suicidal charge, everyone chipping in to provide cover fire as Dyson's expression darkened, shouting in disapproval.

[I'm disappointed, Yamato!

I thought you were better than this!]

But as Yamato reached just within Izanami's reach, she avoided the ripped grey arms as they lashed out in order to stop her advance before forming a defensive air hug around Dyson while she felt the vacuum of air from the Beast's defensive swing throw up her hair, but Yamato never had any intention of getting within Izanami's reach, holding her katana up in a striking position as her two remaining cannons got into position, four barrels loaded with Type 1 Armor-Piercing shells as she responded.

"I am!"

Before firing them all at close range, having previously calculated the length of Izanami's reach and estimated where she needed to be so that the Beast's large-caliber cannons could be aimed at without getting swatted away like a fly by Izanami's ungodly-sized arms.

Lessons learned from World War 2 taught them that High-Explosive Rounds weren't too effective against armor, and she positioned her cannons such that she could fire them almost instantly at the Princess's cannons upon reaching where she was right now, praying for her plan's success as she fooled the Princess into blocking a Heaven Splitting Blade which never came, leaving her Beast's cannons undefended.

 _'Please, fly true.'_

She felt the ocean crater beneath her and her cannons belch out smoke in the seconds immediately following a battleship's cannon salvo.

But what she didn't expect was the explosion which radiated from both of Izanami's shoulder cannons, the Beast's pained howl being lost in the deafening boom which sent even Yamato stumbling and falling back on her butt due to her proximity to the massive explosions.

All of her senses were overloaded as she tasted coppery blood in her mouth, flames heating up her skin and body as though she were in a furnace while the ever present white glow of the explosion overloaded her retinas through her eyelids as she fell back into the ocean, feeling her clothes catch on fire after running through her own Type 3 Shells and being engulfed in an explosion at close range.

She inhaled seawater and felt the scathing sting of saltwater enveloping her burns before she reorientated herself and pushed herself up from the ocean, coughing and snorting out seawater which entered her airways as her eyes pried open to see the fireball dissipate while the looming shadow of the injured Beast let out a hollow moan like a hurt whale before diving back into the ocean, the wire which was attached to the back of the Princess's head disconnecting as a damaged Dyson stood on the ocean.

Yamato had suffered serious damage, but Dyson wasn't looking too hot either as the end of her hair were frayed, suffering from first and second-degree burns as swollen-red splotches disfigured the skin on her chest, shoulders, neck, face and even parts of her arm as she took in ragged, gasping breaths, finally regaining enough of her composure to speak in a weakened voice.

[Not a suicidal attack, huh…?

Could've… fooled me…]

Yamato replied weakly, her parched throat a result of the superheated air which she inhaled through her mouth and made her voice hoarse.

"Well…

I'm still here…"

Dyson's expression then softened, breaking out into a weak chuckle just as Yamato's fatigued comrades sailed up and backed her up, but with her katana still in her hand even after everything that happened, she held up her arms in a protective gesture and to non-verbally warn them not to mess with an opponent who was acting out of character, Dyson continuing her soft laughter as her partially burnt face relaxed into something resembling a smirk.

[Is that so, hmm?]

And that was when all hell broke loose.

Dyson's hateful aura returned as its intensity quadrupled, Yamato feeling chills run down her spine as she heard someone behind her squeak in fear,

"Eep!"

And despite her burns and injuries, she started to feel the air around her drop in temperature as Dyson's expression morphed into one of pure, unrestrained malice and hatred, her crimson-red eyes now glowing brighter as she snarled, twitching fingers ready to strike out and rip someone apart with her bare hands.

 _[Well, that'll change shortly enough.]_

Yamato felt her spirit waver in the face of such an overwhelming aura which weighed down on her and forced her to capitulate, but strangely enough, she felt herself standing up against Dyson's exertion of her strength as she felt someone fall behind her, Yamato's Anti-Air turrets unable to hold the dive bombers off for long.

She had to end this now.

She spoke to her comrades as she stepped forward, doing her best to hide the tremors plaguing her limbs while facing off against the Battleship Princess, the Abyssal's aura flaring up again.

"Everyone, cover me.

I'll finish her off."

She could hear Kaga speaking up in a tense voice,

"I can cover you with my fighter planes, because without her Beast to slow her down, she is capable of evading dive and torpedo bombers.

The best I can do is force her to go around my payloads.

Is that fine?"

Yamato nodded as she responded calmly in order to project an air of strength which she naturally exuded.

"That's alright.

She'll want to take me down, and I want you all to trust me when I say this.

I can take her down."

Another missile descended upon them and forced them to disperse as she endured the fireball which threatened to cause her to trip, Kawakaze, Myoukou, Shimakaze and Inazuma following behind Yamato as she ran towards Dyson while the Battleship Princess got into a battle stance, calling out over the boom of the explosion.

[Why can't you blasted ship girls just give up?!

We'll likely never live to see the end of this war, and it's clear that with limited resources and manpower, there's absolutely no chance of you winning!

So why resist us at all?

 _Why even fight?!]_

Yamato gave her response as she saw her comrades unleash their torpedo salvos and fired their cannons while fighter planes and dive bombers tried to land hits on her, Dyson shrugging off all the cannons as if they were paintball pellets where the pain humans felt with a direct hit could be shrugged off with sheer willpower.

Dyson bent her legs, causing another basin to be carved into the ocean as a trough of seawater was thrown up in the wake of the Battleship Princess as she accelerated in Yamato's direction, and the fact that Kaga's dive bombers dived down towards her only forced her to take detours, Yamato noting that even though it seemed as if Dyson was performing a suicidal charge, she had a plan in her mind even as Yamato aimed her 46 Cm Triple Gun Cannons at the Battleship Princess, who was currently circumventing a payload's explosion.

Yamato fired her cannons and felt the recoil reverberate throughout her entire body, but Dyson threw herself onto the ocean and evaded the salvo, columns of seawater forming behind and around Dyson while the Princess pushed herself up and leaned forward like a sprinter at the starting line, bursting forward in another insane burst of speed.

She shouted at the approaching Princess as she raised her katana with both her hands on the handle,

"Why fight?

The question should be: Why not?!

Not when everyone's put their best foot forward and have given their all for me to come this far and face you!

 _This is no longer your ocean, so why don't you give up?!"_

Dyson scoffed as she pulled her right fist back, and on the fringe of her attention scope, she could see that her friends were doing their best to assist her, but Lorelei's dive bombers dropped their payloads en masse to help the Battleship Princess stall for time, spotting an injured but resurfaced Izanami getting in on some of the action by engaging her comrades in battle.

The incoming fist blurred as Dyson roared, her killing aura flaring up as her eyes and expression shone with the same dogged expression belying her desire for victory at all costs.

Yamato saw the attack coming, but just as she brought down her sword in a Heaven Splitting Blade, Dyson closed the distance in a final burst of speed before grabbing and stopping her sword with her free left hand, stopping her from gaining any momentum with her arm swing as she called out.

[Eight Postures of the Buddha Guards!]

And Yamato was a step late in releasing her left hand to try and stop Dyson's incoming fist from connecting with her abdomen, reflexively vomiting mouthfuls of blood as she felt as if her insides had turned to mush, feeling mind-numbing chills shoot up her spine as the blow almost caused her to lose the feeling in her legs.

Her bones creaked agonizingly while her body and mind threatened to give out from the strain, pain and overexertion, barely noting that all the barrels of her cannons were shaking as the force of the punch caused even her rigging and cannon barrels to reverberate and tremble, the displays on her HUD tearing and distorting for a split second.

She grabbed onto Dyson's right hand as the Abyssal drove it further into her abdomen, but as she wrestled with the Princess and moved it away such that they were in a deadlock as their hands grabbed the other's, Dyson lowered her head, tucking her chin in and driving it forward like a charging bull into the spot where she punched.

This succeeded in amplifying the damage dealt, Yamato's legs wobbling from the fresh sensations of pain which radiated from the already-injured organs packed within her body while Dyson's horns dug into her skin, drawing blood as she felt her torn uniform become slick from the blood which seeped out of her impalement wounds.

It was so easy to collapse on the ocean.

So easy to let it all end here.

But…

 _But!_

Her fighting aura flared up again, mentally willing away the static and stars which threatened to overload her mind and render her unconscious as she hefted up her leaden feet, either using her kneecaps to repeatedly knee a helpless Dyson in the stomach or kick at Dyson's legs with her boat slippers, feeling the world weighing on her fatigued shoulders as she leaned forward and shifted her weight onto Dyson, whose horned head was still pressed against her abdomen.

The Princess was stuck in the position of having to support Yamato's weight in a bowing position while both her arms were unavailable, and it was difficult for her to do so when she was getting pummelled by knee strikes and being kicked in the legs, finally choosing to thrust forward with her body before pulling back in an attempt to put some distance between them.

Not on her watch.

She held onto Dyson's right hand just as the Abyssal released her hold on Yamato's right arm with katana in hand, Dyson blocking the right-legged knee strike headed for her face with her freed-up left palm, a solid smack resonating throughout the area as Yamato tried to bring her katana down at an angle as a fake-out, and her prediction was on the mark as Dyson lifted her left hand in order to block the blade with her steel bracelet.

Ignoring the produced spray of sparks and the teeth-gnashing sound of steel on steel, without lowering her right leg, she transitioned from a knee strike into a kick and slammed her boat slipper into Dyson's stomach, finishing up with a head-to-face headbutt as she mimicked the Princess's previous actions and tucked her head in before thrusting it out and making contact, hearing something crack as a result.

Only now did she release the Princess's right hand, allowing Dyson to stumble back while Yamato clasped the handle of her katana with both hands.

Her expression became taut as she swung her katana backwards in a counterclockwise motion, bringing it down just as she saw a stunned Dyson bring up both her bracelets in a protective 'X' gesture, steeling herself for what came next.

Yamato focused her mind and squeezed out every ounce of strength left in her body to be put into her final attack, blinking away the blood which flowed from her forehead as she screamed.

 _"IT'S OVER!_

 _HEAVEN SPLITTING BLADE!"_

And she brought her katana down.

Dyson's eyes widened as Yamato's blade inexplicably managed to cut through her bracelets, bisecting the Battleship Princess and splitting the entire ocean behind her in half as Yamato could see the shock reflected in her eyes just as her sundered hands flew away, fresh Abyssal blood blasting out from the cross-sections of her arms like broken fire hydrants, a copious amount of it hitting Yamato as what remained of Dyson's arms flailed about while she fell.

Yamato watched on as the wound which she inflicted on Dyson's torso gushed out blood, spraying everywhere as Dyson hit the ocean and allowed the blood to burst out from her chest in a ghastly fissure-like injury which stretched across her torso from her right shoulder down to her left kidney, Dyson starting to sweat from the blood loss as she managed to wheeze,

[Oh, shi…]

Before coughing up blood, Yamato's eyes narrowing as she noticed her Beast, Izanami, slowly sailing towards them, but unlike other moments in the battle where it stood above the water in order to establish dominance and get a bird's eye view to spot enemies, this time, it was partially submerged in water with its wrecked cannons pointed down at the ocean as a ceasefire of sorts.

Its two large-caliber shoulder cannons were wrecked by the explosion as charred flesh on its shoulders and warped steel on its muzzle were the result of Yamato's surprise attack, sailing over to where Dyson laid on the sea, her body starting to sink as blood escaped her body and polluted the ocean in order to change it from a dark-blue into a strange-colored sludge-red.

Izanami growled softly, almost akin to a concerned purr emitted by the pet from hell,

[Grnnn…]

In which Dyson feebly attempted to reach over to hold her Beast, Izanami nuzzling its muzzle in her palm when it was clear that she couldn't do so while Dyson herself soothed the whining Beast with a rasping breath.

[There, there…

It's alright…

I'm alright…]

Yamato noted the enemy bombers turning away from them as well as her comrades who encircled the fallen Princess and Beast, Kawakaze sustaining a damaged rigging and torn clothes as she breathed heavily, asking.

"Should we take her out, Yamato-san?

I mean, it'll be one less threat to us in the future."

Yamato lowered her head, suddenly feeling uncertain about whether she should execute the Battleship Princess after everything which transpired as she saw Izanami's gigantic left hand curl up menacingly at the mention of execution, but stayed its hand for now.

On the one hand, it would get rid of a major threat to their forces, and since the Princess and her Beast were sitting ducks right now, they could all fire their weapons and be done with it.

On the other hand, it was hard to guarantee a kill when Izanami was still functional, albeit injured, and if the Beast were to go on a rampage, not even Yamato would be able to stop it since she was slowly losing the feeling in her limbs, and the world in her mind was starting to spin.

Also, Yamato never liked excessive violence and was always forced to kill and sink those who posed a threat to her, not those who were taken out of combat.

And there was the problem of ammo count.

How many more ship girls had to be called in and killed, and how much more ammunition must be spent before they took down a berserk Izanami?

In the end, she shook her head, surprising everyone around her save for Myoukou and Inazuma as she explained herself.

"I don't have enough strength to atop her Beast should it go berserk after we kill its Princess, and from what I'm seeing, it's still capable of killing us if the chips are down.

And before you say anything, check your ammunition reserves and ask yourselves if we really can afford to engage a rampaging Beast in combat who's lost its Princess, especially in our current condition."

This managed to silence all of the dissenting voices who waited for her to finish before speaking, Kawakaze, Kaga and Shimakaze's expressions souring at the inability to kill off the ememy flagship while Myoukou's eyes lowered slightly in disappointment, Inazuma simply looking as if she wanted everything to end for them to go back to base, execution or no execution.

Izanami cupped its dying Princess in both palms before submerging as Yamato determined that the signal to retreat had been given since the sounds of battle died down and left them with an eerie and hollow silence of pained sobs and anguished cries in the distant background, Dyson managing to speak up about Yamato's strange choice about letting her live.

[You… you know… I must say, you're a strange one…

Letting me live… was the biggest mistake of your life, no matter how glad I am to have escaped the executioner's … blade.

If I may ask… why?]

Yamato felt her trembling legs wobble from overexertion and farigue while her body started to fail, but she managed to hold herself together as she gave everyone her most determined expression, hiding the symptoms of her extensive injuries from everyone, even her allies, in order to project an image of strength.

"The simple answer.

Your Beast's likelihood to go berserk if you sink, as well as the ammunition shortage on our end.

The personal answer?

Only the strong are allowed to display compassion and mercy, and although this action may have negative repercussions down the road, I'll become stronger by then in order to shoulder those consequences.

If you want to come at me with your gang of clones in my sea next time, bring it on any day.

I'll kick all of your asses and keep our great ocean salty with your tears."

Dyson chuckled and coughed some some more blood, but it didn't matter to her at this point due to her insane survivability and a ceasefire on both sides after the ship girls clinched a decisive victory.

[Huh…

We'll likely never see… each other again, but it was… fun…]

Before her head disappeared under water, her Beast emitting a guttural growl before following shortly behind as its exhalation blew up bubbles in its wake, Yamato finally collapsing the second they both disappeared underwater and she made absolutely certain that they were safe from any enemies who intended to take a few parting shots at them.

The cries of her comrades and her Fairies attempting to get her back in working order were lost on her as her limbs felt numb while a dull ache was felt throughout her entire body.

And the burns plaguing her back, the fatal internal injuries as well as the headbutt-induced bleeding and headache eventually took their toll on her, still holding the handle of her katana in a death grip as she mentally told herself before blacking out from the pain and fatigue.

 _'We won._

 _We actually won._

 _I wo-'_


	49. Chapter 49 - Fallout 3 - REVITALIZE

Shiranui's eyes cracked open and registered the light as it illuminated the hospital ward which she was placed in after being revived in the docks.

It was a boring little room which had no other hospitalized ship girls inside, and in the state she was in, this was something which she was glad about, because making a mistake and dying was something which got on Shiranui's nerves since it meant that she was a hair's breadth away from sinking.

That missile could've sunk her.

Was it by some miracle that it didn't?

Shiranui shook her head as the feeling came back into her limbs, and even though most of her body was still numb and unresponsive, the feeling in her body slowly returned to her as it booted back up, allowing her to resume her train of thought.

She didn't like depending on luck or miracles in her battle plans, or even in her life, for that matter.

Ever so fickle and inconsistent, it was an unreliable element in life which she avoided like the plague, and while she understood that certain ship girls like Shigure, Nagato and Yukikaze were genuinely lucky (that was one of many reasons why ship girls were banned from casinos or gambling dens), but she wasn't one of them.

And even if she were, her luck would still be a wild card since it couldn't be influenced by any external factors and could fail her at a critical moment, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She allowed her internal systems and HUD to run through startup diagnostics in order to determine the condition of her body, ignoring the programming lines which meant nothing to her since she wasn't a programmer, and the final diagram showed the repairs done to the first to third-degree burns on her body, dozens of broken bones, internal damage, blown-out eardrums and blinded eyes.

The displayed time was 10.56 a.m..

The date was the 28th of May, year 2015.

That was all she needed to know as she turned it off and tried to move her arms.

Something weighed her right arm down and restricted the movement of said arm, and she looked down at whatever was gripping her right arm as it occupied part of her hospital bed.

Shigure's peaceful sleeping face was what greeted her as her sleeping friend hugged her right arm like a bolster and pressed her soft cheek against Shiranui's shoulder, and she was wearing what Shiranui assumed was her pajamas, a long-sleeved light blue top with a similarly-colored knee-length bottom.

Her top had a white sailor collar, and on the blue pajamas was a pattern of dark blue tear drops which occupied a large portion of her pajamas, the Shiratsuyu-Class's hair undone as it was was strewn all over Shigure's side of the bed, and Shigure looked at ease as she snuggled up to what amounted to a human body pillow that was Shiranui.

Shiranui expression soured slightly as her eyebrows furrowed, not because she had a problem with the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer in particular, but with people starting to talk about them possibly getting together due to the amount of time they've spent with each other…

She didn't let things like rumors and small talk get her down, but when even her sisters (especially Kagerou) seemed as if they wanted to make this pairing come true…

Wait.

Shiranui looked away as she heard Shigure's barely-audible snore as a sign that her ears were working and that the healing properties of the docks had worked their magic.

If she knew Shigure to be the ship girl that she was, and she was an obstinate ship girl with a broken heart of gold, she'd probably try to stay in the hospital for as long as she could in her damaged state before being forcibly dragged away and preferably into a dock under protest, and she likely wasn't the kind of girl to overstay visiting hours and try to get in bed with an unconscious friend.

Yep, very unlikely, but Shiranui didn't discount the possibility entirely.

And seeing how Kagerou toyed with the idea of them both getting together romantically…

Now, she wasn't the kind of girl to entertain any thoughts of romance ever, especially given her stoic demeanor.

So why.

Why was her heart beating so much quicker when lying together with Shigure?

Noticing this made her feel somewhat self-conscious as her cheeks started to feel a little hot despite the air-conditioning keeping the ward cool.

And looking down at a sleeping Shigure again, Shiranui noticed how peaceful she seemed right now, since Shiranui always felt as if Shigure always looked somewhat sad whenever she was awake, and considering her past, it was perfectly understandable if she felt something which was a few steps away from outright depression, but to think that even someone with a blood-soaked past like hers could still make such a serene face when sleeping…

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, she thought dryly to herself.

 _'No way._

 _No way it could be_ her _, of all people._

 _I thought it'd be Kagerou, some other ship girl, the Admiral or even a random sailor in the base._

 _But her?'_

Their inbuilt bisexuality explained how they were able to fall in love with anyone of either gender, and this sexual flexibility explained the sis-con behavior of ship girls like Chiyoda, Ooi, Hiei, Chikuma and Yamashiro, yet allowed them the possibility of finding love elsewhere and with someone of the opposite (or same) gender.

But… her?

Impossible.

Nowaynowaynowaynowaynowayno-

Oh, she was waking up.

Shigure's closed eyes pried open sleepily, and she laid down underneath the blanket with Shiranui as she tightened her hold on Shiranui's arm since she likely felt that the room was too cold, the destroyer feeling that something was amiss as she felt Shiranui's arm while Shiranui herself shifted a little, since Shigure's arms tickled her arm, sides and armpit.

Finally registering what she was hugging, Shigure blinked several times before looking up at who this mystery arm belonged to, and looked right into Shiranui's blank eyes with a confused look on her face as her mind tried to understand the situation mere seconds after waking up to find herself next to the Kagerou-Class destroyer.

And as she swiveled her head to take in her surroundings, Shiranui could see some form of panic set in, not the kind which was felt in a threatening situation, but a skittish kind in which one was unsure of what to do as she turned back to the only person in the room, her face blushing as she stuttered and tried to come up with an explanation for her being there.

"U-Um, Sh-Shiranui-san…

I-I clearly remember falling asleep in my bedroom, and I'm unsure of how I ended up here…"

Shiranui closed her eyes in exasperation as she exhaled through her nose, coming to the most obvious conclusion about how Shigure landed in Shiranui's bed.

"Don't worry too much about it.

I bet this is Kagerou's asinine way of pairing us together for some inexplicable reason, and it's entirely possible that all my sisters are in on this too."

Shigure's blush intensified as she hugged Shiranui's arm defensively, but not before realizing what she was doing and letgo in order to scooch away from Shiranui, making sure not to entangle herself in any wires as she awkwardly turned around and brought down the bed railing which was brought up in order to prevent either of them from rolling off the hospital bed, finally freeing herself from the clutches of the hospital blankets as she stood by Shiranui's bed and patted her pajamas down, asking nervously.

"Um, why would Kagerou-san do that?

Our relationship is purely platonic, right?"

Shiranui's mood soured for no particular reason as she contemplated her failures in the Battle of Twelve Navies, speaking offhandedly.

"Good.

It had better stay that way."

But her heart felt something upon seeing Shigure's expression turn slightly gloomy upon being told something like that, fighting against the urge to mirror her expression as she maintained a poker face and tried to salvage the situation while moving on to the next topic.

"Find a chair and sit down next to me.

I want to talk about what we're going to do next."

Shigure's expression perked up upon hearing that, nodding obediently as she did as she was told while speaking up,

"Yes!"

Shiranui waited for her to get a chair and settle down, and eventually, a sitting Shigure looked down at a supine Shiranui as she started the discussion about their plans.

"Now that the Abyssals have played their next hand by boldly displaying their new technology before everyone, I think that we need to step up our game.

I predict that with the incoming world war, they'll have to mass produce light cruisers and destroyers, the former of which are the most cost-effective in terms of manpower, especially since land combat will be a whole new playing field."

Shigure nodded, commenting on how their ship girl weapons would be all but useless on land, and how Anti-Abyssal firearms would be the new in-thing.

"I understand.

Everyone will be forced to use Anti-Abyssal weapons, and with a light cruiser's relatively developed body compared to us destroyers, they are capable of handling assault rifles and various firearms which are too bulky for us children, and this would elevate their importance in terms of land-based combat.

But with the Abyssals attacking from the skies, land and sea, they'd still need a sizable navy to protect the seas.

In that case, they'd probably get the less experienced ship girls in the current navy to join the army as an elite squad, simply because they've lived longer and are thus more used to modern combat, be it land or sea, and this explains the land assault training session.

The more experienced seniors would likely remain in the ship girl navy, and they'd have to craft more ship girls to make up for the loss in numbers."

Shiranui agreed with her thinking, since newly crafted ship girls would be trained as infantry, but they certainly needed ship girls who knew what they were doing, even if they had to be re-trained to either adapt their sea-based tactics or adopt entirely new ones for land-based warfare.

And since they already had a taste of war in this life, the existing ship girls were hardened to war and could take on more stressful roles and are expected to perform significantly better when compared to freshly-crafted units.

"Yes.

Should this new army come to fruition, I wish to enlist in it in order to make more of a difference in the Abyssal War, because as a destroyer with no Kai Ni remodel as of now, I know that land-based combat is a place where my stealth abilities can be utilized to the fullest potential.

I always find that the ocean, despite its vast size, is ultimately just a flat terrain to us ship girls, and any attempts at stealth could be easily discovered if an underwater Abyssal notices us.

But on land…"

Shigure looked at Shiranui, and she could see that the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer understood where she was coming from.

"The playing field is overturned.

If the skills in which you specialize in does not fit the playing field, sometimes, instead of training up another skill, change the playing field.

In war-torn regions, destroyed buildings, concrete walls and debris, trees and other radio waves in the air can interfere with land-based radar, so you wouldn't be detected too easily by the enemy before you even get close."

Shiranui nodded, building off of Shigure's line of thoughts by adding her own.

"And unlike the sea, which possesses no cover since it's a flat terrain to us ship girls who sail on it, land-based combat consists of buildings, forests, sewers and bridges.

It provides plenty of entrances and escape routes which I can use in my endeavors."

The both of them seemed rather excited about Shiranui finding a new way to apply her skills in combat, but not before they realized that they were giving each other strange looks and turned away in haste, Shiranui now feeling conscious about how they communicated on the same frequency, which allowed them to understand and add to each other's thoughts, continuing in a subdued voice.

"Well, my point still stands.

I'm off to join the army, because that's where my talents will be best utilized.

Now, to think up of a way to enlist myself in Project Psyche…"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shigure look away, and as she considered various approaches to convince Admiral Mako to let them perform the procedure on her without raising any suspicion, which involved highlighting her expandable nature as a destroyer as well as her well-trained abilities, but she put the brakes on her train of thoughts as Shigure spoke up.

"I'd like to join in the army as well.

And as to joining Project Psyche, I suppose I can ask Admiral Mako about it."

Shiranui turned to look up at her, Shigure fidgeting nervously in her seat as she explained herself.

"W-Well, I was thinking.

I'm in Tenryuu and Tatsuta's fleet, right?

I theorize that they'll have to come to a compromise in which they either have to reorganize the fleet composition in order to maintain their secret, let the 1st Fleet in on the secret, or order them not to use their powers at all in front of others.

And in the case of the last scenario, I can engineer a situation in battle where they'll be forced to use their newfound abilities in front of my fleet in order to protect us, and from there, I can feign ignorance about knowing Project Psyche before that incident.

I'll recommend you as a potential applicant, and I'll use the aforementioned reasons in order to appeal to Admiral Mako."

Shigure continued her monologue as she became entrenched in her own thoughts, Shiranui feeling as if she were at a loss as to what to say in this situation.

"W-Well, I mean, I don't want to deceive them like this.

But to think that they'd receive new powers, I suspect that they would be deployed as amphibious units in order to assist in land and sea-based combat, especially the former since we're at a disadvantage as an unprepared and outnumbered defending force on land, even if the humans have the upper hand of fighting on their own terrain.

And besides, my fleet's pretty inexperienced, so I suppose we'll be shipped off to boot camp sometime soon to prepare us for land-based warfare.

I mean, there's so many experienced fleets in Yokosuka alone, so our reassignment as a land-based fleet won't affect our capabilities too much.

But if we hypothesize that - "

Shiranui just stared at Shigure as the Shiratsuyu-Class assumed a Thinker pose, simply dumbstruck at how well-positioned Shigure was.

To be in a fleet which had so much potential in the form of Kai Ni remodels (and Project Psyche), was signing herself up to serve in an admittedly life-threatening land-fighting unit, but would net her so much more experience in order to earn her remodel, and was fleet mates with both of the ship girls who had been through Project Psyche and could whisk them onto the waiting list without raising too much suspicion…

It removed the need for her scheming to try and worm her way into Project Psyche when Shigure, who had all the luck in the world, could simply breeze through everything without incident.

The only thing she could bring herself to comment on was that by Shigure's standards, manipulating her friends like this would probably mean that she'd deliberately place herself in mortal danger in order to force them to use their abilities, and that was calculating, even for someone like Shigure.

"You know, I suppose you're likely going to put yourself in life-threatening danger since I know that you're too much of a goody-two-shoes to allow anyone else to stand in the cross-hairs, but not enough of a good girl to the point where you're above manipulating your own friends in order to find out their secrets, especially by placing yourself on the spot and forcing them to bail you out.

All of a sudden, I fear you a little more on the inside."

Shigure got out of her slightly moody thinker pose as she leaned down to plant her face right before Shiranui's, causing her to flinch as the demure, dark-haired little girl's eyes drastically brightened with an intellectual fire behind them, speaking up enthusiastically.

"Why, Shiranui-san?!

I want to know more about their newfound powers, and I understand that normal means won't get me there.

The fact that I'm willing to stake my life on the possibility of getting to know their hidden abilities just proves my dedication to gaining knowledge of their powers, the acquirement of which means the world to me, but doesn't come easy!

That's the kind of knowledge worth knowing about!"

Shiranui sweatdropped as she saw Shigure breathe in and out loudly, thinking to herself in a tone of realization.

 _'Oh, so she's one of_ those _people who're genuinely nice, inside and out._

 _But dangle the one thing they want the most before them and they'll become an entirely different person who'd do anything to get the object of their desire._

 _All of a sudden, I feel a little more justified in fearing her.'_

But Shigure's priorities were elsewhere as she suddenly drew back as though ashamed of her words, but she covered her mouth and whispered like a schoolgirl speaking shyly to her crush,

"Ah!

I forgot to brush my teeth!

Sorry!"

Shiranui's expression became deadpan again as she thought to herself, this time with a more sardonic tone.

 _'Right._

 _Scheme to emotionally manipulate your comrades into revealing top-secret abilities to you by putting your life at stake, and the most important thing to her right now is her oral hygiene._

 _Truly, the master of prioritizing.'_

Shigure turned to leave the room in a hurry, speaking up in a determined voice about what she was doing by leaving Shiranui alone with her thoughts.

"I'll be back, Shiranui-san!

I'm hungry, and I understand that you need nutrients in order to make a full recovery, so I'll go and get us some food after washing myself up!"

Shiranui wanted to say something, but the destroyer had already exited the room, and she sighed at how the quiet little Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer could be so excitable.

It took almost fifteen minutes, in which the sheer boredom of waiting in the hospital ward threatened to drive Shiranui up the wall were she not as occupied with her thoughts as she was the entire time, thinking about how they were going to go about things with Shigure's absurdly on-point positioning.

After a while, she concluded that Shigure's plan was for the best, because she wasn't a part of Tenryuu and Tatsuta's fleet, and she couldn't bear witness to their abilities and claim to know anything about Project Psyche when she wasn't even affiliated with any of its elements.

If she tried to raise the topic of Project Psyche to anyone, she would be placed on some watchlist which she may never be free from, and she had no illusions about relying on luck and hoping that she'd get chosen as the next partipcipant.

No.

There was a way to get herself in, and she was going to take it.

Hopefully, her abilities would help enhance her stealth attributes instead of being granted some kind of fodder power which had no practical uses.

But then again, even if she did get a shitty power by some inexplicable stroke of misfortune, that wouldn't stop her from trying to push it to the limit.

The soul provided power to the body, and the body was a piece of hardware which could be modified to best utilize that power within reason.

It was entirely possible that the power could radically modify their bodies and enhance their physical abilities, or be transmitted into an Anti-Abyssal weapon to create a super weapon of sorts.

There were too many unknowns about how Project Psyche worked, but she was letting her mind run a little wild today to prevent herself from going stir-crazy in this sterilized and plain little room, and this would allow her to prepare herself for whatever power she would be granted.

Assuming she didn't die, of course.

To Shiranui, the possibility of dying hardly deterred her from wishing to receive a new power which only a handful of ship girls in the world possessed.

Wait.

Wouldn't that mean she was like Shigure in terms of willing to put their lives at considerable risk in order to gain something which they desire, the only difference being that Shigure desired knowledge while Shiranui desired power?

She blushed upon coming to that realization, lightly reprimanding herself for thinking this way.

 _'I have got to stop drawing parallels between me and Shigure._

 _She and I are not getting together._

 _Ever, ever, ever-'_

And finally, Shigure burst back into the room and startled Shiranui, but she relaxed as soon she saw Shigure wearing her black-and-white school uniform, and she was carrying a tray of hospital food which was separated into two servings of breakfast as well as several snacks which she must've grabbed from Mamiya's canteen, speaking up as she sat herself down beside Shiranui.

"Breakfast is here!"

Shiranui attempted to push herself up with her feeble arms while Shigure assisted her, but as she tried to relieve Shigure of the food tray, Shigure instead took up the fork and spoon and drew away, Shiranui furrowing her eyebrows as she gave the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer a look which demanded an explanation.

Shigure responded with a weak smile as she answered nervously, speaking from her past experiences with hospitalization.

"U-Um, if you don't mind, I'd like to spoon-feed you, Shiranui-san.

In the few times which I've been hospitalized, my sisters or teammates were always there to feed me, because they said that recovering bodies were weak, and they didn't want me to push myself too hard.

And since I'm the only one here, I'd like to do this as a friend.

It'll be my first time, so I-I'll give it my all!"

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer looked quite enthusiastic about this, her eyes twinkling in apprehensive anticipation as a confused Shiranui sweat-dropped, thinking to herself.

 _'What's up with her?_

 _It's just food, and I can feed my-'_

Feeling her body betray her at that very moment by feeling sore all of a sudden, she mentally relented as she changed her mind.

 _' - Alright, so I can't feed myself._

 _Screw this weak-as-hell body._

 _But it's alright._

 _It's just a feeding session, nothing more.'_

She maintained her poker face as she exhaled sharply and answered, realizing at this point that her pink-hair wasn't in a small ponytail like it usually was, and was instead let down.

"Fine.

Just this once."

Shigure's face broke out into a radiant smile, and Shiranui's heart threatened to melt at how her moody, contemplative and even quasi-emo little friend was still capable of making a face like this…

She cringed a little at Shigure sweetly saying while holding up a spoonful of food,

"Open wide!

Ahh!"

But she brought her blush under control as she closed her eyes and opened her mouth, parroting,

"Ahh…"

And felt the flesh of microwaved salmon stimulate the taste buds in her mouth for the first time today, thinking to herself.

 _'I am not in love with this… this…_

 _What word doesn't sound_ too _condescending to use on someone like her?_

 _This_ dweeb _._

 _Yep._

 _You nailed it, Shiranui.'_

But another thought flashed through her mind as she looked at what Shigure wore, this train of thought originating from a dark corner of her psyche as it spoke out loud in her head.

 _'Wait._

 _Shigure's wearing black and white, and you're wearing a gown, albeit a hospital gown._

 _Too bad it it's light blue instead of white._

 _If that were the case…'_

Shiranui silenced the squeal in her mind as she maintained her poker face, shouting out loud in her mind for her mental audience to hear.

 _'NO, NO, NO!_

 _I FORBID ANY SHIPPING IN MY MIND!_

 _I'M PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF, BUT AM NOT SWINGING THAT WAY FOR HER!_

 _NNEEEVVVVEEERRRR!'_

But not before realizing she likely jinxed it by denying it all in her own mind, prompting the start of another mental tirade at whoever was listening on how she was _not_ gay for Shigure.

On the outside, she said nothing, and her poised expression revealed nothing as she continued opening her mouth to allow a smiling Shigure to spoon-feed her breakfast, the air-conditioner humming silently in the background as the peaceful day continued on without incident save for Shiranui's vehement mental denials of her sexual orientation and romantic attraction towards Shigure.

* * *

Sendai felt something shift underneath her hand, waking up to find a hospitalized Jintsuu waking up after being thrown into the docks in order to repair the injuries which were sustained from her battle with the Northern Water Princess.

According to the medics, a large-caliber shell clean punched through her right breast and set her on fire.

But since she collapsed onto the ocean right after that, the burn injuries weren't severe and they only had to contend with replacing a missing limb and part of her chest.

Sendai noted that Naka was sleeping on a chair opposite Sendai's side of the hospital bed, with Jintsuu herself lying on said bed and was dressed in a blue hospital gown.

Sendai called out to Naka whilst grasping Jintsuu's hand,

"Naka!

Jintsuu's awake!"

Naka jolted awake, having had enough time to find a change of clothes immediately after the battle, but her dishevelled hair was an indicator of how hurried the change was as she chose to stay by her sister's side the entire night, and Naka zipped over to Jintsuu's side as the only hospitalized Sendai-Class light cruiser of Yokosuka calmed down, Sendai leaning forward in her seat and placating Jintsuu just as she woke up with a startled look and scanned her sectors for any threats.

Naka spoke with barely-restrained concern lacing her voice,

"Jintsuu?!

Are you alright?"

Jintsuu relaxed as she brought her breathing under control, and managed a retort which was meant to alleviate the seriousness of the situation.

"Well, I'm here in a hospital after dying in battle.

I think that 'alright' is a slightly inaccurate word to describe my situation and how I feel right now.

But sure, whatever makes you feel happy."

Sendai sighed in relief, wearing a tired smirk as she voiced her concerns for her little sister, especially since she was the name ship of their class and only wanted them to be safe and happy.

"Jintsuu, what happened that day?

I heard from Naka that you got shot through the chest, but I know that you're better than that.

It's rare for you get caught off-guard like this, and with the Re-Class sideswiping you with her beast-tail and taking you out in the sortie to Aogashima Island…"

Jintsuu nodded solemnly, understanding Sendai's question as she thought about it for a while, Naka also looking concerned about Jintsuu's sub-par performance.

And finally, she got the answer she asked for, but not the one she was sure she wanted to hear as Jintsuu answered.

"I…

I just can't seem to focus.

I'm not sure why, but whenever I think about fighting and dying, I somehow freeze up in battle, and…"

Jintsuu shivered in terror as she hugged her elbows and leaned forward with a ghastly expression on her face, and Naka leaned closer in order to awkwardly hug a frightened Jintsuu while Sendai inhaled, reconsidering her options since the complexity of this problem had now increased and involved another angle of approach.

But with that meant possible complications should she fail to console and counsel her sister in any way, and since she was affiliated with Jintsuu, it was possible that she might be blinded by her familial bond with Jintsuu and make decisions based on emotions rather than logic.

She decided to try her hand anyway, because Jintsuu was her sister, damn it.

Leaning forward while placing a comforting hand on Jintsuu's back, she chose to coax more information from Jintsuu before doing anything else as she asked, using a more serious tone without making it sound as if she treated Jintsuu like a weakling.

Because if she knew how some ship girls worked, it offended their sense of pride when others acted as if interacting with them was akin to walking on eggshells, and would close off their hearts as a result.

"Jintsuu.

I can't say I understand what you're feeling or going through, but because I may be experiencing something somewhat similar to your plight, I want to know more.

Please."

Recalling the Kai Ni Jintsuu who was burnt by the immolated Wo-Class and suffered extensive third-degree burns on her chest as a result, she felt a chill run up her spine as her expression darkened, praying for the safe recovery of Jintsuu's doppelganger while feeling tired all of a sudden.

Jintsuu relented, and she started shakily by opening up to the two ship girls whom she knew best, namely her sisters.

"You all know about how I sank while fighting, right?

Well…"

Jintsuu inhaled as she looked down at the knees which she brought up to her chin, and Naka chose to interpret her words in a way which she could understand.

"So…

You feel terrified of feeling that same fear which you felt that night, where you fought harder than almost anyone else in the war while coming under heavy fire?"

Jintsuu shook her head, planting her face in her knees as she hugged her legs, unable to look both of them in the eyes as she answered meekly.

"I can't quite explain it, but…

It's not.

The problem isn't how I fear combat and the threat of dying.

It's the thrilling feeling of being consumed by the excitement of battle, and dying as a result of going all-out.

Oh, I'm so ashamed…"

Sendai scrunched up her face, thinking about how her sister said that she was addicted to the thrill of battle, fighting harder and putting herself in ever greater danger and feeling alive in the process, and should she miss a step in her dance with death, she'd lose her life and sink.

She intoned,

"Alright, that's definitely different from my problems.

So, you found out that you're essentially an adrenaline junkie?"

Jintsuu nodded, explaining the conflict within her as she elaborated.

"Yes.

I can't help but remember feeling something that night when I sank, that I was performing my duty as a warship by fighting to the best of my ability.

And unlike others who likely never got to experience it to such an extreme, I had the dubious honor of dying in the heat of battle and feeling alive before sinking, and I've yet to experience anything like it again.

Sometimes when I sortie, I want to feel like that again.

To feel… fulfilled as a weapon of war who performed at its best in its last moments, under the threat of death.

But when I try to throw myself into the fray, I remember you two, and how the both of you would feel so devastated if I sank again, and I freeze up over the indecisiveness in my heart, and…"

Sendai nodded even though her mind was sent into disarray, but she managed to utter out a simple,

"Alright."

Before the three sisters lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, Naka finally speaking up about how training might not able to fulfill that need for adrenaline-inducing excitement.

"And…

Training doesn't fulfill that need, am I right to say that?

I mean, you attend and conduct them all the time, so I'm a little confused…"

Jintsuu shook her head, lifting her head up to show the shadow which clouded her face as she pointed out despondently, looking ashamed about coming out to her sisters regarding her desire for adrenaline-inducing thrills at the very real risk of sinking.

"No.

Hardly anyone ever dies, much less sinks during training, and there's no excitement to be found in a controlled environment like that.

I use that time to train up my skills and teach others, but not to fulfill my need for a rush which you feel in the heat of a true battle, never a mock one.

Out there, it's life or death, and although I understand that sortieing is a solemn affair and is treated as serious business by everyone, to feel like this when everyone is suffering around me…"

Sendai looked down as she was unsure of how to respond to this new development, but she at least understood Jintsuu's viewpoints, and that was a plus.

Jintsuu wanted to feel alive and fight to the death (or at least, come close to it) but was held back by her love for her sisters and a sense of shame which she felt when secretly enjoying herself while everyone was fighting for their lives.

Thinking about how to best approach this situation, Naka was surprisingly the first one to start the counterargument by speaking up with her signature idol voice, and yet it possessed a rarely-seen no-nonsense tone this time.

"I-I don't think you should worry too much about this."

This got Jintsuu and Sendai's attention as Sendai wanted to see how Naka advocated and even justified the indulging of this need, and Naka provided that as she spoke up.

"I think that a wish to feel the thrill of battle doesn't automatically translate to being a death seeker.

And I think that if you fight even harder not just for the sake of getting your kicks but also as a means to keep yourself alive and return back to home, I… I don't think that there should be a reason why you have to hide this side of yourself from us, Jintsuu."

Huh.

Sendai built off of what Naka said, voicing her own thoughts in the process.

"I agree with Naka.

We don't share the same past or the same personality, and you are your own person.

Sure, I think that we have to brainstorm a way for you to overcome this mental block of yours, but it's not as if you're constantly sortieing with no intentions of ever coming back."

Getting off of her chair in order to sit on the bed right beside Jintsuu as her crestfallen sister turned to look at her, she continued.

"Besides, I suppose everyone has their own thing, and we have no right to judge you for feeling this way in battle.

I know that battles in general are supposed to be serious and solemn and all, but that's because a great majority of people feel this way when sortieing.

You'd probably feel this way too if everyone went into battle with smiles and a cheery attitude, and you're the only one who feels like taking battles seriously and fights with a somber tone."

But instead of looking relieved at her sisters voicing their support, Jintsuu looked as if she fell even further into depression as she revealed another piece of vital information, dropping a bombshell on them all.

"Then there's something else.

I… I've been scouted by the 8th Fleet.

They've taken an interest in my … needs, and want to help me become stronger by joining them in order to fulfill my potential."

Sendai's expression froze as she sharply inhaled, and Naka's expression morphed into a difficult one as Jintsuu continued.

"I, I went to Akashi for help sometime before the Battle, and she referred me to the 8th Fleet.

They…

They said that they wished to bring out my smile, which they predict would be most radiant in the most dire of battles.

To do anything less, they said, was to deny myself and hide my inner beauty from the world."

Ok, ok, ok.

This completely blew every plan she had out of the water, and she turned to give Jintsuu a serious look, grabbing her sister by the shoulders and lightly shaking her while asking gravely.

"And did you accept the offer, Jintsuu?

 _Did you say yes?!"_

Naka stood up and intervened in order to stop a panicking Sendai while Jintsuu looked bewildered at why her sister was acting out like this, Naka grabbing Sendai's arms and calling out,

"Sendai!

Stop scaring Jintsuu!"

And finally, Jintsuu managed to find it within herself to come up with a weak, yet sincere response.

"S-Sendai.

I haven't given them a reply yet."

Sendai deflated upon hearing that, feeling relieved yet somewhat fearful of the dreaded 8th Fleet as they were getting their blood-soaked hands on her sister, of all people.

She weakly replied,

I-I'm sorry…

I just…"

But Jintsuu expressed her understanding side by speaking up in Sendai's own defense by pointing out.

"No, I understand your concern, Sendai, Naka.

I know that the 8th Fleet is infamous for their tactics and attitude in battle, and them wanting to recruit me into their fleet will definitely raise red flags and objections from the both of you.

That's why I didn't want to tell the both of you about this, you see…"

Exhaling and looking more tired than ever, Jintsuu explained herself as she leaned on Sendai's right shoulder.

"To be honest, I'm also rather conflicted about this offer as well.

To be in two fleets means I get to sortie twice as often, and that would mean I get twice the experience and can get my Kai Ni remodel sooner.

Besides, they say that I would replace Hatsuzuki, who was always meant to be a temporary member of their fleet, so…"

She continued, sounding a little more comfortable with sharing her inner thoughts with her own sisters.

"Although I can try to make the argument that I'm nothing like them, I know that it's not that simple, and the 8th Fleet knows it too.

I'm genuinely nice and polite to everyone, but I understand that everyone fears my instructor side because of how harsh and unrelenting I can be."

Naka sweat-dropped upon hearing that, giving her an awkward smile as she spoke up about Jintsuu's radical shift in personality whenever her instructor side reared its ugly head.

"W-Well, some of the destroyers and even light cruisers did cry after your training.

And to hold them all at gunpoint, even if it's loaded with training shells, and demand that they call you 'coach' might be a little too much for some, especially with your intense training regime."

Jintsuu blushed a little at how her dark side manifested as the infamous 'Dark Instructor Jintsuu' as she elaborated.

"W-Well, I know how to keep my personal and professional lives separate, so I'm not like that all the time.

And besides, I just want to push everyone further and harder so that they can outperform the Abyssals in battle.

Because in the end, that's what battles boil down to in my opinion; whoever plans and performs better than the opposing side wins."

Sendai nodded, asking grimly.

"But personally, do you wish to join the 8th Fleet despite knowing what they're like?"

She heard Jintsuu gulp nervously, before answering honestly.

" … Yes."

Naka sighed resignedly, but before either Sendai or Jintsuu could say anything, Naka broke out into a relieved smile and voiced her support for Jintsuu's desire to join the 8th Fleet (without leaving her current 5th Fleet).

"W-Well, it isn't all bad.

You may be sortieing with the 8th Fleet, in which the mental states of its members can be considered rather… questionable, but I trust you to be the heart of the team.

Because…"

Naka leaned in to place a comforting palm on Jintsuu's shoulder, giving her a weak yet genuine smile as she continued.

"If there's one thing I know about you, Jintsuu, it's that your morals are unshakable, and not even the 8th Fleet will be able to influence, much less change that.

That's what I choose to believe in, even if you were to hang out and sortie with them all the time.

You keep yourself safe out there, stay alive and stay true to yourself, alright?"

Jintsuu blinked in surprise, but Sendai chipped in as she slung a shoulder around Jintsuu's shoulders and chipped in with her own words of encouragement, despite her deep-seated concerns.

"You know, I am a little worried about you and your desire to fulfill your need for adrenaline-induced thrills.

But…

I believe that you have the potential to be able to fulfill your need and keep yourself safe at the same time, and to that end, I want to say this.

I'll be aiming to get my Kai Ni remodel as well, and even after that, I'll keep striving to become even stronger so that you never have to worry about me on the battlefield.

That way, you have something to fight for and to come home to, so don't worry your pretty little head about us, allow yourself to be a little selfish and think a little more about yourself, alright?

After all, everyone on Earth's living on borrowed time, and while living for the sake of others is great, it isn't fulfilling in a lot of ways.

And in our line of work…"

Jintsuu looked rather surprised at the amount of support which she received from both her sisters, looking down with a smile for the first time today as she replied gratefully,

"Thank you, both of you…

I was worried that the both of you would reject me - "

"NO!"

"No!"

Jintsuu jumped from the sound of two voices shooting down those morbid thoughts, Naka leaning in with a concerned look as she explained both her own and Sendai's thinking.

"Jintsuu, we'd never reject you!

Sure, we're not oracles or prophets and can't see into the future, but right here and now, this need for adrenaline which is sated in battle is barely enough of a reason for us to even consider it!

We're here for you!"

Before pouncing on the bed and embracing both Jintsuu and Sendai in a double hug, Sendai flinching from shock while Jintsuu squealed in surprise, all three of them falling back on the hospital bed as Naka weighed down on them, apologizing for her rash action while Sendai felt like a body pillow in the tight embrace of her sister.

"Oh, sorry!

I didn't mean to hurt you two!"

But they heard Jintsuu burst out into soft laughter, chuckling good-naturedly as she patted Naka on the head before bringing her breathing under control, speaking up in a relieved tone.

"Looks like I was worried for nothing.

I was right to open up to the both of you, and it now feels as if a weight's being lifted from my chest.

And although Naka literally weighs down on me right now in lieu of said emotional weight, I don't mind it one bit."

Sendai turned to her side, and she could see that the most silent and polite of her sisters was emoting a genuine smile and was laughing together with Naka, and she couldn't help but do the same as her cheeks stretched out into a smile, embracing both her sisters as she spoke up and expressed her love for them.

"I love you two, Jintsuu, Naka."

In which Naka responded heartily, returning the hug and snuggling up to them both in the process as she brought the three of them closer in order to rub their cheeks together.

"Aw, I love the both of you too!

We'll do our best to become stronger in order to stand by you, Jintsuu, so don't worry about the both of us and move forward without hesitation!

So long as you keep yourself alive out there on the battlefield in your pursuit of the thrill of battle, we'll always be waiting for you back at home, wherever that is!"

Jintsuu smiled, a rare phenomenon in and of itself as she nodded and sighed in relief while she enjoyed the intimate moment shared between the Sendai-Class trio, Sendai feeling a little more convinced that everything was going to be alright.

Even if Apocalypse came and plunged their world into another world war, something within her wanted to believe that they all could come out the other side unscathed, and although some would dismiss that as a fool's wish in a war as bloody and as costly as theirs, the difference was that she had the potential within herself to protect everyone around her.

But on days like this, after a large-scale battle with so many deaths, it was also nice for her to stop and smell the roses in her race to obtain Kai Ni, to remind herself just what she was fighting for.

* * *

Myoukou was relaxing in the docks, having waited for a while for this as the medics prioritized saving either the dead or the dying with quick-repair buckets, stabilizing their conditions before allowing the medium and light-damaged ship girls to take a dip, and since she was a senior and the motherly sister of the Myoukou-Class, she took the bullet by waiting for everyone to finish their repairs before taking a dip herself.

She had completely undressed before this and felt the warm embrace of the bathwater on her skin, and she only knew that only a few ship girls like Hiei, Musashi, Yamato and Unryuu, amongst others, were in the docks and were healing up in tubs which were situated further away from her.

The heated battle with Dyson the Battleship Princess was a close one, and although she managed to get some good hits in, she had to leave most of the heavy-lifting to Yamato.

And to see the demure Yamato-Class battleship go so far to take Dyson down before they had to drag her dead body back to Yokosuka while trying in vain to pry her katana out of the death grip she had on her weapon, it really pulled at her heart strings at not having done more to help her out.

As a fellow lover of Admiral Mako, she was proud of Yamato for being able to clinch this victory and arguably play the most important role in this battle by baiting, tanking and dealing damage back to the Abyssals all throughout the battle.

It inspired Myoukou to do better next time and not be outdone by the youngsters, who managed to showcase their talents and determination this time.

Cracking her stiff neck as she dipped back into the bathwater, she felt the strain of the Elite Ne-Class's tail slam into her body return as a dull ache in her side, sighing as she felt these rare pangs of muted pain get purged by the healing properties of the bathwater, mostly due to the nano-machines in the bathwater as they used minute amounts of steel to patch up the damage.

It always hurt to sortie, although living for so long in this second life helped her become accustomed to it, and as she lived longer and longer, the amount of things and people she wanted to protect grew in number, driving her to grow ever stronger in order to do so without fail.

Her Kai Ni body was healing up nicely, lean muscles and a shapely body the result of countless training sessions and sorties which improved her skills and physical capabilities via trials by fire, but her mind now shifted onto more important matters.

Namely, Apocalypse.

When she sat down with Ashigara, her little sister explained why the air around the naval base was so heavy, because everyone suspected the dawn of a new age of warfare without knowing the specifics, and Ashigara had gotten permission to discuss Apocalypse with Myoukou due to her trustworthy nature and importance both as a senior in this base, and as one of her lovers.

Upon learning what the Abyssals were likely up to, it hit her hard and dampened her spirits, especially since it came immediately after winning the hard-fought Battle of Twelve Navies, but it explained the existence of the _Flying Dutchman_ and the Abyssal knockoffs of existing human jet fighters.

It was like she was watching history repeat itself, remembering when she was constructed in Yokosuka and had to deal with the ensuing chaos which followed the introduction of the Abyssal Princesses to the world, changing the meta-game of the war forever.

Now that she had some time to herself and was now alone with her own thoughts, she wondered how everyone would be on edge and were reluctant to celebrate their victory, mostly because the Abyssals had blatantly flaunted their military might on the world stage.

It seemed to be a foolish move.

But to know that the Abyssals had been silently developing new war vehicles and weapons for the sake of Apocalypse, they had nothing to lose by getting them on edge and force them to lose sleep over the question of when the other foot would drop before the next phase of the Abyssal War begun, it now began to make sense to the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser.

Sighing tiredly again as she flexed her shoulders and looked up at the ceiling whilst noticing the steam which rose from the piping-hot bathwater and wafted towards the ceiling, she noticed someone wearing a peaked cap approach her as she had her Admiral blazer draped over her shoulders and was wearing white jeans, Admiral Mako coming to visit her in the docks much to Myoukou's pleasant surprise.

She had known herself to be a wallflower compared to the rest of Admiral Mako's many girlfriends, from the well-endowed and outgoing Atago to the _Yamato Nadeshiko_ Yamato and the Admiral's 'best girl' Nagato, but she had already been perfectly content just to receive Admiral Mako's love, and she half expected her Admiral to be hanging out and (probably) groping either the Yamato and Nagato-Class battleships or even the Takao-Class cruisers in the bath.

Well, knowing the Admiral, with such a radical development being thrown their way, she'd be too busy doing all she can to prepare for what was to come next, and she'd certainly be stressed out even after the Battle of Twelve Navies had ended.

Sure enough, she could see bags beneath Admiral Mako's eyes, and as she leaned in, Myoukou could see that she hadn't been sleeping, likely staying up throughout the night to ensure that her ship girls revived and healed up without a hitch.

Endearing, yet heartbreaking.

Admiral Mako took off her peaked cap before sitting down next to Myoukou's dock, sitting herself down in a ladylike position and placing her peaked cap on the tiled floor.

Myoukou looked up at her with a concerned glance, leaning forward as she felt her long, undone hair float on the surface of the bathwater within the tub which she sat in, feeling drops of water roll down her unblemished skin as she asked.

"Admiral?

Is there a reason why you wished to visit me?"

Admiral Mako shrugged, lying parallel to the docks in order to lean in close and support her head with her left elbow and palm in the position of the Sleeping Buddha as she answered honestly.

"Not sure.

Everything's been thrown into chaos after winning the Battle of Twelve Navies, and I just needed some time away from all the paperwork, the military panicking and activating every protocol under the sun as the entire world prepares for an imminent world war, and the subdued fear which has seeped into this base and wormed its way into my girls' hearts."

Myoukou nodded solemnly, looking down dejectedly at her breasts as they floated on the surface of the bathwater, seeing where Admiral Mako was coming from and how the end of this naval battle was only a harbinger of worse things to come.

"It's understandable.

To think that the Abyssals had been working on something like a jet fighter, which can compete with mankind's air forces…

And according to Ashigara, the Abyssals have been developing land combat vehicles along with building the _Flying Dutchman_ as an oceanic vessel of war.

Things really are going to go downhill from here, yes?"

Admiral Mako said nothing even though her troubled expression revealed everything to Myoukou, the heavy cruiser lifting a hand to hold Mako's idle hand as a way to comfort her, taking the initiative by asking.

"And what are we, you and the world, going to do about it?"

Admiral Mako looked down at the hand contact, thinking to herself before choosing to answer.

"They're in the process of creating a ship girl army which will solely specialize in land combat, but I think that they're coming to a consensus on conscription, which will focus on recruiting existing ship girls into the ship girl army.

There, they're discussing forming something akin to the Storm-troopers of World War 1, getting to go in hard and fast since they're more experienced than the infantry after having lived longer lives in this era.

They also need amphibious units who are nicknamed 'Frogmen', who can sail on the seas and fight on land, amongst many more specializations.

It's all a mess, and I can't tell you too much about it right now because everything's so important that I just blank out at what to say and focus on.

Which is why I'm here."

Clasping Myoukou's hand, she could see that her presence helped to ease Admiral Mako's mind about such things as she broke out into a tired yet sincere smile, because she was ultimately human and was still fallible.

It was being able to help her commanding officer out in the smallest of ways which made her happy to have formed a romantic relationship with Admiral Mako all those years ago.

Myoukou spoke up about how her headstrong sister Ashigara would likely be interested in joining this ship girl army in order to make herself useful,

"Well, knowing Ashigara's personality, I'm sure she'd want to sign up in the army in order to protect the inexperienced and weaker ship girls in intense firefights with her armor and skills.

She's a warrior, inside an-"

"She won't be joining.

Or rather, she won't be allowed to join."

"Eh?"

Myoukou looked up at Admiral Mako with a confused look, and Admiral Mako looked crestfallen about the next piece of news she was about to reveal as she continued, looking into her own reflection in the bathwater.

"Almost none of the existing Kai Ni ship girls will be allowed into the army; we need them to maintain the standard we have set for the international ship girl navy right now.

If every existing ship girl is to transfer from the navy to the army right now, our naval power would be drastically affected, and the oceans are the first line of defense against the Abyssals."

Now craning her neck to look Myoukou in the eye, Admiral Mako shared her personal thoughts on the matter.

"We're getting too good at naval combat, and the Abyssals know it.

The Battle of Twelve Navies proves that, since we suffered significantly lower casualties than any other time this kind of invasion has occurred anywhere else in Japan.

Our quality is beating their quantity, and that's why they're upping their game by invading us on land in their attempt to stretch out our forces thin and overwhelm us with sheer quantity, despite mankind's advancements in land-based combat.

I want to protect everyone, but this time…"

Myoukou's heart broke upon seeing her Admiral look so despondent and disappointed in herself about not being able to ensure everyone's safety, but that uncertainty was part and parcel of the whirlwind of destruction that was war, Myoukou sniffling and blinking away the tears which started to form at the corners of her eyes as she changed the subject and wished to move out of the docks in order to better comfort her Admiral, asking politely with a slightly forced smile plastered on her face.

"Admiral, I'm feeling alright now, and I wish to leave the docks and find someplace private in which we can continue our conversation.

Since you don't seem as if you're leaving anytime soon, would you mind bringing me my towel so that I can wipe myself down and cover myself in order to get my clothes?"

Admiral Mako's expression brightened up somewhat, reaching into her pocket and slightly confusing Myoukou as she broke out into a relieved smile over the change in the subject.

"I got something better for you."

Taking out a packet of tissues, Myoukou's confused expression settled into a flustered and somewhat annoyed glare at her Admiral as her commanding officer expected her to clean and dry herself with only tissue papers.

And then it got even better.

Admiral Mako let go of her hand and took out a single piece before offering it to Myoukou, her glare now morphing into one of disbelief as she held up the piece of limp tissue paper with her fingernails, the bathwater which was dripping from her hands being absorbed by the tissue paper as it became damp.

Myoukou started to blush and panic at the fact that she would have to get up from the docks and get to her towel and clothes while sopping wet and almost entirely naked while her Admiral watched, lowering herself further into the docks as she handed the thoroughly-soaked and thus useless tissue paper back to Admiral Mako, who pocketed it with a gleeful grin while Myoukou meekly spoke up, feeling her blush color her face even more than the bathwater did.

"On second thought…

I think I'll stay here until you leave, Admiral."

Her Admiral sighed as she got up into a sitting position, speaking up in a lackadaisical manner.

"Never mind, I believe you when you say you feel fine.

But as your Admiral, I need to ensure your well-being by personally performing a… _thorough_ physical checkup.

And if you don't want to come out of the docks, I guess I'll have to get in, then."

But before Myoukou could realize what her Admiral was up to, Admiral Mako shrugged off her Admiral blazer as her hands reached up behind her to reach for the back of her tank top collar before deftly slipping out of it, revealing her clean-shaven armpits and her baby-pink bra which was wrapped snugly around her chest, laced cups pushing up her decently-sized breasts.

Myoukou was shocked at her commander-slash-girlfriend's indecent actions, managing to sputter out a disbelieving,

"A-Admiral?!"

As Admiral Mako continued her undressing streak by kicking off her shoes and hurriedly tearing off her socks before lowering herself into the bathtub, causing the steaming-hot bath water to overflow and wet her own discarded clothes as a result, the excess water crashing onto the tiled floor and slipping into the grated drains as a result of Admiral Mako's mass displacing it.

Myoukou let out an excited yelp as she made space for her Admiral while Mako got used to the heat and lowered herself in further before getting closer, Myoukou feeling the electric touch of their skin coming into contact with one another as she squeaked,

"Admiral!

The tub's overflowing!"

And her commander's goofy grin matched her excitement as she retorted in a matter-of-fact way.

"So am I!"

Her smile was contagious as Myoukou found herself mirroring Admiral Mako's smile while feeling quite conscious of her face reddening as a result of the bathwater's temperature as well as the intimately close proximity to her lover as a partially-drenched Admiral Mako leaned in.

The bathwater sloshed all around them as they got ever so closer to each other, Admiral Mako pressing her bosom against Myoukou's with only Admiral Mako's drenched bra separating skin from skin contact as her commanding officer's expression turned from an excited into a highly sensual and even hungry one, speaking alluringly.

" … And I bet, so are you."

Myoukou's heart was threatening to burst out of her rib-cage since she could feel it beating a mile a minute while in such close proximity to her lover, but she managed to compose herself in order to think up of and fire back with a retort.

"Of course, Admiral.

I am thoroughly soaked down under, after all."

And not in the way that you think, Myoukou demonstrating that by cupping her right hand and scooping up some bathwater in order to let it fall back into the tub, Admiral Mako blushing nonetheless at the insinuation as Myoukou giggled and spoke up dryly with no ill intent behind her words.

"What, Admiral, did you really think I was so helpless as to be unable to strike back with a retort the second you made your advance?

You are _not_ as charming as you think you are."

And to that, Admiral Mako leaned in and closed her eyes as her lips met Myoukou's for a mouth-to-mouth kiss, and she could feel her nether regions tingling in excitement even after Admiral Mako broke off the passionate kiss, the both of them breathing heavily as Admiral Mako gasped for breath before speaking up again.

"Yes, I am."

Her Admiral's expression then darkened as she looked downwards and lowered her entire body, using Myoukou's sizable chest as a head rest before continuing.

"You know, Myoukou, I know I can't create a world where none of you get hurt, not when this war still goes on.

But I at least know how to make the pain go away.

It's the best I can do for you all."

Myoukou nodded as she looked down at Admiral Mako's sopping wet hair and patted her on the crown of her head, comforting her Admiral with reassuring words.

"I know, Admiral.

I know…

We are forever grateful to you for showering us with so much affection and attention, and I…"

She leaned in close to her Admiral's ear and spoke from her heart.

"I personally thank you for granting me the honor of being your girlfriend.

To allow me to feel … love, the romantic kind of love towards you."

Admiral Mako nodded as Myoukou felt her commander's exhaling breath tickle her bare cleavage, but she then chose to ask about something which had been on the back of her mind, speaking up while she snuggled up with Admiral Mako.

"By the way, Admiral.

My clothes are in the changing room, and your clothes are completely drenched with the closest change of clothes likely being in your office.

What are we to do in this situation?"

She could feel her Admiral shrugging nonchalantly, offering a risque solution.

"Well then, we'll just have to make do with a little streaking now, hmm?"

Myoukou's eyebrows furrowed a little, giving her opinion on how others might talk should someone spot them.

"It'd be scandalous if someone saw us, though."

But Admiral Mako's response made all the sense in the world, especially considering the setting they were in.

"Honestly, I don't think anyone would bother giving us a second glance when we're in a ship girl naval base, where beautiful ship girls eat, sleep and live while getting into weird hijinks pretty much every day, hmm?

Besides, considering the clothing damage which you all sustain on your sorties and the amount of skin which it reveals, I think even the staff are desensitized to your sexiness to some extent.

They _are_ paid to deal with weirder shit, after all."

Myoukou's expression softened as she reluctantly lifted an eyebrow in agreement, but yelped as soon as she felt a hand slide down her lower back and grope her butt, splashing bath water everywhere as she convulsed from the euphoric sensation taking her by surprise, a shiver running up her spine and stimulating her body in all the right ways as she heard a re-energized Admiral Mako whisper.

"But not me, though.

I want it all.

I want to savor your taste, your smell, to memorize your curves as well as the silky sensations of your skin.

 _I. Want. Everything."_

Myoukou felt something within her awaken despite her best attempts to remain rational as she felt everything within her accumulate, which included the stress of war, the hefty responsibility of upholding the image of a mighty and respected senior of Yokosuka as well as being a motherly elder sister to the Myoukou-Class, near-death experiences which plagued her nightmares with 'what if's as well as the sexual frustration which had piled up over the course of several weeks if not months, in which she had either been carrying out administrative work or was relentlessly training for the Battle of Twelve Navies.

Myoukou was stressed out, but Admiral Mako promised that she'd make it all go away.

She knew of her Admiral's sexual appetite, which could easily devour two slow battleships whole as she thoroughly wore them down throughout the entire night and could still lust for more the next day, and she expected herself to be completely drained of her strength, yet also completely satisfied by the end of their make-out session.

Myoukou made her choice, gulping nervously and licking her lips in anticipation.

She then stood up.

While still naked.

Feeling her Admiral's eyes hungrily roam over her bare and well-crafted body while her blush reached critical levels, she felt the ticklish sensation of the bathwater drops roll down her soaking-wet figure as the beat of her nervous heart reverberated throughout her warm body, simultaneously feeling ashamed of what she was currently doing yet feeling reassured that what happened between her and Admiral Mako right now would stay between them.

She'd never show this perverse side of herself to anyone else, not even her sisters, since she at least possessed some sense of decorum and grace even when she slept together with Admiral Mako along with another lover.

But the stress of war and death as well as the responsibility and expectations which she shouldered for so long were too much, even for someone as experienced as her.

She allowed only her Admiral to see this side of her, what with her prominently-displayed erect nipples, bare body and dripping-wet nether regions, sitting herself on the tub's rounded ledge and folding her shapely legs before doing her best to enchant her own Admiral by playing up her feminine attributes.

Slightly puckering her lips, she pressed her upper arms and shoulders together while puffing out her chest and leaning forward in order to emphasize her jiggly assets, narrating her fantasies which she secretly entertained in her most private of moments and in the darkest recesses of her mind, baring her body, mind and soul to her one and only Admiral.

"Admiral Mako, I now present to you the Myoukou-Class's unique three-course meal.

The appetizer…"

Sensually swiping her lower lip with her left thumb, she moved on to her bosom as she pulled apart her shoulders as though performing stretches before she sensually rubbed and squeezed her larger-than-average breasts together while pushing them up in order to seduce Admiral Mako.

"The main course.

It won't be as… filling… as the Yamato and Nagato-Class, but I assure you that the exquisite taste more than makes up for it.

And finally…"

Unfolding her legs in order to spread them erotically whilst boldly thrusting her hips out and running her slender finger over her folds enticingly, her blushing face was practically glowing as she began to stutter at the sheer ridiculousness of her words as she hungrily licked her lips and finished her little monologue, choosing to address her Admiral by her first name.

"F-Finally, this here's the dessert, w-w-with the little cherry on top…

Please, M-Mako, taste-test every part of my body and eat me out to your heart's content."

But instead of behaving as she expected, Admiral Mako instead responded with an absolutely deadpan expression,

"That was rather cringy of you to say, Myoukou.

Did Ashigara put you up to it?"

Myoukou broke character as she clamped her legs shut and shielded her chest with her arms, looking more embarrassed than anything else after having narrated her fantasies out loud as she exclaimed.

"N-No!

It was all from me, I fantasized the entire thing, and although I understand that it may feel as if it was a bit forced when coming from me, of all people…"

Myoukou squirmed where she sat as she puffed out her cheeks, feeling quite humiliated by her own actions and wished that the both of them could simply forget that this ever happened as she meekly finished her sentence.

"I… I truly wanted you to see me for who I am.

Even this part of me, which never sees the light of day and is hidden from even my sisters, I want you to see and understand every facet of me and my personality…"

Admiral Mako looked down at the bathwater, contemplating Myoukou's inner desires as she voiced her thoughts out loud.

"The quiet ones really are the kinkiest ones behind closed doors, hmm?"

Myoukou shrugged nonchalantly, now wishing to disappear from Admiral Mako's sight after that fiasco as she responded, looking away in embarrassment while Admiral Mako stood up from the docks.

"W-Well, I wouldn't know about anyone else, but…

If you wish, I could go- _hyah!"_

Only for her to be cut off by her own squeal of pleasure as Admiral Mako quickly leaned over and kissed Myoukou on the curve of flesh between her neck and shoulder while using her soaked thigh in order to rub against and stimulate the leaking orifice between Myoukou's tightly-clenched thighs, the quivering heavy cruiser huffing lustfully as the humid docks and piping-hot bathwater warmed up her body and sent her into heat.

Reaching around in order to rub her bare palms down Myoukou's tingling spine as their breasts pressed against the other's, Admiral Mako whispered seductively into her left ear as her gasping breath tickled Myoukou's ear, causing climatic shivers to reverberate throughout her now-sensitive body.

"I never declined your offer, Myoukou.

And since you went the extra mile to offer yourself so graciously to me, I shall now gladly and heartily partake of you."

Admiral Mako drew back before lowering herself as her head disappeared beneath Myoukou's breasts, Myoukou's entire body shivering in anticipation as she felt her girlfriend's breath on her lower abdomen where her womb was and was slowly getting lower, her Admiral's tender voice uttered just loud enough to be heard by Myoukou alone.

"Don't worry, Myoukou.

To the both of us, this next part will come naturally.

Itadakimasu…"

Myoukou threw back her head and shoulders as lip-to-other-lip contact was made, the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser arching her back and inhaling sharply through her 'O'-shaped mouth as all her concerns, fears, responsibilities, burdens, frustrations, stress and pain were all slowly but surely washed away by the waves of pleasure which overcame her senses and engulfed her body, causing her knees to buckle and her pulse to quicken, her breath condensing before her very eyes while she felt as if raw electricity ran up and down her excited steel spine.

Her section of the heated bathhouse was filled with the gasps, sighs, moans, cries and squeals of sheer delight and ecstasy, her delirious mind barely capable of controlling her volume as she called out in an increasingly intense fever pitch.

"Yes…

Oh yes, Mako… _Mako!_

 _Oh! Ohh!"_


	50. Chapter 50 - Melody Of The Heart

Tenryuu was sitting with Aoba, Akashi and Tatsuta in the engineering block on the 29th of May, and Tenryuu was grumbling about something as she sketched chibi images of her firing off a Blade Rush, which was her spiritual energy being focused into the edge of her blade and fired off in an arc, and she was taking out a bunch of Abyssals in the process, crossing out the Abyssals' eyes and drawing their mouths with tongues stuck out upon dying.

Tenryuu pouted as she complained offhandedly in order to pass the time,

"Ah, I wish my superpower was something a lot cooler, like summoning the Gate of Babylon or a armored Susanoo, hmm?"

Akashi leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, commenting on how despite the fact that they were able to harness and replicate higher-level technology only by the grace of their spiritual manifestations who taught them its ins and outs, there were still limits to what they could do.

"Well, we're in the process of upgrading your Anti-Abyssal weapons, and this wouldn't be possible had your inner spirits not told us of the juicy information about the ins and outs of these weapon upgrades, but let's say that you wish to create a Gate of Babylon and summon weapons en masse."

Pointing a finger towards Tenryuu as she continued.

"Your entire body would have to be remodeled for the sake of withstanding the strain of summoning the Gate in the first place, and the sheer amount of items summoned would theoretically drain you faster than your current ability ever could.

To de-materialize and reconstruct a sword while transferring its deconstructed essence through what would essentially be a wormhole and without any flaw in the replication process, that's a whole other can of worms in which I don't want to open just yet.

The technology is there in the form of Fairies being summoned by the _shikigami_ into their planes, but the bodies of the Fairies are naturally imbued with properties which protect them from being torn apart in the time-space continuum which they travel across in order to get here.

That isn't even getting into the insane amount of resources which would be poured into creating and maintaining the weapons that are to be stored inside the Gate, in order to be summoned as handheld weapons or flung at enemies as projectiles."

Tenryuu deflated as she laid down on the table, resting on her breasts while she defiantly puffed out her cheeks upon being shot down so easily, but Aoba was writing a report for something or another with a pen and paper as she looked up and wondered while her helmet shielded her head, the light being restored into her eyes as she now had something to ponder and report about.

"But I wonder, though.

Just where does this technology come from?

It can't just be conjured up from nowhere, and it only adds to the mystery of where we all come from.

The Fairies, our souls, the Abyssals possessing seemingly limitless resources, it all eludes us, but I know that there's a bigger story out there!

Oh, if only the Abyssals were a land country in which we could infiltrate and spy on, that would be so nice, but they instead possess an impenetrable defense in the form of the ocean depths, and are so tight-lipped about everything…

But that just makes me more determined to find out what it all means!

A great story is afoot!"

Tatsuta nodded, understanding the need to find out about their true origins in order to find some peace of mind, the kind that was only granted upon knowing how and where one was conceived or created.

"Yes.

I think that currently, we know the five 'W's and one 'H' regarding our creation, but I believe that the scope of the question simply isn't there, and it's up to us to find out more.

Who created us, the Fairies.

But who really created the concept of a 'ship girl' or Abyssal in the first place?

The Fairies don't know anything about our origins, while the technological prowess needed to create us is far beyond mankind's current capabilities, so who?

Why are we created?

To fight the Abyssals and protect mankind.

But that doesn't clearly explain the reason why we have this innate desire to defend mankind against the Abyssals who, on the other hand, have the desire to destroy mankind from the bottom of their hearts.

And…"

Tenryuu blinked as she thought about it all, patiently hearing her sister explain herself while she felt invigorated by the Kai remodel which occurred on the day before the Battle of Twelve Navies, since they had to get their remodeling process out of the way before the bulk of the casualties flowed in on the fateful day of the battle.

It still stung a little, to not be able to participate in it and shed blood, sweat and tears alongside her comrades who made up the 1st Fleet as well as the Yokosuka Naval Base, but that was the compromise which she accepted when she agreed to participate in Project Psyche, that she had to lay low for awhile and not reveal her powers to anyone.

Her sword, Ezekiel, wasn't ready at that point in time, and they didn't want to send her out into battle after having contacted the manifestation of her soul, but wouldn't be armed with her cutting-edge Anti-Abyssal weapon in order to protect herself in battle, and hadn't even been remodeled then.

And should she sink, the Abyssals might get their hands on her and get a New Wave ship girl as a freebie.

She had no counterargument to that, so she had fumed while she sat in the base and recovered from her successful remodeling process, which had been quite unique because of the need to install 'spiritual circuits' to transfer energy from her soul into her body and then into her weapon, and although it was all technological mumbo-jumbo which she didn't bother to understand, she felt different and more powerful in some way.

It wasn't immediately apparent, but she felt stronger as if her spiritual strength bled out from her soul and added to her reasonably potent light cruiser strength, but it couldn't be utilized in any useful way because she didn't have her sword with her.

It boiled down to a very simple explanation in Tenryuu's mind that their bodies were like rechargeable batteries powering a tool, say a fan, when compared to the modified Anti-Abyssal weapons which were powered by their spiritual reserves.

Their bodies were a physical vessel much like a battery, in which whatever created energy inside them flowed through the vessel and transferred energy into the tool for it to do useful work.

For them to skip the step of utilizing a tool in order to manifest their superpowers (or in the Tenryuu-Class's case, a super-weapon) was impossible, because that wasn't how their powers worked.

Their powers were deeply intertwined with their Anti-Abyssal weapons, and they'd be ordinary ship girls without them.

So no Kamehameha or Hadouken in the foreseeable future.

Damn.

But Aoba spoke up about something else which had been bothering her, especially regarding how they would keep this a secret from the 1st Fleet without being too restricted in their chances to use their power during sorties.

"But I wonder.

How are Tenryuu and Tatsuta supposed to use their powers and super weapons when they're sortieing with the 1st Fleet?

Unless we want them to sortie by themselves in order to allow them to use their powers without any witnesses around, I'm not sure if we can avoid the 1st Fleet knowing about their super-powers sooner or later.

And for the New Wave ship girls, where should we focus on sortieing them for the best results?

Sure, sortieing them out onto the ocean is ideal because that's where they're most comfortable in, but we'll eventually need their powers to be used on land, where the disparity in manpower and firepower is more apparent, so…"

Akashi nodded as she considered the question, finally coming to a decision as she answered Aoba's question.

"We'll try to keep your powers a secret for as long as possible, so unless it's a life or death situation, I forbid the use of your powers outside of specified situations or dire circumstances."

Tenryuu raised her head as she stopped her sketch in order to argue the point, but Tatsuta beat her to the punch by leaning forward and speaking up, looking more like her usual threatening self as she asked darkly.

"And does that mean we should not actively try and use our abilities to fight the Abyssals and save our allies whenever we can?

What's the point of gaining these powers if we can't use them to save others in the heat of battle?"

Akashi shrugged as she leaned back and coolly replied, looking nonplussed even when Tatsuta was threatening to give her _the look_ which promised nothing but the promise of death, likely because the both of them knew that Akashi was far deadlier and damaged on the inside than Tatsuta was because of her mysterious past and bloody fighting style.

And however menacing and fearsome Tatsuta could be, Akashi embodied something _worse_ , lying dormant within her but fully capable of lashing out at even allies, with her medical and anatomical knowledge being the tools of healing that were misused for the sake of destruction.

"Well, think about it.

Right now, there are only the two of you New Wave ship girls in the entire damn world.

And if you go around boldly displaying your powers, what do you think the Abyssals would do, since it's possible that they possess New Wave units of their own, who've likely been around for far longer than you have?

I'll tell you right now.

Yuubari and Sakawa are part of the Abyssal high command, which means that they get to order even the Abyssal Princesses around, and you don't jump up the Abyssal hierarchy like that without serious power-ups."

Tatsuta and Tenryuu relented upon hearing that, and Tenryuu understood that the activities of the Abyssals had been a mystery to them for the last decade or so, and while it was nice to imagine that they were the ones who had the upper hand by creating the first two New Wave units in the Abyssal War, according to rumors and reports about mysterious sightings, it was slowly but surely becoming apparent that the Tenryuu-Class certainly wasn't the first.

The twentieth year of this war was some sort of signal for the Abyssals to allow them sneak peeks at their own Abyssal New Wave units, and Tenryuu wasn't sure just how many of them there were, but the circumstances of their sightings were enough of a reason for her to understand that they were truly powerful and couldn't be approached halfheartedly.

Aoba then took out her notebook and flipped through it, speaking up about the situation and tried to give a quick summary about the suspicious occurrences around the world, several of which could only be explained by the possession of superpowers that were granted to the Abyssals by their own Project Psyche.

"Well, there have been several abnormal occurrences on the sea, most of which happened in the Pacific Ocean and can be easily explained by the presence of superpowers, although note that just because it's the _simplest_ doesn't mean it's automatically true.

On the 16th of May, an expedition fleet from the Yakushima Naval Base spotted an Abyssal Amatsukaze with an as-of-yet unknown Beast guarding it, although 'spotting' is a slightly far-fetched term in this case, with the sighting occurring at night while the Abyssal and Beast standing at a distance…

Anyway, it managed to travel faster than any known unit on either side in the Abyssal War, and both Princess and Beast clearly shows signs of fire-based superpowers to enhance its speed to accelerate it to inhuman speeds."

Tatsuta considered the possible abilities of this New Wave Abyssal, speaking up as she held her chin with her left hand and supported her left elbow with her right arm as she hypothesized.

"A speedster Abyssal, hmm?

It's possible that this Abyssal also possesses fire manipulation abilities, and if her Beast can keep up with her super-speed, we have a problem here.

I'm not entirely certain that we can take on such a Abyssal just yet, not without experimenting and discovering new ways to utilize our weapon-based superpowers."

Akashi nodded, leaning back and speaking about the Abyssals' lack of ethics which likely contributed to the enhancements of existing superpowers by performing on their own New Wave units what the ship girl constitution protected them from.

"Look, I'm theory-crafting here, but I wouldn't discount the possibility that the Abyssals experimented on their New Wave units extensively in order to enhance their powers, and I won't exclude the possible use of feeding them performance-enhancing drugs.

I mean, ship girls and Abyssals alike have heightened resistance drug withdrawal symptoms, so why not milk it for what it's worth?

And because the constitution protects us from carrying out similar operations without a medical and ethics board reviewing the pros and cons of such a procedure and making sure that you gave your consent, there exists the problem of artificially-enhanced power levels."

Tenryuu puffed out her cheeks upon hearing that, but she admitted that she wouldn't dare to go under the knife (especially not Akashi's) in order to enhance her powers, much less take drugs to destroy her body for the sake of short-term performance enhancement.

And when she considered the fact that the Abyssals never had a choice, and were expected to only follow orders…

Tenryuu shivered as she suddenly felt very glad that their command structure wasn't like that, Tatsuta noting her anxiety and shooting her a concerned aside glance while Aoba continued, having regained some of her former reporter spunk as she continued.

"Well, there're also other strange occurrences happening elsewhere within the Pacific.

A blue whale carcass was found beached on Orchid Island, which is part of Taiwan.

What was unusual was that the blue whale corpse was partially eaten by gigantic beasts, and before you write it off as an animal-on-animal attack, know that the ship girls investigating the scene found the tooth of two different Abyssal Beast embedded into the flesh of the carcass.

Forensics couldn't match the two teeth to any known sets of Abyssal teeth, and any matches were found with major leeway regarding their search conditions, which leads us to believe that this marks the presence of new Abyssal Beasts, perhaps as a part of Apocalypse."

Tenryuu, curious and slightly fearful of this new development of Abyssal Beasts which could kill a blue whale, which was the largest animal ever to have existed, asked.

"And you think that this Beast is something created by Project Psyche?

I mean, if there are two sets of Beast teeth, that would mean that there'd be two Princesses, right?"

But Tatsuta instead chose to scrutinize their known assumptions about how Princesses worked, daring to question them as she countered with a radical suggestion.

"Right now, we've accepted the fact that Princesses only have one Beast.

But with the advent of powers and the like along with the Abyssals preparing for Apocalypse with a new wave of Abyssal mooks and boss units, is it really out of the question for us to wonder if an Abyssal can have more than one Beast?"

Akashi looked down, thinking about things as she answered sagely,

"Well, we can't dismiss any possibilities out of hand.

We might say that it's impossible for a Princess to have two Beasts, but in order to survive in a war this unorthodox, we need to keep our minds open and keep questioning the boundaries of what's possible and what's not.

Sure, it's possible for two existing Princesses to carry out this killing, but the Abyssals aren't known to wantonly kill sea animals as part of their 'humans-are-assholes-for-over-hunting' motif, and Princesses rarely work together, only doing so during major operations.

So for them to suddenly attack and kill this whale out of nowhere likely suggests a new Abyssal unit, which doesn't play by the existing rules that the Abyssals usually adhere to in their own twisted code…"

Tenryuu finished,

" … you suspect that it may be the work of a New Wave unit."

Akashi shrugged nonchalantly, and Aoba moved onto the next article which she researched on, which was about the two light cruisers of Yokosuka who had sank in the past, and are now all but confirmed to have been revived and promoted to the position Abyssal high command, in which the possession of superpowers would easily explain the reason why.

"Next, Sakawa and Yuubari, who were from our bases and sank in the past…

It seems as if they're revived as Abyssals and are part of the Abyssal high command.

Normally, a light cruiser, no matter how skilled, wouldn't even be considered for this coveted position, but with Project Psyche…"

Tatsuta followed that line of thought as she came to the logical conclusion.

"And with how the Abyssals use strength to distinguish the pecking order within their ranks, along with superpowers that no Abyssal can consistently and fully counter, it would elevate them to a position of strength where no one would dare to challenge them, especially if they possess potent superpowers."

Akashi looked concerned as she expressed her thoughts about the possibility of Tenryuu and Tatsuta going up against Abyssal light cruisers, who were capable of putting Abyssal Princesses in their place with their superpowers alone.

"So when you think about it, just how powerful do their superpowers have to be in order to dominate even Abyssal Princesses, and how well do you think you'll fare against them?

That's why we need you to lay low and experiment with your powers, otherwise you'd risk facing off against an opponent you can't beat and get captured as a result."

Tenryuu pouted, but she ultimately understood the reasoning behind laying low and training up their newfound skills instead of fighting Abyssals out in the open and risk incurring the wrath of the New Wave Abyssals.

Their importance as irreplaceable assets as well as being so few in number meant that they had to be on the defensive, and while that grated on Tenryuu's nerves as a ship girl of action and aggression, she knew she had to follow Akashi's orders.

Looking down at her sketch again, she was itching to begin her training with her powers as well as her newly-upgraded Anti-Abyssal weapon, asking about when she can expect the weapon upgrades to be finished.

"And…

I wanna start training soon, so when will the weapon upgrades be complete?"

Akashi and Aoba shared a look, and the repair ship turned back as she gave her an estimated time of completion for her to mentally prepare herself, leaning back and placing her hands in her skirt pockets in the process.

"Well, thanks to the Fairies helping us out as well as Akio and Kousuke working around the clock, we can expect the weapons to be completed next Monday, on the 1st of June.

So use the weekend to rest up, because I understand that you two are going to push yourselves to the limit with your powers.

And while I would advise against this course of action, seeing how we're at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and available time before the shit goes down in the form of Apocalypse, I guess I'll allow it."

Tatsuta considered something else, asking about where they could let loose with their powers without being spotted by anyone.

"But where are we to train up our powers?

Especially with Tenryuu's powers which involve flashy sword beam attacks, I'm not sure if we can train in Yokosuka without anyone spotting us or suspect that something is up, at the very least."

Aoba considered the question, before responding with the most reasonable answer.

"Well, we won't be training in Yokosuka, then.

I mean, I'm sure that the both of you are likely going to join the ship girl army along with your fleets should they agree to volunteer, right?"

Tenryuu and Tatsuta nodded, and Aoba continued with a suggestion.

"Then should we request for it, I think that an arrangement could be made such that a large clearing is prepared along with a no-entry zone as a buffer around it, where you can go wild with your weapons without the risk of anyone spotting you.

I mean, Japan is a large place, and Apocalypse would radically shift priorities such that you getting familiar with the limits and inner workings of your powers would rank pretty high up there, right?"

Everyone seemed to come to a silent consensus then, and Tatsuta changed the topic by asking Akashi and Aoba about her fleet members as well as their current locations and statuses.

"Hm, speaking about the 1st Fleet, where and how are they right now?"

Akashi responded in regards to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer,

"Well, Shigure's spending time with Saratoga, since the American carrier was killed in battle and is now recovering in the docks.

First time's always the roughest, and Shigure said that she wanted to be there to spend some time with Saratoga when she wakes up.

Same goes to Ayanami, who was with Ushio as the latter died in battle, and the both of them are now in the hospital after Ushio's condition stabilized.

Hiei's in the docks because she pushed herself too far in battle, and let's just say she won't be released anytime soon.

Don't know about Junyou, though."

But Aoba had the answer to that, turning to look at everyone as she added.

"Actually, I might have the answer to that.

After recovering from a hangover resulting from pulling off a drunken fist duo with a Kai Ni Junyou from another naval base while actually drunk - "

Tatsuta and Tenryuu hummed understandingly as a signal for Aoba to continue on.

"She's helping Zuikaku out to win Kaga's heart to, y'know…"

Leaning in conspiratorially and shielding her mouth with her left hand to hide her words from no one in particular, she whispered.

" … To advance that ZuiKaga ship."

Tenryuu lifted an eyebrow upon hearing the news that Junyou was actively helping Zuikaku out to get together with Kaga since Tenryuu, along with pretty much everyone else in Yokosuka, knew that the Shoukaku-Class carrier loved the stoic Kaga-Class carrier, but it had become an unspoken consensus to not say anything to Kaga, who was surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly) oblivious to love.

She asked out loud out of curiosity,

"Well, just what are they doing?"

Aoba smirked, having never truly lost her news-gathering skills as she answered knowingly,

"Well, let's just say…"

* * *

"We're holding a celebratory party?

Why?"

Zuikaku asked as she pressed down on the lever of a brown beverage dispenser in Junyou's room in order to fill the Styrofoam cup in her hand, and Junyou replied as she reached into the plastic bag in her laps which contained mountains of food which had been brought into the room in order to feed the dozen or so bird carriers who had taken some time off in order to chill in Junyou's room, the Hiyou-Class light carrier pulling out a snack before answering.

"Well, first of all, we need an event of sorts as a catalyst for you to talk to Kaga.

And besides, I think that we deserve a reward of sorts for training so hard and performing so well in the Battle of Twelve Navies, and also to throw a belated celebration for Souryuu obtaining her Kai Ni remodel.

So just use this time to enjoy yourself and try to strike up a conversation with Kaga, alright?"

Zuikaku still looked rather uncertain about what she was to do in that situation when the time came, sitting down on a chair beside a snacking Junyou as she asked while looking at the distant Kaga with a shy gaze, the 1stCarDiv carrier speaking with Souryuu as the twin-tailed carrier now had a bandanna wrapped around her forehead just like Hiryuu, along with longer white ribbons holding her twin tails together.

"But what am I going to talk to her about?

I certainly don't want to quarrel with her when we're supposed to be celebrating, but she's the person I like, so…"

Junyou nudged Zuikaku's shoulder with her own, leaning in to speak to the discouraged carrier about her problems with a serious voice, trying to help her recover the spunk and vigor which she always had when dealing with anything.

"Look.

I'm not you, so I can't exactly say what you should or shouldn't talk about when conversing with Kaga, although you certainly can't talk about your crush in front of the person you like.

But the thing is that being your senior, I'm sure that Kaga cares for you in her own way, so I know that there's a chance for you to get through to her with your love.

She's a career woman, but she's still human after all, and the stress of war weighs down on us and often forces us to confide in someone else."

Munching loudly on the delicious snacks and savoring the taste in order to stimulate her sense of taste and keep her brain juices flowing, she swallowed the mouthful of food before leaning in close as she had a flash of inspiration, thinking about how Zuikaku could also try to paint herself in a more positive spotlight in Kaga's mind by lending a listening ear to the Kaga-Class carrier.

"Hey, I just had an idea!

I'm sure that Kaga isn't infallible, and playing the sempai to everyone and upholding the reputation of the 1st Carrier Division stresses even her out, so why not turn the tables and offer a listening ear to her in order to hear her problems out?"

Zuikaku took a sip of the lychee-flavored water which filled her Styrofoam cup, still a little unsure of how that was going to work with the relationship they had right now.

"But how's that going to work in the first place?

She'd literally trust anyone else other than me, especially since I butt heads with her so often - "

" - and that isn't exactly a weakness, if you play your cards right."

Junyou's eyes twinkled as her mind whirred with ideas to help nudge Zuikaku along the right path as if playing a real-life visual novel in order to help the twin-tailed carrier raise another flag in the quest to pair the both of them together.

"Sure, she has Akagi, Souryuu and Hiryuu.

But although she's strong, it's lonely at the top.

There should be some things even she can't tell them, and while you may be the last person she would open up to, under certain circumstances, perhaps the person in last place can learn things that those before her can't."

Junyou looked down at her lap, thinking about everything which transpired recently and the relatively heavy air which gripped the naval base, and despite everyone doing their best to wind down and either celebrate or relax after a recent large-scale battle, she could feel that deep down, everyone was silently waiting for the shit to hit the fan ever since the Abyssals sent out their own jet fighter-ripoffs to engage in dogfights with the human jet fighters, a harbinger for something far more nefarious lying in wait.

"Personally, I feel that everyone's simply holding their breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop ever since the _Flying Dutchman_ and the Abyssal jet fighters which it spawned in the Battle of Twelve Navies made waves around the world, much like the Princesses back in the early 2000's…"

She could feel Zuikaku tensing up and gulping at the thought of the Abyssal War sliding even further down the crapper and worsening their odds of victory, but Junyou continued nonetheless and tried to explain herself to the patiently-listening carrier.

"I know that even someone like Kaga would be concerned about everyone's well-being, but according to Akagi as well as what I've observed, Kaga isn't the kind of person to share these things with Akagi or the Second Carrier Division; she doesn't like bogging them down with these things since they're too precious to her.

You feel me?

They're dear to her because of their bonds and their pasts together, and in some sense, Kaga wouldn't want to be the Debbie Downer while in their presence, but she still has to share these concerns with someone, right?

You can be that person."

Tilting her head towards a surprised Zuikaku, she saw that Zuikaku was still a little confused about things, but she was eager to learn how to help Kaga out whilst inching closer to her heart, Junyou elaborating as her mind worked like never before.

"You're headstrong, and that's your charm.

Not always wanting to be like her, wishing to become, perhaps, something better…

I think that she sees you as a friendly rival, and in some sense, I don't think she sees anyone else in the same way, and that's the beauty of your relationship.

To dare to stand beside her instead of behind her, I think that she might be able to entrust her more pressing and deep-seated concerns with you, because while you may dare to challenge her as a rival, you respect her as a senior and can be quite prideful, but not in the haughty sense.

You won't spill her secrets, and she knows that because I believe that's a trait you both share, being prideful enough to test each other's limits, but respect each other enough to not sabotage or defame each other."

Zuikaku was considering the merits of her existing relationship with the stoic carrier, and Junyou broke out into a serene smile as she convinced Zuikaku of her plans by finishing with the next point.

"You're strong, self-willed yet respectful, and although I can't help you strike up a proper conversation with Kaga like I did last time, I can say this.

I know that you can make this work, and we're all here to help you.

And to that end…"

Junyou produced a six-pack of beer cans and thrust it into Zuikaku's face, the Hiyou-Class light carrier smiling merrily while Zuikaku sweat-dropped at how the light carrier managed to produce alcohol in almost any situation in order to be consumed, Junyou explaining herself to Zuikaku who had a 'Do Not Want' expression on her face as she placed the six-pack on her lap along with her snacks.

"Oh come on.

Getting wasted is one way for you to find an excuse to get Kaga to carry you back to your bedroom, although know that if you wish, I have more cans stashed elsewhere in my room for you to bring back and get Kaga intoxicated, to the point where you two…"

Sticking her tongue out and winking cheekily while forming scissors with her middle and index fingers, she then brought the web which was in between said fingers together in order to insinuate one of the many ways two girls can get physically intimate, Zuikaku's face instantly exploding into a glowing blush as she got up and hissed at a shocked Junyou,

"NO WAY!"

Before noting that everyone in Junyou's room was silenced by her raised voice, blinking nervously and starting to sweat before performing a small bow and muttering loud enough for everyone in the room to hear,

"Sorry for the interruption."

Before sitting herself down politely as the idle chatter resumed at a more subdued volume while the Shokaku-Class carrier lowered her head so as not to meet anyone's eye, Junyou now leaning over and stretching one arm over Zuikaku's tense shoulders as her voice morphed into a rare, apologetic one while her expression dimmed.

"Ah.

Sorry, Zuikaku-chan.

I didn't think you would react so strongly to the thought of you two…"

But Zuikaku shook her head as her blush was still luminescent despite having had some time to cool down, and she relaxed a little as she interjected in order to stop Junyou's apology.

"No, Junyou-san.

It was all my fault, I know that you genuinely want to help me.

It's just that…

Part of me doesn't want to be misled by false hope that our relationship would develop to such an extent, and another part of me really dislikes taking advantage of a drunk Kaga-san in order to sleep with her, although …"

Zuikaku's voiced lowered into that of a mousy squeak, prompting Junyou to lean in close in order to hear her next words.

"S-Should our relationship really develop to the point where we are comfortable with performing such acts without anything hindering our decision-making abilities and it's done with mutual consent, I'd actually look forward to it."

Watching the Shoukaku-Class carrier squirm in her seat and rub her legs together nervously, Junyou's smile widened into that of an understanding one as she took on a kinder and more encouraging tone in order to address the twin-tailed carrier.

"So that's how it is, hmm.

Well, if you want to play fair, I can respect that, you know.

So no sex tonight, but I expect you to get closer to her by pretending to be drunk to the point where you're unable to get back to your room by yourself.

One of us will get Kaga to accompany you back to your bedroom, and that's where you two will have the chance to have a heart-to-heart with each other."

Zuikaku exhaled as her body deflated, uttering a sincere,

"Thank you, Junyou-san."

Before inhaling sharply and picking up one beer can, Junyou hearing the familiar crack of the stay-on tab being punched in and the carbon dioxide in the drink inside going _pshh_ as it fizzled whenever an opening was exposed, Zuikaku gulping nervously as she held up the opened beer can to her lips and addressed both Junyou and herself.

"Well, this might help me hide the blush which'll creep up my face whenever I'm getting friendly with her with the intention of getting closer to her romantically.

And I might need this to give me the courage, so…"

Junyou applauded as Zuikaku shut her eyes and brought the can to her lips, lifting it above her head and downing it all in one go, and Zuikaku could feel everyone spectating in awe as her throat burnt from from the liquid flowing down her throat, feeling her cheeks start to tickle as the blood rushed to her head, and…

* * *

"You shouldn't drink so much, even when we're celebrating after a hard-fought battle.

What were you thinking, 5th Car - I mean, Zuikaku?"

Zuikaku hiccuped again as she hobbled back to the bird carrier's dorm room while Kaga supported her.

Although she had downed the entire six-pack and as well as a few more cans (for good measure) in order to grant herself the courage to carry out Junyou's plan, her five senses and mental judgement were unimpaired, and she was pretending to be a lot more wasted than she really was.

Everyone had been all smiles in the party, so as Junyou predicted, Kaga, being the stoic one of the group, took the bullet for everyone by excusing herself from the party in order to carry Zuikaku back to the dorm room.

She drawled,

"Ahh, Junyou-san bet some money that I couldn't finish a certain amount of beer cans.

And as a proud carrier of the 5th Carrier Division, I just couldn't let that challenge slide, no?"

Her mind then started to swirl a little, causing her to stumble as Kaga had to exert some of her carrier strength in order to keep her on her feet as she chided, her tone a mix of genuine concern with a good measure of annoyance and a dash of disappointment.

"I understand that I'm not one to talk, but one who embodies pride as sacred like that shouldn't concern themselves with such petty challenges.

Such small victories do little to help us in any way, and this was more of a challenge to your personal pride than anything else."

Zuikaku nodded idly as she thought to herself,

' _Huh, trust Kaga to inject some sting to her truth, and drop it hard on others without tact._

 _Not that what she says is inaccurate, should Junyou really challenge me like in the made-up story, it'd be more about protecting my own pride rather than that of the 5th Carrier Division._

 _So she isn't wrong, I guess.'_

She saw the both of them walking down familiar corridors, and she knew that the time was close as Kaga blankly stated.

"We're here.

I'll get you tucked in before turning in for the night."

Zuikaku chose not to respond, although she started to feel something well up within her chest just as Kaga opened the door and guided her in without turning on the lights, the tidiness of the room and their powerful memories allowing them to find Zuikaku's bed without any fuss, the Shoukaku-Class carrier starting to feel her heart beat faster and her face become hotter than ever.

And as Kaga slowly lowered her onto her bed, her body became hotter than ever as butterflies fluttered in her stomach, reaching out to grab Kaga by the left sleeve of her uniform as she panted heavily while feeling her that her heart was working its way out of her,

"Kaga-san…!"

The Kaga-Class carrier looked down in shock as her expression betrayed some elements of surprise at the move, and Zuikaku pulled her face closer to her crush while she felt the skin on her own face tingle, picking up all the signs of excitement and nervousness as she saw Kaga's pupils contract, their gasps of bated breath increasing in both frequency and intensity while Zuikaku's warm skin became glossy with sweat, and Zuikaku could feel both their heartbeats inexplicably beating in unison and reverberating throughout her warm body.

And maybe, just maybe, she saw hints of a blush coloring the stoic carrier's face, daring to speak up as her feelings began to erupt from the depths of her heart within her, starting to breathe heavily as she called her crush's name again.

"K-Kaga-san!"

Right before her throat started to burn, releasing her hold on Kaga in order to press one hand against her stomach while another clapped over her mouth as her cheeks puffed up, fighting the rising bile for as long as she could before Kaga realized what was going on and hurriedly reached for anything within arm's reach for her to vomit into.

A drunk Zuikaku emptied her chunky, food-and-drink-filled 'feelings' into the bottom of a wastepaper basket in a pathetic display, disappointingly thinking to herself as Kaga lightly slapped and massaged her back in order to clear her throat.

' _Oh god._

 _There goes not just the pride of the 5th Carrier Division, but also any shred of respect I managed to build up in the eyes of my crush…_

 _Fuuuuu-'_

* * *

She felt better after two drinks of plain water, although she was starting to reek a little of alcohol much like Junyou's room and uniform after an intense drinking session, starting to curse Junyou in her mind for her idea to ingest alcohol (despite the fact that it worked) before she heard Kaga start to leave her side after having done all she could for Zuikaku.

And in her panic, she called out as she sat up on her bed while Kaga turned the doorknob and partially opened the door in order to exit the room,

"Kaga-san!"

And Kaga turned around as she flinched, asking tersely as she seemed ready to rinse and repeat her earlier steps to help Zuikaku again if need be.

"Again?"

Zuikaku blushed a little as she retorted with a sharp,

"No!"

Before catching herself and relaxing as she softened her demeanor, asking meekly.

"I mean, during the party, I noticed that you looked worried about something or another.

But I believe you didn't want to ruin the mood by discussing them with everyone, and I could see that it ate away at you from the inside."

She could see Kaga's eyes widen slightly in genuine surprise at her apparent mind-reading prowess while Zuikaku powered on, looking away and retreating into herself before she continued.

"And I know that we don't have the best relationship amongst us bird carriers, but I just want you to know that as a fellow rival and friend, I want you to face the battlefield with a clear mind."

This was where the alcohol helped to conceal her blush, because even in the darkness, she was still afraid that the 1stCarDiv carrier could see her colored cheeks as a result of their enhanced carrier eyesight as well as the light which leaked in from the corridor and into the room, which activated during nighttime and currently illuminated Kaga's silhouette.

"I-I know that they're dear to you, and you likely wouldn't want to bring them down by bringing up this depressing topic, but…

Everyone needs a listening ear every now and then, and especially after the Battle of Twelve Navies, I'm sure you have tons of concerns weighing down on your shoulders, and you need to tell someone about them in confidence.

I just want you to know that I don't mind hearing you speak your mind about anything, and that I'm here for you.

I-In my own way."

Kaga didn't respond for a long while as Zuikaku looked down at her bed and anxiously waited for the deathly silent carrier to give her answer, and before she could add anything to try and convince her crush, Kaga turned towards the door and caused Zuikaku to quietly exhale in disappointment at her inability to get through to her crush-slash-senior.

But Kaga strangely chose to shut the door without exiting the room, enveloping the two carriers inside in darkness as Zuikaku's heart pounded upon feeling and almost seeing Kaga walk towards her bed in the darkness, even without the use of her night-vision.

But her hopes were subverted yet again as Kaga passed by Zuikaku's bed without sparing her a second glance, and instead headed for the drawer at her bedside.

Hearing the _click_ of the bed lamp being turned on as it cast Kaga's shadow upon Zuikaku, she felt Kaga sit right behind her and leaned back on Zuikaku's back, speaking monotonously and in a no-nonsense tone.

"Do not say anything.

Do not do anything.

For all intents and purposes, I am speaking to thin air right now, understand?"

Zuikaku's heart leapt upon understanding what Kaga was doing and why she was doing this, thinking to herself.

' _She's concerned enough with her image to not wish to display any weakness in front of anyone, but understands the need to share your concerns with someone else?_

 _And to that end, she deliberately allows me to listen in on her self-confession while choosing to ignore me, since 'out of sight, out of mind' applies in the darkness in this bedroom?_

 _That's… rather prideful, but it's somehow endearing when she does it._

 _Maybe even a little… cute.'_

But she said nothing as per her senior's instructions, and she finally heard Kaga's relieved,

"Good."

Before sighing again, Zuikaku feeling Kaga's back heaving in the process as though releasing all the pent up stress and frustration within her in order to gather her thoughts, finally speaking up after some time.

"I… am worried.

In front of everyone else, I refuse to admit that I'm afraid of what's coming next, but I admit that I'm getting there.

The Abyssals have played their next hand, and I can't help but think that much like the introduction of the Princesses in the past, the world will be plunged into chaos once more.

And…"

Another sigh escaped Kaga's lips, and Zuikaku felt the fatigue escape from Kaga's very being which did her best to keep it all in, rolling off of the 1st Carrier Division's shoulders and onto Zuikaku in order for her to shoulder with her crush as Kaga continued.

"If the Abyssals have already developed air and sea-based vessels based on past and modern designs to be used in war, then who's to say that they haven't created land-based vehicles in order to pull off another land invasion like they did to America, except doing it right this time?

I can feel the tides of war turning, and even after winning this battle, I can't help but feel that it's the beginning of the end."

Kaga's voiced then hardened, and Zuikaku felt Kaga recover some of her mojo and transformed back into the 1st Carrier Division's professional and hardened carrier as she spoke up.

"But I don't want to bring down their spirits just yet.

At least, not tonight, not when they're celebrating a major victory after a hard-fought battle.

I'll shoulder this burden by myself."

The ' _not anymore.'_ was heavily implied, and Zuikaku exhaled sharply as she looked down and mentally sympathized with Kaga's concerns about just what the Abyssals might be up to.

There was naught but silence for quite a while as Zuikaku internalized the silence between them while beams of light entered her field of vision from behind her, feeling Kaga's steady breathing be disturbed by a sharp intake of breath before continuing.

"I, I also think about sisters sometimes, and how… my tale and that of Akagi's are so pitiful.

To have my sister ship taken from me, and how I was to share the same fate of being scrapped, I was sad, but somehow content to die along with my unborn, or rather, unfinished sister.

But the heavens took away Amagi in the Great Kanto Earthquake, and that incident meant that I was recreated as a carrier in Amagi's stead and was able to fight and sink alongside Akagi.

But now, Akagi is able to find solace in Amagi the carrier, who can be seen as a reincarnation of Amagi the battlecruiser, if not in spirit then at least in name.

Although I'm genuinely happy for Akagi, I believe that there will never be a Tosa-Class battle-cruiser, and I see this as a divine punishment of sorts, for the price of living on borrowed time in order to serve in World War 2 alongside everyone is Tosa's life.

I know that the loneliness has abated over time with the addition of so many carriers, but without even a replacement of my sister ship to help quell this hole in my heart…"

Zuikaku looked down dejectedly, trying to put herself in Kaga's shoes as she thought about how it must have felt, to live because of someone else dying and allowing you to take their place, and to be unable to even see your own sister ship in your next life because she never lived to even see the dawn of the Second World War…

She couldn't even begin to wrap her mind around the loneliness she would feel should she know that she was supposed to have a sister ship, but would never know what she looked like, how she behaved or get to even talk to her, almost like an aborted sibling who would never see the light of day.

It was soul-crushingly sad, in a sense, and despite having so many friends to try and help her get over this pain, it was just a hole in her heart in which no one, not even Akagi, could truly fix, and they could only patch up the wound.

Kaga continued with a pitifully forlorn tone.

"I also can't help but wonder sometimes, what would Tosa think of me if she were looking down at us from Heaven?

Would she be happy that I'm living my own life, or would she be angry that I lived while she died?

Sometimes, I also wonder what life would be like if she were to be chosen to live on as a carrier instead of me, and what if the 1st Carrier Division consisted of Tosa and Akagi instead?"

Zuikaku's heart broke a little upon comprehending the morbid thought that there would be a world out there where Kaga herself wouldn't exist and would be replaced by her sibling, and she wanted to do nothing more than to turn around right now and hug Kaga from behind, before taking the chance to gently reassure her that everything was going to be alright.

Except she couldn't.

Kaga's orders were absolute, and she had to be content with gritting her teeth until her gums hurt as she endured the sinking feeling in her heart, Kaga continuing.

"I know that these are nothing more than idle fantasies about a sister ship who never was, but…

I question if everything about me, whether it's my drive to perform well, my clinging to Akagi, who also lost her sister back then, as if she were my sister ship, my aloof attitude towards everyone else…

Is it all because I somehow blame myself for Tosa's death, and keep my distance from others as some form of self-inflicted punishment and see Akagi as an expy of Tosa?

Or am I staying close to her just because she understands my loss on some level, and not just because we're part of the 1st Carrier Division?

Who would I be without my sister?

The same person?

Radically different?"

Zuikaku felt emotionally drained somewhat upon hearing all these woes flow from Kaga's heart like a dam bursting, but she reminded herself that Kaga was likely feeling ten times, if not a hundred times worse.

She made a controversial claim in her mind that it would arguably feel better if Kaga scolded her, as masochistic as that sounded in her mind right now.

Kaga continued, likely on a roll regarding sharing her woes after keeping them in her heart for so long, and Zuikaku patiently listened to her all the while.

"And I also worry about losing everyone, because my belief is that we are who we are as a result of all the people whom we interact with, not just because of our predetermined personalities.

I let everyone down once when I was sunk at Midway.

Although my mildly antagonistic feelings towards Enterprise and American carriers in general aren't going to get in the way of working with them, my heart feels more bitter about letting everyone down, both the bird carriers who shouldered our responsibility from then on as well as everyone else who had survived until that point in time.

Maybe it's because I keeping thinking about what else could I have done to protect myself, Akagi, Hiryuu and Souryuu back then, although I often shut these thoughts down by telling myself that the past is unchangeable, and that this disaster of a battle, in some sense, helped to mold us into who we are today."

Zuikaku thought about that, understanding that their sinkings were integral to their personalities in some way, as twisted as that sounded, and for the 1st and 2nd Carrier Divisions, part of their fame came from the Battle of Midway, and how they sank in a disastrous, tide-turning battle.

This was one issue she could empathize with, since Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu and Souryuu sank at Midway while Shokaku and Taihou sank at the Battle of Philippines Sea, leaving her all alone.

The urge to say something ate away at her, and she couldn't take it anymore as she looked down and reached for Kaga's palm on the bed, and although she felt the carrier jump at the hand-to-hand contact, she took the initiative and made her own thoughts known to Kaga, the alcohol in her system helping to push her on.

"Look, you had your turn to talk, and now it's my turn.

First of all…"

Feeling a blush creeping up upon her as she thought about what she was going to say, she went ahead with it anyway as she continued.

"In response to the first issue, you're right in that the Abyssals are likely up to something, and that we're all in danger.

But in case you forgot, we're all soldiers who've fought in a World War before, so don't think that we're gonna go down without a fight.

We're not so weak to the point where we need you to save the day all the time."

Clearing her throat as she failed to hear anything from the silent Kaga-Class carrier, she continued as her fingers intertwined with Kaga's, adding to the intensity of her blush.

"As to the second, I won't say that I know Tosa-san, or have a bond with her in the same way you do, but I believe that as your sister, she would have been happy to see you live.

To see you excel and uphold the honor of the 1st Carrier Division so professionally, any sibling of yours would be proud.

Again, I'm not her, but…"

Her mind and heart was a whirlwind of thoughts she wanted to get through to Kaga, and the 1stCarDiv carrier exhibited patience in spades as Zuikaku took several deep breaths, sorting out her thoughts and points before she finally managed to continue her monologue.

"I'm not Tosa, but if Shoukaku lived on while I died, but she managed to live her life to her fullest by excelling in her duty and becoming strong in order to protect everyone whom she holds dear, I'd be the happiest sister ship in the world.

And as to whether who you'd be with or without your sister ship, if you became a happier and kinder battlecruiser with her, or lost her but gained Akagi in order to become the…"

Lowering the volume of her voice, she muttered the next two words under her breath, phoning in the frigid description as she did her best to sound as non-confrontational as possible,

" … _ice queen…_

Carrier, you'd still be the same person.

You're right in that our personalities are molded mostly by unique circumstances, but the two distinct personalities simply show the same person developing differently under different circumstances.

You'd still be Kaga, but had you lived through different circumstances and lived your life as a happy-go-lucky battle-cruiser Kaga, I'm certain that your personality would similarly change as a result, but you'd still remain you.

You're still you, and no other theoretical 'alternate-universe' you is worth any more than you currently are simply because they were raised under radically different and possibly better circumstances."

She could almost feel Kaga softening up to her ideas, and she moved on by sharing her own feelings during World War 2.

"And as to losing everyone…

I know how that feels, but although it hurt, we're all soldiers, and I had to push on regardless.

Sure, you lost the battle at Midway, but was that due to a lack of effort on your part?"

The ensuing silence was all the answer she needed in order to continue on,

"You're right in that we're all a slave to circumstances.

And to my knowledge, there was nothing else you could have done to change the outcome, not with luck favoring the Americans in that battle.

You went down fighting, and that's what others will remember you for.

Few, if any, carriers dare to say that they could have changed the final outcome had they been in your position, and that's saying a lot about the cards you four were dealt on that day."

Zuikaku moved onto the final part of her monologue,

"And look…

Everyone's here for you, alright?

Even if we can't replace the sister which you've lost and fully patch all the holes in your heart, we can do their best to fill it with new bonds and experiences, and we'll help you honor her memory by living your life to the fullest and doing your very best.

So don't do anything rash, because…

Because we're here for you."

Before uttering her last words at a volume which she was fairly certain that Kaga wouldn't be able to pick up even with her ears, these words flowing from the portion of her heart that was in love,

 _"And I'm here for you too."_

She could feel her blush intensifying while Kaga turned around behind her, and in order to hide her own face, she grabbed her blanket and collapsed back on the bed where Kaga previously sat in order to feel the soft comfort of her pillow on the side of her face, using her blanket to hide her mouth and blushing cheeks while she peeked over the blanket's edge, no longer acting as she whispering tiredly while the bed lamp partly illuminated both their figures.

"Ah, I'm tired.

I've said my piece, so there.

Stay with me until I've fallen asleep, please; I don't have anyone else to count on should I go through _that_ again."

She saw the look of consideration on Kaga's face as she managed to remain cool and collected for the most part, eventually settling into a serene smile, a rare sight in and of itself as her calm expression brightened relative to her usual deadpan expression, Zuikaku hearing Kaga address her with a tender voice for the first time in her life.

"Yes.

And … thank you."

Zuikaku then allowed herself to drift off to sleep while Kaga kept watch over her, likely to ensure that she wouldn't get sick and vomit due to the alcohol again, and as the Shoukaku-Class carrier's mind started to swirl and blank out from fatigue, the last thing which she saw was the partially-lit figure of Kaga, and her mind made an inexplicable connection in its last waking moments.

' _Hmm, having her by my side while I sleep feels good._

 _Here, her face is partially illuminated, just like the waning moon…_

 _Graceful, serene, introverted and beautiful, and yet so far beyond my reach…_

 _Wait, does that make me the sun, outgoing, hot-headed, extroverted and vibrant?_

 _Huh._

 _Really makes you think._

 _Really_ _… makes_ _…_ _'_


	51. Chapter 51 - Two Suns At Sunset

**Author's Notes**

 _Praise the motherfucking sun. \\[T]/_

* * *

On the 30th of May, a strange phenomenon occurred which threw the world into disarray again.

An island the size of a small country rose up from the depths of the ocean, and it exuded an Abyssal signature which was picked up by the various countries which surrounded the Pacific Ocean, and since a Beast of such an unprecedented size had never been sighted before, every country was scrambling to blow the warning horn and immediately raise the threat level to the equivalent of DEFCON 3.

Right now, Admiral Mako was sitting in Yokosuka's command center as her Coordinators surrounded her, and she looked at the large computer screen which was plastered to the wall before her, displaying the Abyssal Beast while she currently pondered just what they were to do about this.

Nagato looked up at the screen as she asked,

"We're not exactly sure what to do here, because the Abyssals haven't made their next move after this new Beast has surfaced.

And whatever it is, we're quite certain that it isn't affiliated with the Beast which killed the blue whale a few weeks ago.

Whatever this Beast is, it's different, and it's definitely larger."

Kirishima leaned in as she asked, a concerned glint being reflected in her bespectacled eyes as they revealed her fear at the thought of the morbid prospects which this development entailed, since no Abyssal Beast has ever been created to be this large before.

"So should we try to coordinate with the other naval bases to try and take it down?

I mean, for a Beast that's this large and outsizes even the _Flying Dutchman_ , we certainly need no less than ten naval bases in order to take it down.

We'll require the assistance of the JASDF in order to bring it down, but to think that we'd have to fight another large-scale battle after the Battle of Twelve Navies…"

Mutsu noted,

"Well, it's positioned in the midst of the ocean, and we can get naval bases from the other regions to help out, because I know that this is something far beyond the capabilities of any one region to handle or defeat alone.

This Beast will take a while to submerge just as it took some time to surface, and we can try our best to emergency-sortie as many fleets as possible in order to engage it in combat before it escapes."

Nodding, everyone snapped their heads to face Ooyodo as she manned the radio station along with Musashi and was wearing headphones, her voice possessing a level of concern which was rarely seen from the light cruiser, who managed to remain level-headed in most dire situations.

"Incoming signal!

We're tracing it, and it…

It seems to originate from the Abyssal island-Beast, and it's hailing this naval base in order to open up a two-way communication channel!

Orders, Admiral?"

Everyone stood up quickly as the screech of chair legs scraping the tiled floor was heard by everyone while they crowded around the radio station and looked at the television set which was stationed above it, and Nagato watched the pop-up of a mystery signal being identified as,

'UNREGISTERED SIGNAL

ORIGIN: ABYSSAL

SECURITY: NIL'

As they managed to trace the origins of the incoming radio frequency back to the unknown Abyssal Beast, who was trying to communicate with them and them alone, asking darkly.

"Do you think that it could be a trap?

It's possible that accepting this call could infect our systems with some sort of virus, and we'd have to perform a full scrub in order to make doubly sure of this."

But Admiral Mako was silent the entire while as she heard her ship girls talk to one other and bounce opinions back and forth, hearing Akashi point out bluntly as it mirrored her views.

"Well, I don't think that they'd try something that's beneath them when dealing with us, since the new Abyssals are prideful and would probably say something like 'We do not need to resort to such petty tricks when facing off against trash' or something along those lines.

Besides, it doesn't hurt to try and answer a phone call in order to learn more about our enemies, am I right?

But the final decision goes to Admiral Mako, so as Ooyodo said, orders please, Admiral."

Before everyone turned to her, Admiral Mako considering the possibilities and the risks of trying to talk to the Abyssals, and how it might allow them to pull off a cyber attack should they accept this request.

On the one hand, their firewalls and cyber-defenses were cutting-edge ever since the Fairies helped to improve their technological defenses against any brute-force attack, so even if the Abyssals did try to hack their systems, the time bought by their defenses would provide them enough time to cut off the connection before any lasting damage could be done.

Admiral Mako then spoke up, a shadow clouding her weary and face as she gave out orders for her ship girls to follow.

"Wait for our cyber-security team to secure the connection, then accept the call and allow the military to monitor it, so that they'll be ready to intervene should anything crop up.

The second we detect anything suspicious coming through the call, we cut the lines and isolate our core systems in order to minimize the odds of an infection."

Yahagi turned away and headed out the door in order to carry out her orders while uttering a simple,

"Yes, Ma'am."

And she saw Nagato turn to her with a concerned look in her eyes, asking if this was for best when it could open the front door to allow the Abyssals into their systems and wreck havoc.

"Admiral, are you sure about this?

What if the Abyssals _do_ manage to hack into our systems and bring everything crashing down before invading us?"

But Admiral Mako shook her head, looking up at the relatively huge red dot in the middle of the ocean on the television set and thinking out loud to herself.

"But those who occupy the Abyssal high command positions don't behave like how conventional Abyssal units would.

Whatever the reason is, they don't act or think like normal Abyssals do, since normal Abyssals wouldn't even bother calling us in order to get in touch and chat, and while the risk of a virus infection isn't out of the question, I don't think…

I don't think that they'd do such a thing, because unlike normal Abyssals who are cold, efficient and pragmatic to the point of being inhumane, they're affected by things like pride, sadism and the like."

Everyone turned to look at her as Admiral Mako continued her train of thought, thinking about how the Abyssals have been playing around with them as of late and how it was so unlike them to do so.

"They've been toying with their food by having Woxanne speak with us and warn us about the _Flying Dutchman_ 's existence while knowing that we were unable to do anything about its attack on our fleets at Mikura Jima Island.

That implies an insane amount of pride in the fact that, in their eyes, we can't stop them at this point, and as to the underhanded tactic of infecting our systems with a virus of their own making, I agree with Akashi when I bet they'd say something like…"

Admiral Mako's eyes became playful as she did her best to pull off a villainous smirk while she formed a tick with her thumb and index finger, holding it to her jawline as she spoke with a haughty voice.

"' _Infecting their systems with a virus in order to cripple them before launching a large-scale invasion?_

 _Hmph._

 _We have no need for such lowly and ungraceful tactics; our united offensive will crush them when the time comes.'_

I think they'll say something crazy prideful like that, and the scary thing is that they actually have the firepower and manpower in order to back those claims up."

Nagato nodded in reluctant agreement, and it was then that Ooyodo received the notification that the channel was secure, looking up at Admiral Mako from her seat at the radio station as she notified.

"Admiral.

The preparations are ready, and we have our safeguards up in order to stop or at least slow down any form of an attack on our computer systems, so would you like to answer the call?"

She could hear Ashigara gulping nervously, speaking up defiantly in spite of her anxiety.

"Well, answer the call and get down to brass tacks, or hang up and piss them off.

I certainly wouldn't want to get on their bad side, so let's just get it over with."

Admiral Mako nodded while sharing similar sentiments, and Ooyodo punched in a few buttons and adjusted several dials while Musashi helped out with light activities in her recently-healed state, the speakers in the room whirring to life as they transitioned from grainy static into a clear channel with silence on the other side, Admiral Mako looking up at the small computer window as it displayed that squiggly line which showed the frequency of the voice on the other end of the line as it was currently a flat line to indicate total silence, along with the two simple words blatantly plastered on it to indicate the identity, or the lack thereof, of the caller,

'CALLER UNKNOWN'

Ooyodo then spoke into the microphone in a tone of mild disdain.

"This is Yokosuka, hailing the Abyssal Beast and Princess, state your identity and purpose of your call."

A hollow-sounding, yet cheery and eerily familiar voice chirped on the other end, addressing them with a level of camaraderie and spunk which no Abyssal to date has ever possessed.

[Aww, don't be so cold, Ooyodo-chan!

After all, we were friends once, right?

Well, I suppose we can rekindle our friendship even after all this time, if you want...]

Everyone froze up at the voice of Sakawa's Abyssalized voice being transmitted over the radio, and Admiral Mako whipped her head around along with everyone else in the room to check on Nagato's condition, considering her past with the dead-but-not-really-dead light cruiser.

Sure enough, Nagato had a dark look on her face as she folded her gloved arms beneath her bosom, and she lowered her head as an instinctive human reaction in threatening situations while her body shivered a little despite her best attempts to hide her emotions from them, either due to smoldering rage or trembling fear, Admiral Mako couldn't tell.

Sakawa spoke again, smelling blood in the water in the form of everyone tensing up as she introduced herself to the ship girls of Yokosuka.

[Well, after so long, I bet that there'll be new girls who've either been crafted or recruited from other bases, so allow me to reintroduce myself to everyone.

I'm the fourth Agano class Light Cruiser, Sakawa!

Nice to meet you all again! Pyan~]

Nagato shivered from the sweat which started to form on her skin, muttering darkly under her breath as a shadow formed over her face while Mutsu reassuringly patted her on the shoulder,

"I knew that she was Abyssalized by them, but to think that they'd allow her to retain so much of her personality…

Just what are they up to by allowing that?"

That train of thought was broken by hurried footsteps echoing in the corridor before Yahagi slammed open the door to the communications room, drawing everyone's attention to her as her normally-composed expression gave way to a rare occurrence of concerned panic, relieving a surprised Ooyodo of the microphone as the bespectacled light cruiser cried out,

"Hey, watch it!"

But Yahagi's expression was wracked with grief as she looked up at the CALLER UNKNOWN computer window and called out longingly into the microphone, Admiral Mako's heart breaking upon hearing the Agano-Class light cruiser sound like a lost child longingly asking for his mother.

"Sakawa, is that you?

Please, come back to us!"

But as silence reigned supreme in the stretched-out seconds between Yahagi's question and Sakawa's answer, in which a forlorn Yahagi allowed Ooyodo to snatch back the microphone with a slightly miffed but understanding look in her eyes, Yahagi's eyes darting as she scanned the flat line for any signs of activity on the other side.

And after some muted discussion as indicated by the barely-visible sine wave which was because of the Abyssal microphone picking up indistinguishable voices speaking up on the other end, Sakawa finally responded with a cheery voice which didn't fit the grave situation,

[Right, I asked Woxanne, and she confirmed your presence since you were in Yokosuka's active roster for a while, right?

Hi, Yahagi-chan!

Woxanne, come here and say 'hi' to everyone!]

Clacking steps could be heard before another voice spoke up over the line, definitely belonging to a Wo-Class as her signature voice intoned,

[Hi to everyone.]

The light cruiser's delighted chuckle could be heard over the speakers as it contradicted the tone of the conversation, and Yahagi's expression drew in a shaky breath, and Admiral Mako could see Nagato walking forward in order to stand behind the light cruiser before hugging her from behind as the Agano-Class light cruiser inhaled sharply in a sobbing breath as if struggling not to cry, Admiral Mako unable to see her expression as they faced the monitor, and Sakawa spoke up as she probably heard Yahagi's pained breathing after managing to contact a deceased relative.

[Aww, don't be like that, Yahagi-chan!

Tell you what, the whole point of me calling you today was to arrange a meet-up later today, where we can get in touch with each other after so long.

I'm not the only one who wishes to meet up with the ship girls of your naval base, much like how Yuubari's itching to meet Akashi-san again, and we have a little firebrand who can't wait to meet your 2nd Fleet.

Nagato-san, are you there?]

Admiral Mako looked up just as Nagato flinched a little from being called out by the light cruiser whom she had caused the sinking of, but she took a deep breath in order to calm herself before answering, her regal voice never losing its composure for a second and never betrayed any discernible weakness.

"Yes.

What is it you want, Sakawa?

Revenge?"

A bout of joyous laughter resounded through the speakers and caused some feedback as Admiral Mako cringed, but Sakawa calmed herself down enough to huff disbelievingly,

[Revenge?

You think I'd deign to call you for something as petty as revenge, when an army of tanks and a swarm of jet fighters storming your beaches and infesting your skies would do?

I'm sending you the coordinates should you wish to visit me as well as the list of invited ship girls, but then again, my island-turtle Beast Jasconius should appear on your map, since it's practically the size of a metropolis or even a small country, pya!

So I guess all I have to do is to tell you to visit the red dot on your map, teehee ~ !]

But Ooyodo spoke up again, now looking more concerned than ever regarding a security breach if they were to accept the invite, since it was an unknown computer file which could easily wreak havoc within their systems should it be accepted and opened without taking prior precautions.

"Riiiigght…

Not to disrespect you or your memory, Sakawa, but you must understand that we can't accept such a suspicious file for fear of some virus within it being unleashed upon us.

Besides, we know where you are judging by the colossal size of your Beast, and it's located way beyond the Safety Zone where an ambush can be easily sprung, so forgive us when we say that we're likely declining your offer, both the invite and suicidal sortie into Abyssal waters.

Admiral?"

She nodded and agreed with her light cruiser Coordinator, stating how the cons outweighs the pros of sending their fleet out to die as she took possession of the mike.

"I concur.

It was already a risk to accept this communication request, and if we were to sortie our fleets out to meet you on your own terms, there's nothing guaranteeing their safety when they leave the Safety Zone."

Nagato looked as if she wanted to retort, and Yahagi did that in her stead as she removed Nagato's arms and turned to face Admiral Mako, and she could see the shining tears streaking down Yahagi's cheeks as she begged Admiral Mako by threatening to get down on her knees and physically beg her Admiral, and was only stopped by Nagato and Admiral Mako as she composed herself in order to ask.

"Please, Admiral.

Even if you don't wish to sacrifice an entire fleet in order to comply with Sakawa's request, please sortie me, and me alone.

I want to see Sakawa, since she's my sister ship and I wish to see her again, even if she's Abyssalized."

She looked Yahagi in the eye, and she could see that even though the Agano-Class light cruiser was emotionally devastated by the news that her sister ship had now been converted into a high ranking enemy unit, her pained expression still shone with the determination to meet her at least once, even if it meant risking her life.

Sisterly bonds often motivated one to do such reckless acts out of genuine love, and when Yahagi was Sakawa's replacement in Operation Ten-Go, her fate was intertwined with her sister in more ways than one, and her cheeks were taut as she clenched her mouth as she looked to her Admiral in a desperate, yet respectful plea to go out there, even if she had to do so alone.

It was admirable, to see her laid-back and amiable light cruiser go so far for a sister ship.

But before she could give her response, she heard Sakawa speak up over the intercom.

[Thank you for that, Yahagi.

But Admiral Mako, I understand that you might need some incentive to come out and visit lil' ol' me, who's been away from home for several years, so how about I up the ante by playing this card?]

Admiral Mako's head snapped back to the screen so quickly almost to the point of suffering from whiplash as a result, her heart stopping as a warning blared on the screen and everyone tensed up from something being detected at where the Abyssal Beast was at on the satellite map, said warning reading,

'ICBM DETECTED, ANALYZING…

ICBM MODEL UNKNOWN

CLOSEST MATCH: MINUTEMAN MISSILE

STATUS: ARMED

WARHEAD TYPE: HYDROGEN BOMB'

Sakawa's voice lowered in pitch as all the cheeriness was sucked out of it and was replaced with a matter-of-fact statement which left no more room for argument.

[I'll ask again, and this time, I don't expect a 'no' as an answer.

Visit us, or I nuke a coastal city to kingdom come and turn it into an uninhabitable wasteland.]

Admiral Mako could hear Musashi push away from her desk in order to gawk at the screen above her, hearing the battleship utter a disbelieving,

"To threaten the lives of millions…

It can't be…

She's insane!"

Sakawa's voice darkened like an eclipse which engulfed the world in darkness as all that was great and innocent was snuffed out of the conversation, Admiral Mako practically feeling the light cruiser's malice being physically transmitted through the channel as everyone recoiled from the speakers, shocked at how a voice, once so radiant and bubbly, could suddenly morph into one that was so vile, venomous and even hateful as Sakawa pointed out.

 _[Listen here._

 _I_ could _have had my Beast surface in the dead of night, fire off several missiles and destroyed your entire prefecture in your sleep, but I did not._

 _Do you know why?_

 _The strong have no need to resort to such petty tricks to wipe out the weak._

 _With my Beast's range, you are all insects that are dancing on my palm, to be crushed at my leisure when you no longer entertain me.]_

Yahagi was the most shaken by this, still doing her best to maintain her composure as she gulped and asked everyone in the room with a trembling, somewhat disbelieving voice at how she was supposed to be related to the person on the other end of the line.

"Everyone…

Is this… who Sakawa really is?"

Nagato shook her head along with everyone else, although the Nagato-Class nameship did so more vehemently than anyone else as she leaned in close and held Yahagi's shoulders in order to comfort her.

"No, Yahagi.

I knew Sakawa personally when she was still in our base, the Sakawa _I_ know would never threaten her own comrades and Admiral, and especially not her sisters, with the threat of death."

Sakawa's voice then morphed into a pouting one, a jarring shift in tone which kept them guessing as to just what this new Sakawa was like and which was her true personality, to be capable of sounding so menacing one second, and carefree the next.

[Mou…!

I'm Sakawa, through and through!

That's so mean of you, to say something so hurtful to a maiden's heart.

And as for that, I suppose I'll have you all attend this meetup without your riggings and weapons, I guess.]

Musashi pulled the microphone close to her mouth as she yelled, now looking enraged at how their demands escalated from a phone call to a meetup to a meetup without their weapons for self-defense, and how it was starting to slide into the unreasonable.

"That's absurd!

You can't expect us to believe that you won't try and sink our ship girls when you ask them to seek you out without their riggings in order to protect themselves!"

But Sakawa fired back with an enthusiastic retort which highlighted their true aim in their attempt to communicate, not fight with them.

[And like I said earlier, I could have crushed all of you without any resistance at anytime, yet I did not.

We only wish to talk to you all in order to get to know all of you better, and we've given strict orders to our units to not fire unless fired upon.

Please understand that lashing out and sinking you all when you're incapable of defending yourselves is an act of cowardice, and an act that pathetic is best left to the desperate or the cowardly.

Besides, because we've been apart for so long, I ca~a~an't wait to meet Nagato-san again, pyan!

And to my understanding, flying entire fleets to Hachijo Island and sortieing them from there can be accomplished by commercial planes when they're not carrying any battleship riggings and when the weather isn't terrible, otherwise you'd have to charter a Hercules plane in order to do so in the case of the former.

Am I right?"

Ashigara grimaced, looking at the screen as she took her turn to speak into the microphone,

"Yeah, and the reason why such a radical idea of quick-sortieing fleets hasn't been implemented yet is because of how easy it is to shoot the plane down when you crowd six ship girls into one plane.

You really think that we're so stupid as to put all our eggs in one basket and allow you to blow up said basket?"

And Sakawa's voice became somewhat tired of their shit, sounding like a parent who was trying again and again to convince their child that there were no monsters hiding under their beds, and that it was safe to sleep.

[No no!

Like I said, that's what the normie Abyssals would do, because it's only logical!

But we've given them the standing order that they were not to fire at the plane which would house all of you, because we, who are their superiors, want to meet with you and talk.

Besides, I understand you all to be smart enough not to delay or call this meeting off when I'm literally threatening the entire Japanese Peninsula with an ICBM.

Isn't that right, Woxanne-chan?]

And much to their chagrin, another voice sounded out in the distance, calling out as some activity was heard in the background.

[Yes, Ma'am.

We have a firing solution on Tokyo, and we're ready to launch anytime.]

Mutsu echoed everyone's sentiments by uttering in a dispirited tone,

"Oh dear."

Before Nagato stepped up and took over possession of the microphone, speaking in a strained voice which was struggling to remain calm in the face of countless lives being threatened as well as a deep-seated phobia rearing its ugly head in her mind as she ordered.

"Sakawa!

It's just between you and us, there's no need to involve anyone else in this!"

In which Sakawa dryly replied,

[Only if you visit us.

We just want to talk, and this is just an incentive as well as insurance such that if you try to attack Jasconius, we will be able to retaliate in kind.]

In which Musashi muttered darkly under her breath.

"Tch…

Fitting, to name your Beast after the sea monster who was mistaken for an island."

And Sakawa agreed with her by humming in a disturbingly radiant and sickeningly sweet tone.

[Mmmhmm ~ !]

Admiral Mako stepped up as she held Nagato's hand in a comforting gesture as well as to move the microphone towards her, speaking with a hint of defeat in her voice.

"Well, looks like you got us by the balls there, Sakawa.

When you're giving us the choice of a meetup versus annihilation via ICBM, I don't think we have much of a choice here."

In which Sakawa interjected in order to get another shot in.

[That was the idea.

And it worked! Now we'll all get to see each other again!

You could have accepted it earlier, and saved yourselves all this trouble and hubbub!]

Ashigara slung an arm over her shoulder, a harsh look in her eyes as she addressed Admiral Mako.

"Admiral?

A word, please?"

The question didn't seem to escape Sakawa's notice as she replied before Admiral Mako could relay the question to the Abyssal light cruiser.

[Sure, go ahead!

I've waited all this while, a little longer wouldn't hurt!]

Ooyodo and Musashi pressed a few buttons on the dashboard and entered punched some keys on the keyboard before the light cruiser spoke up,

"Alright, they're on hold, and can't hear us now."

In which Ashigara then jerked Admiral Mako towards her, leaning in close as her expression was livid, voicing her question through clenched teeth.

"What the _hell_ , Admiral?!

I know that we've been through tough scrapes before, but this is clearly a bait to kill us, and you're sending us to the meat grinder here!"

Nagato countered as she leaned in, an unreadable expression being plastered on her face as she darkly commented.

"I respectfully disagree.

In some twisted way, I see where Sakawa is coming from, and that the ICBM could be fired at any time to wipe us all out if they were really out to kill us.

They're toying with us because they've got the upper hand, and we have no choice but to play their twisted game before we even begin to plan our counteroffensive.

And at least with this, we can buy more time for the mainland as they evacuate the citizens to emergency shelters."

Ashigara turned away as she bared her canines and growled, but she had no counter argument for that and remained silent.

Admiral Mako leaned over to ask Musashi as the Yamato-Class battleship pressed on several buttons and listened closely to the headphones, asking her girlfriend about what the situation was like on the military's end.

"Musashi, how is the military reacting to this conversation?"

Musashi leaned over to push on another button before twisting a knob, sounding very tense as she tried to make sense of the seemingly chaotic chatter in the air.

"Sorry, Admiral.

The air's filler with army personnel and officers scrambling to call us as to what the hell's going on.

Others are trying to raise the alarm in order to evacuate the larger cities and prefectures around the country first, since we're under threat from a possible ballistic missile missile launch, although it isn't from the North Koreans this time.

Everyone else is readying the air force, army and navy in order to prepare for the worst, since they don't want to take any chances and risk human lives when we settle our affairs."

Admiral Mako grimaced as she considered their options, but she could only see one possible option for her and her girls.

But even as she hesitated to give the order, Nagato placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she chose to reassure her own Admiral this time, despite the concerns in her mind lining the creases in her muted scowl.

"Don't worry about us, Admiral.

An Abyssalized Sakawa wouldn't want to kill me this quickly, because as much as I hate to admit it, I believe that this is only one of many mind games she'll be playing with me, this one by pointing this ICBM at our homeland."

Admiral Mako could see that because of her past in which she went out with one hell of a bang, Nagato was hesitant to approach the island-Beast and be anywhere near an ICBM which was armed with a nuclear warhead.

But in spite of this crippling fear doing its best to paralyze her, she still wanted to do something about this, even if it was to distract the enemy and confront the one person who suffered the most from her biggest mistake.

"It's my fault that Sakawa ended up like she is today, and I'll confront my sins head on if need be.

I've mentally prepared for this ever since knowing of her continued existence as an Abyssal, so please.

Sortie my fleet and allow us to meet her."

Admiral Mako looked away, noting how they weren't the only ship girls whom the Abyssals wanted an audience with.

"But…

They said that they also wanted to meet other fleets, like the 2nd, and I'm not sure if they would agree to meeting the Abyssals."

But Akashi, who had remained unnaturally silent all this time, spoke up about how she had a rough idea about the identity of the other Abyssals.

"Well, it's not too hard to guess.

Yuubari would be extremely interested in seeing me again, Woxanne even said so.

After the Battle of Twelve Navies, she'd try to find time in order to speak with me face-to-face.

And as to the 'firebrand' comment, I guess that's referring to the Abyssal Amatsukaze leaving a trail of hell-fire in her wake a while ago as she ran at speeds which no ship girl or Abyssal could match, so it's not out of the question to think that it's our Amatsukaze who sank all those years ago.

Shimakaze would certainly want to see Amatsukaze again, and I really don't mind meeting Yuubari in order to learn more from her and about her."

Flicking her hair and keeping her hands in her pocket, she kept her cool even when everyone gawked at her for bringing up the taboo topic of sunk ship girls around their commanding officer, but Admiral Mako remained respectfully silent as she listened to Akashi verbally backing up Nagato's analysis.

"Besides, Nagato's right.

Given my past with Yuubari, my guess is that she'd choose to toy with me for the entirety of the Abyssal War.

Somehow, they still remember their ship girl pasts and specifically identify themselves as Sakawa and Yuubari, probably in order to implement some kind of 'best of both worlds' mentality, which explains the unusual presence of pride and sadism in their methods, which normal Abyssals lack but make up for in terms of sheer inhumanity.

To kill us at this point in time is in poor taste, because without us, they would feel bored during the rest of the invasion since there would be no one to torment and eventually break with their sick games."

Everyone gulped uncomfortably upon hearing that, and although Admiral Mako wanted to keep her ship girls safe from the threat, she had to allow them to confront the ghosts of their pasts, since it was clear that they couldn't outrun them forever.

Mutsu still voiced disapproval, mostly due to her own sister being sent out into the middle of enemy territory, holding Nagato by her left wrist as she asked everyone in a rare show of genuine concern which was now unfiltered by her demure and mysterious persona due to how personal it got.

"I still dislike the thought of you going out without any means of protection, Nagato.

Please, reconsider."

And Nagato's expression softened as the suppressed pain and ache in her heart which thirsted for some sort of closure by contacting the deceased light cruiser, and her voice was unnaturally reserved as she answered her plea with a question.

"And choose the alternative, which is to run and hide from my past and my mistakes like a coward until the end of days?

Mutsu, you know me better than that."

In which Mutsu's concerned expression fell apart, releasing her hold on Nagato's hand as stepped back, her forlorn expression looking crushed about her failure, yet understanding of her inability to stop her headstrong sister as she spoke.

"All too well, Nagato."

Nagato nodded before turning to Ashigara, and as the duo locked eyes for an instant, something was wordlessly communicated between them as the heavy cruiser sighed in exasperation and playfully punched Nagato's shoulder, speaking resignedly about the battleship's personal mission and how she had to be there as well.

"Fine, fine.

I'll ride with you.

Should worse come to worse, you'll need someone who can fight her way out of Abyssal-land with her two bare hands, and no one can do that better than a Myoukou-Class cruiser can."

Nagato broke out into something resembling a smile, quickly wiping it from her face as she turned to Yahagi, the light cruiser straightening her back as she stood at attention while Nagato looked down at her, ordering.

"Yahagi, sail with us.

You'll be replacing Abukuma, and I'm sure she'd understand, given the situation."

Yahagi's expression brightened as it seemed as if she wanted to smile at the order, but she suppressed her smile and nodded resolutely, the screen and the room's light being reflected on the streaks of dried tears on her cheeks as she replied.

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Nagato finally turned to Admiral Mako as she looked respectful yet concerned, and the reason for the latter was likely because she feared that Admiral Mako's love for her ship girls would prevent them from sortieing at all.

She sounded uncharacteristically hopeful about their odds as she asked Admiral Mako regally,

"Allow us to sortie, Admiral.

It's the only option to find out just what the hell is going on by speaking to the enemy; we may never get a chance like this again."

And it took some consideration, but Admiral Mako finally relented as she lowered her head and closed her eyes, raising her right palm in order to flick it outwards as though swatting a fly with the back of her hand as she answered.

"Whatever.

Do as you will, but you do not have my permission to die.

Come back alive, at all costs."

* * *

The next few hours went by in a blur, and it involving a lot of being shuffled around, gathering all the invited ship girls to be sortied from Hachijo Island, filling out forms, waiting for the plane to be refueled and their boat slippers to be carted into the cargo hold.

After that was an uneventful flight in which silence was maintained by the ship girls who ate their lunch without saying much as updates notified them of the entire Pacific Ring of Fire immediately jumping to DEFCON 1 and were ready to retaliate with missile defense systems.

And finally, a three hour trip into Abyssal waters where, true to Sakawa's word, no Abyssals engaged them in battle, although many had scouted out and tracked the 3rd Fleet's advance into their territory, ratcheting up the tension as the 3rd Fleet mentally prepared themselves for the execution which never came.

Since this was a personal mission, Nagato was the one who led the 3rd Fleet this time, in which their fleet consisted of Nagato, Ashigara, Haguro, Yukikaze, Amagi and Yahagi in lieu of Abukuma.

Nagato herself was quietly unnerved by the Abyssals which were sent to keep tabs on them as another Wo-Class peeked out of the surface of the ocean, her headdress clearly visible as she lifted her eyes above water level in order to stare at them, the 3rd Fleet having seen a dozen Abyssals do the same before this Wo-Class appeared.

The fact that the ship girls had split up in order to sail towards their respective areas had made her anxious about their worsening odds, and the fact that an island loomed in the distance didn't help matters any, Nagato remembering that satellite surveillance ball-parked the Abyssal Beast's size by estimating it to be about 10 kilometers in length, 6 kilometers in breadth and roughly five hundred meters in height, appearing far shorter than it really was since it was partially submerged.

That was… _large._

Features were nondescript at this distance, but she could see the back of the behemoth that was was Jasconius (or would it be more appropriate to reference the leviathan in this case?) lazily blotting out the horizon and occupying this spot of the ocean as though unshakable in its belief that no force on Earth could force it to budge, unable to be fished out of the ocean and far too large to be contained in a fish tank or be put on a leash for man to domesticate.

Upon closer inspection, what appeared to be a vast and respectably-sized hill with gentle contours at its side was actually part of a giant, partially-submerged steel fin which belonged to Jasconius itself, and the Abyssals had formed a defensive perimeter around the Beast, requiring several hundred units to do so for a Beast of essentially biblical proportions.

And all of a sudden, all hell broke loose.

A pillar of flames erupted from atop the mountainous Beast's back, Nagato's eyes widening at the sight of a thick plume of clouds being formed as a missile warhead emerged majestically from the smoke and fire, aimed towards the sky and making its way up as the black projectile drastically accelerated while it shot up into the cloudy sky and left a trail of opaque, billowing smoke in its wake.

Its thrusters spat out incandescent flames not unlike a firefly taking flight with its glowing tail while the smoke which it emitted settled down on the Beast's back, rolling down its shell and into the ocean at a horrifyingly fast rate not unlike that of the base surge of a nuclear explosion.

Nagato turned to a panicking Yahagi as the light cruiser looked up in disbelief, asking no one in particular,

"What?

Why?

I thought we agreed to meet Sakawa on her own terms, so why is she firing her missile anyway?!"

Her voice became strained upon uttering her last words, and Nagato could hear a frenzy of activity back in Yokosuka as Ooyodo shouted into the activated radio, hearing Musashi speak hurriedly into another radio set in the background.

"Holy shit!

That Beast just lit up like a decked-out Christmas tree, and the air force are already on their way to intercept the launched ICBM, along with the JSDF readying their missile defense systems!

The military's doing their best, but we need more time to evacuate the civilians on the mainland should we determine that it's really targeting a populated area.

Nagato-san, you need to go and determine what the hell is happening, and fast!"

Nagato could hear Amagi respond in the place of the 3rd Fleet,

"Yes, Ooyodo-san!"

While Nagato looked away and got in touch with the mystery frequency which they contacted just now, raising her voice the second the connection got through and she was speaking to Sakawa.

"Sakawa, what is the meaning of this?!

You promised that you wouldn't fire your missile at - "

[I only said that I wouldn't aim my ICBM at the humans, and I'm keeping my end of the promise.]

Sakawa was sounding quite indignant at the accusation, and she huffed as she continued explaining how this missile launch was anything but an attack on human soil.

[This is just a demonstration, relax!

We're detonating the ICBM over the Pacific Ocean where no humans would be harmed, so just sail up to Jasconius's head, which is where I'm hanging out at, and we can see the fireworks together!

Just like old times!]

That last statement was a blatant slap to the face towards Nagato and was meant to rile up an emotional response, but she inhaled sharply and kept her temper in check as she silently disconnected the call, secretly fuming in her heart as she turned and gave her order to her comrades.

"We need to move.

Sakawa's told us where she is, and she said that this ICBM is but a demonstration and is going to be detonated over the Pacific.

But being our sworn enemies, we have to take their words with a grain of salt.

Amagi, ask the Coordinators to confirm with the JSDF if the missile is indeed headed further the Pacific, and if so, continue evacuations anyway while working with other naval bases to clear the Pacific of all ship girls.

Everyone else, follow me."

She tuned Amagi out as the carrier spoke into her radio, and as they sailed closer to the Beast, she could hear Yukikaze gulp as she asked warily about the sheer size of the Beast before them.

"Um…

Not that I'm doubting our capabilities, but can _anything_ take this Beast down when it's a submersible island which can essentially rival the size of a city?"

Nagato, along with the rest of the 3rd Fleet, didn't answer because the answer was one which no one wanted to hear, and Nagato could see the reason why.

Countless 35.6 Cm Single Gun Cannons decorated the sides of the Abyssal Beast Jasconius, and there were countless modern missile launchers equipped for defense, like the Sea Sparrow and the RIM 66, all of which were previously stored within the Beast and were now ready to unleash hell upon its foes.

Machine guns and Anti-Air turrets turned the Beast's back into a steel fortress, and Nagato managed to discern countless Phalanx CIWS and French 100 mm naval guns in order to lay down a hail of white-hot lead if need be, and Nagato was quite certain that this Beast, if allowed the time to charge one up, was theoretically capable of wiping out a coastal city with a massive hyper beam, despite wanting to believe otherwise.

And to think that this Beast doubled as a fortress and was capable of transporting an entire city's worth of Abyssals, far more than what the _Flying Dutchman_ was capable of…

Nagato sailed up as she saw that the the Beast's shield plates were shimmering in the daylight since its thickness did not allow all the light to pass through like it usually did when constructed on a smaller scale, and that was when the 3rd Fleet met the Abyssals who were guarding the outermost perimeter of the floating fortress within the bubble shield as the Abyssals seemed to have predicted their arrival, causing both sides to tense up for combat as this was a natural reflex which came to them when they met the enemy.

But a slightly more expressive Wo-Class's voice spoke up and cut through the tense battlefield-to-be with a clinical and no-nonsense tone, Nagato recognizing her from her lack of a Wo-Class headdress.

[There is no need for hostilities.

Let them pass.]

And although the Abyssals looked rather sullen about not being granted the right to kill the entirely vulnerable 3rd Fleet, they lowered their weapons subserviently and stepped aside, Woxanne shifting her body and allowing them to peek at the Abyssal 'A' imprinted on her billowing cape, the Abyssal carrier tilting her head towards the Beast as she spoke.

[We've deactivated a shield plate for us to sail through.

Shall we?]

Nagato tersely nodded back as she noticed that the launched ICBM's smoke had dissipated into the air and the missile itself flew beyond the clouds and likely into space, sailing in the direction of Jasconius's head as the 3rd Fleet and their Abyssal guide sailed through a deactivated shield plate which would allow a 10 meter diving platform to fit through easily, which allowed them to get close to the Beast in the first place.

In the meantime, she looked up in part awe and horror at the fact that how no matter how far or fast they sailed alongside Jasconius's flank, it never seemed as if they were any closer to approaching the Beast's head, which was larger than any man-made structure or vessel.

Even her warship counterpart's length paled in comparison to the colossus that was Sakawa's Beast, and Nagato couldn't help but feel a chill run up her spine at the sheer size of Jasconius, named after a sea monster which was so unfathomably large, it was mistaken for an island.

She took the chance to ask Woxanne out of idle curiosity,

"So, how long until we get to Jasconius's head?"

Woxanne responded, still pretty much a dead fish in terms of personality with her flat voice.

[Estimated time of arrival, sixteen minutes.]

Nagato nodded, and Woxanne's estimate was rather accurate as Nagato, Woxanne and the 3rd Fleet sailed around another gargantuan fin and allowed them to witness the head of the Beast, a turtle head being partially submerged in the ocean as Nagato estimated the head's size to (at least) be about four times the size of a Mount Rushmore head stone carving, and even the Beast's flesh was made from jet-black Abyssal steel.

Woxanne lifted her flattened palm towards some kind of elevator which resembled a Persian Wheel as it traveled upwards along the side of Jasconius's head, the Abyssal carrier speaking up and becoming unusually polite in order to form a pale imitation of an air stewardess whose mannerisms were learnt from the viewpoint of an observing alien.

[Please head this way, and sail up to the elevator troughs.

Keep your hands and feet within the trough, and please stay clear of any moving parts.

We'll be at our destination shortly, thank you for your patience and understanding.]

Nagato did as she was told (because what was the alternative?), but upon hearing Ashigara grouse about the uncanny friendliness of Woxanne in her attempt to mimic human behavior,

"Damn, that is creepy when you see a Wo-Class try to act like that.

I mean, an Abyssal Princess, or even a heavy cruiser could have done a better job, but could they have gotten anyone else other than an emotionally stunted Abyssal to greet us?"

She heard Haguro's timid,

"I-I agree."

And Nagato couldn't help but grunt in agreement, feeling the ocean under her wobble shakily as the Persian Wheel started moving and carried them upwards, granting Nagato a breathtaking view of the ocean from a bird's-eye view as her fleet rose in altitude along the side of the Beast's head.

She heard Yukikaze's excited squeal beneath her as well as a few excited gasps, and Yahagi uttered just loud enough for the 3rd Fleet to hear her strained voice,

"I think I'm gonna be sick…"

As well as Haguro's anxious attempt to reassure her junior by giving some advice.

"U-Um, Yahagi-san, don't focus on how high up we are, try to focus at the horizon instead!"

Nagato instead turned to look at the steel shell which blanketed and formed the last of many defensive layers to protect the Beast's insides and the Abyssals maintaining its innards, inhaling sharply at the fact that her mental calculations estimated at least fifty meters of steel, concrete and what seemed to be fiber-reinforced plastic, which made it essentially a living fallout bunker which could surface and submerge anywhere in order to launch ICBMs anywhere it desired.

True, it was even more limited in its ability to go anywhere than the _Flying Dutchman_ was simply due to its sheer size, but being a big target wasn't an issue when it could go underwater and its missiles could cross entire continents, which made its terrifying reach nigh-impossible to escape from.

Finally, Nagato reached the crown of Jasconius's head as she saw the one ship girl which she wanted to see again as an Abyssal, but had always feared what the meeting would be like since she expected Sakawa to play the blame game by flinging accusations at her, and there was very little she could say in order to defend herself.

And there she was.

Sakawa stood up in the presence of the 3rd Fleet as the Persian Wheel elevator's incline plateaued after reaching the top of Jasconius's head and transformed into a travellator, allowing them to shift from the water trough to said water channel which ran parallel beside them, allowing them to sail towards the pond and meet up with Sakawa as Woxanne followed closely behind, and the fact that there were more Abyssal units closely guarding Sakawa didn't escape their notice.

Sakawa looked more or less the same, with her Agano-Class sailor uniform and skirt now created in an alternatively-colored image of its original color scheme, and Nagato could remember her two _ahoge_ sticking out from the crown of her head.

What she didn't remember was how bloody _tall_ Sakawa was, now standing a little over a head above Yahagi and was significantly more well-developed as a woman and nearly rivaled the Kongou-Class in terms of apparent age, Yukikaze echoing this sentiment amongst them as she looked up and asked incredulously,

"Uh, has Sakawa-san been juicing on growth supplements and milk while she was away?"

And earned herself uncomfortable chuckles from her comrades in response.

Her purple hair had now been bleached white down to the roots, but she retained her original haircut as her hair was still sticking out the back and was fanned outwards in order to form something resembling a Chinese Abacus bead when viewed from behind, and her eyes were a signature Abyssal red.

All the parts of Sakawa's uniform which were originally white were black and vice versa, and her red skirt and black thigh-highs with garters remained the same color since it complemented the Abyssal color palette, with black heels tailored for adults cocooning her feet while black gloves adorned her forearms and hands.

Her sailor collar was ivory-colored just like her snow-white skin and hair, and she sat on a chair with a tea table filled with scones, tea and confectioneries that were stored in porcelain culinary and tea sets which looked as if they were ripped out of Victorian England, the table and chair legs kept afloat on a sizable pond via floats atop the Beast's head with small channels leading to said pond.

But what got Nagato's attention was the glowing circular, blue-white colored arc-reactor on her chest right where her fatal injury was, right above her cleavage and below her collarbones.

Sakawa's face lit up upon seeing them, and Nagato felt a mix of relief, anger, sadness and fear, the last of which was regarding her uncertainty as to how Sakawa would behave towards her, mentally bracing herself against the possible accusations and the blame which would fly her way, mostly because she deserved it.

In fact, it wouldn't be incorrect to say she _wanted_ Sakawa to be angry at her.

Instead Sakawa greeted,

[Ohaiyo!

It's so great to see you again, Nagato-san!

And although I don't recognize some of you since you're relatively new faces, hi anyway, pyon!]

Sakawa's Abyssal voice sounded more hollow than Nagato remembered, and it was the fact that she wore the same face and possessed the same cheery personality as it contrasted with her Abyssalized form, which made it seem like Sakawa was attempting to mimic her old personality and was achieving a very uncanny effect while doing so, clearly trying to suppress something within herself while doing so.

Hurriedly and excitedly gesturing towards the floating chairs which were placed around the similarly floating table in a ritualistic circle, she was obviously eager to start talking to them after such a long period of absence, Nagato sailing up to and sitting herself down on one such chair as she felt its inner mechanisms adjust itself to support her weight while Sakawa wore a radiant smile, speaking up.

[I have so many questions for you all!

Is the Admiral on her way to creating her ship girl harem?

Yahagi, how many of our sisters are now in Yokosuka?

What do you think of my _kawaii_ little Beast, hmm?

Oh, tell me, tell me!]

She heartily scarfed down her snacks while the 3rd Fleet remained silent, keeping their heads low and their hands to themselves as they looked as if the delectable treats before them contained vile poison, since they were clearly very uncomfortable about eating food which was offered by the enemy for fear of what it could contain.

Ashigara, however, managed a dry retort in response to the last question, remarking.

"'Little', hmm?

It does seem quite… well-developed in size."

Sakawa giggled like a schoolgirl upon hearing that, and gave a thankful little nod as she responded.

[I'll take that as a compliment, and say thanks!

And I suppose since you answered a question of mine and made me laugh, I guess I'll answer a question of yours.

Ask away!]

Nagato heard Ooyodo speak into her radio, using a encrypted frequency to speak to them as Sakawa lifted an eyebrow at the detected incoming radio wave, but couldn't make sense of it since she was the enemy.

"Everyone!

The 3rd Fleet has made contact with the enemy, and is now engaging in conversation with the enemy and buying time for us to shelter our civilians from the ICBM!

As we speak, the launched ICBM indeed seems to be flying towards the heart of the Pacific Ocean, but the Americans are the ones who're now panicking in full-force, please standby!"

Haguro raised a shaky hand, and Sakawa lifted her chin in the heavy cruiser's direction to give her permission to speak, in which Haguro managed to squeak out her question whilst forming a shaking finger pointed in Sakawa's direction.

"U-Um, what's that thing on your chest, Sakawa-san?"

Looking down at her own cleavage and observing the bright, bluish-white glow of the steel circle which was located within a steel rim of sorts to insinuate intricate machinery within her heart, Sakawa lifted a hand to her chest as she looked back up at the 3rd Fleet and answered.

[Oh this?

It's an arc reactor.

This bad boy here is a two-in-one and performs both the task of our human and ship girl hearts, to burn fuel as well as to pump blood and fuel throughout my body, with some sort of self-contained reaction chamber in the middle.

I didn't follow Yuubari-chan's explanation about this thingy inside me, but I trust it to keep me alive!]

Nodding awkwardly, Yahagi chose to answer one of Sakawa's questions, looking quite uncertain of what to make of this situation as she had a painfully forced smile on her face.

"Ah, Agano and Noshiro are in Yokosuka now.

They wanted to come with us today, but because we couldn't bring our riggings with us, Admiral Mako wanted to play it safe by sending only me out, and I'll share my memories of this meeting with them later.

I'm sorry about this, but…"

Sakawa shook her head, clearly not minding the fact that she couldn't meet all of her sisters, and as per their unwritten Q&A session rules, Ashigara then took her turn to ask a question, leaning in with a dangerous expression as she did so.

"You were working on a land invasion campaign, weren't you?"

Yukikaze, Amagi and Haguro twisted their heads to turn and look in her direction as they weren't in on the loop, but as Nagato placed a comforting hand on Yukikaze's shoulder, she knew that they somehow had a suspicion about this after the Battle of Twelve Navies, where the introduction of human-based naval and aerial vessels of war was likely a precursor to land vessels being created, turning this into a full-blown world war.

Sakawa perked up upon hearing that, shrugging as she helped herself to the tasty snacks on a nearby Amagi's plate and answered nonchalantly.

[Yes.

That was the decisive answer you were looking for, yes?

What took you so long to figure out?]

Ashigara inhaled sharply as her expression became taut, but Nagato chose to interject at this moment, breaking their chain-slash-rule of answering questions before getting an answer in return as she pried.

"Sakawa.

You can't be serious about destroying everything we've worked for.

Not when we've come so far, we can still - "

[ _You've_ come this far, and so have you, and you, and you, and you and you.

 _I_ was left behind.

 _You remember, don't you, Nagato?]_

Nagato pulled back as though physically scathed by the accusation which came out of nowhere, the Agano-Class Abyssal's expression contorting in a rictus of fury as everyone drew back at the sight of Sakawa emitting a menacing red aura while her arc reactor brightened in response to her emotional outburst, barely keeping her temper tantrum under control as she inhaled sharply, taking several deep breaths before she forced her cheeks apart into a forced smile and seethed.

[Well, it wasn't _all_ bad.

I've seen convinced to see things from a different point of view, and I must say, mankind looks far from worthy of being saved by now.]

Amagi spoke up, bringing up the point of how mankind had moved on from the sins of its bloody past for the most part, and they just needed the time and chance for them to prove themselves.

"Look, Sakawa-san.

It is true that mankind has erred in the past, but they're capable of so much more that we need to allow them more time to see the error of their ways…"

But Sakawa shook her head, looking as if she were referencing something else as she spoke with a bitter tone in her voice.

[No, not that.

You don't realize just how depraved humans can be, bringing others down whenever they can't elevate themselves to the level of superior beings.

Do you really believe that even when you win this war, the humans would ever leave you alone without fearing a preemptive strike from a dissolved ship girl navy who overpowers them, and that they would stop in their crusade to wipe you all out based on that unfounded fear?

I think not.]

Sakawa relaxed her posture and gave a more heartfelt grin, although what she had to say was far from pleasant, and hinted at more nefarious powers that were at work behind the scenes.

[Besides, do you think that mankind's hands are clean during the entirety of the Abyssal War?

We've been capturing and reviving ship girls since the First Decade of this war, and we were able to hear some _very_ interesting tales of how the Admirals treated them back then.

Quite the numbers game they played with your lives, since you all were at a harsher disadvantage in terms of quantity back then, which led to everyone being a whole lot more expandable, yes?"

Nagato huffed as she folded her arms and leaned back, but she didn't bother denying those damning accusations.

Because they were true.

During the First Decade, they determined the worth of every ship girl strictly based on their ability to contribute back to the cause, so if a gun were to be pointed at an Ikazuchi and a Yukikaze's head and an Admiral was forced to choose in terms of performance, he was always expected to choose Yukikaze all of the times he was asked.

Morally dubious classified procedures like modernization were researched with the best of intentions, and their sacrifices, which would never be memorialized, helped to pave the way for the strongest ship girls to be created and modernized in order to fully bring out their potential.

It was cruel, but necessary.

[Ah, 'needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few', or something along those lines, right?

I bet that's what you tell yourselves before you go to sleep, right?]

Nagato blinked at how Sakawa had predicted her thoughts, and Sakawa now broke out into a fit of sincere laughter as she teased.

[Ah, Nagato-san, you're so easy to read.

Your pride, compassion and leadership-oriented mind makes it even more so, since you want what's best for everyone, or least as many people as possible.

Don't worry, that's quite a sound reason to justify their sacrifices, and this way, you can say that the ship girls who got stronger can now protect more ship girls in their stead.]

Nagato winced, since this was also another way of justifying their sacrifices, but she remained silent as a way of defending herself as Sakawa continued.

[But then again, there's so much more that you don't know.

You really think that mankind would stop at modernization alone, what with a race of super-warriors who can conveniently be healed and revived via a miracle bath?]

Haguro blanched at the insinuation as she leaned in and asked, disbelieving of the wild accusation which was directed at mankind itself.

"Y-You mean…

The humans have experimented on ship girls, is that what you're saying?"

Ashigara snorted, looking skeptical about these accusations which had no weight behind them since it came from the mouth of the enemy, snarking.

"Yeah, right.

You lost me there.

We're the ones who protect them from the Abyssals, they wouldn't dare to run the risk of riots breaking out amongst us ship girls and ruining their chances of victory should the public… know of…

Oh."

Sakawa's grin grew knowingly as Yukikaze leaned in with widened eyes, asking incredulously.

"I-Is that true?

I don't want to believe it, but given the fact that mankind had the benefit of anonymity back then, along with people like Akashi with ominous pasts, I can't help but suspect…"

But Ashigara chided as she tried to convince everyone, including herself, with her own words.

"Oh please!

I bet this is another one of her mind games to try and get us to doubt the humans which we work with.

If it's false, it'll waste our time as we doubt and investigate our allies with no results to show for it.

If it's true, it'll destroy our relationship with the humans pretty much permanently.

Either way, the Abyssals profit from this."

Sakawa bobbed her head as she lifted an eyebrow in order to acknowledge the heavy cruiser's points, commenting.

[Well, you have a point there.

Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't.

But the fact that we have access to the corpses of ship girls who came before you and can revive them in order to acquire their knowledge, and that the First Decade was kept under heavy wraps and allowed mankind the benefit of anonymity meant they could do this and that to you, who knows…]

It was then that Woxanne leaned in to whisper something else into Sakawa's ear, the Agano-Class light cruiser's expression perking up as her eyes widened and she mimicked fanning herself with both her hands as she squealed.

[Ooh! Ooh!

It's time for the fireworks!]

Just as Ooyodo shouted into the radio before her voice was drowned out by the static and incessant whirring noise,

"Girls, the ICBM's hit the ocean!

Brace foasfkreeascmpacasd - "

Nagato's eyes widened in shock and a fair bit of unadulterated fear due to her well-hidden trauma, but no amount of mental and emotional preparation could prepare her for what came next.

A white spot illuminated the horizon, an incandescent glow which rivalled the intensity of the sun itself, causing everyone to shield their faces and eyes from the light of imminent doom as she heard Yukikaze shrieking while ducking underneath something, likely the table.

But the only one present who wasn't outright panicking (including the Abyssal bodyguards, who looked uncertain about their prospects of survival) was Sakawa, who was now moving on to drinking her cup of tea as she reassured everyone around her.

[Oh don't worry!

The shields will protect us from the brunt of the explosion.

Just don't look directly at the light of the explosion since it'll outright blind you, teehee!]

Nagato barely heard that as flashbacks to the day of Operation Crossroads began flowing back into her paralyzed mind like a Pandora's Box of suppressed traumas bursting out from its little contained corner of her psyche in order to haunt her

 _\- a fine day just like this, which ended in a fireball illuminating the horizon -_

"Nagato!"

"Nagato-san, are you alright?!"

 _\- The roar of the underworld reverberated throughout her entire body and resonated throughout the ocean, causing every atom within her to tremble from realizing how small she truly was in the grand scheme of things, even as a capital ship since she was easily eclipsed by the fireball which manifested before her very eyes ohgodohgodohmygod-_

[Whee! Praise the Sun!

Oh my, Nagato-san.

You don't look so good down there…]

She was trembling, and it was beyond her control as she found herself on the ocean, supporting herself with her hands on the sea as she struggled to breathe, her heartbeat pounding away like a jackhammer as her body failed to respond to her mental prompts, unable to focus on anything as immobilizing panic and traumatic fear overcame her, and the light was almost engulfing them even at this distance as she was unable to stop the hyperventilation which was starting to set in

 _\- The heat was not unlike that of a furnace of Hell that was cranked up to maximum, able to outright vaporize all who were within its immediate kill radius as it seared off parts of the steel which her entire being was composed of, the deafening eruption in the extreme distance now rising and ballooning into the signature mushroom cloud which the world knew today._

 _She was feeling quite sick from being bombarded by the alpha, beta and gamma rays which were being emitted by the nuclear explosion in spades, and her insides felt as if they were churned up and cooked from within._

 _And her internal structures, translated into her steel bones in her current ship girl form, creaked from the intensity of the explosion as the radioactive fallout settled down upon those who remained, much like the curtains which fell upon mankind during the End of Days HelPhelpHELPhElpheLPHElphELp-_

Everything was a mess in the wreck that was her mind, and she was unable to say anything as her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish gasping for breath, a cold sweat involuntarily breaking out and glossing her skin as she saw Sakawa's shadow looming over her along with the titanic mushroom cloud which blotted out the afternoon sun and provided some shade in its final moments, hearing the Agano-Class whisper into Nagato's ear in order to be heard over the boom of the nuclear explosion, which had faded into the background after the crescendo which was the nuclear explosion died down and was now soft enough for her to pick up Sakawa's words.

[I've waited for a long time in order to show you this sight, Nagato-san.

And as a great man said when he laid eyes upon the same, albeit smaller-sized, sight we see before us today, he said this.

 _'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.'_

You will all see the light, Nagato-san, and eventually, you'll be consumed by it.

But don't be afraid.

This world will be consumed in a sea of fire, as righteous retribution for what they did to us as well as to cleanse this filthy world for those who deserve it more, Nagato-san.

One day, you'll understand where I'm coming from.

One day, you'll join us in the light.]

The traumatic flashback and panic attack was too much for her to deal with as she struggled to look up after managing a few shaky breaths, and she saw the gargantuan mushroom cloud, which was about thirty kilometers tall and rising, stood tall and unyielding in the distance and was now colored a crimson red tint by Jasconius's strained shield plates after they protected them from the brunt of the hydrogen bomb detonation, a shadow being cast over Sakawa as she leaned forward to look down at her.

And the Abyssal light cruiser looked outright devilish in Nagato's eyes as her blood-red eyes and her blueish-white arc reactor shone in the darkness, clearly enjoying watching Nagato squirm and writhe on the surface while in the midst of a traumatic flashback, and the fact that she had a serene smile even after a thermonuclear explosion, which should have at the very least triggered something in her past, made it all the more jarring to the immobilized slow battleship, wondering in genuine fright as her eyes widened innocently and her expression contorted in fear.

' _Is this really the Sakawa I know?_

 _Who is she?_

 _What's going on anymore?'_

Amidst her attempts to right herself and regain her bearings in the presence of her enemies, she could hear Sakawa speaking to someone (probably Woxanne) in a disinterested tone, having been thoroughly entertained by Nagato's reaction but now had no more plans for the 3rd Fleet after the main event.

And since the standing orders were to not hurt a hair on them…

[Get them off of my Beast.

I don't care if you dump them off the side, but we need to dive before the humans recover and sortie ship girls and planes to take us on.]

There was only the monotonous reply of,

[Acknowledged.]

Before she was manhandled by unknown forces while various familiar voices made their discontent very clear at the rough treatment, barely connecting the dots in her mind while she was hyperventilating to realize that she was being lowered back into the ocean via the same Persian Wheel elevator which led up the side of the Beast's head, Yukikaze fitting into the trough and kneeling beside her with a wracked expression on her face, the Kagerou-Class's reassurances working to some extent as Nagato's training came back to her and she willed herself to focus on her comrade's soothing voice.

"It's alright now, Nagato-san.

It's over now.

It's all over…"


	52. Chapter 52 - The Final Problem

**Author's Notes**

 _Made a Tv Tropes page about my story._

* * *

Akashi sailed on in silence, hearing and feeling the soothing ebb and flow of the ocean beneath her feet without the blast of cannon fire, the drone of planes on both sides as well as the pained voices of ship girls, the last of which rang out as hollow echoes in the peripheral of her mind and refused to go away in her weary, war-torn mind.

She felt tired as always, especially since the end of the Battle of Twelve Navies only meant more work for her, staying up late several nights in a row in order to revive and stabilize the conditions of the dead and the injured.

Really, this meeting was actually a welcome break for her, being able to see her second love again.

She had some time to herself in order to walk down memory lane, something which she almost never did due to the painful experiences which she went through in her lifetime, and the only one which she managed to recall without either breaking down into tears or drowning herself in drink were her times with Yuubari, back when the base was getting into its groove and when she thought life would give her a break after all _that._

Apparently, she was wrong.

* * *

" _Akashi._

 _Akashi!"_

 _The repair ship snapped out of her thoughts on the 13th of May, 2006 as she turned to Yuubari, looking at her with half-lidded eyes which barely mustered up the strength to open up all the way even for a day which would be memorialized as a milestone in their relationship._

 _They were on one of Yuubari's less wacky inventions, a simple swan boat which usually had the bicycle pedals to propel it across the water and was able to carry some snacks while sheltering them from the weather, although the light cruiser's modification was to install an eco-friendly motor in it with car pedals where her feet were now at, along with a steering wheel being installed in order to manually drive it._

 _They had just left the reclaimed land which was going to be used in order to install a pier there, a_ _nd before them, a palette of vibrant colors were splattered all over the horizon as it ranged from honey-red to a warm apricot and even a carrot-orange, the setting sun attempting to sneak one last peek at the couple-to-be as Akashi sighed and shifted more of her weight onto the left fist which supported her head, with her fist meeting her cheek while her elbow rested on her knee._

 _The clouds had parted to grant them this splendid view as the partially-illuminated moon was ready to replace the sun to be the Earth's main light source at night, although Akashi wasn't so much concerned with the view than she was with what was about to happen, and if Yuubari would accept the item in the little boxes that were in her skirt pockets._

 _Yuubari was looking concerned for Akashi as her sculpted face was creased into a pout, and she wore her usual uniform which was a dark blue sailor uniform which exposed her midriff along with a light green collar resting on her shoulders._

 _An orange neckerchief hung down from her collar, wearing a green skirt around her hips along with black pantyhose snugly hugging her legs, while a pink wristband was wrapped around her left wrist._

 _Her medium-length greenish-grey hair was in a ponytail and was secured with a teal hair bow, and her bright and troubled brown eyes contrasted with Akashi's dull and apathetic green eyes as the light cruiser asked._

" _Akashi…_

 _Were you thinking about…_ that _, again?"_

 _Akashi winced as she tried to suppress the memories of those two horrid years before she was sent to Yokosuka, closing her eyes and inhaling sharply before exhaling in a practiced and even meditative breath before opening them, allowing the setting sun to light up her retinas as she replied with all the vigor of a bear in hibernation._

" … _No."_

 _Yuubari exhaled in relief after holding her breath in anticipation for the answer, but her expression instead darkened as she tried to recover the situation by uttering,_

" _W-Well then, I'm sorry about reminding you of - "_

" _No."_

 _Akashi squeezed her eyes shut again to blot out the memories as she exhaled through her nose in slight exasperation, but this was nothing which her world-weary spirit couldn't endure for the sake of her loved one as she answered._

" _I'm not angry, but I don't want us to harp on the past too much._

 _Today's such a good day, I wouldn't want to waste it on focusing on the past and feeling sorry for myself._

 _Instead…"_

 _Akashi lifted her head from her arm rest in order to face a puzzled Yuubari, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone as she focused on the sight before them._

" _I just want to spend this time with you, away from the war and from everyone else."_

 _Yuubari broke out into a relieved smile as she sidled up to Akashi, sitting herself down beside Akashi as the Yuubari-Class light cruiser rested her head on Akashi's free shoulder, and no words were needed for them to enjoy the natural wonder which was displayed before them._

 _The physical contact which pressed down on the cloth of her uniform caused it to become strangely ticklish, but Akashi sighed yet again as she felt something well up within her, and after some time, she felt Yuubari sit up again as she addressed Akashi, this time with an affectionate tone which addressed a minor pet peeve in a slightly chiding voice._

" _You know that whenever you sigh, Akashi, a small amount of happiness escapes from you?"_

 _Akashi felt her body become warm from her increasing proximity to Yuubari, but as a senior, she kept her cool and remained collected in situations like these, going on the offensive as a switch was flipped within her._

" _I know._

 _And now that I have a romantic partner, should happiness escape from my lips, I'd like for it to flow into those which belong to the one I love."_

 _Yuubari's face ripened into a beet red upon mentally connecting the dots, her eyes widening innocently while budding beads of transparent sweat began to form on her face and neck, but before Akashi could do anything else, Yuubari stuttered in her impressive attempt at a comeback, awkwardly smiling all the while._

" _A - A pair of lips, hmm?_

 _Which o-one do you prefer?"_

 _Akashi halted her advance, her expression morphing into one of unchecked surprise as she drew back, staring back at Yuubari as the light cruiser stood her ground, Akashi finally doing something which she didn't think she was capable of anymore._

 _She chuckled._

 _It was soft and transient in its duration, but it was genuine as her facial muscles ached from forming an expression which was unfamiliar to her, having faded from her memory archives after everything that's happened to her, and she could see that Yuubari was breaking out into a relieved smile upon seeing Akashi laugh, the rarity of such a phenomenon occurring almost equivalent to that of a solar eclipse._

 _Akashi nodded in order to concede the point, feeling somewhat revitalized all of a sudden as she felt her fatigued heart lift from the playful exchange._

 _Her aged mind started to regain her creative spark as she thought up of witty retorts to fire back at Yubari in jest as she closed the distance, finally settling with,_

" _Well, good thing I taught mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to the ship girls in that first-aid lesson two days ago._

 _Want a practical session?"_

 _Yuubari broke out in a bout of carefree laughter as she lightly punched Akashi on the shoulder, and as happiness welled up within Akashi's heart and filled her with an unfamiliar but fulfilling warmth, she felt emboldened to come out and ask Yuubari the million-dollar question._

 _She wanted to hang out more with Yuubari, and not just as a girlfriend, daring to voice her question as she reached into her pockets and allowed her expression to become solemn for a second._

 _Asking Yuubari with a serious, wizened look on her face, she could see that Yuubari now lost her smile and remained silent in order to match the mood._

" _Yuubari, I've been meaning to ask you something._

 _You see, I've lived for quite a while now, and I can safely say that almost none of it was pleasant in any sense of the word."_

 _Yuubari's expression fell along with Akashi's, and the light cruiser uttered out in a grave voice,_

" _Oh, Akashi…"_

 _But Akashi make an effort to shake her head, not just to clear her mind but also to mentally shrug off the bad memories which clung to her like parasites, sucking all the life and happiness out of her._

 _She wouldn't allow herself to wallow in her own misery, and she opened her eyes to the sight of an anxious Yuubari looking at her with distressed eyes, and her heart ached upon seeing the light cruiser look so worried about her._

 _But upon noticing how positively radiant Yuubari looked against the backdrop of the setting sun, this caused Akashi's heart to soften and beat faster upon being conscious of this fact, thinking to herself._

'Yes.

I want to spend the rest of my life with someone who can move and melt my guarded and world-weary heart like this.'

 _Her throat became uncomfortable for some reason, but she powered on as she freed up both hands for what came next._

" _But that's all in the past now._

 _Nothing can change the past, but although I once believed otherwise, I was eventually convinced by a certain light cruiser that a shitty past need not mean that a bad future laid in store for me._

 _And that's why…"_

 _Akashi looked at Yuubari and allowed her inner heart to be reflected in her longing gaze, including the painful memories which eroded at her and how she desperately wanted to make new ones, preferably with someone who was able to enrapture and sooth her aching heart with her presence alone._

" _I want us to look towards the future._

 _Our future."_

 _Yuubari blinked twice in surprise, but Akashi saw that she put a mental lid over the questions which threatened to flow out of her, instead sitting up straight and was now at rapt attention._

 _She took this as a sign to continue._

" _Well, I know that we've got a thing going on here for a while now, and…_

 _I just thought I'd make it official with this."_

 _Pulling out one box from each pocket, Akashi relinquished her hold on one in order to allow Yuubari to cradle it with both palms and peek inside it, the light cruiser's eyes now widening in awe as she met Akashi's eyes, which had a twinkle in them for the first time in forever, and they broke eye contact in order to look down at the opened boxes and the items within them._

 _Two silver rings were nested in the foam that was stuffed inside the boxes, and Yuubari held one hand to her mouth as her eyes moistened and she let out a breath of exaltation, her stretched cheeks a sign of a blissful smile behind her palm as Akashi smirked, an arduous task for someone like her which she carried out anyway for her loved one as she explained herself._

" _I know that this isn't the most romantic of ways to break it to you, but I tried, what with getting you to sortie the swan boat, taking several days off and making sure today's weather would cooperate with me._

 _That's how we have this picturesque view before us today, and it's the perfect occasion for me to ask this question._

 _Will you marry me, Yuubari?"_

 _Akashi gently plucked out the ring that was in the box in her own hand, and she held it up for Yuubari to witness, noticing the sunbeams which reflected off of the steel ring's glossy exterior and made it seem sublime, despite the fact that it was a simple steel ring with no intricately crafted jewel being attached to it, and neither was it shaped into superfluous designs which the rich could afford, and it only had a simple,_

' _AKASHI X YUUBARI'_

 _Etched into the inside of the ring where the skin would come into contact with._

 _She could see that Yuubari noticed this as she took out the engagement ring with her slender fingers, before angling it in order to observe the three words which were carved into the inside as she huffed disbelievingly,_

" _Oh, Akashi._

 _I can't say that I expected this._

 _But now that you gave this to me, I can say that this was what I wanted from the bottom of my heart."_

 _And with a shining smile which rivaled the sun itself in its ability to provide Akashi some warmth, this time being that of an emotional instead of a physical one, Yuubari finished her sentence with the words which Akashi desperately wanted to hear, melting all the safeguards and walls she had built within her guarded heart to prevent anyone from hurting her again._

 _"Thank you, Akashi._

 _I love you."_

 _Yuubari looked back at Akashi, and she looked positively radiant as she basked in the light of the setting sun, and this it awoke something that was dormant within Akashi as she felt something which might have once resembled romantic love, and she held out her hand in order to offer to help put the engagement ring on Yuubari's hand, and she felt Yuubari's palm on hers as the heat transferred from the light cruiser's into her own._

 _Holding the ring in one hand and Yuubari's palm in the other, she slipped the ring onto Yuubari's fourth finger as the duo kept silent the entire time, since they were too overwhelmed by their emotions to say anything, and Akashi held up a limp hand for Yuubari to do the same to her, Yuubari's fingers trembling from the excitement of finally cementing their relationship as lovers instead of tiptoeing around the situation._

 _The cool steel wrapped around the strip of living steel flesh on her ring finger, and since the sun had already entered its twilight phase and cast its orange glow upon the clouds that were above them while darkness overtook the territory of the sky and helped to provide some contrast, everything was divided into halves which were either illuminated by the sun's rays or were engulfed in darkness, and Akashi leaned for a kiss._

 _Her body heated up as her underwear became damp from the lip-to-lip contact, and she could tell that Yuubari was also turned on by the kiss as she broke out into a slight blush, her brown pupils dilating in arousal as she likely tasted the strawberry lipstick which Akashi bothered to put on for the first time in her life._

 _Tasting the light cruiser's tongue with her own and feeling their saliva mix together in the sweet little cauldron that was their mouths meeting for the first time after being engaged, she broke off the kiss to find Yuubari breathing as heavily as she did, and she was even starting to sweat a little as she tugged her sailor collar downwards in a suggestive manner in order to cool herself down and almost allowed the repair ship a glimpse of her cleavage, turning Akashi on even more as she gulped before asking temptingly,_

" _How was the taste?_

 _In which Yuubari's cheeks stretched in order to form a coy smile as she answered._

" _Exquisite."_

 _Akashi couldn't bear the heat anymore as her nether regions tingled in anticipation for what came next, especially since she had been sexually inactive for several years and had to constantly endure and suppress it for the sake of carrying out her duty._

 _And as these repressed urges flowed out of her wounded heart for the first time in years, she felt them intensify fourfold as her mind and body were thirsting for more and she was completely soaked down under to prove it, watching Yuubari squirm in her seat as she kneaded her knees together seductively since she likely felt the same, unable to control the lubricant flow._

 _The nocturnal moon was now fully visible as the last vestiges of the sun disappeared over the horizon, the pale, pockmarked lunar satellite illuminating the duo as Yuubari made her next move by gently pushing Akashi to the floor, mounting her as her legs straddled Akashi's waist and torso, now sounding concerned for Akashi's well-being as her expression softened before she asked._

" _Are you hurting, Akashi?_

 _I hope I'm not too heavy…"_

 _Akashi's eyes widened in surprise, before she broke out into an understanding smirk as she understood how Yuubari didn't want to accidentally hurt her, and she chose to answer honestly with a small stinger to get her back into the mood._

" _No, I'm alright._

 _You could stand to lose some weight, though._

 _Especially with how often you've been helping yourself to Mamiya's food recently …"_

 _Yuubari broke out into an involuntary giggle as she playfully slapped Akashi's left upper arm, the contact's slight sting turning her on and awakening her masochistic side as she allowed herself to enjoy Yuubari going on the offensive, the light cruiser leaning down and planting a kiss on her lips before moving them down Akashi's cheeks, then sliding down her neck and finally into the nape of her neck, which connected her neck to her shoulders._

 _And in the process, Akashi was unable to stop her body from shuddering and spasming at the electric sensation of Yuubari's deft fingers coming into contact with her most sensitive spots down under while still sensually kissing her neck and shoulder, her skillful massaging movements causing all the tension and backed-up sensations which had seeped into her bones and muscles over the years to build up to a mighty crescendo as she came, her hips buckling while her back arced due to its sheer intensity as it unleashed a floodgate of hitherto unknown, but far from unwelcome sensations as they coursed through every fiber of her being, the repair ship gasping all the while,_

" _OoOooOOHHhh!"_

 _As she was reinvigorated in ways which only a loved one's touch could accomplish with the right technique._

 _Yuubari finally pulled up and sat up straight as she wiped the saliva from her mouth, exuding a victorious air as she sat on a wheezing Akashi while the repair ship felt tears start to form at the corners of her eyes, and Yuubari retorted._

" _And love-making is quite the physically demanding exercise, no?_

 _Then you better prepare yourself, because I'm not letting you sleep tonight."_

 _Akashi's smile only grew as she felt her uniform cling to her skin due to the all-pervasive sweat on her body, huffing alluringly._

" _Why do you think I took several days, including tomorrow off, hmm?"_

 _Yuubari wiped her hand on her uniform top while her clean hand undid the ribbon which held her ponytail together, the light cruiser's green hair falling to her shoulders and covering the nape of her neck as Akashi made a Public Service Announcement._

" _I must let you know…_

 _I specialize in repairs, not reproduction."_

 _Yuubari then held the hem of her uniform top and undressed herself as the newly-worn ring gleamed in the moonlight, moving in an undulating motion as she did so in order to reveal her breasts which were a solid B-cup, and her toned abdomen and lean arm muscles were a result of many sorties and training sessions which trained up her muscles for the sake of combat, while her breasts were supported by her white laced bra._

 _Not anymore, as they too, came off to offer Akashi a splendid view of Yuubari's bare assets as she felt herself getting excited again, and Yuubari pressed her bosom against Akashi's as she felt her lover's nipples pressing against her own through Akashi's uniform and bra, Yuubari now fully in the mood to join bodies with Akashi as the light cruiser whispered into her face and went on the offensive, both their eyes roaming over and taking in every single detail in the facial features of their turned-on significant other._

" _Then let's hope you're a fast learner."_

 _Akashi licked her lips hungrily upon hearing that, hurriedly tearing off her uniform with a passion in order to join in the stripping session they had going on, her sweltering, lust-driven body eventually freed of its clothed bondage as she embraced Yuubari, their lips making contact again as Akashi found herself climaxing again simply from the kiss._

 _They spent the whole night on the swan boat and under the fully-illuminating satellite that was the full moon as the duo's bare bodies, which were driven over the edge by an insatiable heat, passionately pressed and rubbed against each other in order to unwind as well as to help each other forget the horrors of war, lightly and sensually nibbling, kissing, caressing, tickling and licking each other in all the right places._

 _They helped their significant other hit the vocal high notes several dozens of times with their own techniques throughout the night, wholly invested in consummating their relationship until the break of dawn._

* * *

Akashi shook her head in order to clear those memories from her mind, finally seeing some sort of giant, translucent blob in the immediate distance as it floated next to some sort of foldable platform with chairs and tables above and air-filled floats beneath it, two Abyssals standing atop said platform as Akashi approached them.

Upon closer inspection, she realized that the blob was actually a large jellyfish Beast which was the size of a decently-sized hot-air balloon, and there were two humanoid Abyssals standing on the platform along with a large feline Beast that was poised and ready to pounce after detecting her arrival.

She saw that Yuubari hadn't changed too much, save for the uniform being colored primarily Abyssal black with her sailor collar ribbon now being colored white, along with her sailor collar which stayed the same, although she now had jet-black shoulder guards holding up a billowing cape while her arms were enveloped in technological armor of sorts, possessing LED screens and had neon-red Tron lines running up and down the entire contraption and formed an armored glove of sorts.

Wrapped around her waist was a black utility belt filled with stuff she didn't recognize, one of them being a futuristic-looking stick which could be held and had a red button on it, and the midriff baring was still a thing in her Abyssal uniform, except that pale Abyssal flesh was what peeked through the gap.

A black skirt covered her tights which were a lighter shade of black, thigh-high mechanical shoes with short heels being the choice of wear since as a light cruiser who lagged behind others in others in terms of speed, she often chose to physically move around, and high heels would only hinder her.

Her pupils were an uncommon Abyssal blue while her hair was snow white, and she had jet-black steel wings which were attached to where her sideburns would be, covering her ears and flaring out at the ends as though in the midst of taking flight.

Since it had been several years, both Akashi and Yuubari had grown taller yet again, although Yuubari experienced some sort of freak growth spurt which allowed her to catch up as she likely only stood a quarter of a head beneath Akashi, which intrigued her as to what brought this about.

Her buddy was far taller than her, and Akashi immediately deduced that she was a battleship even though she didn't have her rigging on, but when she was accompanying Yuubari to meet up with a weak little repair ship, there was no need to use a cannon to kill a fly when Yuubari was powerful enough to subjugate even the Abyssal Princesses.

Akashi could see that her flowing white hair was tied up in a ponytail, and her eyes were also the color of the Abyssal luminescent-blue while her hair ribbon was also colored a cerulean blue with a golden ornament adorning it to the right of her head, along with a pair of black wings flaring out to her left.

And whatever was supposed to be gold in color (her hypothesis) was now an ivory white, including the trim, stripes, stars and epaulets on her blazer, and she had the Abyssal shark 'A' as a collar pin on her folded-up collar, with a white cravat wrapped around her neck along with a black waistcoat and skirt covering her main body and hugging her figure, a white, long-sleeved work shirt complementing her white gloves as the cuff pins and trim on this shirt were black this timeto serve as a contrast.

Her belt buckle was silver and similarly had the Abyssal 'A' emblazoned on it, and her black garter belt had star-shaped pins holding up her grey stockings which were further secured by black belts, and what elevated her height were the heel platforms beneath the ball of her foot while she wore fold-down high boots which had golden soles.

Akashi sailed up to the platform as she was hailed by Yuubari, and she worked on removing her boat slippers before stepping onto the steps which were built into the platform, the jellyfish lazily raising a tentacle as an offer to take care of her sortieing equipment which currently consisted of nothing but her boat slippers.

But Yuubari walked up with a concerned look on her face as she spoke, and while the change in voice was enough to surprise Akashi, she was seasoned enough not to let the shock register on her face in order to betray the slight feeling of anxiety within her.

[Ah, ah.

I wouldn't recommend getting too close to Indra's tentacles.

He means well, but you'll be in for a shock should the tentacles brush against your skin.

I'll help you with that instead.]

Akashi watched as Yuubari took possession of her boat slippers and held them in her power gloves, handing them over to Indra as the balloon-like Beast then relieved its master of the burden before inexplicably lifting its muscleless tentacle without any effort and plopping them atop its crown, Akashi feeling the cold steel which made up Yuubari's power glove as her former lover helped her up the stairs like a gentleman, Akashi finally standing level with and meeting Yuubari for the first time ever since her sinking about eight years ago.

On the inside, her heart was a whirlwind of emotions, several elements being identified as love for the light cruiser, a dormant and _very_ short-lived hatred towards Admiral Mako and various ship girls (who shall remain unnamed) for letting Yuubari sink, a more potent, malicious and long-lasting hatred welling up within her which was directed towards the Abyssals for corrupting her lover, and finally, hatred towards herself for not being there to stop Yuubari from sinking.

The one ship girl who she truly loved, and Akashi let her sink just like that…

She narrowed her eyes and maintained her poker face, mentally willing those malevolent thoughts out of her mind as Yuubari held her arms out as if expecting Akashi to run into her loving embrace, a shit-eating grin plastered on her face while the unknown Abyssal battleship took the chance to stand behind and back Yuubari up as the Abyssal light cruiser started their warped reunion with,

[Oh, how I've missed you.]

Akashi kept her hands in her pocket, still feeling quite wary of what this new Yuubari was like as she coolly responded.

"Well, I admit it's been a while, and your little lap dog Woxanne did tell me you wanted a face-to-face.

What took you so long?"

Yuubari's smile grew solemn as she lowered her arms, but she answered nonetheless with a grateful tone, likely feeling elated about being able to meeting her spouse even after death and talk to her.

[Overtime like you wouldn't believe.

Scouting me in order to fill their seats, the first thing they did was to work me like a horse, and that was why I couldn't do anything other than keep tabs on you.

Kept you waiting, huh?]

Akashi lifted an eyebrow in agreement, noting the feline Beast prowling and circling the battleship while baring its elongated canines the entire time, being a Beast of major interest.

Its armor was jutting out at odd angles while superfluous pieces of transparent glass, leather seats and car tires were all attached to its body, and even though it was simple to determine that this was a Beast was a saber-toothed tiger to be utilized for land combat, it still took awhile before it hit Akashi as to what this Beast was really capable of.

Its lithe and ripped steel body definitely weighed above a ton, and it possessed red eyes with pupils possessing apertures which contracted as it laid eyes on the repair ship, and its shiny, dagger-shaped canines hung down as they reflected the sunlight while its throat burnt with a crimson hue, signifying its capability to perform a hyper beam despite being smaller than most Beasts.

Akashi had no doubt that it hid numerous weapons within it to take on ship girls in land combat, and Akashi turned to the mystery Abyssal as she changed the focus of the conversation to try and identify just who this unit was.

"I don't believe we've met, and your model escapes my memory, despite being quite long-lived.

Who are you, exactly?"

The battleship met Akashi's gaze as she responded icily and never relaxed her 'at-attention' stance, her Beast leaning in close in a show of something resembling protectiveness.

[Washington.]

Akashi pulled her head back as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but Yuubari stepped in to explain the situation in the meantime in order to clear the air between them.

[Oh, don't worry.

I created this new Washington by breaking down a sunk Washington corpse and remaking it into a new Washington model, the first of its kind and unlike anything the world has ever seen thus far.

It took a long while for me to create the first Abyssal boss unit who could survive the procedure to gain her powers, but it paid off in the end!

I call this the Mark III Washington, and this is her Beast, Diego.]

Washington remained neutral while her Beast stepped forward, and Akashi didn't retreat even in the face of the Beast as it approached her, emitting a guttural and bestial growl while its muzzle twitched in its desire to simply kill Akashi.

The repair ship kept silent, but she knew that animals could sense fear, although it also worked both ways in that they could sense one's inner threat level.

This Beast was _very_ wary of her, simply because of her vengeful and bloody aura which belied her killing intent which other ship girls could only gain a vague feeling of rather than discern, and it was definitely feeling threatened in her presence despite going on the offensive.

And having been ordered not to harm the repulsive ship girl before her, it did the only thing it could do.

Drawing back and inhaling sharply, the infernal flames within the Smilodon's throat was proudly displayed before Akashi as Diego let out a deafening roar, causing one hell of a shock-wave to blow Akashi's hair back and threatened to blow out her eardrums had it not been for her internal ear mufflers.

And even as Akashi squinted, the red-hot furnace before her brightened and illuminated her pupils through her eyelids while her face was slightly toasted by the drastic spike in temperature while the volume of the roar at point-blank range was not unlike a plane taking off nearby, the Beast before her displaying its ferocity and might in a show of extreme force.

But as the Beast ran out of steam and drew back, Akashi blinked before she remarked idly, having faced off against scarier Beasts in her time,

"All I see is a giant pussy before me."

Yuubari couldn't help but hide a chuckle behind her fist upon hearing that, and Diego cocked its head as it was likely confused as to why a mere repair ship could remain so unfettered even after its menacing roar.

Akashi looked back at Yuubari as she asked, seeing how this new Abyssal type might be one to look out for since she was not in any of their databases, and even though her performance specs might be identical to that of the Mark I and II Washington ship girls, her personality, or rather the lack of one, made her a wild card whose behavior and patterns couldn't be easily predicted.

"So if you created this Mark III battleship, whom you say is the first - "

Akashi stopped herself then, reviewing Yuubari's words before her expression contorted into a sly grin, Yuubari herself mirroring her expression as Akashi boldly pointed out.

"You said 'the first Abyssal who could survive the procedure', and boasted that Washington was the first of her kind, but there was no mention of her being the _only_ one, right?"

Yuubari's smile only grew as she waggled a finger in Akashi's direction, looking glad that her lover was able to read between the lines as she answered.

[Glad you picked up on that.

There are a few more of them, since their minds were destroyed beyond repair or their broken minds were too far gone, although their bodies were still in prime condition.

And so, I made some cosmetic changes and filled their brains with a brand-new personality as an Abyssal unit so that they could dissociate themselves from their past ship girl trauma and deal with it impersonally.]

Akashi widened her eyes in genuine surprise as she asked incredulously,

"And you managed to write all of the personality cores, auxiliary programs and modules all on your own in order to create a fully-functional A.I.?"

Yuubari snorted as her expression softened, turning away as she idly waved her hand and answered offhandedly.

[Kinda, but I definitely didn't do everything by myself.

I got some help from above.

From there, I utilized a rough mental template of their previous life's personalities to avoid too much dissociation from their past selves and experiences, and I definitely had other Abyssal comrades help me with the debugging and stuff.]

Raising an eyebrow, Akashi was only mildly surprised at the fact that Yuubari was under someone else's command as she asked in a genuinely interested tone.

"You're under someone else's command?"

Yuubari nodded as she lowered her gaze in order to look down at the floor, elaborating more on her job scope.

[Well, we all work for someone else.

My masters certainly wouldn't want to entrust me, a light cruiser who remembers her past and might harbor double-agent tendencies, with the entire Abyssal armada no matter how fervently I pledge my loyalty to them.

I understand their concerns and paranoia, though, so no biggie.]

Yuubari then looked up at Washington and cast a glance in Diego's direction, cocking her head towards Akashi as she teased, and although it wasn't an order, Akashi suspected that due to the way Yuubari built this Mark III Washington, the turned American battleship wasn't the kind to refuse even a silly, whimsical or even suicidal order.

[Wanna show our friend here what Diego can do?

I mean, I bet they've at least figured that out, but even if they haven't, it's worth balancing the scales so that it won't be a one-sided domination match, right?]

Washington bowed slightly in acknowledgement, and Diego growled unwillingly as it got into position and did something which Akashi expected after Admiral Mako shared her suspicions with everyone, but it still managed to catch her slightly off-guard.

Diego's forelegs and hind legs folded at odd angles as its flexible joints, thanks to engineers meddling around in its conceptual stage, allowed for greater mobility and granted it the ability to transform, and its shoulders folded in to cover its head as the wheels on its shoulders hit the floor, its tail being wound back into its body while its head unfolded to form what Akashi assumed was the air intake vents and hood before being hidden by what was to be the front body of the car as it was formed by its forelegs, shoulders and chest.

The plates which previously stuck out from its body were now coming together and formed the body of the automobile it was supposed to transform into, the paws of its hind legs folding back up to touch its buttocks and allowing the rear tires that were jutting out from its hips to touch the platform as it began to form a streamlined sports car, Akashi's breath being taken away by how utterly _seamless_ the process appeared.

Every part was put back into place as Diego transformed into a Koenigsegg Agera R, the transformed vehicle's engine purring smoothly like a well-oiled machine as Akashi observed the streamlined and sleek curves, the design that squeezed out every drop of performance from the parts within it as well as the fact that the car's body hugged the platform while Diego revved its engines in order to show off its tenacity and power, its engine booming as its chassis shook a little as if a wild beast were trapped within it as it bucked and struggled within its steel cage, ready to let loose.

Unable to think of a suitable comeback to such a brilliant display of engineering finesse, Akashi looked down and shrugged nonchalantly as she changed the topic in order to keep the conversation going, asking about what they were meeting about in order to get to the crux of the matter.

"So why exactly did you want me to meet you out here?

I like seeing you again, but aiming an ICBM at Japan in order to force a meeting with us likely means that you didn't intend to invite us for tea, hmm?"

Yuubari pressed a few buttons on her power glove before the entire platform was a gigantic LED screen which was illuminated by Yuubari's command, Akashi snapping her head downwards to find a world map being displayed beneath her feet.

A crimson wave was slowly creeping inland as well as various shark-shaped 'A's pointing towards the coastal regions and encircling them in order to symbolize the Abyssal march onto various coastal states and countries before worming their way into the heart of mankind as Yuubari explained herself.

[I didn't want to have to talk about work when we're meeting each other for the first time, but I had to.

I'm sure you understand that the tides of war are shifting once again, and that you all are going to receive the business end of the stick.]

Akashi nodded, stepping over to one 'A' which was pointed towards California as she asked.

"Hmm.

This reminds me of the 'We Surround You' posters the Nazis dropped on the retreating Brits in Dunkirk back in World War 2.

Nice effects."

Yuubari nodded approvingly, moving her hands in a grand, sweeping gesture towards the rest of the world on the platform map as she strolled from Wyoming to New Mexico while she answered.

[Yep.

A neat little quote says, 'War has changed' while another says 'War never changes', but I don't think either one of them is accurate enough to truly describe our situation.

This war of ours will change in that it will no longer just be about naval combat regarding a ship girl's war doctrine; land combat will have to be fought worldwide while air combat will be left to the human air forces.

But the heart of the Abyssal War will never change, because it'll always be an Abyssal versus ship girl conflict at its core.

And no matter how much war changes or advances in terms of theme or technology, when our forces meet, we will always have to cross swords.]

Akashi nodded along with Yuubari's little monologue, and this probably got the light cruiser to continue on to boast grandiosely, holding her arms out and spinning around like a top as she continued with a carefree voice while stepping onto Utah.

[Wherever I walk, seven trumpets shall accompany the chorus of echoes which follow my every step, and will herald the beginning of the end.

Stepping on the map that is displayed on this platform, all that my cape and shadow blankets shall be blotted out under a hail of missiles, and wherever I walk on this map will be crushed underneath our tracks of steel.

We are the end of mankind.

And as the sun shines upon all of you and grants it color, when we're done, all that will be left is a world of monochrome which will be shrouded in eternal darkness.]

Oh boy.

Akashi couldn't resist pointing out bluntly, having been exposed to Kiso's chuunibyou tendencies for a while to get a good idea of people trying too hard to make others buy into their awesomeness and coming off as cringey in the process.

"You know, I think that might be the corniest shit I've heard in awhile.

I mean, the 'stepping on the map' part was kinda cool in a symbolic and maybe literal sense in the future, but the 'seven trumpets' and 'eternal darkness' shit just sounds like something Kiso or Tenryuu would say in their chuunibyou phase.

Like,

' _Hur dur, I'm the Dark-Lord Pussy-Slayer Yuubari, fear me and my Abyssal brethren as we lay down cataclysmic ruination of imminent doom upon our foes, the scrublord humans and their blasted ship girls._

 _We'll engulf the world in eternal darkness even though the sun literally shines upon us every single day, so bow down in reverence to your new overlords or face your doom!'_

You see you cringey that sounds?"

Yuubari chuckled good-naturedly, looking unfettered all the while as she remarked,

[Well, I wonder about that.

It's almost time for the fireworks to begin, so hang on to something.]

Akashi thought hard about Yuubari's words and tried to decipher them, but she finally grasped their true meaning just as she heard Musashi call out over the radio in a strained voice,

"Akashi-san, watch out!

The ICBM's landed with its hydrogen bomb warhead, and the yield is unbelievable!

You should see the detonation aboudsnsoosmdkhrrsss!"

Before fading to static.

It was five seconds later when she saw a white light expanding as it shone over the horizon, causing her head to swivel back in shock at the missile's warhead producing a nuclear yield on such a scale as she was forced to squint in the presence of the sun-like luminosity which radiated from the epicenter.

Akashi's eyes widened in genuine horror as she turned back to look at a relaxed Yuubari, the Abyssal light cruiser merely giving her a shrug and a wry smile as she did her best to reassure Akashi.

[Oh, don't you worry.

We've set up shields around this platform, and we let them down to let you in before putting it back up.

Don't worry, according to my calculations, the shields we put up should be able to protect us from the blast, especially since we're so far away.]

Akashi started to sweat a little as she raised an eyebrow and asked incredulously,

"' _Should'?"_

But before she could say anything else, the white light eventually materialized as a mushroom cloud whose cap reached up towards the heavens, and Akashi spotted the ocean shifting wildly as the blast wave hit the platform, the invisible air before the repair ship immediately turned red after withstanding the intensity of the blast wave which made waves on the ocean, shielding the platform as well as the jellyfish Beast Indra.

The explosion caused an earthquake-esque motion to shake the platform and caused the LED screen on the floor to tear, all while Akashi fell onto the platform and supported her body with her knees and arms while Yuubari enjoyed herself all the while, Akashi's entire body tensing up for the end as she felt the world itself tremble in fright at the might of the ICBM unleashing hell on earth in a single strike, and the air itself weighed down on the shields as the plates creaked from having to withstand the force of the blast as well as scorching temperatures which could no doubt outright annihilate any living being standing out there.

The nuke's epicenter was several dozens of kilometers away, but the brilliance of the explosion still threatened to engulf them as she squinted, somehow managing to hear Yuubari's manic laughter through the booming, half-human roar emitted by the hydrogen bomb detonation some ways away as if originating from the bowels of Hell itself and was a mere harbinger of the end time that was to come down the road, a column of opaque smoke eventually materializing like an exhaling smoker's breath as it blotted out the sun and the sky, and in the process, cast its ominous and towering shadow upon all that was pure and good on God's green earth.

It felt worse than almost any other earthquake or volcanic eruption which she experienced, and after about two minutes of heart-stopping tremors which were shaking the world and plaguing her body as well as the roaring boom of the mushroom cloud whose intensity could only hope to be matched by that of a space shuttle taking flight, everything finally seemed to stop as Akashi saw the hand that was shielded by a power glove being offered to her in order to help her up, and she gladly accepted it.

She was breathing a lot heavier due to the fright of being incinerated despite having lived for so long, since she had never personally witnessed a nuclear blast, especially one which was powered by a fusion reaction and was far more potent and devastating in its explosive yield, and Akashi shivered as she felt the sweat which coated her skin evaporate due to the heated air within the shields and chilled her to the bone along with the shock of the near-death experience.

Both Yuubari and Washington were hardly looking any worse for the wear, likely having mentally fortified themselves against the explosion beforehand, a mushroom cloud now blossoming from the epicenter and looked to be about 30 kilometers in height and rising rapidly, growing in size like a tree which grew and matured in fast forward.

Yuubari noted something just as Akashi was doing her best to compose herself, suddenly feeling the air surrounding the Abyssal light cruiser icing over due to the lack of anything on Akashi's ring finger.

[You aren't wearing your wedding ring.

Why?]

It took Akashi some time to register the question, but she blinked and answered the question as she was still too taken aback to come up with any lies, using her free hand to reach into the collar of her uniform top and into the steel ring which was hung around her neck and rested above her cleavage.

"Oh, I wear it as a necklace.

After your sinking, I was too distraught about wearing it on my ring in order to remind myself of you, but I didn't want to throw it into a corner and allow myself to forget about you entirely.

Besides, this way, our memory will be closest to my heart, figuratively and literally."

Pulling out the steel chain which was threaded through the familiar-looking steel ring, Akashi's gaze rested on its as her expression became forlorn and heartfelt since the wedding ring contained far too many painful memories to be slipped on her finger, and although Yuubari probably felt miffed about it before this, she relaxed her stance as she looked away and released Akashi's hand before speaking up, changing the topic before it got too awkward.

[Anyway, I wanted to tell you before the fireworks started.

I wouldn't worry about dying.

We are situated way beyond its immediate destructive range, and I calibrated my shields to be able to withstand forces way beyond what we just experienced.

You really didn't think I would allow my baby to die on me, and allow myself to follow in a double suicide, hmm?]

Akashi brought her breathing under control and put the ring back into her uniform as she sat down on a steel chair which was brought over by Washington, and even in the whirlwind of powerful emotions swirling around in her paralyzed mind, she still found it within herself to fire back a retort.

"Well, we'd both go out with one hell of a bang.

And isn't part of the ancient belief that those who commit double suicide would be reunited in the next world?"

Yuubari lifted an eyebrow as she retorted,

[But I _am_ reunited with you right now in my next life.

I would never risk losing you again and forget all our times together if I were to be reincarnated into another life.]

Yuubari sat herself down on another chair which was brought to her by the subservient Washington, and Akashi looked her in the eye as she admitted her loss in that minor debate.

"Touche.

But as enemies, you realize that only one of us will prevail while the other falls, right?

You understand our dynamic well enough to know that since you have all that…"

Jerking her head to her right in order to indicate Washington and Diego, as well as the apocalyptic mushroom cloud whose growth had finally plateaued and was finally dissipating into thin air, Akashi predicted how the ship girls and humans would react to this, and it certainly wasn't going to be a plea for a ceasefire.

"The humans will certainly fight even harder to win, and it'll definitely be even harder for you all to kill them.

You know that when their survival is at stake, they'll be harder to kill than even the toughest and most resilient of cockroaches.

And if we are to cross paths and fight as enemies, it'll definitely be a fight to the death between us."

Akashi rolled with that idea as she leaned forward, because ever since she found out that her lover was resurrected by the dark side and had been behind almost all of the events which occurred recently, and was now revealed to be the Abyssal high commander who took an obsessive interest in Akashi, she had often mentally compared Yuubari to a certain nefarious criminal mastermind in fictional literature.

"I think in this case, you'd probably be the Napoleon of Crime?

I mean, you masterminded all these cunning schemes, created cutting-edge inventions, moved your pieces about whilst keeping track of your enemy like a spider weaving a web to ensnare a prey, and our movements are but calculated reactions to your grand design's machinations as you lead the Abyssals on a crusade against mankind and ship girls alike and herald a new age of warfare."

Yuubari squirmed excitedly in her seat as she look down at her lap, clearly appearing elated and even bashful at the amount of praise she was getting from her lover.

[Oh, you really know how to praise a girl, Akashi.

I always told myself that it'd all be worth it when I met you again, and today's turning out even better than I thought it would be.

I feel sad that we'll have to cross paths and fight from now on, but I think of it as a way for us to get closer to each other and know each other better, in ways we never would have as ship girls…]

Leaning in closer, Yuubari continued her little speech about what she knew about Akashi.

[Well then, I know you well enough to predict that you wouldn't debase yourself by defecting to our side, and despite all that's happened, the reason why you fight with the humans - ]

"But not _for_ the humans."

Akashi made sure to clear up the air regarding that distinction, and Yuubari nodded as her smile grew and she continued with her speech, understanding Akashi's blatant disdain for mankind despite being compelled to fight for them.

[Yes.

The reason why you fight with them is because of some sort of warrior's pride which still resides within you, to never stop so long as there's a fighting chance, right?]

Akashi nodded sadly, because even though she was a medic first and foremost, she was also a soldier who was created to fight, and to her, giving up when it really mattered was unbecoming of a soldier, who was expected to literally soldier on in the face of increasingly overwhelming odds unless one was ordered to stand down.

Yuubari seemed to understand this as she tilted her head forward dangerously, a shadow being cast over her face as the darkness within her seeped out from her very being due to Akashi's defiance and unwillingness to roll over and go along with her plans.

[I must warn you, Akashi.

My love and magnanimity, which motivates me to capture and tame you without killing you, does _not_ translate to tolerance towards forceful retaliation and rebellion against my plans and intentions.

If you should attempt to bring destruction down upon me, know that I shall endeavor to do the same to you.

My love for you and respect for your skills is why I haven't simply steamrolled the world and crushed them with overwhelming force from the get-go.]

Akashi considered her words for a moment as she looked away, finally raising her right eyebrow as she turned back and boldly retorted in the face of Yuubari all-too-credible threat of killing Akashi by defying and thwarting her plans.

"You didn't fall in love with me because I possessed a compliant nature.

Besides, the fun lies not just in catching a prey which fights back and resists capture, but also in breaking in and taming one."

She could see that Yuubari's steely gaze lost some of its edge as she lowered her eyes and softly bit her lip, a sign that she grudgingly found a point in the opposing party's argument and had nothing to say, finally speaking up as she looked away and spat.

 _[Fine._

I won't try to convince you to join me, because I understand you well enough to know that I'll be wasting my breath.

I'll only stop when you're mine, or when one of us is dead.]

"When _we're_ dead."

She looked into Yuubari's slightly taken aback ghostly-blue eyes as she shared her perspective on their relationship and the dark turn it had taken due to circumstances that were beyond either of their control.

"Face it, Yuubari.

Without me, you wouldn't find any more reason to live, since you would never find another damaged ship girl who'd catch your fancy and match wits with you like I do right now."

Yuubari's expression changed to look distressed as she asked out of genuine curiosity and concern towards Akashi, and she managed to look upwards as she give Akashi a puppy-dog gaze since she leaned forward and was thus _very_ close to Akashi, allowing Akashi an enticing view of her cleavage which hadn't grown much in size, remaining fun-sized while not becoming overly cumbersome to the bearer.

[But then, that means…

Did you ever feel lonely and wanted to end it all when I was gone, since back then, you were almost certain that I sank and was lost to the ocean forever?]

Akashi remembered the grieving stage which she went through immediately after Yuubari had sunk, and had never truly ended until the day in which she confirmed the windmill rumors which whispered the possibility that an Abyssalized light cruiser Yuubari was the one leading the Abyssal invasion, as insane as the idea of a light cruiser being in charge sounded back then.

" … The thought had crossed my mind, several times in the past.

And that's why I predict, that if one of us were to die permanently, the other wouldn't survive for very long without the grief consuming us from within before offing ourselves.

But we're on opposing sides of the war, we must fight, and because of our fatal attraction, we will be the only ones allowed to kill the other, drawing us together like magnets with opposing poles."

Yuubari nodded, giving Akashi a look-down as she remarked yet again,

[Like I said, if we were to to do battle in a game of wits after today's meeting, you will either be mine… or dead.

I'll be extra careful to catch you, and when I do, I'll keep you secured like a bird in a cage, safe from everyone else… including yourself.

I don't want anyone else to have you, and should worst come to worst, and I'll be the one to take your life before reviving you with the utmost of haste.]

Leaning closer such that they could see their own lust being reflected in the dilated pupils of the other while their killing intent merged into one, Yuubari huffed seductively as she continued on her grim little monologue about how Akashi's supposed death-slash-sinking would play out, a dangerous glint being expressed in her ravenous glare.

[I want to be there and be the one who's closest to you when you exhale your last breath by my hand, and I want to be the last thing you see as a sinking ship girl as well as the first person whom you see when you wake up as an Abyssal.

If anyone were to deny me the honor of killing you, a battleship, cruiser, even a Princess, I'll kill them all, and then I'd likely kill myself should it prove impossible for me to revive you.

Only you can fill this hole in my heart as my one true lover, and I won't accept anyone else in me.]

Most people would find that kind of obsessive love horrifying.

Akashi wasn't 'most people'.

She was getting excited from Yuubari's words and the level of her commitment, because spending any time with the light cruiser made her feel fulfilled romantically, and when Yuubari displayed homicidal tendencies towards everyone else, Akashi had to admit that she felt the exact same tendencies back when Yuubari sank.

Any Abyssal whom she thought was responsible, imagined or not, she sank, and she often lashed out at comrades who were responsible for Yuubari's sinking back then, making her wrath known around the base as Yuubari's sinking partly helped to form her current bloody fighting style, toxic personality and nihilistic worldview.

Of course it'd be karmic for Yuubari to develop the same tendencies as she did, to the point where Akashi momentarily wondered if it was meant to be the moment it was reported that Yuubari sank that their love for each other, no matter how pure, would be tainted and warped either by Akashi's twisted past or the Abyssal influence on Yuubari's psyche to the point where they'd become twin yanderes who obsessed over either killing or enslaving the other, and everyone else involved would be manipulated before being shoved aside.

She felt a blush coming on after surviving a nuclear explosion which was partially detonated in order to serve as an entertaining sight, and the adrenaline which previously coursed through her body out of fear had now turned into one of titillation as she was slowly but surely aroused by their exchange, and she responded.

"I would expect nothing less from you, my dear.

I want to feel the last of my body heat be transmitted into you through my lips as I die, that's kinky and romantic in a twisted sense.

But I don't dislike that kind of romance."

Yuubari hummed in acknowledgement, now leaning in close enough to invade her personal space as she held Akashi's uniform top by the hem, shortly before partially lifting her top while her other hand gently pulled down on the elastic waistband of her skirt, revealing Akashi's lower abdomen as well as Akashi's mysterious C-section scar.

Akashi looked down at a kneeling Yuubari as the Abyssal light cruiser looked up with a twinkle in her eyes, huffing teasingly.

[Don't get excited.]

But Akashi, feeling turned on after enduring the light cruiser's teasing actions, was unable to hold back her feelings for Yuubari (even if she was turned) and she responded with a tinge of lust which seeped into her voice as she huffed, feeling her cheeks start to color in the process.

"Too late."

Yuubari hummed in acknowledgement as she looked at the C-section scar, Akashi struggling not to squirm as the cold steel of Yuubari's power glove traced out its outline, the Abyssal light cruiser lowering her voice into a hoarse whisper which held a rare tinge of solemnity.

[Look, Akashi…

Look at what they've done to you…]

Akashi kept her hands in her skirt pockets and stabilized her breathing so as not to let her body betray her feelings for Yuubari as she retorted.

"Well, technically, I was forced to do this to myself…"

Yuubari looked up again, traces of annoyance filling her crimson eyes as she hissed, genuinely feeling malice towards mankind as a full-fledged Abyssal.

[Still their fault.

They experimented on you for two whole years, and you were one of the handful to be rescued ala _Schindler's List_ and sent to various naval bases all over Japan in order to recover psychologically and physically before being worked to the bone again.

They deserve what's coming to them.]

Her eyes then softened, but still contained traces of simmering anger towards mankind in general as she asked.

[But then again, right now, this is our time; their destruction will come sooner or later, so let's not bring them into this.]

Akashi now felt Yuubari's fingers, which were wrapped in the power glove's steel, rubbing against her womb titillatingly, and it worked its erotic magic on the repair ship as Yuubari's skillful fingers moved in a circular motion and slowly spiraled towards her quivering womanhood.

And although Akashi was loathe to ruin the mood like this, she found the fact that they had a certain Abyssal battleship observing their little moment of intimacy like some voyeur ruined the atmosphere, especially considering the dead-fish personality of Washington and the blatantly hostile aura around Diego.

And since Yuubari was powerful enough to hold her own in combat and command even the Abyssal Princesses, there really was no need for Washington to be here at all.

The only reason why she was brought here was to be shown off to them, to drive home the fact that they were utterly screwed.

All this registered in her mind as she whispered into Yuubari's ear.

"You know, I'm sure that you could've killed me with your powers several times over, whatever it may be, so there really isn't a need to keep _her_ around and watch us do our thing.

Unless, you know, you're into exhibitionism and the like…"

Yuubari tingled at the shameless thought of the both of them allowing others to watch them in the act like a pair of harlots, but she nodded as she turned to Washington and ordered, having resumed her professional aura as she turned to Washington, narrowing her eyes and ordering the American Abyssal and Diego.

 _[Leave._

 _I'm sure I'll be capable of holding my own against a mere repair ship._

 _And since there doesn't seem to be any chance of a fight breaking out, I'm fairly certain I'll be fine.]_

Washington displayed a rare show of emotion as her expression creased out of concern while Diego revved its engine again to indicate its dislike of such a dangerous order, but the mood became tense and silence loomed over the four beings there before Washington finally acquiesced, bowing in order to acknowledge the order before walking over to the platform's edge while Diego transformed back into the ripped smilodon Beast, slinking over to the ocean along with its master before they both leapt off the platform, sinking back into the ocean while Yuubari relaxed and turned back to Akashi before she whispered expectantly.

[As I was saying…

Their end will come eventually, and it really isn't our intention to deliberately prolong this drawn-out execution, but theirs.

Mankind has an expiration date, after all, and if they should resign themselves to their fate and give in, this would be so much easier on everyone.

But if they wish to delay the inevitable, we will oblige by boxing them in, before turning up the heat and roast them slowly…]

Cocking her head towards the colossal mushroom cloud in order to make her point, she continued.

[ … and it'll only hurt them more as the odds are increasingly stacked against them.]

Akashi smirked as she added her own opinion to the conversation,

"But it's not as if you mind, right?

Our essence precedes our existence, and without this war, there is no reason for us to exist.

True, some of us can can a life outside of this war, but our entire existence revolves around conflict as it defines our daily lives and is our _raison d'etre_ ; to fight wars.

This is why the rate of suicides amongst retired veterans is practically nil, but that's only half of the story.

They only count the successful suicides, but the rate of _attempted_ suicides is surprisingly high, and it's because of our superhuman bodies which ruins their attempts and deters most of them before they come around and adjust to civilian life the hard way."

Yuubari nodded, adding to that train of thought by commenting.

[It does sound scary to move from a life of war, which you've become accustomed to, into one of a mundane civilian life, where almost nothing happens.

If war was the background noise which humans hear in the distance and peace be represented by tranquility, to us ship girls, a lifetime of noise, which is war, is what we've gotten used to, but to be thrust into a world of deafening silence that is the peace which mankind experiences would drive almost any ship girl insane.

The nightmares and flashbacks which are borne from the horror and chaos of war are amplified in the silence that is peace, and can only be soothed by plunging themselves back into the chaos, to fulfill their destiny as warriors that are free of all societal norms while in the heat of combat in favor of sheer force of will.

That is the truth of all ship girls, and to deny this truth in favor of living in peace is to essentially deny their true nature.]

Akashi nodded, citing how the utilitarian and simplistic nature of the war machine which they came to terms with during war would clash with the outside world, which was a world of (relatively) uninhibited freedom.

"A world where you're used to working under pressure, where you make life and death decisions every other second as they weigh down on your soul and where you follow orders that come from above, into one where you get to choose from several dozen brands of cereals and get to make countless choices with significantly lighter consequences, the minutiae of civilian life grinds away at a ship girl's fighting spirit.

And that's not to mention the constant war updates keeping them on edge, the flashbacks, as well as the nightmares which start to haunt them when the noise of war dies down…

To us, war is more than a drug, it _defines_ us, and it's what fulfills us.

Peace is our Kryptonite, it eats away at our nature and dulls our senses, and it's why quite a number of ship girls volunteer for re-service after getting a taste of civilian life.

And after more than a decade of polite refusals, with what you're planning, we might have to consider accepting applicants…

After all, there's little to no thrill out there which can hope to match being shot at from seven different directions, to get the heart pumping and the blood racing with the rush of battle."

Leaning in and whispering into Yuubari's ear to give her lover a pleasant tickle with her husky breath, she huffed.

 _"Of course, there is one other activity we can engage in right now that'll fulfill both criterias…"_

Yuubari inhaled sharply as her familiar, pheromone-filled scent reached Akashi's nose and told her all that she needed to know about Yuubari's state of arousal as she changed topics, teasing both her lover and herself by holding off on the gratification for a while longer in order to ripen the pay-off, for it to come as a lush and satisfying reward in order to relieve both the stress of war and the pressure of their jobs which gradually edged their backed-up bodies beyond the limit and over a period of eight long years, driving them insane and towards each other with a fervent passion to either murder or make love to each other.

"Do you have anything else to impress me with?

I mean, eight years is a long time, and you must've kept yourself _real_ busy."

Yuubari nodded as she got up, gripping the metal rod thingy on her utility belt as she responded cheerily, clearly looking forward to the show-and-tell that was to come.

[Oh, oh course!

This one's also a personal invention of mine, and I'm proud of it.]

She pointed the rod's tubular opening away from the both of them before pressing the red button, and right before Akashi's eyes, a red-hot light beam was emitted from the opening and formed a light-saber along with its signature _kshoom_ as a beam of contained light shot out, as well as the iconic _vreem_ and _vroom_ sound effects as Yuubari idly swung it around, speaking up boastfully.

[Made this bad boy by myself, and I got it in your color, crimson-red, to remind myself of you and your pink hair that is marred with blood due to your past.]

Akashi lifted an eyebrow in genuine surprise and awe as she noted the design, and how it was possible for Yuubari to craft such a weapon.

"Interesting.

Let me guess.

Electromagnetic coils within which contain super-heated plasma, all neatly tucked inside heavy-duty ceramic which can withstand insanely high temperatures which can melt steel, of course, to kill ship girls.

Sixteen years allows you to read up on a lot of Wikipedia pages.

The entire thing also unfolds like a telescopic baton, from what I saw just now when you flicked it out.

And it probably ties into how your power glove transmits power to your light-saber handle, so that no Tom, Dick and Harry can use it when they pick up your light-saber."

Yuubari nodded, a proud smile rivaling the light saber beam in its radiance as she turned off the light-saber and held up her power glove, forming an arc between her middle finger and thumb while pocketing the light-saber with the other.

Akashi was surprised to find a bluish-white electric spark jumping from thumb to finger, everything now clicking together in her mind as she spoke with a sagely tone.

"Your New Wave power is the power to control electricity, yes?

That's the lightsaber's power source."

Yuubari nodded yet again while Akashi noted how it made perfect sense for Yuubari's Beast to be a jellyfish, because they both shared the same electrifying touch.

Lifting an eyebrow after being impressed by the array of technological wonders which Yuubari boldly showed off to her to gain her approval and affection, she spoke up in a praising voice to a smug Yuubari.

"Impressive.

What other toys do you have on you?"

Akashi then leaned forward in a sensuous manner as she crossed her legs, being able to see the desire, both romantic and sexual, which Yuubari felt towards her and her alone being expressed through her gaze, the repair ship letting out a humid breath as she teased.

" _Or in you?"_

Her lover-turned-Abyssal was also starting to get turned on by the sexual friction which heated up their exchange, and she leaned back as she inhaled sharply, allowing her cape to cover her clothed body in ways which almost tempted Akashi into simply digging in and tearing her lover's clothes off, what with how the cape's fabric hugged her contours and made her seem even more attractive as an agent of evil than if she were to bare her entire body, the light cruiser shooting back with a retort of her own.

[I bet you'd like to find out.

Would you like to perform a strip search, dear?]

In which Akashi answered honestly,

 _"Head to toe."_

Yuubari leaned in hungrily, the fact that she was now an Abyssal doing nothing to change the fact that she lusted after Akashi and loved her with all her heart, even if they were supposed to be enemies.

[That thought excites me, how we'll get to sleep together again after so long.

This time, I'll probably start by stripping you down to your underwear, and after those come off…]

The excited Yuubari then ran her tongue across her lips erotically in anticipation for the reunion sex which came next, and Akashi, keeping her cool all the while, sat up straight in her seat as she smirked and fired back a truthful retort despite sharing the same sentiments.

"When I'm this excited about seeing you again, Yuubari, what makes you think I'll be wearing anything underneath?"

This seemed to put a dent in Yuubari's advance towards her, pulling back as her expression morphed into one which was surprised at the insinuation that Akashi went through their entire exchange while going commando, but she was much more sexually charged after hearing that tidbit of information as she huffed disbelievingly.

[Oh…

Oh my, Akashi.]

Akashi uncrossed her slender legs, and since she wasn't wearing a bra or any underwear, she could feel her drafty nether regions overflowing with excitement while her stiff nipples were rubbing against the fabric of her uniform top and further stimulated them.

She leaned forward to meet the excited light cruiser halfway, and she allowed Yuubari to break off the heated staring contest in order to look down at Akashi's exposed cleavage and fact-check her claim, and upon seeing two points poking through the fabric which was wrapped around her supple bosom, Yuubari's face started to color for the first time today as the Abyssal light cruiser hastily crossed her own legs and looked away, attempting to play it cool and amusing Akashi to no end.

She uttered a simple fact,

"You look deathly pale, Yuubari."

Before using it to further her advances as she leaned in to whisper yet again, feeling the reproductive pheromones practically bleeding from both their pores as she huffed, her insides burning up while her fiery passion made her sweat, which in turn caused her restrictive uniform to cling to her sweaty skin and would have become unbearable by now had she worn undergarments in the first place.

"Lucky for you, I'm a doctor.

I know how to bring the color back into your cheeks with the right massage and workout…

All you have to do is close your eyes, and surrender your body to me…"

Yuubari's heavy breathing reached a fever pitch as she pressed several buttons on her power glove, and Akashi shifted her gaze to find a simple steel bed unfolding as it was summoned from beneath the LED platform, Yuubari elaborating on how she predicted this might happen.

[This was supposed to be a television platform which we used to iron out our plans and used it to brief Abyssals on our strategy, but since it's mine to play with, and especially since I knew we hadn't seen each other in a long time, things would certainly come to this in the end between us.

Now then,]

Yuubari activated something which caused her mechanical gloves to disassemble themselves and fold up into a portable size as if they were naturally created with this function, and as it retracted into a sort of thick steel band around her elbow which consisted of screens and protruding steel parts, Akashi spotting the steel engagement ring which Akashi gifted to Yuubari back then being worn on her left hand.

She then uncoupled them from her arms and placed them on the floor before continuing what she was doing, the retracted power gloves being picked up by her jellyfish Beast Indra while her mechanical heels started undoing themselves to also be picked up by the transclucent tentacles, Yuubari standing up and leaning forward in order to unbutton her skirt as she finished her question.

[Shall we test the bedsprings?]

Akashi couldn't bear the heat which built up within her anymore as she started tearing off her clothes and skipped along with an undressing Yuubari towards the plain steel bed, feeling the relative coolness of the ambient air caressing every square inch of her exposed skin as it tantalized her senses and drove her over the edge.

Feeling the cool sensation of her own ring necklace on her bared chest, she ignored the unconscious feeling of shame upon being naked out in the open since the only one who was there to gaze upon her naked self in all her glory was Yuubari, who also bared her body as her lover mounted her on the bed, their positions giving her a strong sense of deja vu.

Her Abyssal ex-girlfriend gave her a look-down in order to take in the scars on her body, including the '047' tattoo from her previous career as a mental hospital orderly, the few scars which lingered even after healing up as well as the cutting scars disfiguring her forearms.

And to the last one, she gave Yuubari an awkward but genuine smirk as she confessed,

"All for you, my dear.

All for you."

One thing which Akashi noted was the tattoo on Yuubari's left breast which was composed with black ink, looking to be the outline of a lotus flower's top profile while resembling a sun with its outstretched petals, and while this symbolic image registered in Akashi's brain and memories, her lust-addled mind was too caught up in the heat of this lurid moment of intense intimacy to decipher and understand its significance.

Yuubari's Beast then intervened as Indra's tentacles slithered closer so that it could hover over their naked bodies before inching closer, causing Akashi to shrink back a little out of uneasiness and hesitation at what was going on, but Yuubari assuaged these concerns as her eyes started to glow with electricity, raw lightning flowing out of her pupils to indicate her superpowers as the Abyssal light cruiser's fingers sparked and produced lightning from its tips, uttering her next lines salaciously.

[Don't worry.

I'll show you a little secret of my power, one which I'm sure you'll want to keep between the both of us.]

Brilliant, bluish-white sparks were emitted from and danced across her pale palm as she pressed it against Akashi's stomach, causing her to convulse as if having a seizure due to the overloading of pleasurable sensations radiating from the point of contact, electric currents coursing through her arcing steel back and nervous system as she felt a big one gush out of her quivering nether regions like a torrential waterfall and caused her to soil the sheets with her love nectar, hungrily gasping for breath as her bosom heaved while tears involuntarily formed on the corners of her eyes, huffing in astonishment.

"Wha…

What was… _that?"_

Yuubari's palm charged up with sparks again along with Indra's tentacles being illuminated by a bright-blue electric current as they drew ever closer, Akashi's heart pounding away like a jackhammer cranked up to the maximum setting as the electrified palm disappeared beyond her respectably-sized breasts and slipped down in between her legs, which she forced apart in order to plead for and receive more of that addictive stimulation, Yuubari's lightning-emitting eyes narrowing as she answered simply.

 _[A taste of paradise.]_

She tag-teamed with Indra's electrified tentacles and made use of her lightning-manipulating palm as they pressed and dug into Akashi's tender and vulnerable flesh, Akashi peaking again as she threw her head back and gasped in absolute delight upon being non-lethally electrocuted from several different sensitive points on her body, feeling alive in ways she hadn't known as if she had been a living corpse the entire time after Yuubari's sinking, and had long forgotten the delectable and carnal pleasures of the flesh.

Her memories of her happier times with Yuubari, previously feeling as if they had occurred an entire lifetime ago, jolted back into the forefront of her memory banks and became clearer in her mind than ever before as she sang for her lover like she did in the past, feeling as if she was the Adam being brought to life by Yuubari ala Victor Frankenstein, the flame of life being reignited within her and revitalizing her very being through the use of raw electricity.

She grasped Yuubari's face by its sides and brought her in for a kiss, feeling the harmless surge of electricity being transmitted through their lips as both ship girl and Abyssal climaxed from the kiss, losing themselves in their combined passion and love for the first time in forever.

* * *

Akashi slipped her uniform top back on just as the sun was rising, dressing herself up being a simple task when she didn't wear anything underneath and didn't have to bother with the constrictive device that was the bra, and the mushroom cloud had long since faded away to allow the sunrise to shine in all its brilliance, shades of orange ranging from muted to vibrant being splayed on the canvas that was the sky before them.

That's right, _sunrise_.

The date displayed on her HUD read,

'31 May 2015',

As she made out with Yuubari for half a day and an entire night, having cut off all radio contact with her base aside from allowing her signature to be detected in order to let her comrades know that she hadn't perished in the thermonuclear explosion.

Clouds had been forcibly displaced by the hydrogen bomb detonation, and this cleared the sky for the sun rays to extend in a hundred-and-eighty degree angle above the horizon, illuminating the duo as Akashi slipped on her thigh-highs, her white bandanna never leaving her forehead the entire while as it soaked up copious amounts of sweat during their entire meeting, and especially during their rigorous love-making session which lasted more than half a day, and would require a thorough washing when she got back.

[Akashi.]

The repair ship turned around to find Yuubari leaning on the bed in a 'Draw me like one of your French Girls' pose, using her black cape as a blanket which was provided courtesy of Indra, who was lowering Yuubari's discarded uniform and various accessories for her to put on as it had done for Akashi, and Yuubari was naked underneath her own cape as she spoke, having seemingly realized something over the course of their exchange.

[I used to wonder why you became so much more attractive to me when I was turned into an Abyssal, and many frustrated nights have been spent brainstorming over this question and thinking about you.

But today, I finally came across an epiphany as to why.

Despite being so close to you, you're as unreachable as the moon is to the sun, and our status as enemies plants a metaphorical transparent wall between us, which means that we may never truly be together.

At least, not when our current relationship continues to exist as Abyssal and ship girl.]

Akashi shrugged as she turned away, taking the time to internalize that thought as she commented.

"Some things are beautiful because they cannot be obtained.

Maybe that's why you're so obstinate about capturing me, yet your affection towards me may cause you to hesitate for fear of killing me, thus allowing me to escape.

Perhaps that's why."

Yuubari nodded, sinking further into the pillow as she released a husky sigh, sorely tempting Akashi to hop back into bed and continue where they left off, but she held back as she listened to what Yuubari had to say.

[That's likely the case.

My reach is capable of stretching across the world and making whatever I desire mine, either through persuasion or force.

And yet, in your case…]

Yuubari looked contemplative as Akashi looked back, the naked light cruiser looking to be deep in thought as she explained how Akashi appeared to her from an Abyssal point of view.

[You're a flighty sparrow in which patience and finesse must be exercised in spades, as well as blinding speed at the correct moment to catch you in my grasp.

But if I should make a mistake in gauging my strength or overestimate your toughness, you may very well end up dead in my hands.

The entire war is one entertaining chess game, but the thought of capturing and turning you is what really pushes me on, because that's what really matters to me.]

Now feeling quite interested in what her lover had to say, she shifted on the bed in order to lie parallel to her girlfriend as she coaxed more information from her.

"How so?

We may be on opposite sides of the war, but I do want to hear from your side."

Yuubari shrugged in her position, looking pensive as she elaborated.

[Well, you know how mankind is gonna get wiped out, and I no longer feel the obligation to protect them right?

Achieving a kill count of six or seven billion human corpses isn't _that_ hard when you've got resources in bulk and an armada at your fingertips.

It's capturing one weak little repair ship that's the hard part, to perform heart surgery with a chainsaw.

Well, statistically weak, anyway.]

Yuubari relented as she saw Akashi giving her a strange look, and she looked towards the sunrise as she continued.

[If you should die, reviving you isn't the hardest thing to pull off.

But it's highly dependent on circumstances and is not without with its risks and possibility of failure, and with your 'Never say die' attitude which might force my hand…

Perhaps it's the difficulty in catching you which attracts me so, and the fact that we'll have to clash with each other in the future by virtue of being on opposing sides of a war…]

Yuubari sharply inhaled as she let out an expectant and anticipating,

[Ooh!]

Before she commented on how she wanted to keep her lover in a pretty little cage either before or during her ushering in of Armageddon worldwide, and she wanted to make sure that the romantic atmosphere was perfectly captured in said cage.

[Well, if I do capture you, I'll have you wearing a dog collar and leash on your neck, your headband… and nothing else.

Maybe some rope, if I'm in a kinky mood.]

Akashi chuckled as she turned around to see Yuubari hiding a shit-eating smile behind her cape while Akashi retorted with her own little bloody way of reconciling their relationship.

"Hmm.

That's marginally better than my idea of cutting your head off, and getting a nice boat for me to cuddle with your decapitated head till the end of time."

Yuubari broke out into laughter upon hearing that reference, her eyes starting to spark again as her expression turned into a slightly more menacing yet turned-on one, remarking offhandedly.

[Aww, that's just cruel and unusual.

How am I going to scratch my nose like that?]

Akashi shrugged as she got off the bed, standing up as the evening breeze tickled her thighs and drafty nether regions, threatening to lift her skirt up as she pressed down on her skirt and heard her lover out, Yuubari raising her left hand to allow Indra to put on her folded power glove for her, the power glove reversing the deconstruction process which Akashi witnessed just now in order to wrap itself snugly around Yuubari's slender, pale arm.

[Well, when this war is over and when the both of us are standing over the ashes of all mankind, will you join our side and marry me then, assuming you evade my capture for that long?]

Akashi nodded without thinking twice, since one of the core principles of a ship girl (and Abyssal) was to bestow a 'golden cap' of sorts for them to follow the orders they receive much like the famed winged monkeys of Oz.

Their free will and powers were tempered by an external force which could moderate and control their actions to some extent, and while Admirals were preferable since they were accomplished military personnel with respectable leadership and planning capabilities, technically, any human could qualify should the standards drop low enough in times of crises, say, in a post-apocalyptic world recovering from a nuclear world war, for example.

"Yes.

After all, I would have no more humans which I could transfer Admiralty to in order to activate continuity of leadership.

With no more humans to receive orders from, I'll be all yours."

Akashi got up and walked over to the steps which led into the ocean wile Yuubari contemplated her words, multitasking by pressing buttons on her power glove while discussing about their future from her point of view, which in her twisted mind had no more humans on earth.

[Well then, we'd obviously get married immediately, since we were too preoccupied with our work to bother holding one in my past life, and we took our bond for granted last time and thought we'd live long enough to make it to our wedding date.

And in preparations for the wedding, shall I color the church ivory-white and fertilize the plants with the powdered bones and remains of mankind?]

The repair ship retorted cheekily as she sat down on the platform's steps in order to put on her boat slippers,

"While we're at it, why not paint the roses red with mankind's blood as well?

Bring a little color and variety into the equation in order to liven up the wedding reception."

Yuubari giggled giddily at the morbid thought while Akashi sported a wide grin on her face, and she accepted the occasional comparison to her and a rose, where the crimson-red petals were meant to represent her hair (it was actually pink, but when she bathed in Abyssal blood so often, it might as well be) while the thorns represented her bloody fighting style which drew blood from any enemies which came too close, keeping everyone at a distance as a result and producing a _femme fatale_ persona as a result.

Yuubari lifted an eyebrow again in order to concede the point as she uttered noncommittally, although her tone already belied the fact that she liked the idea.

[Maybe…

You know, in the time when we're below the ocean and couldn't meet you, I missed the land so much due to my time as a ship girl and with you all, and should we get married, I want to move as far away from the ocean as possible.]

And upon Akashi turning back and giving her a strange look at the thought of an Abyssal preferring staying on land instead of in the sea, Yuubari elaborated.

[As a ship girl, being underwater is rather uncomfortable for us as it reminds us that we've sunk, and being surrounded by nothing but ocean for years when we remember our time on land does make a ship girl sick of the ocean no matter how much we've gotten used to it, and you just want to taste the air in your lungs and feel the sun on your skin again.

Besides, the sea, despite being our domain, is a place where we wage war with each other, and when you're firmly in my grasp as I achieve world domination, we'll no longer have any reason to hang out anywhere near the ocean, for there will no longer be a war to fight.

And on that note, I think that this song, which I listened to, best represents my feelings for you as well as my situation the entire time, Akashi.

I'll be seeing you soon.]

Akashi recognized the song as a post-World War 2 song sung by Bobby Darin named _Beyond the Sea_ , and a quick search through her memory banks helped her to recall the lyrics just as the song came on, being broadcast by Yuubari's power glove and was heard by Akashi until she had sailed out of range, after which Akashi hummed the tune while reciting the lyrics in her head, imagining an Abyssalized Yuubari thinking about her and how the lyrics strangely fitted the light cruiser's situation as the song played.

Somewhere beyond the sea

Somewhere waiting for me

My lover stands on golden sands

And watches the ships that go sailing

Somewhere beyond the sea

She's there watching for me

If I could fly like birds on high

Then straight to her arms I'd go sailing

It's far beyond a star

It's near beyond the moon

I know beyond a doubt

My heart will lead me there soon

We'll meet beyond the shore

We'll kiss just like before

Happy we'll be beyond the sea

And never again I'll go sailing

I know beyond a doubt

My heart will lead me there soon

And we'll meet, I know we'll meet beyond the shore

We'll meet just as before

Happy we'll be beyond the sea

And never…


	53. Chapter 53 - Emergency Stop

Kaga was sortieing with her 6th Fleet which consisted of herself, Akagi, Souryuu, Hiryuu, Zuikaku and Saratoga because they were the ones who were invited by the enemy, and although Kaga disagreed with the notion of bringing Saratoga along since she was woefully unprepared for anything the enemy threw at them, it was part of their orders and she had no say in it.

Personally, she didn't want Saratoga to be sortieing into enemy waters when it was clear that an ICBM was now in the air, and would trigger something within the Lexington-Class carrier's memories.

Which it did.

They were standing on a steel platform while watching the hydrogen bomb-induced mushroom cloud plateau in its growth as it occupied her view of the sky, and was it starting to dissipate into the air as the reddened bubble shield around them hissed in exhaustion after blocking the blast wave and shielded them from the instant-incineration heat wave.

Before them was Saratoga, who was cowering on the floor and was shaking like a leaf in a storm, and even though Zuikaku and Souryuu were there to console the fallen American, Saratoga was clutching her head in her hands, pathetically shaking her head as she failed to make eye contact with either of them and instead looked down at the floor, starting to hyperventilate while she mumbled incoherently.

"Nononono don'twanna die I don't wanna die can'tbreathecan'tbreathe nono gonna die gonnadie scared scaredI'mscared can'tget out can't escape can't breathe noescapeaaAHHHH!

 _HEEELLP! AHH!"_

Before lashing out and wildly attempting to escape Zuikaku and Souryuu's comforting hug with sheer panic powering her frenzied moves but short-circuiting her brain with unadulterated fear, shielding herself from the mushroom cloud which no doubt brought back horrifying memories of Operation Crossroads and sent the carrier into a full-blown panic attack.

And to see a fully-functioning ship girl break down into a sobbing wreck due to her traumatic experiences deliberately being triggered like a pressure point…

[It really is quite the beautiful sight, to see a ship girl writhe on the ground like that, hmm?]

A chilling aura blossomed and radiated from behind Kaga, forcing her to whirl around just as she felt a strong shiver overcome her body, and she saw the two Abyssal Princesses, one of which possessed a new Beast the likes of which she had never seen before.

The Aircraft Carrier Water Demon stood before them, wearing considerably lighter clothing than her normal counterpart as she wore a black side-tie bikini as well as her usual stockings and arm warmers, her hair still held in place by a hair band made up of black diamond plates.

The Aircraft Carrier Princess's long hair reached down to her thighs, and her hair was tied in a side tail similar to Kaga's while her fringe barely touched her red eyes, and although her face and torso were white, pale flesh transitioned to black as her neck and limbs were soot-colored with crimson vessels travelling down her seemingly charred limbs, the ends of her legs covered in black-steel high heels while the remnants of her armored shoulder gloves were snugly wrapped around her upper arms and thighs, the cosmetic cracks on them also emitting a ghoulish red glow.

What was strange, however, was that this Princess had her armored gloves restored on her forearms and hands, but that detail was overshadowed by the shredded black dress which she usually wore, exposing her shoulders, abdomen, parts of her chest as well as her thighs and hips (entirely defeating the purpose of wearing clothes).

And whenever this Princess didn't wear panties, this led to the occasional occurrence of the scantily-clad Princess shamelessly flashing their breasts and private parts to everyone in the midst of combat, taking advantage of inexperienced ship girls looking away out of modesty and embarrassment in order to beat them senseless, since those social concepts were foreign to the Abyssals, who could practically double as nudists in their free time.

However, this one was at least wearing black low-rise panties, but her Beast was the one which Kaga's attention was drawn to, being a hippogriff whose body was made out of Abyssal steel, and metal plates stuck out from its body at odd angles to form a pair of wings, along with thrusters on its aft as well as a cockpit seat on its back.

Kaga noticed that the Beast, true to legend, had the front body of an eagle with the rear of a horse, and although it was purely made out of steel, it cooed and dug its rear heels into the platform like a living creature, Kaga noticing the missiles that were attached to its wings and on its flank along with machine gun barrels protruding and aiming forwards, thinking morbidly to herself.

' _Is this Beast… capable of transforming?_

 _Have my fears come true, that the Abyssals are about to attack us on the land and in the sky?'_

But she ignored the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon's taunts, asking her why they were even invited here in the first place, if all they were going to do was to spectate a hydrogen bomb detonation.

"What's your reason for inviting us here?

The hydrogen bomb was a pretty sight, but there must be some other reason why we were called here, to the point of dropping specific names."

The Aircraft Carrier Water Demon nodded, hogging the attention from the unusually silent Aircraft Carrier Princess as she began introductions.

[Of course, but I believe we must first introduce ourselves to avoid being called 'her' or 'it'.

This here's Cynthia, and this is her Beast, Simurgh!

I'm Lorelei, and I possess four Beasts, Cetus, Bahamut, Tiamat and Leviathan!]

Everyone (save for Saratoga) whipped their heads around to face Lorelei, the Demon looking smug at the amount of attention she was getting since it was inconceivable that any Abyssal boss unit could possess more than one Beast, and even those Beasts which had two heads were bizarrely connected to one body, and that was already pushing it.

Hiryuu echoed everyone's thoughts as she exclaimed disbelievingly,

"That's impossible!

It's well-established that one Princess or Demon goes with one Beast, and that isn't going to change anytime soon!"

But Lorelei instead countered,

[But it's been awhile since our inception, and ten years has certainly qualified as the 'anytime soon' in your statement.

As a demonstration, why don't I show you mine?

Boys!]

And as if on cue, Kaga felt two enormous Abyssal signatures rising from beneath the sea, being treated to the incredible sight of two titanic Beasts performing the whale-like act of breaching, except that this was done in order to display their size to the bewildered 6th Fleet.

Even when she was overwhelmed by the stupor which accompanied the incredible sighting of Abyssal Beasts whose size eclipsed that of any existing Beast (except the island Beast; that was insane), Kaga gauged that one was estimated to be close to 20 meters long while the other was about 15 meters, making Kaga fear for her life.

To think that one ship girl could easily be swallowed whole by one of these sea monsters, and they had been sailing the oceans while the ship girls were still blissfully ignorant of their existence…

It looked unlike any existing sea animal of today save for the blue whale in terms of size, one looked like the Beast of the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon, itself just a monster-esque head with weapon attachments, but it now had a body recreated in steel with four paddle-shaped limbs for underwater maneuvers, the mammoth size of their open jaws a little over two meters in length and could swallow an adult human whole under the right circumstances.

Throwing up droplets of seawater which reflected the afternoon sun as makeshift prisms and made for quite the spectacle, they made quite the splash as they landed, each throwing up an entire swimming pool's worth of seawater which could outright pull a fleet under, and their moaning cries were not unlike that made by whales, almost akin to yawns of colossal beasts who found it a chore to move anywhere.

Lorelei was the only one present who clapped for them with all the enthusiasm of a soccer mum applauding her child who was performing brilliantly on the field, seemingly shouting to no one in particular.

[Nice synchronized breach, Tiamat, Cetus!]

Kaga could feel that her mouth was agape, but after witnessing such a sight as well as being forced to acknowledge that a Demon before her had four Beasts, of which she had caught a glimpse of two, she felt that the circumstances more than warranted it.

It was too jarring of a paradigm shift for the 6th Fleet, and Hiryuu best exemplified their sentiments as she was forced to eat her words and could only utter a horrified,

"Ah… uhh…"

Lorelei nodded as she likely expected them to be terrified yet awed by her babies, puffing out her chest and stretching the fabric of her bikini as she boasted.

[My Tiamat is a Mosasaurus and my Cetus is a Kronosaurus.

Aside from Sakawa's island-turtle Beast, my Beasts are the largest to ever exist, hence their names!]

Kaga recovered enough to snap out of her stupor as she asked warily, connecting the dots in her mind all the while.

[So that island-sized blip on the map was Sakawa's Beast, and she was the one who fired the ICBM, which led to…]

Lorelei nodded, looking relieved to find out that the ship girls were realizing how screwed they were by boasting about their capabilities, since the Abyssals had the upper hand now.

[Yep!

I bet you'll all be sworn to secrecy when you go back to your base, but I'll tell you this now, just because our superiors allow us to do so.

Those who survive a certain life-threatening procedure will receive significant upgrades whose potency lies beyond your comprehension, drawing more power from our souls in order to fuel said upgrades which effectively double as superpowers.

What prevents everyone from getting said powers is how we intend to keep this within a small group of tightly-controlled units, and how if you die in said process…]

Lorelei formed a L-shaped gun with her thumb, index and middle fingers, putting the tip of her fingers into her mouth before miming killing herself, everyone grimacing at the thought of permanently dying and leaving everyone behind, Kaga starting to sweat as she watched Lorelei continue on, apparently being more and more consumed in sharing declassified information with them.

That was good.

The most helpful enemies were the talkative or the gloating ones, the kind which spilled their own side's information and were the most likely ones to monologue about their evil plans.

The Abyssals were superhuman, but even they weren't perfect, and the more assured they were about their victory, the looser their lips were.

[It's a game of Russian Roulette, and I came out on top along with Cynthia here, which is why we form a new Abyssal boss unit in order to face a new age of warfare.

Joint-Offensive Abyssal Newtype, or J.O.A.N., as we call our own kind, those who are fated to receive upgrades that are powerful beyond measure.

Seems fitting that we name our unit after a girl who was burnt at the stake while her own country discarded her after she was no longer of use.

After all, we too, have been abandoned as and when it seemed convenient, and we're back to smother the world in a sea of fire for shafting us.

And of course we understand the 'they've gotten better' and 'not all humans are like that' argument, and know that we simply don't care, so please don't come to us with such trite justifications, please.]

Kaga found it somewhat funny that Lorelei was oblivious to the fact that the female warrior in question worked for a higher power, while the Abyssals came from a place down below which could be seen as an allusion to Hell (she was even called a Demon, for crying out loud), but she kept those thoughts to herself as she stated politely.

"You speak of such upgrades which grant you extraordinary powers, but please help us understand what they are exactly.

Assuming that you possess a mental link with your Beasts, my guess is that your ability is to control more Beasts than usual thanks to your extra mental computing powers, or something along those lines."

Lorelei nodded, humming.

[Mmhmm.]

Akagi took her turn to speak as she made an intelligent guess as to Sakawa's powers, trying to figure this whole business out.

"And is Sakawa's ability to fire ICBMs at any location she desires?

Excuse me, but we're new to all this talk about upgrades and 'powers'."

Lorelei shook her head, appearing quite understanding of their plight as she denied.

[Not quite, but because of her powers, she has quite the bond with her Beast Jasconius, who is the one actually firing the ICBM.

So in some sense, yes and no?

We may be allowed to speak with you all, but there are some things we're explicitly told not to divulge, like everyone else's powers, in order to maintain secrecy.

After all, wouldn't want to reveal all our surprises too soon, hmm?]

Souryuu asked a question about their powers, having found it within herself to ask why they didn't seem intent on using them until now.

"If you had all this power at your fingertips, then why didn't you use it all to crush us at the Battle of Twelve Navies?

Why let us win at all?"

Lorelei didn't hesitate to drop the truth on them as her smile widened uncomfortably, a sadistic glee being reflected in her eyes as she did so.

[Simply because we could.

After all, like our 'glorious leader' once said, only when there is hope can there exist the possibility for despair.

It'll be worth it to throw a battle and allow you all to see the light, just to see that hope shatter like glass and give way to despair when we run you over like a freight train.]

Zuikaku huffed, Kaga turning around to find that Saratoga had curled up into a shivering ball and was sobbing on the floor, and Zuikaku was seething as her expression contorted into a scowl, getting up from beside Saratoga in order to shout at Lorelei, her voice practically screeching in fury.

"You mean you could've killed us at any time?

 _Then why keep us alive, bitches?!_

 _What kind of sick game are you playing, to torment a vastly outnumbered and outgunned foe by letting them think they can win?_

Lorelei shrugged, looking nonchalant about the orders she received as she carried them out with zeal and efficiency, and from what Kaga could understand about people like Lorelei, they definitely carried it out with more zeal than anyone else.

[That's the consensus of the top brass, to let you all roast as we tighten the noose around you with what comes next.

This plan's called Apocalypse, and although we're not supposed to give details away, we can at least say that we'll be turning up the heat.

Ten years really allows us to improve our arsenal by leaps and bounds, although I definitely won't be revealing anything more regarding that topic ~ ]

Kaga's expression fell as she recited the ominous name of the Abyssals' plan and what it likely entailed from the title alone.

"'Apocalypse', hmm…"

Hiryuu's expression was creased with palpable concern, expressing compassion for the enemy as she muttered.

"Then, all those Abyssals whose lives were lost in the Battle of Twelve Navies…

Did they mean nothing to you?"

Lorelei shrugged nonchalantly, dominating the conversation in lieu of the wallflower that was Cynthia as she answered.

[Oh, don't worry too much about that.

We had the doctrine that 'lives are as light as feathers, duty is as heavy as a mountain' yadda yadda.

They experimented with many fodder units before they made the process safe… er?

Anyone beneath a battleship, and even Princesses further down this bloody road, were to be used and discarded like tissue paper when convenient.

Besides, powers are cool, but we _really_ had to luck out by getting really powerful ones in preparation for Apocalypse, otherwise we'd simply used as modernization fodder for those who were lucky enough to get better ones.

It's kinda like cannibalism, without having to actually eat someone.]

Zuikaku winced, her expression scrunching up in what appeared to be disgust as she asked.

"So, even if you manage to survive the procedure which grants you this power-up - "

[Which is _almost_ entirely luck-based, since it's based on countless factors that are beyond even our control.]

Lorelei interjected, and Zuikaku's expression morphed into full-blown disgust as she reeled back, unable to wrap her mind around how lightly Abyssals treated their own lives.

"Then… how can you take such risks easily, when you have to survive what amounts to _two_ Russian Roulettes with your lives on the line?"

Lorelei shrugged, holding her arms out in a 'what'chu gonna do' pose as she answered lackadaisically.

[We're not bound by petty sentiment and earthly attachments like you are.

At least, not most of us.

It helps that we had a lot of test subjects to cast a wide net, and then amongst the pool of survivors with various powers, we just begin evaluating the worth of their class and newfound powers combined, and start with the downsizing…]

Kaga understood how the morbid and costly selection process worked now, walking up to face Lorelei along with Zuikaku as she spoke.

"The winds of war are shifting.

You all have prepared naval and aerial war vehicles to match those of humankind as evidenced in the Battle of Twelve Navies, and my guess is that Cynthia and Simurgh over here are just one of several J.O.A.N. pairs to oversee the next phase of the Abyssal War."

Lorelei nodded, a knowing grin being plastered on her face as she congratulated.

[Yes, yes.

Now you're starting to see the full picture.

Land and air invasions are so restrictive in that we can't bring our armor, cannons and weapons along, so we had to compensate for the lack of firepower somehow, no?]

Akagi walked up and left Hiryuu and Souryuu with the task of watching over a recovering Saratoga, asking tersely.

"Why are you telling us all this?

True, it mostly works to demoralize our side, but if you're to let us know of this, we'd definitely attempt to catch up by attempting the procedure in question and make the appropriate countermeasures - "

But Lorelei shrugged, still feeling confident about their odds as she answered.

[And that would prompt us to respond by upgrading our arsenal to overcome those countermeasures.

War isn't always about a one-sided domination match, not when you ship girls actually put up a good fight.

It wouldn't be fair to steamroll you all, we must allow you some breathing room for you all to plan a counterattack and fight back before we retaliate with another wave of attacks.

Besides, it isn't in your nature to give in; it's to fight on like the dutiful soldiers we all are.]

Zuikaku narrowed her eyes, asking accusingly.

"So you expect us to die?"

Lorelei shrugged yet again as she retorted,

[No, well, yes, you'll all have to be killed eventually.

But before then, we expect you to suffer.]

Zuikaku asked, likely hoping to try their luck by asking a tongue-in-cheek question.

"And I suppose it's a little too much to ask for you to reveal all your evil plans for world domination to your helpless captives?"

Lorelei looked bemused by that obvious attempt to get her to reveal more than what she was willing to share, her attempt at a lighthearted grin coming off more as a slasher smile as she retorted.

[Well, as they say…

'If I told you, I'd have to kill you.'

Besides, we've divulged more than enough information for you to mount your counter-offensive, and if you can't do even that, then I'd be _sorely_ disappointed.]

Kaga was a little disappointed on the inside, but she didn't expect the Abyssals to spoon feed them anything other than declassified information and jeopardize their own odds of victory in the process, especially not when they were at war.

She then looked over at Cynthia, who was busy with keeping her hippogriff Simurgh company, and since she had fought this Princess's doppelganger before, she dared to ask why this J.O.A.N. unit seemed so different.

"I've fought with Aircraft Carrier Demons and Princesses before, so I know that she has quite the fiery personality.

This… Cynthia does not seem to share that personality trait, and seems quite subdued."

Everyone turned back to look at Cynthia as the Princess lifted her gaze when her name was dropped before looking back down at Simurgh, tenderly scratching its beak as the Beast huffed in a pleased manner.

Lorelei shrugged as she turned to look at her own partner, elaborating.

[I don't really know the specifics myself, since they just lumped me together with her and designated us as partners.

Maybe something went wrong when she was crafted, maybe she grew out of that rebellious emo phase, maybe the procedure messed her mind up, no one's certain.

One thing everyone agrees on is that she's a lot more tolerable like this, even if holding a conversation with her's tough, and trust me, I've done everything in my power to get an emotional rise out of her, although know that she's certainly anything but a pushover in battle.]

Cynthia, feeling that the spotlight was now shifted onto her, quickly looked at Kaga and Zuikaku before looking down again, shocking everyone as she spoke in an unusually meek voice, to the point of almost being creepy to those who had crossed paths with her normal doppelgangers.

[You don't need to worry about God striking you down from above.

When Apocalypse comes to fruition, my wrath and Beast will do the job just fine.]

Lorelei pulled back, exaggerating her response as she held her arms out and hooted,

[Oh shit! Oh shit!

The bitch talked, and not just that, she taunted the ship girls!

Mom, get the camera!]

Kaga was transfixed by how serene Cynthia looked, the Princess looking down in order not to meet anyone's gaze as she continued, sounding as if every word was weighed in her mind before being uttered and thus allowed her to avoid wasting her breath.

[Do you know that in war-torn countries, people despise blue skies and instead welcome grey skies, since bombing runs cannot be carried out in bad weather?

In time, I will teach you to look up to the blue sky, not in hope, but in constant fear and paranoia, the fear of being struck down from above without rhyme or reason by me, the Grim Reaper who managed to grow wings.

When I'm done, the skies… will no longer be your domain.]

Lorelei jumped Cynthia as she wrapped her arm around a slouching Cynthia's shoulders, a manic grin gracing her face and contrasting with Cynthia's sullen expression as the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon responded.

[Aw, she's opening up to her playmates!

I'm so proud of you, Cynthia!]

Kaga inexplicably managed to sympathize with Cynthia as she understood how, as a more introverted ship girl, she was sometimes overshadowed by the more extroverted personalities of Akagi and Junyou, amongst others.

Cynthia finally managed to slip out of Lorelei's embrace as she skulked over to her Beast, who was now becoming quite restless as it lowered its head to allow its master to mount the seat which was on the nape of its neck.

She mounted Simurgh's back and sat down where the jet fighter seat was located, Simurgh screeching and coughing out flames as it took to the air with a flap of its magnificent wings which spanned over four meters from tip to tip, nearly blowing a stunned Kaga, Akagi and Zuikaku away as it felt like a whirlwind had hit them full-force, Simurgh's poised limbs launching itself into the air while the thrusters pointed downward as they fired, its four limbs being lifted clean off the ground and shocking the six bird carriers present.

Screeching again as Cynthia maintained her hold on her own Beast, Simurgh flapped its wings again and forced the ship girls to shield their faces from the resulting air wave with their arms, performing a back-flip once it got to a certain altitude in order to transform into a jet fighter.

Kaga recognized it as a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 jet fighter from reading so many aviation magazines, her narrowed eyes widening as best they could to witness the sight of Simurgh transforming, its eagle-like wings assembling into swept-back aviation wings much like a spread fan snapping closed while its head and neck formed the nose and cockpit around Cynthia, the rest of the body forming the fuselage for its folding limbs to assemble into the jet fighter's undercarriage.

With stabilizers now in place, missiles prominently displayed beneath its wings and its J.O.A.N. unit safely tucked in its cockpit, the Sukhoi-Su 27 blasted off as soon as its nose flipped up and its cockpit laid pretty much parallel to the ocean before blasting off, allowing the ship girls to eat its dust as they were forced to shield their faces and press down their skirts against the mighty gale.

Lorelei laughed all the while Zuikaku and Akagi hacked and coughed, Kaga pressing the cloth that was covering her elbow to her nose in order to focus on the Lorelei's words as the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon sported a shit-eating grin.

[Ahahaha!

The next time we meet, it'll be on the battlefield, and you'd better bring a bigger boat then!]

Before saluting them and jumping off the platform in order to perform a swan dive into the sea, joining her Beasts as one of them, Kaga couldn't tell which, performed a surface-level breach as its master hit the ocean in order to allow them one last peek at its glistening, titanic form before submerging again while its yawning cry sounded out like a foghorn, throwing an entire pool of seawater all over the 6th Fleet as they were soaked from head to toe by the mini-tidal wave.

After sputtering and hacking in order to clear the stinging salt water from her airways while shivering due to the drastic drop in body temperature thanks to her drenched clothes, she rushed over to the edge of the platform in order to watch the wake of the infernal Beast swirl and pit like a whirlpool of certain death, ready to pull under any unfortunate ship girls caught within it as she began reevaluating their odds of victory.

So far, it was on a suicidal downward spiral, and she hadn't the faintest idea as to how they were to change its trajectory.

* * *

Shimakaze had been around long enough to learn to keep her cool and thoroughly consider her 'fight or flight' instincts, as well as the pros and cons of both choices.

But right now, after witnessing the thermonuclear explosion which occurred over the horizon and would have incinerated her fleet had it not been for the bubble shield around them, which withstood the brunt of the blast and heat wave which engulfed the platform and vaporized the ocean surface, Shimakaze was fully ready to indulge in her 'flight' response and hightail it out of there.

But the world decided to throw her another curve-ball.

Two red comets streaked across the sea in their direction and was moving faster than any known naval vessel in the Abyssal War, Sendai protectively covering them as she stood before them and held out her admittedly trembling hands, ordering.

"Back! _Back!"_

While the 2nd Fleet crowded behind the light cruiser, Shimakaze suddenly getting this sinking feeling in her gut and heart, as if she had an inkling of who was coming for her.

It was making her feel as if the world's hatred was bearing down on her, and as if the skeletons weren't just crawling out of her closet, they were jumping out and making a beeline for her.

She cowered behind Yuudachi and Hatsushimo, who empathized her uneasiness and stood before her defensively, and even though Shimakaze could see that they were also afraid of what was coming, they stood by her faithfully, Yuudachi shakily reassuring Shimakaze as best she could.

"It's alright, Shimakaze.

We'll protect you with our lives."

Shimakaze cringed from hearing that, but before she could say anything, the red comet in question slowed down before performing a jumping front flip, the brilliant red streak dissipating into licks of crimson flames while a whirlwind of red, black, white appeared, slamming down on the platform and causing it to shake a little due to the Beast's weight.

Shimakaze, looking over Yuudachi's shoulder, widened her eyes as her breathing stopped at the sight of Amatsukaze standing before her, her snow-white hair, pale skin and flaming-red eyes a clear indicator of her current allegiance as she looked far older than she was supposed to, Shimakaze assuming that the Abyssals artificially aged her in order to boost her physique.

Her limbs were replaced by black steel prosthetics with sharp edges and seemed to mirror the designs of plated armor, steel being melded with flesh at her upper arms and thighs.

Her steel limbs hissed as the air around Amatsukaze warped due to the heat haze, and she wasn't wearing much except for steel plates which were custom-molded to partially cover her nether regions like a thong, exposing far more skin than her ship girl counterpart as she had stylized steel strips lining her abdomen and wrapping beneath her grown breasts while steel plates covered her hips.

The few things which were carried over from her old uniform were her black suspenders and garter straps being connected to her steel panties, her sailor collar with the float pin (which held it together) resting on her cleavage as her black mini tank-top left both her shoulders exposed, her chimney hairpin and hair bands which tied up her hair in twin-tails being made out of black steel while jagged-red Tron lines were etched into the parts of her body which were steel, decorating her steel panties, limbs and even her metallic hair bands.

Her Beast was a cheetah which was crafted with Abyssal steel, streamlined for speed as flames roared from its shoulders and hips where its limbs joined to its main body and where four spinning, flaming tires were located, its paws and tail similarly burning while its red, predatory eyes were narrow slits and its body packed toned muscles which could explode in a burst of speed.

There were also strange items attached onto its body, like windshields, headlights, tires, leather seats, rear-view mirrors and more, Shimakaze feeling quite confused as to why this was the case, but she didn't have enough time to consider these questions as she heard Amatsukaze's new voice cut through the air, and there was a hollowness to her voice, like a computer synthesizer which attempted to mimic a human being's voice but lacked its natural warmth and humanity, turning it into something uncannily creepy.

[Well, we meet again, ship girls of Yokosuka.

Some new faces, some old faces, but greetings all the same.

And hi… _Shimakaze.]_

Shimakaze felt herself practically shriveling up from the hatred dripping from her voice upon calling her name, confirming her suspicion that this was likely the same Amatsukaze who sank in order to protect her, if the prosthetic limbs weren't enough of a hint.

Sendai felt the killing intent needling one of her ship girls, forming a perimeter with Furutaka and Chitose as the light cruiser stood before Shimakaze, Hatsushimo and Yuudachi Sendai and whipped something out, Shimakaze suspecting that it was probably her Anti-Abyssal knife which she carried around and used in dire occasions, this being one of them since none of them had their riggings with them, Sendai warning in a firm voice.

"Don't try anything funny!

I don't care if you were one of us, I won't hesitate to cut you down if you harm my teammates!"

Amatsukaze's eyebrows creased as she leaned in to inspect the blade, asking inquisitively.

[Hmm, interesting.

You think you're capable of even hurting me with that dinky little combat knife in your hand?]

Sendai's strained voice inexplicably managed to stay composed even when the cheetah Beast loomed closer than ever, Shimakaze feeling absolutely terrified of the situation and ashamed that she was using her teammate as a security blanket against the first ship girl she considered a true sister ship, and was sunk as a result of her own mistakes.

"Yes.

I don't know if you're going to try anything, but when your aura is so malevolent and is directed at one of my comrades, you can't expect me to simply step aside and allow you to hurt her, right?"

What happened next barely registered in Shimakaze's mind.

Amatsukaze blurred, and Sendai's entire body was spun around as though in a front flip as Amatsukaze disarmed Sendai with frightening ease, Sendai's back hitting the floor with a solid _thud_ which made the 2nd Fleet wince, and the Anti-Abyssal dagger was in Amatsukaze's hand as she lifted it above Sendai's head like a Sword of Damocles, before dropping it with nary a care in the world.

Hatsushimo and Yuudachi were late to respond due to the overwhelming fright which paralyzed them while Furutaka and Chitose were too far away to catch it, but Shimakaze, with her speedy reflexes and her concern for her comrade outweighing her fear of being struck down by Amatsukaze and her Beast, shot out and caught the downward-pointing knife which was headed for Sendai's head, feeling the solid plastic making up the handle of Sendai's Anti-Abyssal knife, looking up at Amatsukaze.

She saw that Amatsukaze held nothing but contempt for her as it was reflected in her crimson stare, the grown Kagerou-Class destroyer's flaming eyes emitting flames of a fiercer intensity and color than her hate as Amatsukaze retorted.

[Still got those killer reflexes, Shimakaze?

Too bad it didn't stop me from having to cover your screw-up on the field with my life, hmm?]

Sendai scrambled to her feet just as the entirety of the 2nd Fleet recoiled at the Abyssal's aura flaring up, the grudge-filled hatred seeping out from her pores as Shimakaze uttered, unable to disguise the fear which lined her voice, but it wasn't as if she wanted to hide what she truly felt when speaking to what amounted to a ghost.

"Y-Yeah.

It's gotten better, though."

[Hmm.

How much better, though? Enough to save your teammates?

Or yourself, at the very least?]

Shimakaze didn't manage to see anything other than a afterimage of where Amatsukaze previously stood, with streaks of hell fire being the only indicators of where she went before she felt the same killing intent being emitted from behind her, her eyes widening in genuine fright at what the destroyer was now capable of, whirling around as she felt her hair whip around as a result.

Amatsukaze was standing right behind her, looking down upon them all as she caught Sendai's rising clockwise kick as well as Shimakaze's right-handed punch, stopping both their blows before spinning around to face away from them as she crossed the arms which held their limbs and tossed them over her shoulders, and although Shimakaze was unable to prevent herself from being lifted off the ground as she felt an ache shoot up her shoulder joint, as she was projected to land on her back, she was at least able to slam her feet down on the platform while Sendai slapped her hands down to prevent her back from touching the floor again, as she looked up at Amatsukaze's face, which was beginning to break out into something resembling a sadistic grin.

Shimakaze twisted around in order to break free of Amatsukaze's grip, which the Kagerou-Class destroyer allowed but instead let the cheetah Beast take its place, tackling a recovering Sendai to the floor and roared in her face, Shimakaze torn between trying to help a terrified Sendai or assisting Hatsushimo, Yuudachi, Furutaka and Chitose as Amatsukaze toyed with them by evading their moves with ease through sheer speed.

Eventually, Amatsukaze seemed to become bored of this one-sided exchange as she lowered her body to the ground while she spun around, sticking her right foot out and inexplicably producing flames from it as she performed a sweep with her leg to break off the 2nd Fleet's harmless bare-handed offensive, raising her voice,

 _[ENOUGH!]_

As everyone jumped back, taken aback at the display of hitherto unknown powers as Amatsukaze's Beast looked up at the bulk of the 2nd Fleet and roared, unleashing a shock-wave which silenced any naysayers who tried to continue the fight, Shimakaze witnessing a horrified Sendai squirming beneath the Beast's paws which rested on her right shoulder and left upper arm and pinned her down.

Amatsukaze formed a T-sign with her steel arms, looking bored of the opponents she was facing off against as she spoke,

[Alright, alright.

That little fight was fun, but it's now time to talk business.

Not that any of you would provide anything resembling a challenge, especially since all of you are unremodeled and don't possess powers…]

Shimakaze squinted in confusion, but she noted that the Beast released its hold on Sendai before slinking over to its master, Amatsukaze tenderly patting it as she began the conversation anew, eyeballing Sendai in the process as Shimakaze helped the supine light cruiser up and passed Sendai back her own Anti-Abyssal knife.

[Before we were so duly interrupted, I just wanted to introduce myself and my Beast.

I'm Amatsukaze, formerly a Kagerou-Class destroyer and now a Joint-Offensive Abyssal Newtype, or J.O.A.N. unit, and this here's my Beast, Sekhmet.

I wanted to explain how every single one of you, not just in Yokosuka or Japan but the entire world, was going to burn in a sea of fire before demonstrating my powers for a little bit of irony, but since we've got that order got cocked up by you all, never mind then.]

Yuudachi exclaimed, looking terribly afraid yet undeniably curious about how the Abyssal, who would have been her comrade had things gone differently that fateful day, now possessed powers beyond their comprehension, daring to speak up and ask innocently.

"H-How did you move so fast?

And how is it that you are able to move faster than anyone else has before?"

Amatsukaze got up and demonstrated her powers, her prosthetic arm now producing flames on her palm shortly before extinguishing it, elaborating on her powers without giving away specifics, since they were ultimately on different sides of the war.

[My power's the ability to manipulate fire via technological means, and the Abyssals took this one step further by building prosthetic arms so that I could channel my fire-bending powers into boosting me forward, granting me super speed as well.

I wouldn't go so far as to thank you for allowing me this chance to become more than my weak little ship girl self will ever be, Shimakaze, but I'll at least be the better Abyssal to say that I _credit_ you for it.]

Salt in wound.

That was all that ever was, rubbing more salt in Shimakaze's emotional wound, a tried-and-true tactic of the Abyssals who possessed the ability to dredge up past memories and haunt those whom they deemed responsible, since armor, no matter how thick it was, could never hope to shield attacks to one's heart and psyche.

And it was working.

Sendai narrowed her eyes, wanting to know the point of the meetup besides allowing Amatsukaze the chance to rub Shimakaze's failure in her face.

"So aside from tormenting my teammate and friend for her past failure, was there a specific reason you called out our fleet in particular?

I-I mean, the hydrogen bomb was a pretty sight, and I suppose meeting you was quite… enlightening, to know that you're still alive and kicking."

Amatsukaze shrugged as she answered,

[Well, I personally requested to meet you all and see Shimakaze again, but since we're here, I'll make small talk.

Not that I'm gonna reveal anything sensitive or classified, certainly wouldn't want to get in trouble with Yuubari.

So ask away.]

Hatsushimo took the stage by asking about the J.O.A.N. unit classification.

"Wait, so you said that you're a J.O.A.N. unit, but what exactly is that?

You mean that you're what comes next after the Abyssal Princesses?"

Amatsukaze nodded, elaborating on their nature as uniquely-designed boss units to be mobilized on a different battlefield than the Princesses, who ruled the oceans.

[Well, not exactly.

We were created with every intention of being sent on land and leading the invasion against mankind, but retain certain amphibious capabilities.

To that end, we've reduced our weight for the sake of improving mobility on land, and our Beasts can transform into vehicles to cross great distances via land or air.]

Shimakaze connected the dots in her mind as she observed Sekhmet, everything falling together like a puzzle with all the seemingly disconnected pieces coming together to form a coherent picture in her mind.

And along with it came a tidal wave which was filled with unbridled terror at what was about to come next, Shimakaze's mind threatening to melt upon trying to consider the fact that everyone she knew was at risk.

Amatsukaze continued, feeling as if she was on a roll by overwhelming her audience with a flood of naked truth, smirking as she did so.

[As evidenced by the mushroom cloud, me and my colleagues possess powers beyond that which any of you ship girls could hope to possess, and we're more than ready to unleash our combined might on mankind.

To deliver death from the sea and and sky, that is our goal.

Our vision is to bring about Hell on Earth in the form of our plan called Apocalypse and make you all suffer as we raze everything to the ground, and we will stop at nothing in order to achieve that.]

Furutaka gawked, unable to wrap her head around the fact that Amatsukaze was going to be a tool of destruction for the Abyssals despite retaining her memories of being a ship girl, which meant that the Abyssals' indoctrination process was incomplete.

"What?!

How are you able to retain your memories, yet side with the Abyssals?

Isn't there some part of you which sees something wrong with what you're doing right now?"

Amatsukaze shrugged, not appearing to lose any sweat over the fact that she was going against her old comrades as she answered.

[To my knowledge, we were created with a radical shift in personality to dissociate ourselves from our shitty pasts.

So right now, Shimakaze's just a bitch who fucked my past self over, and although I might possess some similar personality traits to my her, it would be more appropriate to see me as a reincarnation, not a resurrection of my past self who can look at my past memories from an analytical perspective while maintaining my allegiance to the Abyssals.]

Chitose then asked,

"So then…

Must we really come to blows?

Is there really no way to help you move on from your hatred of Shimakaze-san?"

Amatsukaze shrugged, pointing out how her fate was intertwined with Shimakaze's and how she was the reason why Amatsukaze sank.

[Shimakaze was the reason why I sank, and was also why I came back.

A large chunk of my existence is devoted to either tormenting and hurting Shimakaze or killing ship girls and humans; carrying out the latter helps to accomplish the former, so it's a win-win situation.]

Hatsushimo then asked, taking her turn to play the game of 20 Questions with Amatsukaze since they might never get another chance like this again.

"And since you're about to invade the mainland, can I assume that you'd have several more J.O.A.N. units in reserve to take on the world's militaries and air forces?

I mean, assuming we get deployed on land with Anti-Abyssal weapons, you all need more than just a handful J.O.A.N. units to bear the burden?

And let me guess, you're far from the strongest?"

Another shrug was all that used to foreshadow her answer, Amatsukaze answering vaguely in order not to reveal anything classified as she gave a non-answer.

[Maybe, maybe not.

But then, today's focus isn't about them, it's about us all.]

Amatsukaze shifted her eyes to look over at the 2nd Fleet, remarking idly as one would about the weather as her eyes dilated in excitement.

[You know, we were given the orders to not attack unless attacked, in which case we were allowed to retaliate with lethal force, and the reason why I didn't was that aside from the lack of a challenge, it would create a mess for the lower-ranked Abyssals to clean if I were to soil this platform with your blood.

Don't you all feel lucky?]

Shimakaze felt quite disgusted at the insinuation that their lives, which would naturally be treated with less worth by the enemy, was now pretty much equivalent to the dirt underneath one's boot and would only cause problems for the cleaners should Amatsukaze waste her effort and time by choosing to step on them, creating a lose-lose situation in her twisted worldview.

Amatsukaze looked down as she scratched the bottom of Sekhmet's lower jaw, in which caused the sizable Beast, which was slightly larger than a fully-grown tiger, to relax as its demeanor softened and plopped its steel hind onto the platform like an obedient dog, its eyes narrowing in a pleased manner while it stretched its body out and perfectly mimicked the mannerisms of a feline.

Amatsukaze shot the wary Shimakaze-Class destroyer an aside glance as she retorted.

[Don't worry, Shimakaze.

With enough effort, I believe you might be able to get a glimpse of my afterimage before I'm done with you.

You may have been created in order to succeed me, but know that I will _always_ be number one, Shimakaze.]

Hatsushimo came to aid Shimakaze as soon as Amatsukaze's insults got personal, Shimakaze feeling thankful for her sister ships coming to her rescue.

"Hey, man!

You can't blame it all on Shimakaze, she makes mistakes sometimes, like we all do!"

Amatsukaze's gaze shifted as she turned to face them, looking at Yuudachi, Hatsushimo and Shimakaze before her eyes lit up in comprehension, stretching her cheeks out in a devilish smile as she taunted.

[Ah, so might these be your new sister ships which you've made in order to alleviate your loneliness of being the only ship in your class?

Don't you know that in war, forming more bonds with others without gaining the strength to protect them puts you at more risk of losing them?

For example, I could stretch out…]

Before blurring again, the 2nd Fleet's members spinning around to see that the Abyssal inexplicably had Yuudachi in her grasp, and even the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer took a while to register the fact that she was being choked by the Abyssal destroyer who appeared like before her in a flash, struggling to break free as her mouth opened and gasped for air like a goldfish out of water.

Amatsukaze finished her threat as everyone tensed up for combat, unsure of their odds in beating a J.O.A.N. unit in their very first encounter without their riggings.

[ … and I could crush every single one of you like the delicate flowers you are in my steel palms.

And there is nothing you can do to stop me.]

Throwing Yuudachi to the floor, Shimakaze and Hatsushimo rushed over to the hacking and wheezing Yuudachi who was splayed all over the floor while Sekhmet prowled around them, now back to posing and growling menacingly at who it saw as its enemies, Amatsukaze looking down at the destroyer trio as she addressed Shimakaze, her voice devoid of warmth or compassion.

[I'm not going to kill you, Shimakaze.

I'm going to target the members of your fleet and tear them from your life like one would the wings from a dragonfly, leaving you writhing in pain on the ground, helpless and grounded like I was back then.]

Shimakaze couldn't take the hateful insults and the snide comments about her screw-up and how every one of her teammates and honorary sisters were going to suffer for it even after all this time, whipping her head around as her voice became strained due to feeling genuinely threatened by Amatsukaze's threat of taking her sisters and friends away from her.

" _What the fuck is wrong with you?!_

If you want to say sorry, then I'm sorry!

I really am!

But I beg of you, Amatsukaze, please don't bring everyone else into this!"

Amatsukaze cocked her head, her eyes narrowing as she gave some background as to what happened to her for her to get these powers, at a heavy price.

[Hmm…

You _did_ make me go through a lot when I was in their captivity.

They did toy with my spine and the cross-sections of my limbs by pressing and prodding around with it not just to torture and break me, but also to find which nerves were connected to my four limbs as well as to accelerate the speed which nerve impulses ran up and down them.]

The 2nd Fleet's expressions morphed from simmering anger and disdain into ones of raw horror and disgust, Shimakaze hearing Chitose and Furutaka gasping as she saw out of the corner of her eye that the bird carrier clapped one hand over her mouth in terror, Amatsukaze clearly relishing every moment of witnessing their reactions as she continued with the morbid flashbacks.

[And then, not only did they remodel my body to be able to resist the effects of my own flames and test it out by roasting me alive, and making sure I could withstand the forces one's body would feel at super-speeds by subjecting me to crushing G-forces, and they finally opened up my skull in order to rewire and speed up the processing speed of my brain.

How could I _not_ desire taking my revenge, Shimakaze?!

 _IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU WHO SANK THAT DAY AND GOT SLICED UP LIKE A SLAB OF MEAT ON THAT OPERATING TABLE, NOT ME!]_

Amatsukaze roared as her expression soured significantly and her killing intent intensified threefold while she leaned forward, her scowl darkening drastically and her steel fingers twitched as the J.O.A.N. unit brought it up before her face and formed it into a claw which grabbed the air, miming wrapping her hands around and wringing Shimakaze's neck as Shimakaze shivered at how much pain the Kagerou-Class destroyer was subjected to because of her.

Amatsukaze continued in a seething voice as she lowered her head to allow a shadow to form over her face,

[The entire time, I thought of you.

I knew that you would pay your respects to me at my grave in hopes that I'd somehow find it within me to forgive you in the afterlife, while never really addressing the issue and do the only thing you do best in situations like this.

Run away, and never face the problem head-on.

After all, that's what you were built to be, right?]

And Yuudachi echoed a sentiment which was shared by Shimakaze and likely Hatsushimo as well, the blonde Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer yelling.

"You're wrong!

She's grown as a soldier and as a person, and she isn't the Shimakaze you know anymore!"

The tires on Sekhmet's body whirred and shot out flaming exhaust from its shoulders and hips, and Amatsukaze cracked her neck as her arms twitched uncannily, the flames revving up in intensity as they flowed out of her eyes like the flaming exhaust emitted by jet fighter afterburners, challenging Yuudachi's claim and raising the stakes as she sought to test it out on the 2nd Fleet.

[Really?

Then shall we bet all your lives on that very claim, and see if your confidence in lil' ol' Shimakaze is well-founded?

It sucks that this platform'll be soaked in your blood, but I'm pretty justified in taking my wrath out on you all when Sendai-san pulled a knife on me.]

She heard Sendai gulp nervously about having sealed the fate of her own fleet while Yuudachi started to falter in her convictions, uttering a taken aback,

"U-Umm…"

And although Shimakaze believed that her teammates wouldn't hesitate to die in order to protect her, it was because of this worrying fact which drove her into walking forward and standing before her fleet protectively, holding her arms out and putting her best game face on in spite of Amatsukaze's killing intent being focused solely on her and wishing her dead with every fiber of her being, speaking up in desperation.

"Amatsukaze, no one else has to die for my mistakes.

If you want to get to my friends, you'll have to go through me first."

Amatsukaze's killing intent softened a little, and Shimakaze's shaky and rapid breathing slowed down as Amatsukaze lowered her head and seemingly relaxed while she spoke.

[Well, seems like you're certainly no longer the ship girl I used to know.]

But before Shimakaze could react, the next thing she saw and felt was Amatsukaze's hand plunging into her chest, her eyes widening and a chill running up her spine as she grabbed onto the Abyssal's hand too late while she looked down and saw Amatsukaze's forearm disappear into her chest, gut-wrenching pain bombarding every cell and setting the nerves in her spine on fire while she slowly lost the feeling in her lower body, her wracked expression unable to form coherent words due to the sheer amount of agony coursing through her body.

She barely managed to roll her eyes up just as the echoes of her screaming friends faded from her mind as it was was numbed by the shock of the soul-crushing pain, Amatsukaze's prosthetic left arm pulling out and dislocating organ bits as it was drenched in Shimakaze's blood, a sneering expression plastered on the face of the Abyssal who was once so close to her as she whispered into her face, all while Shimakaze's own expression finally broke from the unrelenting pain which cracked her will and tested her tolerance for pain to the absolute limit.

[You've become so much _dumber_ than I remember.

Even after witnessing the difference in our power, you still refuse to run.

It would have been understandable to run away, and you instead throw yourself in front of danger for the sake of protecting your friends, who'll die by my hand anyway.

 _'Go through you'?_

I'll take you up on that offer.]

Pulling out and using her bloody hand to catch Sendai and Yuudachi's enraged kicks to her head and waist respectively, Amatsukaze addressed her calmly even as Shimakaze fell forward and collapsed onto the platform, barely registering Chitose sliding over to her side.

It was strange when she no longer felt her heartbeat resound through her body, Amatsukaze spinning on the spot to kick away a charging Hatsushimo, her spin allowing Sendai and Yuudachi to gain air time as they were eventually thrown to the side after being swung around clockwise, Sekhmet jumping a surprised but ready Furutaka as the cheetah Beast began mauling the Furutaka-Class heavy cruiser, Amatsukaze's prosthetic limbs igniting and boiling the blood staining its surface as the Abyssal J.O.A.N. unit wore a slasher smile while she looked down at a dying Shimakaze and narrated how she was going to make her suffer without causing any permanent casualties.

[Don't you worry, Shimakaze.

I won't sink a single one of them or cause irreparable damage, and I suppose I'll allow one of them to live in order to carry your corpses back.

But I know that the only way to make you take me seriously is to hurt your fleet, so I suppose the menu for tonight's meal is roasted ship girls.]

Shimakaze, in her dying moments, could only gawk at Amatsukaze as she felt her uniform get soaked in her own blood while it propagated across her platform, vainly reaching out a hand to try and stop Amatsukaze just as her vision blurred and started to fade to black due to the amount of blood lost by having a hole carved into her chest, muttering incoherently.

"Ama… tsu… ka - "

Just before the last few seconds of her memories were haunted by the hellish screams of her own comrades being tortured by the first ship girl whom she once related to as a sister, futilely attempting to will her body into action in order to save Hatsushimo and Yuudachi, the two ship girls whom she considered sisters, as well as the rest of the 2nd Fleet who fought and stood by her in the most dire of circumstances.

Her spirit sank as her mind blanked out from the pain and the shock of blood loss, Amatsukaze's taunt about her being weak ringing true all the while, unable to catch up to Amatsukaze or even manage to lift even a finger to stop the rampaging destroyer, the pain of loss resounding in her heart yet again and souring her last moments.

* * *

Admiral Mako had her face in her hands on the 31st of May as she spilled her woes to Admiral Jackson via face-cam, her Admiral cap thrown to one corner of her room in a fit of rage shortly before this.

The fleets which she sent reported speaking with various new Abyssal units with hitherto unknown powers, who were named J.O.A.N. to distinguish themselves from the existing Abyssal Princesses.

The detonation of the hydrogen bomb had done what pretty much everyone expected it to do, simply not to such an extent as to induce such paralyzing and hard-hitting panic attacks in both Nagato and Saratoga.

Nagato was claiming to have gotten over it, but knowing her for so long meant that Admiral Mako was able to see through her facade of normalcy and see that she was still shaken up by the hydrogen bomb detonation, although she was handling it well.

Not so for Saratoga.

The devastated carrier was temporarily admitted to the psyche ward of the naval base's hospital since she hadn't recovered from the shock like Nagato did, and her panic attack lasted for far longer and definitely had longer-lasting aftershocks in Saratoga's mind.

Chitose had been crying all the way home as she carried the badly-burnt corpses of the 2nd Fleet, and the bits of information the orderlies were able to coax out of the hysterical bird carrier painted the vague picture of Sendai pulling her Anti-Abyssal knife on Amatsukaze, which constituted as a breach of the agreed meetup terms and granted the Abyssal the opportunity to attack the 2nd Fleet in order to destroy them.

Akashi was the only one who reported having no problems with her meetup, and since she was on her way back to Yokosuka today instead of coming back yesterday immediately after the meetup, Admiral Mako suspected that her reunion with Yuubari was quite heated in more ways than one.

Her girls, if they weren't physically hurt, were psychologically scarred by the thermonuclear explosion which stuck in their minds as they were all hospitalized and scrubbed down to avoid exposing the base to radiation, little it may be due to a hydrogen bomb producing significantly lower amounts of harmful radiation than compared to the atomic bomb which was dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Right now, her base was in utter chaos as they were bombarded with external calls demanding to know what was going on while she had to work to quell the rumors which began to float around her base and was gaining traction due to the various strange occurrences happening in a span of several weeks and hinted at something greater that was to come.

And greater didn't mean better in their case.

He could hear Admiral Jackson asking her, concern lining his voice as the call was classified and was devoid of ship girls, being a conversation only between Admirals.

"So right now, the Abyssals not only have the capability to launch ICBMs anywhere they want, but they have Abyssalized ship girls who not only have transforming Beasts, but they can control elements of fire and lightning, and one controls four Beasts the size of whales, am I right to say that?"

Admiral Mako moaned, burying her head in her forearms as she whined,

"Sometimes I hate being correct."

Admiral Jackson lifted an eyebrow in order to concede the point, but as Admiral Mako's friend, he spoke up in her defense.

"Well, if it wasn't for you, we'd see the dots too late to take any action, and as luck would have it, you were that someone who saw the patterns in the madness and took action.

But it was smart of them not to reveal any dates or targets, which keeps us on edge as they take the chance to confirm what we know and fill up enough holes in the puzzle piece to string us along."

Admiral Mako nodded as she lifted her head to look at the computer screen and at Admiral Jackson, who was splayed on the sofa while wearing his white singlet with 'BOAT FUCKER' and his favorite number, 07, etched on it, with lewd images of his two waifus occupying within the two digits, and he was wearing his white Admiral pants and black belt while balancing his shoe with his left sock-wearing foot.

Admiral Mako couldn't help but agree with the logic behind Admiral Jackson's reasoning, but wanted more out of the meeting than her ship girls simply being scarred for life or hospitalized.

"Yeah, but…

This only raises more questions than it answers, and there's the question of whose lives I'm going to risk again for the sake of gaining more New Wave powers.

But onto other matters.

I suppose the higher-ups have agreed on forming an army out of the existing ship girls, since they'd possess plenty of battle experience in order to be best utilized on land, right?"

Admiral Jackson nodded, and Admiral Mako looked up to look her close friend in the eye as she asked.

"And when do you think we should start with the conscription process?

I mean, now that everything's gone to shit."

Her good friend nodded as he considered the question, finally giving her his honest opinion of just how fast they had to move their plans ahead to even hope to catch up to the Abyssals, who had one hell of a head start.

"I say the day after tomorrow.

Decide who you want to keep as ship girls and who you want to conscript as soldiers, and since you already have a boot camp available at Camp Itazuma, I personally think that you should start with enlistment _now."_

Admiral Mako lifted an eyebrow in slight bewilderment, asking about how the ship girls would become acclimatized to a life as soldiers who were expected to go to war very soon, and on a battlefield they never expected to fight on in a hundred years.

"But how would they get used to being soldiers?

I mean, I just don't want them to get put off by the paradigm shift…"

Her friend nodded as Admiral Jackson looked understanding of her love for her ship girls meaning that she wanted what's best for them, and especially in times like this, Admiral Mako couldn't help but feel concerned that her girls would be thrown in danger by being relocated into an entirely new profession so soon before an invasion.

"I understand that you feel concerned about your girls being thrown in the path of danger in a time like this, when things seem dark.

But I know that you know this, that our girls are more than capable of handling themselves in a pinch, and we need to lead them to victory.

If it means throwing them into the deep end of the sea to force them how to swim five minutes before a tidal wave engulfs them all for the sake of victory, that's what we'll do, and it's up to them to find a way to come to terms with it and carry their duties out."

Admiral Mako nodded, understanding where Admiral Jackson was coming from as she spoke up about what these new J.O.A.N. units were capable of.

"I know, I know, it's just that…

My 2nd Fleet suffered the worst at the hands of these new elite land units under the name of J.O.A.N., and Shimakaze had an arm shoved through her chest while the others were either maimed, lethally burnt or beaten to a pulp, and I've rarely seen that kind of viciousness in any existing Abyssal Princess.

I need you to prepare yourself and your ship girls against any possible superpower, we barely know the extent of how their powers work and how they can be used to either torture or kill ship girls."

Her friend nodded grimly as his expression mirrored hers, one wracked with pain at how their ship girls were only going to suffer even more from here on out.

Admiral Jackson did have some good news though, attempting to lift her spirits by speaking up about a new development from his country, the good ol' US of A.

"You know, I got some good news from Central, the American branch.

Apparently, the scientists were cooking up some form of nanomachines which could utilize that soul thing, um…"

"Kyoka Suigetsu?"

Admiral Mako was interested in what Admiral Jackson had to say, and she wasn't disappointed when she heard a startling new development.

"Yeah, that.

They reported that these nanites, which would remain in the body and passively draw more power from the soul without going through all _that_ , and they're able to help ship girls regenerate from small-arms fire and light injuries, but not lethal wounds.

The reason why it never entered mass production was because they kept working on making it cheap to produce while retaining effectiveness, and since docks were an effective way of healing up injured ship girls as they suffered injuries just beyond what these internal nanites could patch up, it never really caught on until now."

Admiral Mako nodded, seeing the point in sticking to their guns but continuing their research on the down low until times like these came about, when they could be best applied.

"I see your point.

These nanites would serve a better use as a defensive mechanism against Anti-Ship-Girl firearms, since the caliber is smaller than that of even the smallest handheld cannons, even if by a little.

I suppose it'd be easier to heal up from these injuries than from medium or large-caliber shells, but how exactly do these nanites work?"

Admiral Jackson shrugged as he elaborated,

"Well, to my knowledge, these nanites are powered by fuel, consumed steel and the soul power output in no particular order of importance, so this means that it'll take any of these three power sources to regenerate from gunshot wounds.

Should a bullet get lodged in a ship girl's body, the body will utilize fuel and steel to eject the foreign object, AKA the bullet, from the body, and although this process utilizes resources in order to be carried out, it requires the willpower of the ship girl in order to accelerate the regeneration process.

And in desperate times, sheer willpower alone can do the job, although I must stress that's only in _very_ desperate times.

This would put us at less of a disadvantage since we need to recall less ship girls for docking, and even then, they'd suffer from the really debilitating ones like sniper rounds punching through their bodies, close-range grenade detonations and the like."

Leaning back in her seat, Admiral Mako clarified something since she wanted to make a distinction between two similar-sounding terms.

"But I'd like to clarify.

Regeneration isn't the same as healing, right?

Regeneration utilizes resources and willpower to return the body back to normal, but it still leaves the ship girl exhausted and spent at the end of the day since it wears down your stamina.

 _Healing_ actually helps you recover your stamina and helps your body recover from any hidden damage which might impair your body if left unchecked, am I right to say that?"

Admiral Jackson nodded, looking pretty glad that Admiral Mako was picking up on the minor but significant differences in the terms as he explained.

"Yep.

If a ship girl were to get shot at by firearms all day, sure, regeneration would ensure that the bullets that were lodged in your body were ejected and the flesh wounds closed up, but at what cost?

You'd be exhausted, both psychologically and physically as your body struggles to hold up against the barrage, but only can docking really help you to revitalize and fully recover from the injuries."

Admiral Mako nodded, understanding that the damage from medium and large-caliber shells would deal too much damage to the weaker ship classes to be healed by the nanites, and the stronger ship classes would be able to shrug them off anyway.

This way, the weaker classes would be able to stay relevant by healing up from small-arms fire within reason, and although they would still have to dock in order to heal up at the end of the day, they were still able to function in battle even if they were shot full of holes.

"But how long would you think it would take for us to receive the blueprints and mass-produce enough of it to get our ship girls equipped with it?"

Admiral Jackson looked up in contemplation, finally giving her a rough estimate of the schedule from today.

"I estimate about one and a half weeks at the least, in which you can take this time to train your ship girls up and break the news to them.

After all, you gotta make sure that they're prepared for anything and everything.

And since the Abyssals have played their next hand by blatantly displaying their military might, you need to be upfront with the rest of your naval base in order to get them mentally prepared for what's coming next."

Admiral Mako nodded, but she leaned in conspiratorially as she addressed the last topic which she wasn't allowing anyone else who wasn't involved to know about, especially due to its controversial nature.

"And there's this last thing which I wanted to talk to you about.

When my girls were meeting their J.O.A.N. units, there were talks of humans experimentation on ship girls back in the First Decade, especially since we had the advantage of anonymity back then and could do whatever we wanted with them.

I don't want to buy into these rumors, but even without the benefit of hindsight to see what we are capable of behind closed doors and with the immunity of anonymity, I think that we're more than capable going full Unit 731 on them if we so desired.

I mean, don't you find it interesting that whenever we want to research into these developments, Central is always there to help us out with tidbits of 'discovered technological advances'?

And when you consider ship girls like Akashi are paid large sums of money by the government while they refuse to talk about their pasts with us…"

Admiral Jackson looked rather perturbed by that thought, looking away as his expression morphed into one of open contempt after living a good deal of his life dealing with the darker side of what life had to offer.

"Aye.

I can see it too.

I don't want to believe what the enemy has to say since it's probably their way of psyching us out and distracting us from our true objective.

But I can't deny the fact that the possibility is there, especially since it's easy for us to rationalize it away as for the 'greater good' and when we have such an absurd amount of control over them through our orders.

Gotta say, though.

These accusations need to be researched on the down low, because this is exactly what the Abyssals want, to wait for a time like this when we need to stand together when they try to break us apart."

Admiral Mako saw the logic in that, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of something larger going on behind the scenes, and a commander knew that fighting a battle on two fronts was suicidal, especially since it was analogous to taking it from the front and back.

"When we've secured the lands and skies by cancelling the Abyssals' momentum and manage to repel their assault, we'll look further into this.

I can't stand the thought of someone using our girls for their own benefit outside of the war, and if these claims are true, the Abyssals now have blackmail material to smear us with because of our own doing.

I won't allow the Abyssals the chance to divide and conquer us at a time like this, and no one on Earth will be safe from my wrath if they fulfill their fucking short-sighted goals at the expense of mankind's continued existence and compromise our odds of winning."


	54. Chapter 54 - War Drums

Shigure was sitting in a hall on the 2nd of May along with (almost) the entire population of Yokosuka's ship girls and sailors save for some ship girls, like the hidden away Tenryuu and Tatsuta, the entire 8th Fleet as well as Aoba, amongst others.

Her worst fears were already coming true, having predicted with Shiranui that Admiral Mako was likely going to take this chance to come clean and recruit ship girls to fight in the army, an uphill battle which required sacrificial pawns to clear the path before allowing the stronger pieces to take the stage.

And judging from the oppressive atmosphere of the hall in the aftermath of a hydrogen bomb going off in Japanese waters, everyone was pretty much expecting the executioner's axe to come down anytime soon, with hushed whispers asking for details and coming up short on answers but full of guesses.

Admiral Mako herself didn't look pleased at all about speaking to her ship girls about Apocalypse, and letting them know that their brightened prospects of victory immediately following the Battle of Twelve Navies had been a red herring to lure them into a false sense of security, and that they were now in for the rudest wake-up call of their lives.

Upon reaching the podium, the Admiral exhaled deeply through her nose before addressing the silenced crowd with a stoic expression, the weariness and hopelessness of it all seemingly unable to faze her as it fooled no one; their Admiral was just as fallible and human as the rest of them, in fact even more so, and this facade was merely a formality in order for the naval base to center themselves around in these tumultuous times.

And for the most part, it worked.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Yokosuka.

It has come to my attention that several rumors have been floating about, that the Abyssals intend to strike beyond their usual hunting grounds and take the fight to us, on land and in the air.

Today, I shall put them to rest once and for all.

Those rumors... are sadly true."

Several voices gasped in horror, others broke out into whispers of disappointed and bitter,

"I knew it!"

While the rest either sighed in resignation or remained respectfully silent, and in Shigure's case, it was the latter since she saw this coming from a mile away.

Her friends and sister ship in the 2nd Fleet getting decimated and outright killed after being sent out into the Pacific Ocean to witness a thermonuclear explosion was unfortunate enough, but even in her horror and sorrow when being by Yuudachi and Shimakaze's side, she managed to discern that their injuries were inflicted with an incensed fury powering them, not cold, Abyssal-like inhumanity.

Their bodies were also plagued with bite marks which didn't fit any existing Beast's set of teeth along with claw marks which were made by a Beast which didn't possess opposable thumbs like most Beasts did with their humanoid arms, she suspected that whoever attacked the 2nd Fleet was in possession of a Beast unlike any other existing naval Beasts.

And with such radical developments coming their way, Admiral Mako finally decided to spill the beans and allow everyone to know of just what was going on, simply not the full picture which she alone could see at the top, and although she certainly didn't want to bring their spirits down at a time like this, she simply couldn't in good conscience allow them to enter the next stage of battle completely oblivious to the situation at hand as well as and the plan for a counteroffensive.

"The Abyssals are planning to invade the land and air with their modern tanks and jet fighter knockoffs, the latter having been observed in the Battle of Twelve Navies.

And after so many strange occurrences around the world, we decided to come out and inform you all of this, having recently discovered this ourselves.

I never wanted to lie to any of you, and that's why I'm coming out with this right now before the other shoe drops; so that you all can mentally prepare yourselves for the worst, instead of stepping onto the battlefield without the faintest of ideas as to what's going on.

And there's one other thing I'd like to address…"

Amidst the concerned whispers amongst the ship girls about their increasingly dim prospects of victory, Shigure managed to see the distinction between telling a lie and lying by omission, that the Admiral was simply withholding important information instead of twisting the truth into lies and feeding it to them, and Shigure understood the need for such a measure when it came to such earth-shattering matters.

Admiral Mako continued as her words moved the crowd to silence, hanging onto each and every word as it had the power to lift their hopes or crush it completely, and it seemed that the Admiral knew about this all too well as she spoke.

"Along with new Abyssal plans to invade the various countries of the world, we've also received reports of new Abyssal boss units being manufactured in advance in order to lead this invasion.

Details are sketchy…"

Shigure took note of how Admiral Mako used a non-descriptive and incredibly vague term to generalize the situation in order to grant herself some wriggle room in her 'no lying' policy, where the truth was rephrased such that someone who wasn't in on the loop wouldn't understand its true meaning.

And regarding enemy units who possessed New Wave powers, they had to utilize the chaotic situation caused by the nuke in order to cover up sensitive information regarding said boss units, because they might prove to be too demoralizing should all their abilities be revealed.

" … but to my understanding, they've received upgrades in order to boost their potency beyond that which any ship girl can hope to defeat alone.

Some of their Beasts are also modified to be able to transform into vehicle forms in order to facilitate faster movement across the land and skies, although the drawback is that they possess far less armor and weapons than naval Beasts as a result."

Shigure nodded, understanding the logic behind revamping the technology behind an existing weapon in order to be deployed a new battlefield, since the Beasts of existing Princesses had far too many issues while moving on land to be of use on a radically different battlefield other than naval gunfire support.

But the fact that Abyssal units already have access to New Wave powers which could wipe out entire fleets (as evidenced by the hospitalized 2nd Fleet) was disturbing in and of itself, and even though the massacre of the 2nd Fleet could probably be chalked up to inexperience and the lack of their riggings and weapons in order to defend themselves, others possessed Beasts which were capable of launching ICBMs wherever they desired, and this terrifying capacity for destruction was what truly disturbed the ship girls all around the world.

These upgrades were nothing to sneeze at, and would very likely require the combined effort of several dozen ship girls in order to take these new Abyssals down.

She heard her Admiral explain their situation and how they had to act now by enlisting their help in order to fight on an entirely different battlefield, her tone expertly masking the anxiety which was felt by almost every ship girl and sailor present.

"And I know that this might be too much to ask of you all, but I need to transfer a great number of ship girls from this naval base to a ship girl army which we're currently forming and training up in order to mount a counteroffensive should the Abyssals ever decide to pull off their invasion named Apocalypse."

The entire hall lapsed into an uncomfortable silence upon hearing that news, and Shigure could feel everyone's spirits sinking along with that grim announcement.

Admiral Mako did her best to reassure them by speaking up and sharing their plans about how they were to best go about planning and executing their counteroffensive.

"L-Look, we're not going to just roll over and die, alright?

The world governments have ordered that along with creating as many new ship girl units as possible to make up an infantry corps, we are to conscript as many ship girls as we can provide from each and every naval base in order to form an elite battalion of our own.

Of course, we'd have to do so without compromising our naval combat capabilities beyond salvageable margins, because we are the first line of defense against the Abyssals before they hit land.

All of you possess significantly more battle experience in the modern world than a newly crafted ship girl does, and we need you to utilize that experience on land in order to fight off the incoming land invasion."

Shigure wasn't exactly sure how that was going to work, but she did admit that newly crafted units would suffer from future shock and had to be taught how to use firearms and modern weapons, all while getting used to their humanoid bodies and the fact that they had to work with the ship girls of other countries, specifically the Americans.

Existing ship girls, on the other hand, were used to modern naval tactics and had a rapport with other countries (most ship girls, anyway), leading to better teamwork and results on the battlefield.

In theory, anyway.

Shigure then heard someone ask a question regarding how they were to be chosen.

"Um, how are we to be selected?"

Admiral Mako looked down at her audience as she responded truthfully, now looking very uneasy about having to share the selection process with them as well as the reasoning behind it, which made Shigure suspect that it was extremely pragmatic and utilitarian in order to ensure the greatest odds of success.

And she wasn't wrong.

"Well, we had to choose the unremodeled or the Kai ship girls to be sent to the army in order to be deployed on land to stabilize the situation first, and the seasoned veterans will stay back in order to help to train the newly crafted ship girls in this base.

We've secured ship girls who are experts in land combat and possess firearms experience to train you all at Camp Itazuma, so you're in good hands."

An unidentifiable voice called out in a derisive manner,

"Yeah, like that makes us feel any better when we're getting shot at!

Cannon fodder much?!"

Admiral Mako's expression contorted with the fury of a drill sergeant as she yelled into the microphone, clearly incensed at the insinuation in the voice's accusatory tone.

"Oi, who said that?!

Come up here and _say it to my fucking face,_ if you dare!"

Everyone in the hall held their breath at the sight of Admiral Mako flaring up at her own ship girls, and the Admiral had to stop the address in order to lower her head and close her eyes, holding the bridge of her nose in her slender fingers while taking deep, meditative breaths.

Everyone remained silent out of respect and fear of Admiral Mako and her mood swings, because while she could be nice to everyone, Shigure had no doubts that Admiral Mako could be really nasty if she tried, and she was already doing her best not to crack from the considerable stress and the threat of mass extinction looming over them, if the deafening silence was any indication.

Finally, Admiral Mako lowered her hand and raised her head in order to face them all as she continued, looking a little more worse for the wear as her dark expression was clouded by the shadow of mortality which hung over the heads workers whose professions dealt with life and death matters.

"Look, I don't have time to sugarcoat the truth, and time's running out until the other shoe drops on us.

I don't want any of you to be sent out there if I had a choice, but the circumstances of this war are far beyond my control.

If we don't do this, we'll be swept up by the Abyssals as they take the fight to us, and every second we waste arguing about this is one more second we could be using to train ourselves up in order to repel their attack!

It's not a matter of whether we want to or not, we simply _have_ to!"

Shigure felt the weight of those words as a full-fledged soldier, reminding them that they could dislike how this war was developing, and it was beyond even Admiral Mako's power to influence these decisive factors whose control was mostly in the hands of the Abyssals; all she could do was react as quickly as possible by mobilizing her ship girls where they would be of most use and hope for the best.

Everyone settled down upon hearing that, Admiral Mako exhaling in relief at having calmed them down somewhat before elaborating further as to how this was going to work.

"Look, splitting up this base's ship girls into army and navy factions will no doubt affect our capabilities, but we're in the process of crafting more ship girls to make up for the drop in naval power.

These newly crafted ship girls as well as the ship girls who will be assigned to make up the infantry and the elites in the army are going to be put through a much harsher training regimen than what you're all used to because there's just so much we need to get you all acquainted with; the newly crafted ship girls needed to be trained in modern naval combat from the ground up while you elites are going to be thoroughly trained in land-based combat.

The human military will focus their attention on their own air forces so as not to stretch our ship girl forces too thin, and we'll begin ferrying the following ship girls to the newly acquired training camp tomorrow."

The hall's occupants started whispering in hushed voices again, and even Shigure was starting to feel her hopes drop at the number of ship girls who had to go, noting several familiar names amongst the myriad of listed ship girls.

'SHIP GIRL ARMY CONSCRIPTION LIST

1st Fleet: Shigure, Tenryuu, Tatsuta, Hiei, Junyou, Ayanami

2nd Fleet: Sendai, Hatsushimo (delayed)

3rd Fleet: Abukuma, Amagi

4th Fleet: Nachi, Shiranui, I-58

5th Fleet: Zuikaku, Chikuma, Mutsuki, Jintsuu

6th Fleet: Kisaragi, Chitose,

7th Fleet: Atago, Bismarck

8th Fleet: Hatsuzuki, Akashi (Advisor)

Unsorted:

Destroyers

Hayashimo, Arare, Oboro, Inazuma, Ikazuchi, Kuroshio, Asashimo, Kamikaze, Harukaze, Akebono, Shikinami, Maikaze, Urakaze, Shirayuki, Hatsuyuki, Miyuki, Yuugumo, Akigumo, Naganami, Yayoi, Kasumi, Satsuki, Kikuzuchi, Hagikaze, Fumizuki, Kiyoshimo, Murasame, Shiratsuyu, Fubuki, Arashi, Samidare, Nagatsuki, Akizuki,

Light Cruisers

Nagara, Yahagi, Natori, Kitakami, Isuzu, Agano, Noshiro, Yura, Kuma, Tama, Kinu

Heavy Cruisers

Suzuya, Mikuma, Kinugasa, Choukai, Aoba (Admin)

Bird Carriers

Saratoga, Zuihou, Chiyoda, Houshou

Battleships

Hyuga, Haruna, Mutsu, Musashi

Others

Maru-yu, I-19, I-401, Ro-500, I-8, I-26, Taigei, Akitsushima

Shigure realized that the entire 1st Fleet was thrown into the army boot camp, and the 2nd Fleet only had Sendai and Hatsushimo sent there at a later date after recovering from their injures while Naka likely took Sendai's place in the 2nd and the Infiltration Fleet, although Shigure was quite conflicted about how things turned out since she wouldn't be by Yuudachi and Shimakaze's sides, the both of them enough possessing potential and talent respectively to be retained in Yokosuka as assets while Shigure was too green compared to her blonde sister, who was already Kai.

But something she realized was just how many of them were either unremodeled or only possessed Kai remodels, which lowered their worth as an asset to the base to the point where they'd be thrown into the army in order to stabilize the situation, possibly losing their lives for the sake of the higher-valued pieces being secured, like pretty much any ship girl who's received a Kai Ni remodel.

Admiral spoke up as her booming voice in the hall cast a blanket of silence upon the ship girls,

"All these ship girls whose names are shown, meet up at the parking lot of Yokosuka near the entrance tomorrow at 0800 hours, and bring a bag with only your bare essentials like toiletries, phone and IC.

There will be no need to bring spare uniforms; we'll be issuing the uniforms which you'll be wearing every day and night in-camp, and into combat as well."

That was a first.

The ship girls wore uniforms that were unique to their ship class on the seas, and the most 'uniformity' they ever had was probably when they needed to go on night operations and required darker clothes so as not to get spotted from a mile away.

But on land, there was the environment to consider, and camouflage patterns on clothes, a seemingly laughable disguise tactic against the enhanced sight of ship girls and Abyssals alike, could buy precious seconds as the enemy would be forced to do a double take, potentially saving lives in the process than if they were to wear their flashy and attention-grabbing clothes and heels in the jungle, desert or snow.

Admiral Mako leaned forward, more of her maternal concern for her own ship girls seeping into her tone and demeanor as she ordered into the microphone.

"I hereby state that today shall be an off day for everyone, and consider this a reward of sorts for your stellar performance at the Battle of Twelve Navies.

Take this time to settle any unresolved matters, because tomorrow will be a brand new day for some of you as you all start the next phase of your training to prepare yourselves for the next stage of this war, and although I can't guarantee that you'll be able to see your separated sister ships during this training period, I'll certainly try to arrange something, you can count on that.

Dismissed."

No one clapped as Admiral Mako walked off the stage, the Admiral pulling down the visor of her naval officer cap as if she was ashamed to even try to meet their gazes, and Shigure couldn't exactly fault her for that.

She essentially had to quell the rumors by either confirming or denying them, and given the severity of the situation, she made the hard choice to drop the hard truth on them and have them simply learn to deal with it, because in the end, they had a war to fight and she had no time to make the truth sound any less unpleasant.

The fate of mankind was at stake, and right now, the sullen ship girls got up from their seats and started filing out of the hall in an orderly fashion, even more so than usual as everyone was too wrapped up in their own concerns and anxieties to say anything to one another, the heavy silence which was weighing down on everyone barely being filled by the increased volume of their shuffling footsteps, which belied their inner turmoil as no one had the presence of mind to lift their feet off the ground.

Their worst fears were all coming true, that the entire world really was going to hell in a hand-basket, and a large number of ship girls were about to be sent to the front lines in order to stop the hordes of Abyssals who wanted nothing other than the complete annihilation of human civilization, and there was little chance of getting to meet their sister ships and comrades who were either leaving for the army or were staying behind to hold the fort.

And that wasn't even including the hydrogen bomb detonation in their waters, which eerily reminded everyone of the last war they fought in, where the prospects of winning the war against the Americans continuously dimmed as the enemy inched ever so closer to their country's coast before they ended it with a historically unmatched bang, everyone now unable to shake the intense feeling of deja vu which plagued them all.

Was it any wonder that everyone needed some time to digest the hopelessness of the situation at hand?

Junyou was sitting with Zuikaku in the canteen on the night of May 2nd, being more deserted than usual as everyone likely wanted to spend the day with their sisters after that demoralizing briefing in the morning, and Junyou was sitting with Zuikaku after the 5th Division carrier spent the entire day with Shoukaku, and since Junyou didn't have a sister to share the day with, Zuikaku decided to return the favor which Junyou had racked up by helping her so much in her quest to win Kaga's heart.

Right now, a major obstacle to her plans of romance had presented itself in the form of the army, how she was conscripted without prior knowledge or consent, and how this was going to tear her and Kaga apart.

" … and I'm just afraid that all the progress I've managed to rack up with Kaga-san is going to go to waste.

Why did Admiral Mako even throw me in the army, anyway?

I'm a proud carrier of the 5th Carrier Division, I should be out there fighting alongside the 1st and 2nd Carrier Division, not dig trenches and fight on land with firearms!"

Zuikaku downed the last of her fruit juice as Junyou considered the situation, how it could be turned to benefit Zuikaku and how to best go about it.

Ultimately, she had this to say.

"Well, I don't think that you doing the chasing all the time works too well in the long run.

If you are to chase, she will flee, and if you flee, she'll chase.

I think that being on the offensive too often makes you look as you're trying too hard to win her over; see this as a chance to take a break in your pursuit of her."

Junyou held out her hands to better illustrate her point to a slightly confused but interested Zuikaku, speaking up in a knowing tone as she roughly knew the science behind love (as well as watching a lot of Korean/ Taiwanese/ Japanese/ Hong Kong love dramas during her many hangovers) to know how to approach situations like these.

"Think about it.

All this progress is good, but the both of you are ultimately fighting a war, and you two still need some time away from each other before you two become a thing.

If the distance between you two grows while the bond between the two of you, as rivals, comrades and perhaps something more, if _that_ stays strong, it should theoretically act as a psychological rubber band and make her fly back to your side.

After all, the other main carriers from the 1st, 2nd and 5th Division are staying here while you alone are conscripted into the army.

Kaga sure as hell doesn't dislike you, and I daresay that she might be warming up to you, so I'd say it's very likely for her to shower you with a senior's affection the only way she knows how when you come back."

Zuikaku nodded, still looking very concerned about their immediate future as a naval base as she spoke up and was clearly working herself into a fervor.

"I mean, I don't know.

The future looks bleak, especially what we've seen, with Beasts that transform and others which rival a frigging blue whale in size…

Everything's going downhill so quickly, and with that hydrogen bomb explosion, I thought that we were going to die, and…"

Junyou saw that Zuikaku was starting to shiver uncontrollably without being aware of it, and a shadow was clouding her expression as she began to ramble, the carrier's pale knuckles wrapped around her cup as she retreated into herself.

The Hiyou-Class light carrier wasn't entirely sure if these were the precursors to a post-traumatic flashback which might in turn lead into a full-blown panic attack, but she knew that being so close to an explosion of such a yield and witnessing every second of it would mentally and psychologically scar just about anyone.

So she did the only thing she knew how after watching so much anime.

She grabbed the back of Zuikaku's head and shoved her face into her own ample bosom, silencing the surprised carrier as she cooed, unable to simply spectate any longer.

"Look, don't think about anything, and don't say anything.

Just enjoy being squished in Junyou nee-san's big soft titties, hmm?"

Despite Zuikaku being stronger than her, the element of surprise as well as the awkward position of two ship girls sitting side by side severely diminished her strength, and as Zuikaku's struggling became a lot more frantic, she felt up Junyou's hand and slapped the side of Junyou's arm to signal giving up, prompting Junyou to let go.

And upon release, the Shoukaku-Class carrier's head shot up while her mouth hung open and inhaled a lungful of oxygen as if it were the last thing she'd ever get to do, leaning away from a grinning Junyou as her expression soured comically, a faux-caustic tone lining her voice as she spoke.

"Ugh, another big-tittied monster!

A mortal enemy of the Flat-Chesters Association!"

Junyou broke out into a soft bout of laughter and attracted the passing attention of the ship girls who sat next to them, speaking up in relief about how Zuikaku's spirits were lifted, even if it was just for a moment.

"Hey, at least I got your mind out of that cesspool of negative thoughts you were previously drowning yourself in, alright?"

Zuikaku was in the middle of shooting back with a remark before she caught herself as she slouched and looked back down at her steel cup, which had started to deform a little under the carrier's strength as Zuikaku sighed, and this one was fatigued from the constant stress of war bearing down on them as well as the ever-present paranoia of the Abyssals and their nefarious plans which now transformed into outright terror of what was to come, and the Shoukaku-Class carrier was worn out from being on edge all the time as she held her head in her hands.

"I don't know.

Everyone's in mortal danger, and with this new development in the war, it's like living through the introduction of the Abyssal Princesses to the Abyssal War, with far-reaching consequences which will change the world forever.

The hydrogen bombs act as a Sword of Damocles on the entire world where everyone is afraid of being wiped from the face of this planet, and as the Abyssals plan to invade the land and skies, nowhere on Earth is safe from their reach.

Everything's moving so quickly when we just hit our stride, and I'm here suffering from the whiplash of it all.

I don't want Shoukaku to worry too much about me when shit's going to hit the fan, but… "

Junyou looked down at her, before she sidled up beside the carrier and pulled her in for a comforting hug, understanding Zuikaku's concerns as she uttered.

"No need to explain.

Just relax…"

Rubbing Zuikaku's arm while pulling her close, she felt the tension which plagued Zuikaku's muscles and body slowly seep out of her as the carrier used her bosom as a pillow, Junyou revealing her own concerns to Zuikaku.

"Actually, don't you tell any of the other bird carriers or my fleet this, but I'm pretty scared too, and I appreciate you being here with me tonight.

I worry about Shigure and how she thinks so much even in battle, that she might walk into her own death without a second thought, and her troubled past and martyrdom tendencies doesn't alleviate matters any.

Hiei, I'm worried that she might try to carry the fleet by by herself since she sees herself as the heavy lifter of the fleet, and is eager to shoulder the burden on her own in order to prove her worth.

They're the two comrades I worry about the most, and since our fleet is being carted off to boot camp tomorrow, the incoming world war is only going to pile more stress on them, and I count myself lucky that I can be there to help them all should they require it.

Better than holding the fort here and have half a mind preoccupied with the well-being of the members of your fleet who's been sent off to who-knows-where in order to play soldier."

Zuikaku looked up at Junyou with her eyes wide open, now looking extremely curious to know just how Junyou managed to stay strong in times like these.

"Then… then how do you cope with all the stress?"

Junyou shrugged and looked away as she thought about her own situation and how she chose to face it in her own special way, using an analogy she thought up of on the spot.

"I think it's like carbon and iron, you know?

Iron by itself is relatively soft, and even though it can bend easily, it can form back into its original shape given enough effort and time.

On the other hand, steel, which is metal with a dash of carbon, is tough and can resist any impact, but in my personal opinion, being too strong can have its drawbacks.

The strongest steel which contains the most carbon are also the most brittle, and um…

Maybe I should have gone with the 'pliable yet flexible blade of grass' and contrast it with the 'sturdy yet collapsible tree'?

I guess what you can take away from it is that being strong all the time isn't all it's cracked up to be, and that sometimes it's better to allow yourself to be weak and flexible and be able to roll with life's punches than to keep your guard up all the time, before eventually cracking from the stress."

Zuikaku gave her a deadpan look as she surmised.

"You really had no idea where that 'iron and carbon' analogy was going to go, huh?"

Junyou looked back down at Zuikaku as she fired back,

"Well, I had a general idea, but forgive me if it slipped my mind at a time like this, hmm?

And anyway, you got the idea behind it, right?"

Zuikaku made a noise of agreement as she buried her face back in Junyou's breasts, speaking up about how the light carrier was quite reliable in times like these.

"You know, I already have Shoukaku as an older sister, but I kinda feel that you could make an excellent older sister if you really tried.

I mean, I love Shoukaku as my sister, but there are some things I need to take my time to open up to her about.

Now that I have you here and will be with me in the army, I see you as a second sister ship who can give me love advice and is a lovable drunk."

Junyou felt something upon hearing that statement, something she hadn't felt before in either of her lives since she never had a younger ship sister to guide and be a role model to, and right now, Zuikaku explicitly admitted that she did indeed choose to rely on her like an elder sister for things she might not be willing to share with Shoukaku.

It made her feel like a changed woman, one who was a far cry from her past self who was hedonistic and only sought to maximize her own pleasure without a care in the world.

But she was now worried for everyone whom she knew, especially since a lot of them were sent off to the army to fight on a battlefield which they were unused to fighting on.

They wouldn't sink, sure, but their obliterated corpses would be on show for everyone to witness and collect long after their deaths, and…

Junyou felt a chill run down her spine as she imagined everyone she knew lying dead on the battlefield, strewn about with some of them losing their limbs, others being run over by vehicles as it left track marks on their body while the rest were shot to death, puddles of blood filling the pits and potholes on the land while she alone survived…

Suddenly feeling that all the clothing in the world couldn't protect her from this sinking feeling which chilled her to the bone, she resorted to hugging Zuikaku tighter and clinging onto her for dear life like a drowning sailor would to a piece of flotsam in a tropical storm.

She was now _really_ grateful for Zuikaku being here with her, because she hadn't had those flashes of gruesome images involving the corpses of all her friends lying around her ever since the first few weeks after she was crafted, all but confirmed to stem from her own pangs of survivor's guilt.

That was when she began indulging in drinking and never stopped, because getting plastered was one surefire way to get herself kicked off of the active roster, which minimized the chances of exacerbating her survivor's guilt to 0%, and losing herself to drink in order to numb and even outright forget the pain made life tolerable at the very least.

Now that she had teammates to protect, the world was thrown into chaos once again, and this flash of the Apocalypse (aptly named) evolved with it.

Before, everyone's corpses were equally decimated as they were slowly and surely consumed by the ocean, but now, the inability to sink meant that their corpses would be on full display on land for them to find and revive, balancing the scales with long-term psychological trauma which would haunt them long after the war.

She wondered if this was what being a big sister was all about, remaining strong and allowing others to lean on you for support, but also allowing yourself to rely on others in order to remain relatable as well as to vent your own frustrations and prevent a complete emotional meltdown, much like adding too much carbon to steel and making it stronger, but far more brittle as a result.

She was afraid, but unlike others, she found that it was easier for her to confront it if she spoke about it with others who felt similarly, because it gave her some comfort to know that she wasn't the only one to feel this way, and it sure did wonders for others who were more insecure about their odds of winning than she was.

Hiei was sitting with Ayanami inside a chartered bus in the Shizuoka prefecture on the 3rd of May, along with the entire 1st Fleet as they had gathered back together today.

The Admiral was finished with remodeling them or whatever, Hiei wasn't too keen on knowing the specifics so long as her friends were returned to her safe and sound.

Especially since she was notified that it was possible for either of them to die since they were willing test subjects for a Kai Ni remodel, she had half a mind to give Admiral Mako what-for despite knowing full wekk that the Tenryuu sisters had volunteered for the project.

She said her goodbyes to her sisters, and Kongou shed tears as she enveloped both her and Haruna in a passionate hug, Kirishima nodding solemnly in their direction while Kongou embraced them, Hiei nodding back at her younger sister as her heart broke.

And as Kongou pulled them into a hug, although Hiei's heart jumped a little at the intimate action, the dire situation at hand made her unable to enjoy the body contact between her and her beloved elder sister, her moving lips finally settling into a thin line as she meekly patted Kongou on the back, Haruna herself on the verge of tears as the most empathetic member of the Kongou Sisters.

Everyone around her was either doing their best not to cry or were spectacularly failing to do so, and sister ships were being torn apart by this new development which was no doubt causing many of their doppelgangers of other naval bases to go through the same experience at this very moment.

Shit.

Kirishima wasn't the kind of person to express her emotions as an intellectual, but Hiei could see that the atmosphere was weighing down on her psyche and was leaving its mark on her through the stress lines and eye bags which were expertly hidden by her glasses, and Kirishima settled for an exhausted but firm nod in her direction with a concerned glance in her eyes, and although Hiei didn't hang out too often with Kirishima in order to get to know her better on a personal level, she appreciated the display of sisterly affection as she reciprocated the gesture.

After the Yokosuka ship girls were done with their painful farewells, which Hiei wanted to forget due to how depressed everyone was behaving, they then took chartered buses to the local airport, after which everyone meekly followed the given instructions to check their bags in before boarding their respective flights in order to reach the city of Gotemba in the neighboring prefecture of Shizuoka, after which they split up and took chartered buses to get to their training camp in groups, where they currently were.

The eerie thing was that unlike other times where Hiei had heard that a vehicle filled to the brim with ship girls was always lively to the point of being chaotic, but this time, it was different.

Words of comfort had been spoken before getting on the bus, and anyone who didn't have anything to add or simply wanted to make small talk instead remained silent out of courtesy and respect, making the entire bus ride to the airport feel completely awkward and ominous in the process.

It was strange, to know that ship girls were usually so rambunctious and lively when on trips like this, but right now, this oppressive air hung above everyone and silenced them with horrific images of what their end would entail, their overactive imaginations doing more than the enemy did to fuel their own fears at this point in time as Hiei felt desolated by the news of the enemy possessing thermonuclear strike capabilities, and to see all of mankind go about their daily lives while blissfully unaware of the nuclear threat which plagued all of mankind and could wipe out entire cities…

It really messed with them as the ship girls were ordered not to talk to anyone about what they knew, and despite the threat level resting at medium, it barely affected business as the civilian populace were still all smiles and were long desensitized to the Abyssal threat after entrusting their future to the ship girls and the military, and Hiei understood how this peace was what they were tasked with protecting, how it was so delicate and pristine in their war-weary eyes while the looming threat was overwhelming and calamitous, like a growing tidal wave in the distance.

The ship girls weren't too sure of how to deal with their own morbid thoughts and issues regarding the sudden occupation change and exodus, so they just remained silent since they had no more brainpower to spare in order to maintain a conversation, and since most of the crying ship girls had already calmed down by now, everyone now had nothing left to say to each other on the bus.

Everyone was dead silent and muttered halfhearted sentences to one another so as not to go insane from their own morbid thoughts threatening to break them from within, the fact that all the humans whom they met at the airport and the interchange were kept blissfully unaware of the thermonuclear threat despite being put on medium alert (which didn't affect the mood of the civilian populace due to its common occurrence) made the contrast all the jarring.

Right now, they had boarded a bus after disembarking the chartered plane, and Hiei looked down at the name-ship of the Ayanami-Class as she looked very crestfallen about leaving some of her sisters behind in order to hold the fort that was Yokosuka.

Hiei looked down at Ayanami as she wanted to make absolutely sure that her fleet mate was alright, especially since she looked concerned the entire time they were travelling either by bus or plane, and even though she knew that the destroyer was precocious enough to know how to lead her sisters as a name-ship, she was still a child and needed someone to lean on eventually.

She chose to start the conversation by asking,

"Hey, you alright?

I see that you're looking quite worried about something, is it about your sisters?"

Ayanami nodded, looking up at the Kongou-Class fast battleship as she shared her woes, understanding that a second opinion might be useful.

"That's the understatement of the year.

Perhaps you might possess some of the answers I seek, and it's about this war and how my sisters are, or rather, _aren't_ adapting to it fast enough."

Hiei made herself comfortable as Ayanami looked down and continued, a forlorn look in her eyes as she clearly lost sleep over things no child her age should even know about, highlighting the cruelty of their war-torn world in the back of Hiei's mind.

"I can't help but get this feeling, you know, that things are going to go downhill from here.

For us, I mean.

And I only began to see it yesterday.

When we, the Ayanami-Class destroyers, were having our gathering yesterday, Ushio suddenly broke down and started to cry, and I've never seen anything like it."

Hiei's eyebrows creased upon hearing that, the shadow which clouded Ayanami's expression darkening upon reminiscing on her sister ship's breakdown, something which Hiei never expected to see from the relatively carefree child of the two little destroyers on her fleet, asking out of concern for both Ayanami and Ushio.

"How bad was it?

I mean, ship girls do break down emotionally and psychologically under prolonged periods of high stress, but…"

Ayanami shrugged and retorted,

"Well, when I said 'bad', I meant _catastrophic._

And forgive me when I don't wish to share the memory of the breakdown, but I feel that this one's personal."

Hiei nodded, understanding the need to keep such an exposed and vulnerable moment within their own class of sisters, and it was too heartbreaking to allow it to be shared.

"She was recently discharged from the docks, you see, so when she attended the briefing and heard the news, she didn't react at all.

Thinking back on it, maybe that was the red flag which should have alerted me to her mental condition, because after dinner, we were sitting in our room and were chatting about nothing, and…"

Ayanami then lowered her face into her palms as she sighed, one of untold emotional fatigue after a titanic disaster as the life seeped out of her with an exhaling breath and left her a mess.

"She just started to curl up and cover her head as she cried, screaming that there was nowhere left to run, that everything was hopeless, and many other things I sadly remember but are stuck on the tip of my tongue due to how heartbreaking they were.

None of us went to reassure or comfort her, partially because of how spontaneous it was and how we simply couldn't come up with anything to assuage those fears.

Do you know how it feels, to have your own sister curl up in a corner in the midst of a psychological meltdown due to the inevitability of our doom and not be able to convince her otherwise?"

Hiei looked down as she answered meekly, and since that never happened to any of her sisters, there really only was one answer she could honestly give.

" … No."

Ayanami lifted an eyebrow in defeat, reassuring Hiei as best she could.

"Well, I don't blame you for not having all the answers.

I just don't know what to do in this situation, and I see it as a failure on my part as a name-ship and her sister."

Hiei considered both Ayanami and Ushio's situation, and especially the latter's past before answering.

"I think… the reason why she might be so afraid is because of her past.

I won't claim to understand how the minds of those who survived World War 2 work like, but I think it's safe to say that with the recent thermonuclear explosion and the news that the enemy will be marching up to our doorstep, as well as how desperate we're becoming to enlist ship girls in the army…

They may see this as the past repeating itself and how Imperial Japan was put on the ropes by the steadily advancing Americans in World War 2."

Hiei remembered how pitiable Haruna looked whenever she thought no one was looking, the wizened look in her eyes revealing itself from beneath her motherly personality as she watched her own sisters, and Hiei could see the pain of loss which plagued the Kongou-Class wallflower's heart and soul, and how their revival filled that hole up, but never fully helped her to heal since the past was set in stone, leaving its scars on her psyche.

"We can't understand what they must have felt back then, what with everyone, including their sisters, dropping like flies around them.

Especially the hydrogen bomb explosion by the Abyssals, it must have triggered some bad memories due to the haunting similarities with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or even Operation Crossroads.

I mean, did you see how Saratoga looked when we gathered at the entrance?"

The Lexington-Class carrier was a psychological wreck after witnessing the thermonuclear explosion and had a spectacular psychological meltdown, and being pulled out of the psyche ward early in order to be thrown on a bus and carted off to another military camp didn't do anything to help her along with her recovery, looking pretty much catatonic as she mindlessly followed the herd for the entire day.

Ayanami shared her sentiments as she looked back at Shigure accompanying the sullen and withdrawn American carrier, commenting.

"Yes, it certainly seems to have accomplished what it was designed to do, and Nagato-san also seemed to be in quite the sullen mood nowadays.

As it brightens the day and the mushroom cloud rises, our moods darken as our hopes fall, no?"

Hiei lifted an eyebrow as she suppressed a chuckle at the morbid thought, wondering just what the hell was wrong with her to be able to find the humor in such a strange line.

"Well, that is true.

Those who survived would certainly connect the dots in their mind and see parallels with World War 2, adding to the stress and paranoia we already face.

But I think that it's understandable why you and your sisters couldn't do anything in the heat of the moment."

She recounted her memories of Haruna and how the survivors of World War 2 have that something inside them which was just broken, and while that might not be the most accurate word to describe it, but it was certainly the closest.

"Witnessing your sister ships and comrades sinking in battle all around you really takes a toll on your psyche no matter who you are, and is something that cannot be forgotten no matter where or when we are brought back into this world.

And as sentient beings who can understand our past experiences, no less.

I think this is something only war survivors will understand, that feeling of desolation after having survived everything that the world has thrown at us.

That sliver of happiness at having survived it all is drowned out by the flood of sadness upon realizing everything one has lost in the process, and you spend the rest of your life wondering if it was all worth it.

I think that something within them will always stay damaged even if we're all reincarnated as ship girls, and I don't think any medicine or therapy can heal it, because one war has already torn everyone from their lives and left them alive after the end in order to suffer once; this second one might choose to do so again and reopen that wound.

Those haunting possibilities can drive ship girls with a weaker mental fortitude mad from the pressure, and as much as we want to help, I can't see anyone other than another survivor helping her out with her issues."

Hiei's expression darkened as she used her own feelings to try and illustrate an example for Ayanami's sake.

"I sometimes see Haruna looking wistful whenever we, the Kongou Sisters, hang out.

Perhaps it's her feeling glad that everyone's back together again after having sunk in World War 2, and she was sadly the one who lasted the longest amongst the four of us.

Sometimes, I want to share her pain, to ask her to transfer her memories of the war to me so that I can understand her better, but…

A part of me is afraid to understand.

Not because I don't want to be closer to her, don't get me wrong, but…"

Ayanami seemed to understand her message as she helped to finish the sentence.

" … but you're afraid that you're not strong enough to endure the pain?"

Hiei nodded,

"Yes.

I was the first to sink while Haruna was the last, and while I like to think that I'm strong, by virtue of surviving the longest in the war, she is technically the strongest.

I can tell she's secretly stronger than any of us in spirit, and I can't definitively say that experiencing what she experienced _wouldn't_ cause me to go into a meltdown, especially since I've never personally experienced the loss of a sister ship in either lives."

Ayanami nodded sagely as she completely understood where Hiei was coming from, and the Kongou-Class battleship looked quite sheepish as she turned to look down at Ayanami in order to apologize.

"Ah, but I digress.

You were saying?"

But Ayanami shook her head softly as she looked up at Hiei, having found something she could work with.

"No, I see where you come from.

I did go through some rough patches as sister ships began sinking in World War 2, but Ushio must've been through so much more than I did.

I wanted to share my sisters' burden in order to lighten her load, but I suppose there are some things that you have to shoulder all by yourself, no matter what the time and age.

Ushio has Oboro and Sazanami as well as our other comrades by her side, and right now, I can only pray that their combined capabilities are enough to help her through this."

Hiei nodded, although her expression still rested in a scowl as she move onto the next topic.

"Aye.

But what do you think about the Abyssals moving onto land?

Even if every naval base sends out ship girls to be converted into elites while Central crafts ship girl infantry units and the military mobilizes all its foot soldiers in order to stop the Abyssals from gaining ground, how are we going to stop an entire horde of Abyssals?"

Ayanami's spirits similarly dimmed as she suggested a very practical solution.

"Well, I suppose we can always settle for guerilla warfare in order to balance the scales.

Luckily, the government and military are open-minded enough this time to not allow pride and ego to tangle up the equation like it did last time, and we'll likely be resorting to turtling tactics which'll slow down the Abyssals' advance.

Cities, mountains and jungles are easy locations to force the Abyssals to clear the city room by room and street by street while jungles and mountains naturally slow down enemy invaders with the weather and terrain, because those two factors, amongst several others, do not take sides in a battle or a war."

Hiei wondered out loud,

"Hmm, being the defenders on the home field does give us an advantage, but I'm just worried that we might be the Germans fighting off a Soviet advance, that their numbers will eventually overwhelm us like an army of ants no matter how hard we fight and no matter what we try."

Ayanami lifted an eyebrow as she teased,

"Well, we're not being attacked from the front and back from two fronts, are we?

Although I admit that the Abyssals are capable of fielding far more soldiers than Russia and America combined, so…"

Hiei nodded, mentally forcing herself to stop this train of negative thoughts so as not to spiral into depression.

"Yeah, but the future's uncertain, and as soldiers, we were always supposed to be concerned with the threat before us, not the looming threat in the grand scheme of things.

It's just that with this new development in the Abyssal war and how I'm one of the few battleships sent to become an army soldier, I want to protect all of you with my armor and every fiber of my body.

It's in the nature of a Kongou-Class battleship to be tenacious and unyielding, so I shall entrust the ocean to Kirishima and Kongou Onee-sama, and I'll look forward to fighting on a different battlefield with you!"

Ayanami seemed taken aback by the sudden burst of enthusiasm, but her expression morphed into one of serenity, thankful that she had a comrade watching her back so fervently as Ayanami broke out into a smile for the first time today.

"Thank you, Hiei."

The bus dropped them off at a military camp near the base of Mount Fuji, evidenced by the world-famous mountain looming in the distance like a monolithic pyramid of snow and dirt, a sight to behold no matter what the time and age as the ship girls disembarked the buses in order to allow them to leave the crowded premises, having had a few more busloads of ship girls from smaller, neighboring naval bases joining them.

Camp Itazuma was a rather utilitarian location where little consideration was paid to convenience and comfort, and they were now standing in the parade square as buildings walled them in on all sides.

The bustle of human activity sounded out all around them as a platoon of male Japanese soldiers were all jogging in the distance while chanting something as a unified voice to the timing of their steps, and the droning engines of land vehicles were being heard all around, chainsaw-like in their intensity since a lot of them were heavy-duty combat vehicles, most of which were familiar to the newly-arrived ship girls as the sights and sounds of an active military base.

One ship girl land combat specialist was there to greet them to the camp on the elevated platform, and realizing who that trainer was made everyone freeze in their tracks.

Standing on the platform with the Japanese Rising Sun flag (the one with the red rays on it) hoisted on a flagpole behind her was Jintsuu, except that this doppelganger's hair was cut shorter in accordance with military regulations and also to distinguish herself from her other doppelgangers, standing before them with her hands behind her back as she looked down at the arriving ship girls who mostly hailed from Yokosuka.

She was definitely long-lived since she stood as tall as any particularly tall heavy cruiser and was lean enough to take on a battleship, the Sendai-Class light cruiser now practically a full-grown adult who had clearly seen her fair share of bloodshed in her lifetime.

She was wearing the JGSDF uniform which contained splotches of desert green, jungle green, beige and black to serve as camouflage while she wore black combat boots, and on her two collars which were flattened on her collarbones were sewn-on rectangles which reflected her rank, one star above two horizontal stripes as it was all sewn in black.

On her left breast were several rectangular patches of what Hiei assumed to be Ranger and Parachutist patches (from her limited knowledge on the JSDF) above her Kanji name tag which read ' **神通'** , and above her right breast pocket was her name in English, 'Jintsuu' as well as a belt wrapped round her waist, her long sleeves folded up into short sleeves which barely reached down to her elbows with a vocational badge pasted onto the Velcro patch on her right arm.

Everyone was silenced by the sight as hopes fell, since if Apocalypse was the death sentence, the sight of the Demon Instructor Jintsuu standing on an elevated platform and was in charge of their training regimen was essentially the executioner waiting for them at the chopping block.

And the Demon Instructor didn't disappoint.

She had _that_ look in her eyes which was a clear indicator that she was in her dreaded instructor mode, and Jintsuu exuded a dark and commanding aura which guaranteed nothing less than absolute agony in the weeks to come, striving to milk every drop of performance from them all to prepare for Apocalypse, uttering her next words darkly not as an exaggeration, a boast or even a threat.

It was a cold, hard fact.

" _Hello, ladies._

 _Welcome to your first day of Hell."_


	55. Chapter 55 - Clear And Present Danger

After cutting their hair to prevent it from touching their collars, they were all ordered to change into their military uniforms, eat their lunch, fall in at a sheltered hall and be seated before 1.30 p.m. on the 3rd of May, Shigure feeling the tingly itch of hair strands getting stuck on her skin and in her military uniform, and she could empathize with everyone who fondled their newly cut hair, clearly unused to the sensation of the air running through their considerably shortened hair as the strands tickled the nape of their necks, and the hall was easily filled by the ship girls mostly hailing from Yokosuka, along with several coming from Chigasaki.

Unfortunately, the Demon Instructor Jintsuu, as Shigure would realize in the later half of the day that the nickname was well-earned, skipped the pleasantries as she gathered everyone in a hall with seats positioned much like an amphitheatre for the speaker, in this case Jintsuu Senior, to be heard.

"Welcome to Camp Itazuma, girls.

My real name is Jintsuu, but I've been going by my alias Jacqueline or 'Jackie' for 16 years, and that isn't going to change anytime soon.

My rank is Major, but you can call me 'Ma'am Jackie' or 'Ma'am' during the period of our training."

Standing up straight in order to stand at her full height, 'Jackie' looked down at her seated audience, emitting an aura which belied not only her unshakable confidence in her own abilities, but conveyed her absolute authority over everyone that was under her command like the drill sergeant she was.

"I've been notified of the situation and kept up to date on its recent developments, and I understand that you require someone with my particular set of skills to teach you all there is to know about land combat.

Just some history so you don't have to ask too many questions, I was created during what you call the First Decade and was drafted into the army to be an undercover super soldier amongst many other ship girls who are no doubt training up your comrades around the world as we speak.

I've been deployed mostly in the Middle East, especially in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, the last of which I had a 'memorable' extended stay in the years following 9/11."

Hmm, interesting.

So she participated in the 2003 Iraq War?

She certainly had to have seen her fair share of bloodshed in her lifetime, and matched Akashi in terms of age and ruggedness, judging by the sight of her ageless beauty which was marred by stress lines and a darkness which was forever seared into her expressions and mannerisms after having been through what Shigure could only imagine were Herculean trials, physical, emotional and psychological in nature.

Jackie continued,

"I haven't touched the sea in a long while, but if there's one thing I know how to do best, it's knowing how to kill pretty much anything which walks on land, and by the end of this training period, you all will share that same skill as well.

I'm opening the floor to questions, who wants to inquire about their new career specialization?"

Shigure raised her hand, asking about how tough they could expect land combat to be.

"How tough is land combat compared to naval combat?

And are guerilla tactics the only things we can hope to resort to in our situation?"

Jackie looked in her direction and nodded, respecting an intelligent question when she heard one.

"A good question.

From what I can remember, naval combat is about dealing with threats from above, around and beneath you in the form of planes, ships and submarines respectively.

Land combat heavily focuses on the first two factors, and unlike the ocean, where it is a flat terrain which can be crossed with boat slippers with minimal effort, land combat is time-consuming and exhaustive process as it consists of actual walking from point A to B, especially if you don't have vehicles to speed up the process.

Although all of you are super soldiers, moving troops from one place to another still takes time, and any one of you can and will suffer from exhaustion and fatigue eventually without food and water, as well as inadequate rest and training.

The terrain is also a factor, and locations like forests, cities and mountains can become mazes, death traps and eventually meat grinders if not tackled properly.

I expect that collapsing buildings are going to be the norm in cities and towns due to heavy cruisers and battleships breaking support pillars left and right, and if this is done right, it can be utilized to our advantage in order to slow Abyssal tanks and supply lines down.

But, taking into account the disparity in both manpower and firepower, that's a definite yes to the second question."

Shigure nodded as she understood the reason behind these seemingly mundane locations being so disadvantageous to unprepared armies, and it really bogged down Shigure's spirit as she predicted and imagined them being sortied into forests and even jungles, where rain could turn dirt into mud and pits into miniature ponds.

In the forest, they had to contend with the untamed wildlife which could potentially cause more casualties despite their armor and heightened stats making them more endurable than humans could ever be, and the sweltering heat was also capable of wearing them down on cloudless summer days, and although she wasn't sure if their armor would ever hold up against a collapsing building, she never wanted to find out.

Guerilla warfare was ugly, but effective in deterring invaders through the use of hit-and-run tactics, subterfuge and sabotage, and in a war as one-sided as theirs, they had to use every single trick in the book to even hope to stand a fighting chance.

Inazuma asked, being one of the several dozen ship girls who didn't require a haircut due to her naturally short hair and was seasoned enough to ask a smart question regarding their odds of being healed whenever they were brought out of combat.

"How often are we expected to dock?

I mean, we won't have docks when we're fighting so far inland, so is there a way to make them portable?"

Jackie snapped her fingers and pointed at Inazuma, her expression brightening somewhat upon seeing them ask the right questions, stating how land combat would vastly differ from naval combat.

"Excellent question.

To my knowledge, you ship girls use docks to heal up after a taxing battle and if you've sustained casualties, right?"

Several nods were seen all around, prompting Major Jackie to continue.

"Well, we'll definitely have to secure large bodies of water like ponds or reservoirs to draw water from them in order to fill these inflatable tubs, in which the repairing nanites and dissolved resources will be poured into the tub in order to create a portable dock.

I also have information that we'll be mass-producing nanites which, when injected, will be able to help your bodies regenerate from bullet wounds, and why this wasn't used in naval combat was because even the smallest of shell calibers are capable of eclipsing the size of the largest firearm bullets, and these nanites can only help you to recover from the latter, not the former.

Your bodies will be remodeled to be able to produce these nanites, which will actively work to heal these injuries with three resources.

Consumed fuel and-or steel, or sheer willpower alone."

Confused murmurs sounded all around, but Jackie pacified them all by holding up her hands and elaborating more on how these nanites worked with information given to her prior to this briefing.

"Calm down.

According to information provided, a ship girl is made up of the body, mind and soul.

Willpower channels more spiritual power from your soul, whatever that means, and these nanites are capable of utilizing this intangible power source to heal your injuries through higher-level engineering.

I won't pretend to understand what just came out of my mouth, but know that you _really_ need to focus in dire situations when you've expanded all your consumed resources in order to recover from ballistic wounds, and is very much a last resort.

You also need the docks in order to properly heal your sustained injuries, because you may suffer from injuries that are beyond the regenerative capabilities of the nano-machines, so anything like lost limbs, broken bones or injuries caused by weapons like high-powered rifles or rocket launchers instantly mandates a trip to the docks.

Also, regeneration is different from healing in that the former is capable of draining you since it instantly pushes out the bullets out of your body and patches you up at the cost of stamina and resources in battle, but healing is permanently healing you up and revitalizing your body in order to make it as good as new."

Yahagi asked a question, the light cruiser looking radically different without her signature ponytail as did everyone else who previously had unique hairstyles to distinguish themselves from the crowd, and almost all the ship girls now sported the nicknamed 'Hiei' or 'Hamakaze' short hair, whichever one was more convenient for the hired barbers to cut.

"And how are we going to go up against the Abyssals, what with our inferior numbers?

Even with the sheer number of ship girls like us being trained in order to become elites at this moment, is there really any way for us to win this war?"

Jackie looked up as she was engrossed in her thoughts, finally coming up with a suitable yet somewhat controversial comparison to an enemy who managed to hold their ground against foreign invaders on their own soil.

"Well, you all heard of the Viet Cong?

They fought the Americans in the Vietnam War, and they brilliantly utilized the treacherous terrain and guerilla tactics in order to drag out the Vietnam War to the point where the war-weary Americans were forced to withdraw.

Alternatively, you can see us as the Koreans led by Yi Sun-sin in Battle of Myeongnyang that are going up against the numerically superior Japanese fleet, or perhaps the Spartans fighting the Persians at Thermopylae, whichever one is easier for you to stomach.

We could do without the 'everyone dies' ending in the case of the last example, though."

Everyone nodded, the fear and uncertainty being reflected in everyone's eyes upon hearing such a comparison being made, and the fact that Jackie essentially confirmed this with her next words didn't help matters any.

"In a straight-up battle, we'd lose, there's no doubt about that.

In situations like this, where the enemy vastly outnumbers us, the best choice is to hole up in places which we know best, and that would be the cities, towns and countrysides which our own soldiers hail from, allowing us to ambush the enemy where they least expect it.

We need to be a highly-mobile strike force which can attack where the enemy is weak and relocate ourselves before the bulk of the Abyssal forces come down on us.

Make full use of landmines, the weather as well as the navy and air force in order to stop them in their tracks and make advancing costly for the enemy, not just in terms of resources and manpower which they have in abundance, but also time and available land which they have less of when invading foreign lands."

Jackie's expression turned solemn as she dropped the hard truth on them,

"Look, I won't sugarcoat this.

You may not be the first, but I daresay that you all will no doubt become the strongest line of defense against the Abyssal horde second to the ship girl infantry and navy, the former of which consist of less experienced ship girls who make up for it with their sheer numbers, and the latter has experience along with tried-and-true tactics and far more seasoned vets on hand to train the rookies.

You'll all be worked to the bone by me in order to perform better than any other company, and will no doubt be pushed further than the rest of them, but know this.

This is _not_ an unwinnable battle."

Jintsuu's eyes hardened, the battle-hardened weariness being reflected in her eyes, as time, war and tragedy testing her spirit and beating the 'nice girl Jintsuu' out of her a long time ago, but never truly managing to break her as a full-fledged soldier in her own right despite having fought on a different battlefield her entire life.

"The Abyssals have a bottomless well of resources, but they still need to transport them across vast swaths of land the further they push inland, giving us more than enough opportunities to attack them where they are weak.

They are fighting on our land, and we need to play to our strengths while negating theirs in order to stand a fighting chance, tiring them out and halting the momentum of their invasion before pushing them back, no matter what we have to resort to.

And to that end, you have me, arguably the best soldier this side of the Pacific teaching you all how to kill everything under the sun.

Right now, Admiral Mako has temporarily passed over executive command to me, which means I'm your acting Admiral as of now and can give you any order I desire.

Now then…"

Her gaze iced over, everyone feeling the air around her drop considerably in temperature as Jackie resumed her 'Demon Instructor' persona which was a far cry from the Jintsuu whom everyone was familiar with, speaking with an authoritative voice which knew it was in charge and silenced possible dissenters or naysayers with her tone.

" _Shall we begin?"_

* * *

The entire afternoon was crammed with physical conditioning exercises, and Shigure now knew that Jintsuu - sorry, Ma'am Jackie, wasn't joking when she said that her training was going to be Hell on Earth, the incoming Abyssal invasion notwithstanding.

Every muscle in her body was strained by the strenuous and relentless physical training regimen that they were subjected to, and several destroyers, light cruisers and even a heavy cruiser had filed out of the formation after breaking down either physically or emotionally in the face of Jackie screaming at them and ordering them to do everything from Buddha claps to push-ups, sit-ups, pull ups, crunches and jumping jacks, and Jackie had led them on a 50 kilometer run as she bounded on like a spirited gazelle which had energy reserves to spare, while almost everyone else ended being completely spent by this point in time.

The battleships naturally fared the best amongst the company, although they were also rather weary after the entire ordeal.

Jackie stood before them, also sweating but looking much more reinvigorated as she remarked about how this was to be a recurring thing, to everyone's horror.

"Well done, everyone!

That wasn't so hard, right?

I did go easy on you the first day, after all."

Everyone's eyes bulged out upon hearing that, incredulous at the offhanded remark that everything they experienced thus far was on _easy mode_ when almost a quarter of them had already collapsed from exhaustion, and the rest of them weren't faring much better.

That didn't escape Ma'am Jackie's notice, as her expression contorted into a scowl and she roared at the cowering army of ship girls before her, looking completely at ease in her part as the menacing drill sergeant.

" _You want a sneak peek of what's intermediate difficulty?!_

 _EVERYONE KNOCK IT DOWN AND GIVE ME 50!"_

The tension was palpable as everyone wanted to protest, but as instructed, they had no choice but to obey as they yelled in a synchronized voice,

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Shigure felt her arm muscles burn upon touching the cement again while she got into the proper push-up position with her legs straightened and her knees weren't touching the floor, although the push ups were thankfully done in a sheltered corridor this time as everyone echoed,

"Permission to carry on, Ma'am?!"

"Granted!

One!"

" _One!"_

Everything within her screamed for her to stop as they counted along with each push-up, her shaking limbs and burning muscles tempting her to do so with every push up she did as beads of sweat dripped down her nose and chin, hitting the floor and de-materializing as it left its mark by moistening a small area of the cement floor, Shigure painstakingly pushing herself up and felt her stamina drain from her body with every push off the floor even before finishing the set of push-ups.

By the time they were done, and she heard someone, unidentifiable in her muddled mind which was already straining its faculties just trying to keep herself in the push-up position without collapsing, call out to ask Ma'am Jackie on whether they could get back up into a standing position.

"Permission to recover, Ma'am!"

"Granted!"

Everyone scrambled up into a standing position save for a few ship girls, Shigure daring to peek down and managed to identify them as Nagatsuki, Nagara and Zuihou, arms trembling uncontrollably and lying on the floor in a splayed 'murder victim' pose as they were worn out from Ma'am Jackie's Spartan training regimen.

Male and female medics rushed in and silently carted them off on stretchers as they, too, were worked to the bone due to the amount of ship girls who had collapsed before this as they were assigned to shadow their company after Ma'am Jackie predicted this outcome, the light cruiser looking downright apoplectic at the lack of any gratitude as she yelled.

"Oi, where's my 'thank you'?!

 _AMAZON COMPANY, DOWN AND GIVE ME ANOTHER 30!"_

"Yes Ma'am!"

Sounding drained of any remaining spunk they had and feeling utterly exasperated by now, Shigure noted how fitting it was that they were named after the Amazons in Greek mythology as a breed of female warriors, and they had the dubious honor of being the first and hence Alpha company in all of Japan.

And like before, their request to continue their punishment was granted with a sharp and curt yes, and they acknowledged it with an exhausted but firm,

"Yes, Ma'am!"

And did as they were told, Shigure being physically pushed to her physical limits just like in the various major naval battles she had participated in.

And strangely enough, she could feel that Ma'am Jackie was deliberately pushing them to the limit, with how she had them perform physically strenuous tasks while she intently observed the flexing of their every muscle according to ship class, how her sharp eyes studied them as they were ordered to push their superhuman strength and endurance to the limit in order to accurately gauge their strength.

Shigure supposed this was a way of breaking them in as well as to see how long they would last in terms of endurance, and on land, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer knew that everything was a chore, trekking likely being the biggest one as they no longer had their boat slippers.

They were no longer ship girls, and Shigure had to remind herself that the Abyssal War had changed in its very nature, no longer requiring only ship girls to fight it.

This was about to become a full-on World War, and the bloody corpses of her sister Yuudachi and her new friend Shimakaze flashed through her mind, bringing everything back into focus as she bit down and felt the dull sensation of pain caused by the stress on her molars, feeling more driven to improve herself than ever before as a second wind overcame her body.

Something managed to thrash them and beat them black and blue with the ferocity rarely seen in this war, and it was headed their way in order to unleash that hell on the civilians of Japan.

Not if they could help it.

Another ship girl dropped out as Tama failed to deliver on the physical aspect of Ma'am Jackie's hellish training regimen, her sprawled body being lifted onto a stretcher and promptly carted away by the medics of Itazuma Camp while everyone else maintained their push-up positions and stared down at the ground while Ma'am Jackie spoke to them.

"Look, I don't give a damn about whether you lot despise me or whatever by the end of this training period.

A lot of you lasted a lot longer than I expected, but you all just don't seem to understand that all of you aren't ship girls anymore!

Recover!"

"Yes Ma'am!

 _Thank you, Ma'am!"_

Everyone hurried onto their feet and dusted themselves down, standing at attention as Jackie stared them down, waiting until they were done before she continued addressing Amazon company.

"They're taking the fight to us, and we need you to wake up to the fact that this is no longer just a naval war!

If you're not prepared to open your mind to alternatives, to give your all and expand every ounce of effort within you in order to win, then we've already lost!

If you think I'm going to go easy on you just because you're a child or destroyer, think again!"

Shigure was thankful for the training sessions and sorties paying off in keeping her in shape to be able to spare some brainpower in order to process Ma'am Jackie's words, unlike others who were either catching their breath or looked as if they were going to keel over anytime soon, but everyone listened to her with rapt attention because, damn it, she _commanded_ it.

"Just because you're a child doesn't mean things are easier; in fact, I'd say it's the exact opposite on land.

You all will no longer have your little boat slippers to ferry you from point A to point B without effort, and because of that, you all need to improve your stamina in order to keep up with the older ship girls!

I don't care if you still think of yourselves as ship girls right now, I'll pound it intoyour thick skulls that as of today, you are no longer _just_ ship girls; this world and the seven billion people whom we're all protecting need all of you to become something more.

Is that clear?!"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Amazon company, I said, _is. That. CLEAR?!"_

"YES MA'AM!"

Forget everyone else; even Shigure felt like she was on her last legs by this point in time, feeling the sticky sweat drench her entire uniform as her demure chest heaved after attempting to take several deep breaths, and Ma'am Jackie's wordless answer to their hearty answer was to relax her demeanor and give a serene smile.

And that was what chilled everyone to their core, because to see the Sendai-Class light cruiser make such an out-of-character expression in a time like this was analogous to being in the eye of the storm, everyone mentally bracing themselves for what was to come.

With all the patience and generosity she could muster, Ma'am Jackie sincerely congratulated.

"I'm heartened to see that you all possess so much vigor even after one set.

When you all leave this camp, I expect every single one of you to be able to accomplish eight to ten sets.

Now then, let's complete one more set before the end of today, starting with another 50 km run, alright?"

Everyone simply uttered out a disbelieving,

" _Ehh?!"_

As Jintsuu started to move off without them, jogging backwards and facing them as she gestured with her two hands, her demeanor hardening again as she ordered.

"Come on, rows of two!

By tonight, you all will find out that your bunk bed and pillows will be your new best friends, and you'll all be sleeping like logs tonight!"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"As you're all well aware, sleep is a privilege on the battlefield; I can run you all into the ground by training you all throughout the day and night!

Today's your first day in this camp and living this kind of life, I'm already wasting time by going easy on you all and allowing you to sleep when an invasion is well on its way.

You hear me?!"

Everyone visibly flinched at how the Demon Instructor was already 'going easy' on them and was going to ramp up the difficulty in the days to come, but they had no choice but to echo back in a collective wheezing voice,

"Yes Ma'am!"

" _OI, AMAZON COMPANY, WHERE'S MY GRATITUDE?!_

 _I CAN AND WILL SCREW YOU LOT OVER THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT IF I HAVE TO!_

 _YOU WANT THAT?!"_

" _NO MA'AM!_

 _THANK YOU, MA'AM!"_

" _Good!"_

* * *

The entire Amazon company was sitting in the canteen in the _very_ late evening after the sun had set, the cooks having anticipated their condition and prepared their meals such that they need only drink out of straws to eat their dinner (their arms were trembling like early sufferers of Parkinson's Disease, and they'd make a horrible mess of themselves and the canteen if they used utensils), and since Ma'am Jackie had worked them late into the night, the canteen wasn't populated with too many JGSDF soldiers who stayed behind to observe the newcomers.

Everyone looked and felt miserable, several destroyers crying and whining about wanting to go home while others just quietly wallowed in their newfound misery in the hell that was Camp Itazuma, silence reigning supreme amongst those who hadn't been broken yet and didn't even bother wasting their breath complaining.

Shigure was sitting down with the 1st Fleet on her left and Shiranui on her right, and she was enjoying the taste of spliced meat, soup, sliced up hard-boiled eggs and mashed rice along with fuel and shaved steel, all thrown into a cup that was larger than a Big Gulp cup with a similarly large straw as the cooks served them their indented portions (battleships got larger servings while light cruisers and destroyers got smaller, but still sizable portions).

And while in any other scenario the ship girls would have had to be ordered by a superior to down this piping hot cauldron of sludge which was the furthest thing from what any sane person could consider food, after such a physically taxing first day, the ship girls were greedily sucking up their serving as any food could be considered a five-star delicacy at this point in time.

She spoke to Shiranui, who also survived today's training regimen, her soured expression forming a perpetual scowl as she listened to Shigure.

"Was _that_ the Demon Instructor Jintsuu that everyone's terrified to learn from?

I can see why now."

Shiranui gave a simple hum in response as she downed her own serving through the straw, hungrily swallowing the vile mixture before responding wearily, also fatigued from today's activities.

"Yes.

I can see it in her eyes, though.

She's a landlubber inside and out, and if we were to throw her in the ocean, she'd be just as confused as we are right now on how to fight a naval battle.

Although with more than a decade of fighting on the battlefield, I suspect she'll get used to it soon enough, and everything will come back to her eventually."

This claim was sound in Shigure's mind, since Jintsuu seemed unmatched after more than a decade of fighting on land, likely at the expense of never learning how to fight on the ocean like ship girls did, but some part of her that was still a warship would never forget how the ocean felt like.

Shigure seemed quite interested in the points their light cruiser instructor made, asking Shiranui about how true it was that physical conditioning was to be an integral part of their new daily lives.

"By the way, I do believe that what Ma'am Jackie said was true, that we destroyers and perhaps even light cruisers will be pushed harder than the rest of the ship classes, and that'll be useful in battle, right?

I understand her logic that we'll eventually have to leg it across vast stretches of land where vehicles cannot pass, and unlike the ocean, the land is anything but flat and will lengthen the distance traveled from A to B.

Destroyers have smaller physiques and less stamina than the other ship classes, so I suppose we'll be pushed to the limit more often than everyone else even when out of combat."

Shiranui added her two cents,

"That's not all.

Considering our baggage and weapons being hauled around by us as well as supply shortages, possible lack of sleep and rest along with ever-changing orders coming from above to reroute to point C, might demand of us to perform better even when we're reaching the breaking point.

And that in that scenario, we haven't even met the Abyssals yet, which will wear everyone down even more due to fatigue and injuries as well as possible lack of sleep, and you start to see that this training program, no matter how rigorous it might be, is actually a good way to break in and train everyone who wasn't already used to this."

"Hm, and we still haven't gotten our hands on firearms yet…"

"Well…"

Shiranui noted how they were good enough shots on the battlefield due to their previous profession honing that skill, and how firepower wasn't the immediate problem here.

"Aside from being androids with superhuman aim, we've gotten ample chances to practice handling firearms while under fire in battle, so getting us to adapt to human firearms isn't the issue here.

The problem is the playing field itself, and if we're too winded to move anywhere, forget tactics and firearms, we'd be sitting ducks because we couldn't get used to how this new battlefield worked.

Physical training is the way to go in order to train up our stamina, and as you can see, many ship girls here are bench-warmers who are used to short bursts of very intense physical activity in the form of sorties, not half a day of constantly intense physical activity, and certainly not to such an extreme like Ma'am Jackie's training.

Physical training also helps us to handle the recoil of handheld weapons during extended firefights, especially so for firearms which are meant to be dual-wielded since we would be less used to handling that sort of recoil without proper physical conditioning of our upper bodies."

Shigure nodded as she thought about how almost all of their small and medium-caliber cannons were wielded with one hand, and a dual-wielded firearm would certainly need some getting used to.

She then looked around to see less than half the original Amazon company present in which most of them were previously on the active fleet roster while the others were in the med bay, now wondering if simply living for so long would radically change everyone's personality, knowing the current Jintsuu to be far nicer than 'Jacqueline' Jintsuu, essentially her future self.

"Can living for so long change a ship girl so radically?

I mean, the Jintsuu we know is nice even though she has her Demon Instructor persona, but…"

Shiranui nodded, looking around shiftily before asking her next question, morbidly interested in how time and loss could wear away at one's personality in order to change them to such an extent.

"It is interesting to wonder just what she must've been through in order to change her like this, and it's entirely possible that everything about her warship past has been pushed to the fringe of her memory banks.

How bad must it have been, though, to be forced by circumstances to abandon all traces of your old life and fight a war which sucks the joy and life out of you, to the point where you become such a radically different person from who you once were?"

Shiranui looked down in thought, explaining the situation in military camps all across Japan and the world.

"Well, know that out there in Japan, it's very likely that an older doppelganger of you exists and is giving another company of ship girls hell as well.

They definitely sent a lot of ship girl units into war zones in order to invade and stabilize regions like the Middle East and the more… unstable parts of the world, amongst many others under false identities in the past, when our existence was still a secret.

The government recalled them now in order to impart their skills to us after they've been working in arguably worse conditions then us due to their inability to truly die under most circumstances, as well as the possibility of rape if captured…"

Shigure scrunched up her face upon hearing that possibility, but she remained tactfully silent and listened on to Shiranui giving her explanation.

"It's ugly, but even if we get shot at and killed or even sunk on the battlefield, at least there isn't the threat of being raped by Abyssals since they're all female - "

"Wait.

Aren't some sea creatures hermaphrodites?

So drawing inspiration from them in terms of design, can't the Abyssals grow _that_ out and… you know…"

Shigure's face turned as pink as Shiranui's hair upon allowing that stray thought to run wild in her mind, and the Kagerou-Class destroyer closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows as she pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger before exhaling in exasperation, speaking up in an unnaturally soft voice.

" _Thank you_ for sticking that image in my head, Shigure."

Shigure was socially well-adjusted enough to understand sarcasm when she heard it, allowing the silence to diffuse the heightened tension between them as they slurped up their meals through their straws, Shigure's mind hard at work in finding something else to talk about despite being so fatigued, finally thinking about why the humans and Fairies didn't just their own specialized humanoid combat units to be able to fight on land.

"You know, I was wondering…"

"Oh _boy_ , this is going to be _good_."

The Kagerou-Class destroyer's voice was so thickly layered in sarcasm that Shigure paused for a while to make sure Shiranui wasn't about to object to her speaking up before continuing, genuinely curious about this next topic.

"Why don't the Fairies and humans work on building tank girls to fight the Abyssal War on land, if they're such good engineers?"

Shiranui lifted an eyebrow to consider the question alongside Shigure as the both of them consumed their meals through straws, and Shiranui's answer was to ask Shigure another question.

"What happens when you get a shipwright to build a tank or a plane?

It's not ideal, and since the disparity in technological prowess is far too great, the humans can't help out in the production process in order to produce full-fledged land combat units like tank girls.

The Abyssals have likely been on the case for a while before producing land combat units and Beasts, and we don't have the time or resources like they do when we're constantly on the defensive."

Shigure's sense of wonder was reined in by the realist that was Shiranui as she uttered despondently, after her imagination hit a brick wall that was reality and sharing one last stray thought with her pink-haired friend who took another sip of her meal.

"Oh, right.

Although now that I think about it, wouldn't it be more appropriate to have the tanks be reincarnated as boys or guys, because their cannon barrels would be best represented by a male's, you know…"

Shiranui's expression soured in slight disgust as she struggled to finish slurping her meal through her straw, and Shigure realized that it might not be best to talk about reproductive organs when her friend was sucking on a straw which doubled as a quasi-phallic object, and Shiranui echoed this sentiment as she retorted.

"I swear, the next time you have another one of these thoughts, I really need to find a bag to put over my head and tighten around my neck until I see the face of God.

Perhaps a vision of my deceased commander Miyasaka Yoshito would do, you never know with near-death experiences."

Shigure inhaled sharply as she turned to look at her friend, observing her friend's deadpan delivery of that line and allowing the awkward silence to linger between them for a good while to ascertain if she was kidding, and Shiranui had an excellent poker face even now as she cleaned herself up.

The Kagerou-Class destroyer leaning in close to whisper to her ear was something novel, though, and Shigure's curiosity was piqued by her curiosity in what Shiranui wanted to tell her.

"I need to do some digging around tonight.

I'll be dropping by your bunk tomorrow night in order to rendezvous and speak with you."

Shigure gave Shiranui a small nod in earnest, giving her an aside glance as she teased offhandedly.

"So it's a date, then."

Shiranui pulled back to give Shigure a weird look, prompting Shigure to rack her brains in order to find anything else to say,

"A tryst?"

Shiranui narrowed her eyes while pulling away from Shigure such that she was watching her out of the corner of her eye, coldly commenting.

"Don't you do this to me, Shigure.

I had one hell of a time quashing those rumors, and I don't need you to rekindle those rumors again with that kind of talk.

I have enough headaches as it is, so please, _don't."_

"Hmm."

Shigure reacted rather indifferently to that while feeling somewhat bemused upon seeing the stoic destroyer display an irked and even flustered look, but a part of her felt something upon seeing Shiranui react so adversely to the insinuation that they were indeed getting together.

It was a dash of sadness and a touch of…

Disappointment.

Shigure looked up as Shiranui got up from the canteen bench in order to dump the cup and straw in their respective bins, leaning in as she curtly whispered.

"Tomorrow night, 12 o'clock.

Your bedroom."

And she started to turn away before stopping in her tracks and comprehending the various ways one could interpret those words, leaning in close to give Shigure a hard stare, the 'We-both-know-I-didn't-mean-it-that-way-but-you-better-not-take-it-out-of-context-or-else" glare before silently storming away.

Shigure could only exhale sharply through her nose in amusement at Shiranui's plight while she heard Ma'am Jackie speak up over some sort of loudhailer,

"All ship girls of Amazon company are to wash up and be in their bunks by 10; lights out is at 11.

No need to respond, just eat up."

Everyone gave the faintest of nods as the next few hours went by in a blur, everyone shuffling in line to return the cups and discard the straws, wash up and go to sleep, and since it was easier in terms of logistics to keep them together, Shigure was assigned the same bunk as her 1st Fleet, something which no one complained about since they were now living and sleeping with familiar faces.

She heard everyone in her bunk remain dead silent as they changed into the military shorts and T-shirts which were provided by the army to be worn outside of duty hours, quietly hitting the bed and drifting off to sleep in a wink as Shigure did the same, her aching body finally able to cool down and relax as the soreness in her muscles faded away along with her consciousness -

* * *

 _PHEEETTT!_

A shrill noise cut through the morning air and jerked Shigure out from her wonderful dream in which she was back in Yokosuka, and she was eating a wonderful parfait with everyone else in Mamiya's canteen.

It was such a delicious -

 _PHEEEEETTT!_

This time, the whistle was blown close enough to her face for her to hear the plastic ball jingling about inside the whistle chamber, her eyes flying open to the sight of a furious Ma'am Jackie shouting in her face, a vein popping on her temple as she did so.

" _OI, RECRUIT!_

 _HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO SLEEP?!"_

Shigure leapt up three feet into the air due to the fright jump-starting her body into action, and she scrambled to wear her uniform and assemble in the parade square with her equally panicking comrades of the 1st Fleet while Jackie stormed out of the room, that infernal whistle sounding out throughout the bunk building the entire while.

She barely had the time to check her HUD,

'5.48 a.m.

4th May 2015'

Before she managed to stumble down the stairs along with an entire crowd sleepy and tired ship girls as they all made their way down while the crickets chirped under the cover of night.

Yelps and cries could be heard as Jackie made her way through the bunks and cleared everyone out with a sharp blow to her whistle, everyone clearly exhausted from yesterday's brutal training as they gathered in rows of four.

Some ship girls possessed unkempt uniforms while others had undone hair in contrast to Ma'am Jackie since she looked as impeccable as ever, stepping forward after she exited the stairwell in order to face them all with a tight smile as she greeted.

"Good morning, Amazon company!"

And upon hearing nothing but the awkward chirping of crickets in the nearby shrubbery, her smile was wiped off her face as her eyes sharpened their gaze in order to pierce their skulls with a smoldering glare while the temperature around her dipped, readying herself to shout at them again.

Everyone snapped to attention upon feeling her demonic aura gripping their hearts with unadulterated fear, yelling as one.

"Good morning, Ma'am Jackie!"

Her smile was instantly slapped back on her face, a genuine expression which could be controlled at will by someone disciplined enough to control her own emotions after living for so long.

"Very good.

Today's weather forecast was looking good yesterday, so I thought that we could do with some morning exercises and work up an appetite before breakfast."

An audible,

"Hah?!"

Was heard, everyone freezing up and preparing themselves to be reprimanded again, some of them even pulling back a little out of hesitation.

Ma'am Jackie raised her left finger as she opened her mouth to yell, but caught herself at the last second in order to stop herself, likely to prevent pinpointing the culprit and giving everyone a target to focus their disdain and frustrations on for the entirety of the training period, lowering her head to the point where Shigure was pretty certain not even the destroyers in the first row could see her hidden expression.

And finally, she lifted her head and made everyone stop breathing entirely out of dread, because what was plastered on her face was the nicest and brightest smile a Jintsuu could ever hope to display.

But no one was fooled for a second by her radiance as it was a saccharine smile which belied the shit-storm of scoldings and punishments that were no doubt being cooked up in her mind at this moment, and she knew that everyone knew what was likely going through her mind right now as she teased, her serene voice contrasting with her foreboding message of what was to come later.

"Well, I suppose flaring up at you all early in the morning isn't good for anyone, no?

I'll remember this ~ "

And Shigure liked to think that everyone was twitching and trembling because they all felt a collective chill run up their steel spines simultaneously at the sight of Ma'am Jackie appearing affable, almost outright seraphic on the surface while coming up with hellish and punishing exercises on the inside, and was waiting for the right time to drop it on them like a bag of bricks.

Shigure could only safely speak for everyone when she said that they would much rather do without the surprise and just be punished on the spot rather than be blindsided by it when they least expected it.

* * *

The day's training went by without any hiccups, and while Shigure was still fatigued, she could feel that little by little, her body was starting to learn how to handle the stress of both the physical and mental aspects to Ma'am Jackie's training, and so did everyone else.

Their bodies were quick to adapt to changing conditions, and Shigure could feel that the decreased fuel and steel servings was a sign for their bodies to learn to self-regulate its intake and maximize efficiency in order to improve their physical performance with less resources and rest.

The canteen was a lot more lively today as fewer ship girls collapsed from the strain of Ma'am Jackie's training, and today, most of them were scarfing down the meal which was tonight's dinner, porridge (surprisingly tasty by army standards) with cut up Chinese oil sticks and shredded chicken thrown in there, servings of scrambled eggs, peanuts and shaved steel along with a cup of fuel and being the cherry on top as even the destroyers were hungrily devouring their own servings after being worked to the bone.

There was little talk amongst them as usual, but the bulk of the JGSDF soldiers were present today as they ate their meals and spoke amongst themselves while sneaking in aside glances in their direction while the ship girls finished their sizable dinner servings and were starting to talk amongst themselves.

And wwhen Jintsuu walked in along with cooks pushing in freezer carts, everyone in the canteen was immediately silenced by her arrival, including the JGSDF soldiers who had likely felt the wrath of the light cruiser instructor sometime in the past.

Everyone silently listened out of fear, respect and curiosity at what was going on, the chilled smoke escaping the opened carts and slithering down along the sides of the freezer carts as Ma'am Jackie elaborated.

"You all performed brilliantly during the past two days, and I understand that some of you here might not be used to the sudden change in environment.

I don't exactly have anything resembling a welcome gift, but what I have is the money to buy everyone in this camp some ice cream as the 'surprise' as well as a reward of sorts…"

Everyone in the canteen stood up in order to hoot, cheer and clap at the thought of their dreaded Ma'am warming up to them on this exceptionally rare occasion, the spirited and clapping JGSDF soldiers clearly looking enthused about something more than just ice cream.

And Ma'am Jackie took out a cup of ice cream which was likely lime flavored due to its green wrapping, the light cruiser officer using her free hand to waggle an index finger at the watching JGSDF soldiers while a cheeky grin threatened to stretch out her taut cheeks.

"Ice cream cups, that is."

The male soldiers all let out a disappointed but clearly lighthearted,

"Aww…"

As they visibly deflated, and a few of the ship girls either looked amused or annoyed at the fact that the men would rather see them eat a Popsicle rather than a cup of ice cream, which they would have to suck on and swa _ohhhhh._

 _That's_ why.

Shigure felt her face go beet red as she chanced upon that realization, and she kept her head down the entire time as she quietly got in line and queued up for her own serving of ice cream, sitting down with Ayanami as she peeled off the plastic cover while being equipped with a wooden spoon.

Ayanami, looking fatigued yet thankful for the resupply of ice cream, questioned why their instructor would be so nice to them, to the point where she bought ice cream for them while asking of nothing in return.

"Not to say that I'm ungrateful, but why get us all ice cream?

Is it some kind of morale booster of sorts?"

Shigure agreed with her supposed answer before asking another question,

"I suppose so.

Because while the land invasion is imminent and inching closer with every passing day, morale is also an important factor in keeping us invigorated and ready to fight a war.

I won't say that fighting spirit alone wins a war since it provides no sustenance to feed your troops, but I have to say that it wasn't a bad idea to spend some money in order to keep us well-fed and relatively happy instead of being constantly miserable, which would no doubt dampen our spirits and hamper our ability to fight back effectively.

I believe that the real question is, how is she capable of buying out several ice cream carts of ice cream?"

Ayanami shrugged as she dug into her cup of ice cream, citing a very possible reason on how the light cruiser would go about doing that.

"Well, she is long-lived, much like Akashi.

And a ship girl's lifestyle is honed to be very minimalistic since we rarely waste whatever we earn on superfluous items, which means that most ship girl veterans retire with way more money than they know what to do with.

It wouldn't surprise me if she's filthy rich like Akashi but doesn't even bother touching her fortune after being embroiled in war for so long."

Shigure hummed in agreement, following suit as she moved onto the next topic and asked about how Ayanami was doing, since she was a comrade and was someone whom Shigure wanted to be alright in any and every way possible, since Ayanami was going to be watching her back and risking her life out there alongside Shigure on the battlefield.

"So, how's life?

Aside from the hellish training we're subject to, of course."

Ayanami tilted her head and lifted an eyebrow, clearly not used to what she was subjected to as she gave an honest response.

"Not really.

The training's hellish, I understand that, but it's nothing that we didn't expect in the back of our minds due to our history, the role we're now expected to play and how soon we're expected to get good at it before the Abyssals invade us on land.

In other news, I feel strange, because living, eating and sleeping inland without the ocean being close to us feels like a ship that's stranded in the middle of the desert; we're out of our element here.

Maybe it's something which we'll get used to over time, but it feels strange, to know that there'll be no more chances for us to sortie on the seas ever again, and it's the antithesis of what a ship girl is, to not just be beached, but stranded in the middle of nowhere."

Shigure nodded, understanding how it might feel difficult for a ship girl to transition from a world filled with naval battles to that of land battles, and although being a sapient android helped to alleviate said feelings due to humans being flexible in the sense that they were capable of travelling via air, land and sea, their warship selves simply didn't see this as their 'rightful battleground' and felt like a fish out of water, perhaps in a more literal sense.

Also, she was very interested in how Ma'am Jackie chose to stick to a self-christened name instead of her old name, Jintsuu.

"Why is it that even in the presence of fellow ship girls, Ma'am Jackie responds to her second name Jacqueline or Jackie, and not Jintsuu?

I wonder if she wanted to leave her past along with her name behind that badly, after being conscripted into a world of land combat without her consent."

"It wouldn't be out of the question, that's for sure.

I mean, if your old name makes you remember those in your past who've been brought back to life but you're never gonna meet because of your career, why not make a new name in order to live a new life?

An understandable decision, especially since very few Japanese people, to my knowledge, are named Jintsuu, and might equate it to the warship more than the river her name was based on.

Perhaps a more commonplace name like mine, 'Ayanami' would be easier to explain away than say, Tenryuu, Aka 'Heavenly Dragon'."

Shigure nodded and accepted the reasoning behind how certain inconspicuous names would fly under the radar more easily than others, especially for ship girls with archaic or unusual names.

They both sat in silence for a while as they ate the free ice cream and enjoyed the sound of ship girls speaking with more liveliness in their voice than ever before, Shigure feeling a bit more at home in this kind of atmosphere, which was something to be treasured in the days leading up to Apocalypse.

She was all too aware of how war, especially when things got tough, would consist of extended periods of silence which would be punctuated by the occasional jet fighter flying overhead, the unloading of firearms, a tank its cannon firing or even the rare earth-quaking explosion in the distance, and while Shigure was prepared for it in the sense that she already knew what lay in store from here on out, she was still emotionally unprepared to accept the fact that there really was nowhere left to hide when the time came, that any hole they hid in would be blown to kingdom come by Abyssal jet fighters, that the enemy's steel tracks would mow down anyone who stood in their way and -

"Shigure!"

Ayanami's voice snapped the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer out of her thoughts, and she turned to look back at a concerned Ayanami as her expression was soured with anxiety, and although the Ayanami-Class destroyer's hair was cut and she was now missing her identifiable ponytail, her signature hair parting easily distinguished her from the rest of the destroyers, and she was now leaning in close as she expressed her genuine concern for Shigure's well being.

"You look like you just had a Vietnam flashback.

What's on your mind?"

Shigure realized that the shock and stress of the war was slowly taking its toll on her as it no doubt did to everyone else even if they didn't realize it right now, eroding away at their will and psyche day by day like drops of water chipping its way through a boulder.

Having someone else to lean on was a relief, as she would soon find out when she opened her heart to Ayanami.

"I don't know.

Maybe this is what it feels like to be claustrophobic, but I got this feeling that everything is closing in on us, and it's just going to get worse from here on out.

Previously, we all felt that the seas were where it was most dangerous despite being our domain, and while it wasn't our natural habitat, the land was our safe zone where we couldn't be touched.

Now, even that's gone, and having nowhere to run on sea, land and air while being boxed in from all sides and can't get out…"

Shigure couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine at the Abyssal horde swarming and encircling them like an endless army of ants before they were either taken out and killed in battle, or executed when captured, or even wor -

" _Shigure!"_

Ayanami had to shake her on the shoulder in order to derail her morbid train of thoughts, and Shigure suddenly felt more fatigued and on edge than ever before as she snapped her head to the side in order to look around, turning to look at Ayanami and focus on her face which helped to anchor her psyche.

She felt the fear, anxiety and paranoia threaten to overwhelm and break her like it did to Saratoga as she took slow, deep breaths in order to calm her nerves down and help ease the trembling which was staring to plague her body and was causing her to shake like a leaf.

Crushing the wooden ice cream paddle in her hands while placing the cup on the table in order to free up her hand, she looked away and guiltily shielded her eyes with her arms as she mumbled aimlessly, trying to convince both Ayanami and herself that she was alright.

"Just…

Just let me think…"

She attempted to rationalize away her fear and consider the scale of everything that was to come, Apocalypse, the fates of her sisters and comrades, Project Psyche, the hydrogen bombs, the _Flying Dutchman_ , the incoming intensity and horror of land combat, the likes of which even her admittedly limited imagination failed to truly grasp…

Ayanami sidled up to her and wrapped a hand around her, and although she jumped a little at the surprise body contact, she leaned on Ayanami as the destroyer nameship utilized her 'older sister' instincts and persona in order to pacify Shigure.

"Maybe that's the problem, Shigure.

You think too much.

You're a strong girl, but you're still fallible and also a child who's been through so much in both lives.

It's completely understandable for you to feel scared, scared of dying, scared of losing it all on the battlefield, it's all understandable.

Right now, for tonight, please just relax.

Just relax…"

"But… But…

Everything's falling apart and closing in all around us… and…"

Her own thoughts began to swim in her own head, lowering her head onto her table as her overloaded mind started to slow down from the fatigue of thinking too much under physical and mental stress, and being a child in the midst of a war didn't help her one bit.

Ayanami soothed her anxiety with her voice, her voice a comfort to Shigure as a pseudo-sister ship on her own team as the name ship destroyer cooed.

"I know.

All too well.

But we're still here, and we aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Whatever comes our way, we'll face it as a team, alright?"

Shigure's entire body was shutting down on its own accord, and the drowsiness which overcame her mind forced her to lose focus as she mumbled, seeing both the members of the Nishimura Fleet and her 1st Fleet in her mind as people who were dear to her in wholly different, yet equally important ways before blanking out.

"Got… it…

I… Protect every… zzzzzzzz…"

* * *

"Shigure."

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's eyelids pried open despite her body resisting her efforts and tempting her to go back to sleep as she heard her friend calling out to her, recognizing the location as her bunk and coming to the conclusion that someone carried her back to the bunk and helped her into a change of clothes before tucking her into bed.

And now, a stranger was crouched beside her, statue-esque and immobile as she wore the darkness like a blanket in order to hide the childish figure who was expertly hidden in the shadows, save for the lights illuminating the corridor through the glass window slats which highlighted her figure.

Shiranui had sneaked out of her own bunk in order to sneak past the duty night guards, and while it wasn't the hardest thing in the world to do when everyone was pretty much hibernating in order to conserve and recover their depleted stamina, but Shigure could see that the Kagerou-Class destroyer was adept at stealth as she positioned herself such that not a ray of light was able to shine upon her motionless figure.

Shigure wanted to call out to her friend, but she held her tongue and only sat up on her bed in order to acknowledge the fact that she was awake, and Shiranui finally allowed the light to shine on her stoic face in order to confirm her identity before elaborating on her situation.

"We have a situation.

You know how I infiltrated Admiral Mako's room in order to plant the bugs?"

Shigure nodded silently, and Shiranui's expression darkened in consternation as she continued, and if someone as composed as Shiranui was looking concerned about the situation at hand, it was serious, and Shigure sat up straighter as a result.

"Back then, I found that someone else had beaten me to the punch by bugging all of Admiral Mako's clothes before I did, and I crushed all but one in order to save it for future investigations.

Before we left for Camp Itazuma yesterday, I sifted through my own belongings and the secret safe which I use to store really private items from even my sister ships, and before you ask, no, I am _not_ paranoid."

"What happened?"

Shigure was starting to anticipate the wave of dread which was about to hit her like a freight train, and the silence which Shiranui left her in made her wonder what was going on as she waited for the silent destroyer to continue the story.

"It was stolen from my safe.

Not even my sisters knew about my safe's existence, and it's gone.

Also, before you ask, it is virtually impossible for me to have lost it since it's such a vital clue, and also a lead to help me find whoever's responsible for this, however small it may be.

Unfortunately, aside from sneaking into Admiral Mako's bedroom in the dead of night, there were a few more opportunities for someone to do so, like the finished laundry which was left in straw baskets to be distributed to their respective owners long before the meeting, or someone who has access to Admiral Mako's bedroom slipping in and bugging them before I did, neither method being available to us back then.

The point is, even if we were to narrow down the list of possible culprits, there would still be too many ship girls to investigate into at a time like this."

Shigure narrowed her eyes as she echoed her own thoughts.

"So you mean that someone knows you bugged the Admiral's clothes?

But… wouldn't that mean that I would be the prime suspect, since I was the only one to know of your infiltration mission that night?"

Shiranui lifted a slightly derisive eyebrow, stating to her how the thought of an untrained destroyer pulling it off to be unthinkable.

 _"Very_ unlikely, although I haven't quite discounted the possibility.

If you already knew how to bug Admiral Mako's clothes and listen in on her, you wouldn't have come to me for help in the first place and raise my suspicion later on by breaking into my safe and retrieving the untouched listening device, and that isn't even getting into how you have absolutely no reason to know of my secret safe's existence before this.

To knowingly tip your hand like that would require a level of foolishness that's beyond even you."

Shigure lowered her head with raised eyebrows and half-lidded eyes, unable to say anything to counter Shiranui's points, but eventually focused her gaze to look back at Shiranui solemnly as she asked.

"Then what are we going to do about this?

Especially since we've lost our lead regarding this mystery person who intended to listen in on Admiral Mako's briefing like we did."

"For now, nothing.

I'll be continuing the investigation, but as a partner and someone whom I chose to confide in, I want you to be in on the loop, and act as a second pair of eyes for me.

With any chance, this mystery spy might act again when Apocalypse comes around."

"But is she with us or against us?"

Shiranui's expression creased in frustration at not having all the answers, and being forced to suspect all her ship girl comrades with an impending world war well on the way didn't help matters one bit, with only herself and Shigure being the only ship girls she could trust as of now.

"I don't know."


	56. Chapter 56 - The Dance Of Death

Tatsuta and Tenryuu were both standing in a clearing in the midst of a forest on the 5th of May while Aoba, Akashi, Akio and Kousuke were spectating from a distance, the two Tenryuu-Class light cruisers possessing their Anti-Abyssal weapons which were brought over last night after the Fairies were finished with the remodels on their Anti-Abyssal weapons and they were shipped over via plane.

Tatsuta was still in her army uniform as she was now quite accustomed to the fabric and quite liked the fact that it covered far more skin than her ship girl uniform could ever hope to accomplish, and Tenryuu was also dressed in the same garb and had her mechanical ears and eye-patch removed just like Tatsuta's halo, since they would get in their way during training, but would come in _very_ handy when shit hit the fan since they doubled as wearable radar technology which could be brought on land.

She held her shortened glaive, Sado in her hands, and although she didn't feel any different when compared to how she did before Project Psyche, there was a gut feeling that the power was now in her hands, the power to change the course of this war in her own special way through her newfound super-weapon.

She looked back at Tenryuu as her elder sister brandished her own Anti-Abyssal weapon Ezekiel, studying it intently as her voice was subdued and was very much unlike her normal boisterous self, a rare moment of contemplative insight shining through her personality as she heard Tenryuu ask through the earpiece they were both wearing.

"Do you feel any different, Tatsuta?

I don't, is there something wrong with me?"

Tatsuta responded positively about her own condition,

"Well, I feel alright, but thank you for asking, Tenryuu-chan.

I personally think it'd be stranger if you didn't feel like yourself, am I right?"

Kousuke nodded as the human leaned in to speak into the microphone off in the distance, standing behind bulletproof glass in order to shield Akio and himself from the unleashing of their super-weapons since they didn't have armored skin like Aoba and Akashi did.

"I side with Tatsuta on this one.

Ya see, you aren't going to feel too different since your body's still your body, and anything you do feel when you activate your powers is likely something within your body going horribly wrong when something misfires.

So if you feel anything unusual, pain in places which aren't supposed to hurt when you channel your mana or when fighting in general, we'll stop this sparring session and the Fairies will perform a full-body checkup."

Tatsuta only had to respond with,

"Acknowledged."

Along with Tenryuu's determined,

"Got it!"

Tatsuta looked right back at Tenryuu just as her elder sister asked about how exactly their souls would work in conjunction with their bodies in order to keep them up and running in battle.

"Um, actually, hold on a second.

How will our souls work, now that the limiter within us has been removed and we're capable of drawing on more power from within ourselves, and we're going to be injected with nano-machines that help us regenerate from bullet wounds.

Does this mean that we can literally will ourselves back to life, given that our willpower is what draws out more mana from within us?"

Discussions were heard on the other end of the earpiece, with several 'eh' and 'um' being used before Akio responded, having tagged along with them for the sake of overseeing Project Psyche and the progress of its two participants.

"Alright, look.

The soul is a theoretically infinite power source, but the reason why you two can't keep spamming your powers is because of what your soul personifications said.

The problem isn't running out of mana but instead overworking your body in trying to process too much mana for too long, and this is a classic case of 'the spirit is strong, but the body is weak' and the fact that mana output is capable of fluctuating in intensity.

It's a potent power source, but it's being channeled through your psyche, and by extension. your willpower which is shown through your fighting spirit, and it's far more unreliable than good ol' fuel and steel.

Because if you think about it, psychological and mental fatigue settles in over time and is harder to relieve, and the Abyssal war piling on the stress causes your fighting spirit to wax and wane which will very likely affect the rate of your mana output, but if you drink fuel, power is delivered to you, no fuss."

"So what do we have to do in order to get stronger?

Meditate?"

"An intelligent guess, but no."

Aoba leaned in, explaining the situation to a slightly confused Tenryuu.

"The soul is a part of you and is theoretically capable of producing more energy, but your body would collapse and break down from being abused by you if you exceed your body's limits by drawing on more energy than it's prepared to handle.

Physical training can help to boost your limits, because your strained body demands more power, and consuming fuel with steel can only work for so long because it's a finite resource in your body.

Part of our goal in holding this hellish training at Camp Itazuma is to both improve your physical capabilities and to increase the power output from your souls, because you're all being physically driven to the ground while being fed far less fuel and steel than usual."

"Thus prompting our body to increase the output from the soul in order to make up for the lack in resource consumption, for the nanomachines to use as an alternative power source when running low on resources, right?"

In which Akashi answered,

"Yep.

They'll be injected into everyone's bodies in order to eject the bullet from the ballistic wound before regenerating lost flesh and tissue on the spot should they get shot.

Within reason, of course, since larger caliber bullets simply punch through weaker armor and tear out chunks of flesh along with them, which means a trip to the docks if it becomes fatal.

We don't expect this to be too much of a well-kept secret should the Abyssals manage to capture a corpse and study them even if we have safeguards in place, but we aren't without our developing trump cards as well."

Tatsuta wanted to ask what those trump cards were, but she understood that as a high-value target after having procured superpowers, she now had a bulls-eye painted on her back and would stand out even more when Apocalypse rolled around, and was why they needed this training session; to improve themselves and give them a fighting chance against the J.O.A.N. units.

Tatsuta pulled Sado's blade in close to her eye and observed Tenryuu's head poking above its edge, pulling the glaive to her left to playfully mime cutting her head off in her mind while Akashi replied.

Akio spoke up and notified both Tenryuu-Class cruisers about what might happen should one of them run out of steam.

"Look, we don't believe it's possible for you all to die from over exhaustion, because drawing out more mana than what your body can produce results in unconsciousness as the first symptom, in order to allow your body to restore mana over a period of time as a living, breathing power source.

What drains the surplus of mana which your body produces outside of running your body are your Anti-Abyssal weapons, the physical demands of battle and now the bullet-ejecting nanites which provide short-term repairs.

What helps you to recover lost mana quickly is ample food, sleep and rest, conservation of powers over a period of time, and the timely healing of injuries which wouldn't tax your mana reserves in order to keep you alive."

Tenryuu finally got the explanation as she looked back at Tatsuta, her expression brightening like the break of dawn as she exclaimed,

"Oh, I finally remember!

And if we were to use these powers more often during training or battles, like a muscle, our mana reserves would be greatly expanded after utilizing our powers for an extended period of time, right?"

Akio made a noise of agreement as he explained,

"Of course, easier said than done when war's all about working with unfavorable circumstances.

A lack of resources or rest is what'll very likely plague your missions from now on, so we need to hold as many training session as possible from now on without running you all into the ground to prepare you two for what's to come.

Of course, Admiral Mako and the rest of us are scouting for new candidates to join you two in Project Psyche before shit hits the fan, so there's that."

Tatsuta nodded mutely while Tenryuu grunted in acknowledgement, Tatsuta observing Tenryuu as she studied her own sword with an intensity which made made Tatsuta wonder if her elder sister was going to decipher the secrets of the universe if she looked hard enough.

Finally, Tenryuu looked up with a shit-eating grin on her face as she demanded, eager to test her limits and go up against her own sister ship in a training session.

"Well then, Tatsuta, let's fight, hmm?

All this training and the lack of a proper battle is really grinding my gears, so shall we…"

"Yes."

Tatsuta didn't need any time to think up of any other answer, gripping Sado and feeling the familiar sensation of the cool steel though her gloved hand, returning Tenryuu's spirited gaze with one of her own as she also felt her intellectual curiosity and competitive spirit flare up within her and power her body not as independent elements, but a unified drive whose desire for victory drove her to pit herself against even her own sister ship.

Holding her glaive out horizontally, she spoke both into the earpiece's microphone and to Tenryuu, addressing the engineers and ship girls who were spectating this fight.

"The more we push each other, the more we can understand our own powers and its limits, and that's where creativity in the usage of our weapon's powers and strengths come into play."

Tenryuu charged in her direction, her sword Ezekiel held up with the sharp end facing her as it emitted black flames, Tenryuu herself looking to be having the time of her life as she exclaimed, looking to impale her own sister.

"Don't hold back, Tatsuta!

 _Stinger!"_

Tatsuta couldn't help but break out into a small smile upon seeing Tenryuu recover her mojo after her mood had soured after being sidelined in the Battle of Twelve Navies and had been put through the wringer at the hands of Ma'am Jackie after being sent to Camp Itazuma, the younger sister of the Tenryuu-Class leaning forward and pointing her shortened glaive down at the dirt floor.

This way, as she felt something flow into Sado and activate its ability, her weight was shifted onto her glaive as it extended, still retaining its original material strength as she flew into the air, the ache which shot up up her palm and hands numbed by the exhilaration of being launched into the air by her modified weapon, her insides feeling weightless as she looked down at Tenryuu's surprised expression looking back up at her while Tatsuta's shadow eclipsed her figure.

Tatsuta smirked as she held her glaive in a cue-ball shooting pose after it had shortened back to normal length and was pointed down in between her spread legs, now feeling very glad for the army uniforms which wouldn't flash her panties like her ship girl dress would, thinking to herself all the while.

' _How cute, Tenryuu-chan._

 _To think that you would call your attacks out._

 _But as your little sister, I guess I'd also be guilty of doing the same, hmm?'_

"God-Killing Spear, revised!"

Tatsuta channeled her spiritual energy through her body and into her glaive in order to extend it at breakneck speed without going through the motions of shooting, Tenryuu stopping her charge by planting her foot in the ground, cracking the earth beneath her as if a heavy cruiser shattered it with a mighty punch with spider-web cracks radiating from the epicenter in an instant.

Tenryuu had already snapped her head back the second she predicted what Tatsuta would do a second before execution so that Sado wouldn't impale her skull, shortly before launching herself back where she originally started.

The landing Tatsuta shortened her glaive and gracefully landed back on Earth within the space of a second, a stumbling Tenryuu finally regaining her balance as she exclaimed disbelievingly.

"Hey, Tatsuta!

That last attack could've really killed me, you know?"

"I know."

Tenryuu was silenced by Tatsuta's answer, the spirited cruiser spinning her glaive around in a circle in her hands as she gave her own sister a serene yet piercing gaze,

"I knew that you would be able to evade that with your reflexes, and especially after all our time sparring with each other made us aware of what the other was capable of.

And besides, I was sure it was nothing you couldn't handle.

The enemy won't be as kind as I am to stop their assault to talk to you like I am right now, and you really need to wake up your idea and step up your game if you think that I'm going to go easy on you during training, hence allowing our enemies to overwhelm you with brute force.

Get ready now."

Holding her shortened glaive up to her stomach with her palm supporting the butt of the glaive, Tatsuta fired Sado again as Tenryuu deftly evaded the extending glaive, running Ezekiel along the side of Sado's shaft and throwing up sparks in the process as she charged up a Blade Rush, and Tatsuta's glaive barely retreated in time as she spun out of the way of the point-blank Blade Rush missing her before throwing herself to the ground.

She couldn't stop herself from letting out an involuntary,

"Tsk!"

As she thought to herself while rolling about on the floor.

' _So that was the speed at which Sado retracts._

 _Not keeping track of that and underestimating Tenryuu's mobility nearly did me in, I need to be more careful next time!'_

Tenryuu advanced with Ezekiel held in a two-handed reverse grip and repeatedly stabbed at where Tatsuta previously laid, Tatsuta already predicting what Tenryuu was up to as she scrambled out of the way and pushed herself away from where the edge of the blade was pointed at, deliberately throwing up dust in the process.

As expected, Tenryuu narrowed her eyes as the dust flew everywhere, but Tatsuta saw that the edge of Tenryuu's blade was pointed in her general direction, her elder sister's voice raising in anticipation as she called out,

"Now's my chance!

Blade Rush!"

Calling her attack was immature, but not doing so wouldn't have made much of a difference at this point as Tatsuta spun out of the way once more while Tenryuu slashed out in her direction and threw up dirt and flames in her direction, Tatsuta feeling as if she were losing her balance as she attempted to get in one last shot at Tenryuu by transferring some of her mana into Sado once more in a one-handed God-Killing Spear, already starting to feel the first signs of fatigue plague her body despite only being in the fight for a minute or so.

Hitting the dirt floor once more, she got up to her feet as soon as possible in order to respond to any threats as she saw Tenryuu feel up the hair directly above her left ear before bringing her palm out, several strands of her hair being trimmed off by Tatsuta's last attack as Tenryuu spoke in a tone of both abject surprise and horror.

"Wow, Tatsuta.

Nearly got me with that last one, hmm?"

"Would it help you feel a little better if I were to say that wasn't my best shot?"

"Well, I'd certainly hate to see you at your best, Tatsuta."

"Too bad, because you'll get to see it anyway the moment you chose to pick a fight with me.

As for the near-miss, the only thing I'd have to say is it's hard to hit a moving target.

 _Would you kindly be a dear and stay still for me?"_

Getting into an attack pose again, her singsong voice belied her rising enthusiasm in winning this fight, the first occurrence which got her fired up ever since their Anti-Abyssal weapons were modified as it spiced up the fight aplenty after sparring with Tenryuu so many times made things somewhat predictable, especially since they understood each other's fighting style inside and out as sister ships who fought back-to-back.

Tenryuu's response wasn't discouraged in the least, something Tatsuta expected and learnt to appreciate in times like these when everything was going to hell in a handbasket.

"If you think I'm going to roll over and die by following those orders, Tatsuta, you have another thing coming!

I'm a rebel!"

As Tenryuu raised Ezekiel above her head, Tatsuta decided to call Tenryuu on her bluff by firing another God-Killing Spear in her direction, answering.

"I know, Tenryuu-chan ~ "

But Tenryuu lowered her body and hugged the ground, simultaneously evading the incoming glaive and firing a horizontal Blade Rush by spinning counterclockwise as it grew in width and circumference, forcing Tatsuta to perform a high jump as she retracted Sado in order to protect herself.

The Blade Rush harmlessly passed underneath her airborne form and crashed into the forest, no doubt slicing through them like a scythe and felling them in their unintended deforestation as collateral damage, but as her attention shifted from the Blade Rush which faceted the ground where she previously stood, she was in for quite the shock.

Tatsuta could feel her eyes widening and her face going slack at the sight of Tenryuu holding Ezekiel like a baseball bat above her right shoulder, winding up for a swing with her leading left foot raised above ground level while her face broke out into an idiotic grin, but when you had a sparring partner on the ropes like Tenryuu did, it was hard not to smile at your opponent's incoming misfortune, even if it was her own sister ship.

" _Fore!"_

Tatsuta didn't even have to think twice before performing a mid-air spin to get out of the flaming arc's trajectory, hitting the floor just as the majestic, jet-black flames of Tenryuu's Blade Rush clipped her upper arm and seared her skin, but compared to what they suffered during sorties on a regular basis, it was but a scratch.

Tenryuu charged in while holding Ezekiel close to herself, belying her nervousness at facing off against Tatsuta at close range due to the younger sister of the Tenryuu-Class emerging victorious in a good number of these bouts, and Tatsuta made full use of Tenryuu's hesitation in order to recover.

Firing Sado several times in quick succession while limiting their length so that she wouldn't be drained of her mana too quickly, she kept Tenryuu evading like this as she re-positioned herself relative to her advancing sister, Tatsuta spinning around clockwise while extending her glaive so as to perform a sweeping slice.

Tenryuu had to lean back and slide on her knees to evade a sweeping glaive strike while Tatsuta fully committed to her spin and retracted Sado, increasing her turn speed as a shorter glaive was what returned to her hand while she faced away from Tenryuu.

She could hear her elder sister cry out wildly, completely drawn in by the renewed intensity and thrill of a fight which they had previously fought to a standstill several dozens of times,

" _It's over, Tatsuta!"_

In which Tatsuta, despite feeling Tenryuu's genuinely menacing aura flare up behind her as her elder sister breathed down her neck, she swallowed before glancing back to look at Tenryuu.

Her elder sister was having the time of her life, taut cheeks stretched out into a shit-eating grin while her eyes shone with the exhilaration and fervor of battle pushing her on as she brandished Ezekiel and held it over her head, dark flames that were being emitted by the flame already intensifying in preparation for a Blade Rush.

Just as Tatsuta back-stepped and spun around to face her sister ship with Sado in hand, her cold tone and hollow expression dead serious about ending this fight, except with her as the decisive victor.

" _I concur."_

Tatsuta could see Tenryuu's expression morphing into that of unbridled horror on the other end of her glaive, a millisecond before Tenryuu brought Ezekiel before her in order to shield herself from the extending glaive, and she could see her sister grimace as she held her sword by the flat of her blade and her handle while the tip of Tatsuta's glaive threatened to punch through Ezekiel's blade, throwing up a brilliant firework of sparks before her elder sister was sent flying into the forest since her footing was less secure than a prepared Tatsuta's was.

Tatsuta similarly grimaced and pumped her all spiritual energy into her glaive in order to extend Sado even further, seeing trees topple like dominoes in the distance and the ground quake the further Sado was extended, and Tatsuta felt the hit to her mana reserves and sap her of her stamina every time she smashed her sister ship through every tree and caused them to crash and uproot as a result, forcing her to pump even more mana into Sado in order to overcome the natural resistance provided by the immovability and sturdiness of the trees as well as her sister resisting her attack, watching birds scatter in the distance as a result of the environmental disturbance.

This didn't stop until she was certain that Tenryuu was far enough for her to catch her breath as she was now winded after retracting Sado, looking back at the devastation she caused as dozens of trees laid in a 'V' formation, gnarled roots exposed and stretched out from their uprooted bottoms like frayed rope ends as they pointed in every direction, the panicked birds taking flight as they cawed in a frenzied cacophony after their sparring session forced them into an exodus.

Tenryuu was shoved back about a hundred meters and left its mark on the forest, and she could barely see Tenryuu at this point in time as the name-ship of the Tenryuu-Class left behind one of the two pairs of skid marks dug into the dirt as her elder sister was pushed back despite her best efforts to block Tatsuta's revised God Killing Spear.

She stepped out of the second pair of skid marks which was dug into the dirt by her own boots as she had to dig her heels into the ground and was sent skidding back several meters during the attack, according to Newton's Third Law of equal and opposite reaction.

She wasn't an immovable object, and sending Tenryuu flying back into those trees did push her back several meters as she sank into the ground, the soles of her combat boots caked in dirt as she attempted to scrape it off by angling her foot before sliding her soles on the ground.

Pressing the button on the earpiece in order to activate the microphone, she narrowed her eyes in an attempt to find her sister ship through the smoke,

"Oh, Tenryuu-chan ~

Are you alright?"

Aoba's concerned voice was palpable even through the earpiece as she pressed on buttons on the other end in order to keep track of both their physical conditions and their respective locations, the latter of which was announced over the radio as the heavy cruiser spoke.

"Alright?!

You sent her flying about a hundred meters away, I think that she's a little beyond 'alright'!"

But Tenryuu's voice resonated through the microphone, loud background noise like splintering wood and settling dust a result of Tatsuta's attack leaving its mark on the forest but didn't drown out the light cruiser's voice in the slightest, emoting tones of surprise, inspiration and awe all in the span of several sentences.

"Woah.

Sending me flying a hundred meters or so with a single strike?

That was awesome, Tatsuta!

But this is the kind of shit that gets. _Me. PUMPED!"_

Tatsuta could then feel Tenryuu's aura flare up at a distance, pushing away the dust as Tatsuta activated her ship girl mode and zoomed in to find Tenryuu standing back up, a felled tree lying behind her and was toppled over after Tenryuu was likely pressed up on it before the tree was uprooted by Tatsuta's extending glaive, with Tenryuu stuck in the middle.

Right now, Tenryuu was dusting herself off before running towards her and slashing out with Ezekiel several times, and Tatsuta had to stand at a 90 degree angle and strafe in order to evade a Blade Rush, immediately transitioning into a squat and flattening her body to be parallel to the floor in order to evade another Blade Rush roaring over her head, spotting a third one flying her way and forcing her to launch off her right foot and spin out of the way.

What Tatsuta didn't expect to see was a spirited Tenryuu shrugging off all her injuries as she burst through what remained of the dissipating smoke, a blur which was closing in fast as a taken aback Tatsuta raised her glaive to block Tenryuu's sword strike.

She felt the shock-wave of the intense strike reverberate throughout the steel pole which made up Sado's shaft and forcing her to use all her might to push Tenryuu back, only managing to quip while she looked into Tenryuu's bloodthirsty eyes, her uniform now shredded in various spots and had leaves stuck to her uniform and hair, all these details ignored in favor of an all-in attack as Tatsuta commented.

"Ara, you're quite fast on your feet, hmm, Tenryuu-chan?"

"Hah, don't patronize me.

We light cruisers are one of, if not _the_ fastest ship class.

As a fellow light cruiser, you of all people should know that a hundred meters is nothing to us with our superhuman speed!

But enough of that.

I'll show you something I've been itching to try!"

Tenryuu threw up another shower of sparks, spraying it in Tatsuta's direction and forcing her to shield her face as the name-ship put some distance between them, but not before the force she used to launch herself back at a stunned Tatsuta cracked the earth beneath her foot, sprinting in her direction again as Tatsuta spotted the fact that Ezekiel was now being immolated in its own flames.

But just as Tatsuta suspected that something was up, she ducked just as the flaming sword was swung upwards with the intent to decapitate her as Tenryuu called out,

" _Sword of Billowing Flames!"_

Even with her enhanced reflexes, Tatsuta had to squint as the flaming sword heated up the air around it and toasted her face with how close she evaded the blow as the air warped around Ezekiel due to both the speed of the swing and the intensity of Tenryuu's flames.

And with her superhuman mind overclocking due to the rush of adrenaline as a result of battle, she reacted far swifter than was possible even for most ship girls, spinning out of the way to evade Tenryuu similarly turning around, a far too gleeful grin on her face as she stabbed her flaming sword into the ground, producing a wave of flames which radiated from where Tenryuu stood in a circle around her, fueling Tatsuta's concern of being roasted alive as she continued her retreat and barely had the presence of mind to evade the Blade Rush which was thrown her way to finish off the combo.

Spinning out of the way and feeling the flaming arc relentlessly carve its way through the forest before dissipating due to losing its momentum and energy after travelling some distance, she took a second to wonder just how she wasn't giddy or even disoriented after spinning around so often, watching Tenryuu fuel Ezekiel with mana, her flames wrapped around the blade as they danced to the tune of the wind and drastically increased its cutting ability, Tenryuu boasting about her newly-invented technique despite looking rather worse for the wear, with her torn uniform, superficial bruises, labored breathing and even a fair bit of bleeding marring her beauty.

"I just thought of this mode of attack which turns Ezekiel into a pseudo-light-saber.

The flames heat up the blade and slice through anything like a hot sword through metal, and you'd best prepare to throw in the towel lest you get burned, Tatsuta!"

Of course, Tatsuta wasn't fooled by Tenryuu's posturing.

"Hmm, don't try and act so tough, Tenryuu-chan.

It's quite the novel idea to copy Akitsu Maru's flaming sword idea to make a pseudo-light-saber by enveloping your sword with your flames, but even I can tell that it's constantly draining you of mana just to keep that ability active.

So why don't we leave that flashy move for a day when you've vastly increased your mana reserves to be able to keep it up for more than half a minute, hmm?"

Tenryuu gave her a tight smile in return, but Tatsuta wasn't fooled as she knew that Tenryuu would also be running low on available mana, to the point where an already costly move like her Sword of Billowing Flames would be unusable due to the mana-guzzler that it was, and since the idea was in its infancy and saw its first use just now, Tatsuta predicted that it would be horribly inefficient to use as of now.

Tenryuu eventually relented as she deactivated her technique and allowed the flames around Ezekiel to dissipate, but as soon as that was done, Tenryuu immediately kicked up the dirt in Tatsuta's direction, forcing her to squint and shield herself while Tenryuu used it as a screen to close the distance, getting covered in the dirt she kicked up as Tatsuta evaded the rising blade missing her chin by a hair, Tenryuu announcing her attack only after she had pulled off the attack this time,

"Steel Dragon's Ascent!

Did you think that just because we were sitting around during the entirety of Project Psyche, that I was simply sitting around and dwindling my thumbs?"

Tatsuta winced, and even as she attempted to point her glaive upwards in order to impale her airborne sister ship, Tenryuu swung her foot in order to kick Tatsuta's glaive away from her, and the younger Tenryuu-Class cruiser managed to recall just where the name of that move came from.

' _Khh!_

 _That move belonged to Ise, the aviation battleship!_

 _So she's been getting lessons on the down low from Anti-Abyssal weapon users, hmm?_

 _Impressive.'_

But Tatsuta had no time to do anything else other than evade as Tenryuu began her next attack, screaming,

"Steel Dragon's _Spinning_ Descent!"

While the back of Tenryuu's blade violently spat out blackened flames in order to accelerate the blade in a circular motion, Ezekiel now a vertically spinning blazing top of death as Tatsuta put some distance between them, watching Tenryuu smash her sword into the ground and fissuring the earth while Tatsuta shielded herself against the thrown-up dust wave.

Tenryuu burst through the smokescreen and charged at Tatsuta, emitting a burst of flames from its back and increasing its speed for a fraction of a second like a jet thruster before dying out like a snuffed-out candle, a surprised Tatsuta feeling her hands and glaive shaking from every blow as she thought grimly.

' _To use sporadic bursts of her flames to accelerate her sword so as not to tax her mana reserves too badly…_

 _Smart!'_

But a sign of experimentation with her own powers and capabilities revealed itself as Tenryuu spun out with her own move, stumbling and losing her balance after her last sword strike ended up hitting air, Tatsuta already getting into an attack pose while Tenryuu faced away from her, and she had no qualms about stabbing her sister ship in the back since it was what the enemy would do, and to go easy on her right now was to spare the rod and spoil the child.

But just as Sado extended and split the air with a resounding _boom_ , Tenryuu accelerated Ezekiel with another burst of fire as she spun around, striking Sado's blade as Tatsuta's glaive traveled like a speeding bullet, deflecting it in the nick of time with a ferocious expression on her face as she yelled,

"I knew you'd do that!

And in return…"

Pulling her sword back to be raised parallel to her shoulders like a poised Chinese sword, Tatsuta prepared herself for the incoming assault as Tenryuu closed the distance in a single bound not unlike a Shukuchi and called out,

"Chorus of a Thousand Birds!"

The world exploded into a flurry of blurred strikes as both Tenryuu-Class cruisers lashed out at each other with their weapons and tried to one-up the other through speed, Ezekiel and Sado creaking with every contact as Tenryuu repeatedly stabbed at her in order to poke at her defenses while Tatsuta used both ends of the normal-length glaive to block the incoming stabs.

But even then, Tatsuta felt her uniform get shredded while blood was being drawn in minuscule amounts multiplied about two dozen times as she only managed to block the most lethal attack to her vital organs, winging it at this point in time as she thought,

' _Ferocious… so much more ferocious than usual!_

 _She's completely consumed by the flow of this battle and exceeded both her previous performances and my expectations._

 _This time, even if I keep my cool and play my cards right, am I able to beat Tenryuu-chan?_

 _That's the first time I had to ask myself that question as I doubt my own abilities when fighting you, Tenryuu-chan, and honestly, that's what gets_ me _pumped!'_

And unbeknownst to Tatsuta but all too clear to a rampaging Tenryuu, Tatsuta wore her trademark slasher smile as both Tenryuu-Class light cruisers pushed themselves to the limit against each other.

Tenryuu attempted another attack as she drew back and telegraphed her attack well enough to allow Tatsuta to predict her attack even with her elder sister ship yelling,

"Stinger!"

Tatsuta followed up with a strafe in order to face Tenryuu's back, and would've taken her out with a light stab to Tenryuu's back if not for her elder sister spinning counterclockwise and facing her with a shit-eating grin, unleashing another Blade Rush right in Tatsuta's face and forcing her to commit to an evasive spin while launching herself backwards, her shoulder tanking the brunt of the attack as she seethed at the burn inflicted on her skin due to reacting a beat too late to Tenryuu's surprise attack.

Hitting the floor with her good shoulder, she rolled around to find Tenryuu yelling as she stabbed down at a spot beside her head, stealing her breath as a sweaty and bruised Tenryuu looked down at her and mirroring her intense gaze and labored breathing, blood soaking through her army uniform and giving it a new crimson camouflage, Tatsuta becoming conscious of her own shaky breathing and slight trembling at the sight of Tenryuu almost besting her.

Emphasis on _almost._

She could see Tenryuu relishing in her victory as she collapsed onto her knees and lowered her face closer to Tatsuta's, and the Tenryuu-Class junior had no choice but to crush those illusions of a decisive victory as she extended Sado long enough such that the blade's tip harmlessly poked Tenryuu in the stomach, causing her to look down in panic while Tatsuta consoled her in a despondent voice,

"You really should learn not to fall for your own tactics, Tenryuu-chan."

Tatsuta expected Tenryuu to throw a temper tantrum due to how immature she could be despite being the elder sister, using the same trick which Tenryuu herself used to pull out a draw in her practice match with Kiso.

She was pleasantly surprised to see Tenryuu look back at her with genuine concern in her eyes, letting go of Ezekiel and leaning in dangerously close to Sado's blade tip to the point where Tatsuta worried about Tenryuu accidentally impaling herself while Tenryuu checked on her injuries, asking Tatsuta with the concern of a genuinely worried elder sister.

"Tatsuta, are you alright?"

Tatsuta studied Tenryuu's gaze as her elder sister was lost in the act of applying first aid and calling the spectating admins over via the earpiece's microphone, and she saw that Tenryuu had moved on from simply aspiring to win these matches to caring more about her as an elder sister, and where she would usually be doing her victory dance right now, she fretted over Tatsuta's burn injury with her undivided attention.

To see her mature like this, it really made Tatsuta's heart leap at how much her beloved sister had grown and chose to focus on her by undoing the outer layer of her uniform and using it to stop the blood seeping out from Tatsuta's uniform.

Tatsuta thought to herself,

' _Ah, I wouldn't mind it so much if Tenryuu-chan looked at me with those eyes in the future, minus the being sad part.'_

That being said, she still wanted to tease Tenryuu by speaking up,

"Ah, don't worry about me.

To be the receiving end of Tenryuu's Burning Love attack, it's truly sublime."

Tenryuu sputtered and blushed a little, but she leaned in and intensified her stare which bored into Tatsuta's soul while her expression soured just as Tatsuta heard hurried footsteps head their way.

"D-Don't joke like that!

I don't know the extent of my powers yet, I was so worried that I accidentally hurt you with them when I got too caught up in the heat of the battle…"

"And let me guess.

You're scolding yourself in your head, and plan to hold back against me in the future?"

Tenryuu pulling back her head before looking away ashamedly was all she needed to know of Tenryuu's inner thoughts which she learnt to predict long ago, and she gave Tenryuu a genuine smile, relaxed and with a warm gaze which she reserved for all but the closest of friends, and for Tenryuu.

"Please, don't ever do that.

You going all-out against me is a great honor, because every nearly-lethal strike that I parry means that you trust me to be able to handle everything you throw at me.

And even if you accidentally strike me down in a sparring session, I would _never_ hold it against you, Tenryuu."

She could see that Tenryuu noticed her usage of her name alone without the '-chan' at the end, which, in times like these, meant that Tatsuta was addressing her as a sister ship and as an equal, and not with her aloof and playful persona shielding herself from everyone around her.

"With our ability to be revived at will and dancing on the knife's edge between life and death on a regular basis, I would never blame you for hurting me when going all-out against me."

Tenryuu made an uncomfortable expression upon hearing that, Tatsuta witnessing Akashi, Aoba, Akio and Kousuke surrounding them and not wishing to disturb their moment of intimacy, allowing her concerned elder sister to continue.

"You know, I don't think acting so nonchalant about death at the hands of your own sister ship is normal, even amongst ship girls."

"Hmm, I don't care what's normal for everyone else, just what comes naturally to us, Tenryuu."

Tenryuu could only give her an awkward chuckle in agreement as she grudgingly accepted Tatsuta's words, this being the unspoken sign for the admins to step in and tend to both their wounds, Aoba holding a laptop and Akashi, a first-aid box along with Akio's change of uniform and Kousuke with a metal detector-esque thing.

Tatsuta exhaled tiredly as she relaxed her body and allowed the fatigue to overcome her, Tenryuu rolling over and joining her on the ground as she sighed and let all the fighting spirit flow out of her along with her tired breath, Tatsuta herself feeling somewhat hopeful for the future with the power in her hands as well as Tenryuu's in the form of their remodeled weapons and the powers which fueled them.

She wondered if they would be able to fend off; not even defeat, just fend the Abyssals off with enough training.

She concluded that it needed to be enough and she'd make it so with every fiber of her being, because the alternative, that they'd be overrun and defeated by the Abyssals regardless of what they did, was too much to bear even for her.

The only thing which caught her attention even when she was this fatigued was the fact that Akashi was now wearing a ring on her ring finger, something which tickled her curiosity shortly before she zoned out from the fatigue taking its toll on her and caused her mind to blank out, falling unconscious in a wink.

* * *

Tatsuta was sitting at a canteen table with a comrade she didn't think would be seeking her out for advice at dinnertime, but in circumstances like these, she supposed things like these were bound to happen as ship girls required new perspectives to deal with radical changes headed their way.

Jintsuu sat down beside her and was digging into tonight's dinner which was fried noodles with pieces of similarly fried eggs mixed into it, along with servings of tuna and a yam cake of sorts.

Right now, they were discussing matters that were undoubtedly close to Jintsuu's heart, but she couldn't confide in her sister ships because,

One, Sendai and Naka weren't here, and while the former was slated to arrive tonight, the latter was likely ordered to stay behind and take over Sendai's position both in the 3rd Fleet and in the Infiltration Fleet.

Two, the topic at hand was rather dark, and Tatsuta understood if Jintsuu didn't want to share her more pressing concerns with her own sisters and cause them to worry about her as a result, the Sendai-Class light cruiser continuing her sentence as Tatsuta ate her dinner and listened to her at the same time.

" … and I was thinking, that since you are most in touch with your dark side…"

Tatsuta couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in agreement at how much sense that made, since she was the infamous dark horse of the IJN, other than the 8th Fleet whose various members were driven to walk down the path of darkness due to external circumstances.

Jintsuu continued,

"I was wondering, since the 8th Fleet saw immense potential in me and wanted to recruit me into their fleet, I was _very_ concerned.

And even though I'm pretty much beyond their grasp now that I'm in the army while they're still in the navy, I'm stuck with another corundum in the form of Ma'am Jackie."

Tatsuta nodded while humming in agreement, understanding that anyone seeing their future selves would likely be in for one hell of a shock no matter who it was, having seen Akebono go slack-jawed for the entire day after seeing a cheerful teenage version of herself being happily married to her retired Admiral, the Ayanami-Class destroyer unable to wrap her mind around the fact that she could be granted such happiness, and with an Admiral, of all people.

Other IJN repair ship doppelgangers were also deathly afraid of Yokosuka's Akashi (with good reason), and Jintsuu clearly had several issues when it came to her future self that was Ma'am Jackie, self-christened name Jacqueline, what with her paradoxically cold yet fierce attitude when training them, fully in her Demon Instructor persona as she worked them all to the bone for the sake of not just surviving Apocalypse, but winning the war.

Concerns about what was essentially the upcoming End of Days in the form of a World War aside, Jintsuu looked concerned about meeting a future version of herself and feeling absolutely terrified of what she saw.

"I'm afraid that I may end up like Ma'am Jackie in the future, where all the kindness and… nice things about me, have all been agonizingly beaten and torn out of me over the course of decades spent fighting wars, and the dock water washing away a small part of me every time I dock like running water smoothing and eroding stone.

And while I understand that she's not entirely heartless, it scares me to think that I might become someone like that, what with this incoming World War plan of the Abyssals named Apocalypse…"

"You're afraid of walking down that same path and becoming what you fear?"

Jintsuu nodded at Tatsuta's accurate prediction, continuing her train of thought.

"Not that I dislike Ma'am Jackie or anything, but I can tell when looking at my doppelganger that she doesn't interact much with others anymore, closing herself off to others to avoid getting hurt.

Bad things have certainly happened to her in the past, and it's so easy for me to put myself in her shoes and see that she has now embraced the ice queen persona known as the Demon Instructor, pushing everyone else away in order to fight on without any concern for her own life.

In fact, I think… if they hadn't recalled her in order to teach us land combat tactics, I think she might have ended up dead on the battlefield."

Tatsuta could see how that was possible, the stress experienced and losses incurred by war taking a toll on soldiers fighting on the front lines wearing down the psyche of even the strongest of warriors, hammering whatever optimism they originally had into the ground and stamping it out without mercry before leaving them as bitter, jaded cynics, most of them eventually adopting a misanthropic worldview along with a touch of nihilism and disgust at their own cause for fighting.

Not all soldiers were susceptible, but war was a crucible that few managed to prevail and emerge completely unscathed, since it tested one's spirit above all else.

Tatsuta remained respectfully silent as the meek Jintsuu was lost in her own thoughts, continuing on with her monologue.

"I'm not sure if she has a family of Sendai-Class sisters of her own, despite the fact that she said numerous ship girls around the world were re-categorized as infantry soldiers to be sortied on land.

And that really makes me anxious because although I don't believe she experienced the loss of sister ships, but I have no doubt she certainly made close friends in order to make up for that, along with changing her name in order to forget her past.

It's what I would have done, and apparently what she did since everyone calling me by my old name would no doubt raise eyebrows at how I was named after a World War 2 light cruiser, but it would remind me too much of you all when I could never see you all again after being posted to a different battlefield."

Jintsuu shook her head and dispersed those thoughts from her troubled mind, Tatsuta smiling back at the Sendai-Class light cruiser, and she formed her own opinion in her mind as she chewed on the egg in her mouth before answering.

"Well, in a world as war-torn as ours, who's to say that indulging in our dark side every once in awhile is a bad thing?

Despite the slippery slope it leads us down into moral depravity, I daresay that in circumstances like these, it's fair game for us to do whatever it takes to win this war."

"But…

How much must we lose ourselves to violence over reason before we're no better than the Abyssals, and before we look back and wonder what's left is worth all the sacrifices?"

"And when you die not having given it your all, would you rather look back and wonder how it could have all turned out had you given up even more for the sake of the cause?

And between those two situations, which one's better, one where you come to terms with yourself after you've won, or one where you do the same shortly after you've lost?"

Jintsuu looked away guiltily and considered Tatsuta's ultimatum, considering just what she had to risk giving up for the sake of victory, and Tatsuta understood if Jintsuu was fearful of what her dark side truly looked like when manifested with Ma'am Jackie being used as a measuring stick, but she had to understand what was at stake here, and Tatsuta trusted Jintsuu to be able to keep a level head even then, because Ma'am Jackie always seemed to try and do right by them by pushing them all to their physical limits everyday for the greater good.

And while she was undoubtedly tough, she was rarely outright mean to them as she knew to push them without breaking them psychologically since they were still humans first and foremost who were of no use to anyone when broken, pushing them on and rewarding them on occasion while allowing them time to themselves in order to recover, get used to the army life and support each other mentally when things got difficult.

Jintsuu turned back to Tatsuta, looking somewhat defeated in the face of Tatsuta's valid points that the situation was already beyond a point of no return, and the stress was starting to leave its mark on Jintsuu's weary expression as she answered.

"I suppose.

You're right in that the situation has become quite the mess, and we'll have to find the will to win within ourselves and fully utilize everything in our arsenal to achieve that end, even if we have to tap into the darkest and most untouched corners of our psyche in order to do so.

Of course, we also have a responsibility to keep ourselves in top form and not compromise our ability to fight, to remember what we're fighting for and not lose ourselves in the violence."

Nodding in agreement, Tatsuta's eyes lost their focus as she looked into the distance and thought not just of Tenryuu, but also the 1st Fleet and how they were all not only still able to hang out together, but they were now all scattered around the military base and interacting with everyone else outside of their own fleet.

And she saw that everyone was growing in their own unique way, even her time with Jintsuu right now, it was a dynamic which changed them in ways none of them could predict, the base's occupants now essentially more than the sum of its parts as everyone's fates were intertwined and joined with one another, helping each other develop themselves with each passing day.

She was getting sentimental now, and she gave a waiting Jintsuu a quick and reassuring smile before giving her opinion.

"You're right in that we need to remember who we're fighting for.

Personally, I won't say that we're fighting for mankind, because they're too far away from the front lines for us to be able to empathize with or feel bad for in times of crises, and although it may sound cold of me to say that, I stand by it nonetheless.

We're fighting for each other, and although I understand that it may sound strange of me to say this, but our comrades are the ones who'll be braving the deadly hail of gunfire with us and will be crawling with us through the dirt and lying shoulder to shoulder while getting bombarded with mortar shells, all courtesy of the Abyssals.

Although I understand that not all of us will make it to the end, I want to believe that we'll be there for each other to the end, whatever it may be."

Jintsuu's eyes widened, but she eventually settled into a serene smile as she commented on the contrast between the both of them.

"Hmm, seems like we're developing and maturing in different directions.

While I'm afraid of sliding down the slippery slope into darkness, it seems as if you're slowly warming up to the light.

I am afraid of losing myself to what I could become, but to see you open up like this, I think…

I think I can place my faith, not just in you, but in everyone else to be able to keep me in check when I go too far.

Including my sisters."

" _Especially_ your sisters."

Jintsuu smiled at Tatsuta's idea of the ship girls closest to her, the Sendai-Class light cruisers, being there for her when she needed it most, and Tatsuta mirrored the expression since she felt happy for Jintsuu for finding a solution to her emotional corundum, and at a time like this when times were about to get tough, even she learnt to appreciate these small moments before God-knows-what happened to them, and to her in particular.

Looking down at her plate of half-finished food, Tatsuta saw this as a chance to learn more about the enemies they would face before the Project Psyche overseers briefed her on it, and a part of her cared enough about her comrades to want to know how they were doing.

"So, last time you checked, how was the 2nd Fleet doing?

I'm concerned about them, but seeing that your sister was amongst them, I'm also worried about you."

Jintsuu's expression darkened, but the Sendai-Class light cruiser nonetheless answered the question to the best of her ability.

"Oh, well, they're doing fine, and so am I.

They suffered extremely damaging injuries before dying, and I think if there's anyone you should be worried about, it should be Chitose-san.

She was there to personally witness the killings, and being here without her sister ship Chiyoda to accompany her, it must be torturous for her."

"Hmm, so you still have it within you to worry about others even in a time like this?"

"You can spare less than a minute of your life for some simple dignity and compassion, you know."

"I understand.

But Chitose-san lies beyond my circle of intimate affiliation unlike Tenryuu and the 1st Fleet, which means that I can't find it within me to feel too bad for her, despite my best efforts.

Not unless I get to know her better.

You must realize that caring too much for everyone will only lead to having less time for yourself and those whom you truly can't live without.

And seeing what's coming, I certainly need to ration my attention span and compassion and share them with those who truly matter to me, lest my heart break a little upon witnessing every roadside tragedy in life and I completely desensitize myself to the deaths around me due to overexposure."

Tatsuta looked back at Jintsuu, who swiveled her head in order to give her an incredulous yet hardened look which wanted to challenge Tatsuta's views, but allowed her to finish her words.

"This isn't the battlefield, so I concede the point in this situation where you _can_ afford to feel bad for everyone you meet.

But when Apocalypse is well underway, I think you'll find that you'll probably be too emotionally and psychologically fatigued to empathize with anyone outside of a small circle of ship girls."

Tatsuta took a deep breath, mentally chiding herself for going off-track from her original goal of wanting to find out more about the Abyssal who thrashed the 2nd Fleet, but she just wanted to vent some of her feelings when future opportunities would become more and more scarce, taking a deep breath after that small monologue.

Jintsuu looked back down at her food, and while Tatsuta was prepared to defend her point when debating with a more emotionally-driven ship girl, Jintsuu looked despondent as she concurred.

"I… I know that.

In fact, I want to be nice to everyone while I can, because I may not be able to do so when we're all out there fighting for our lives.

No one should have to go through this alone, and while I understand that while it's difficult to be be kind to every comrade in this company, I don't think it's impossible, and since our fates are intertwined with one another, we need to support one another in order to prevent a weak link from developing.

I hope you understand."

"I do."

Tatsuta was surprised to hear herself speak up and agree with Jintsuu, although since she _was_ warming up to everyone around her, it'd stand to reason that she understood where Jintsuu was coming from since everyone made up the defense force that was the recently-formed Amazon Company.

"This is an exchange of ideals and viewpoints, and you do make a good point where everyone in Amazon Company is quintessential to the defense of Japan, and I suppose if reaching out to everyone when they need help was easy, then everyone would be doing it.

It's when we really need each other the most when we have to look beyond our own issues and empathize with others."

Jintsuu nodded, looking somber as she nodded sagely and added her own ideas in order to keep the conversation going.

"Yes.

Maybe it's me being afraid of my darker self, but I can see that though she's been worn down and likely even broken by the tragedies which have no doubt plagued her war-torn life, she still makes a valiant attempt to not completely lose herself in the 'ice queen' persona which naturally comes to her when in her dreaded Demon Instructor mode.

I _know_ that things will go to shit from now on, and that I will very likely have to tap into the darker side of my personality in order to even survive, but even so…

I want everyone to be happy, and I also want to appreciate these final moments and make some pleasant memories to help tide over the feeling of desolation they'll likely feel when Apocalypse rolls around."

Tatsuta lifted an eyebrow upon hearing the Sendai-Class light cruiser being so committed to being nice, but she then heard something large pull up to a stop outside the canteen after the whir of its motor gave its location away, and several ship girls were already leaving the canteen in order to see what the commotion was about while the Tenryuu-Class cruiser was swept up in the wave of curiosity which overtook them all as she got up from her chair.

Patting her army uniform down before moving off, she could see that it was a bus which was parked outside, the same blue bus which brought them to this army camp barely a week ago and possessing tinted windows in order to heighten the so-called suspense which was about to be deflated, since the door hissed open in order to allow its two occupants to exit the bus.

Sendai looked completely defeated and wracked with mixed emotions, requiring Hatsushimo to support he as she got off the bus, Jintsuu cutting through the crowd in order to get to her own sister ship and comfort her while the increasing intensity of her movements through the crowd belied her anxiety at what this implied back in Yokosuka.

Jintsuu finally got through the crowd and stood before a slouched Sendai, the nameship looking as if the world itself had just collapsed in on her, and with the amount of threats to their lives lurking out there in the ocean, even Tatsuta was starting to experience a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach at the thought of what happened, Jintsuu holding Sendai by the sides of her arms while leaning in with a concerned look in her eyes before asking tersely.

"Sendai?!

It's been awhile, you seen shaken up.

Did something happen back at Yokosuka?"

Sendai looked up and met Jintsuu's gaze, emotions welling up within her as her expression threatened to fall apart as if she were about to break down in tears with moistening eyes, scrunched up cheeks and trembling body all being indicators of the name-ship starting to break down and cry, mumbling in a shaky voice to give the bad news.

"Naka's gone, Jintsuu."


	57. Chapter 57 - Fade To Black

Today's weather was fine on the 6th of May, something which everyone was secretly grateful for ever since Sendai grimly announced Naka's death, causing everyone's spirits to fall and the air surrounding Amazon Company to become thick with the morbid thoughts about which ship girl was the next to go.

No one had the time to mope, however, as their company was whisked away to the next part of the training, getting used to their gear the hard way through endurance training, and this was a mixed blessing of sorts since it distracted them from the heavy emotions felt after a comrade was killed in action.

The ship girls didn't make any complaints about Ma'am Jackie's surprise announcement about having today's training session take place in the forest next to the military camp, having stopped resisting or complaining and had finally consigned themselves to this career path for the foreseeable future while Apocalypse loomed over them.

Due to Anti-Abyssal firearms being slightly but significantly heavier than their normal counterparts, destroyers were mainly tasked with carrying pistols and SMGs due to their small build, cruisers being tasked with carrying assault rifles or carbines as the primary weapons to be used in the next phase of the Abyssal War, while battleships were tasked with carrying either battle rifles or light machine guns in order to help them get used to the feel of carrying firearms in the first place before firing off a shot.

And as bird carriers were issued sniper rifles in order to complement their enhanced eyesight, the various auxiliary ships and submarines present were issued various firearms according to their build and capabilities, and they were issued body armor which was crafted to fit the bodies of their various classes, and since there existed doppelgangers of them in spades, Shigure supposed there was a fitting session in the past to retroactively craft body armor for them, and helmets were now apparently made to fit children.

It seemed silly for them to wear such things, especially since they had their skin armor to protect them and were supposed to have nano-machines injected into their bodies in order to eject foreign materials from their bodies, but Ma'am Jackie wanted them to be familiar with the basics and become acquainted with everything a fully-equipped soldier was expected to wear and carry into battle.

And although certain weapons were commonly associated with certain ship classes due to their various physical specializations, Jintsuu broke down and deconstructed that illusion as she explained herself to a waiting Amazon Company, who was standing at attention in the parade square before heading out.

"Look.

If you think you're only going to handle only one class of weapons throughout the war like you did in your previous career, you're dead wrong.

Here on land, kids have been known to carry AK-47 rifles and trained as child soldiers in more unstable parts of the world, and are even known to operate sniper rifles on occasion while adults can specialize in using smaller firearms so as to dual-wield two weapons at once and also not to slow one's movement speed down to a crawl.

The distinction between ship classes and available weapons are blurred on the battlefield, so be prepared and keep your options open.

Also, you're also more privileged in that the enemy is easier to identify as pale humanoid aliens, and you need to learn to put aside any preconceived sense of pride so that should the opportunity arise to use their weapons against them without consequences, do so without hesitation."

Shigure saw a light cruiser, indistinguishable from the rest of the crowd due to the same-y looking army outfits they now wore, raise a hand in order to ask a question.

"Um, isn't it dangerous when they may have safeguards in place to stop anyone other than an Abyssal from operating their weapons, like having sensors in the handles which lock the firearm when we grab them?

Not to be a buzzkill, but…"

Ma'am Jackie tilted her head and lifted an eyebrow in order to acknowledge the point, but she gave her two cents as a land combat veteran while speaking in a subdued voice, being in a better mood today in order to make this two-way exchange more productive and not just be about her shouting at them all the time.

"Well, that is a valid point.

But personally, I don't think they'd do something as trite as that, because we believe they're planning to invade the entire world, like, literally everywhere at once.

They may have had resources, time and the element of surprise on their side, but they'd have to field about several hundred million firearms for their soldiers, which would easily reach into the billions when shit really hits the fan and we enlist every able-bodied male and even female into the army, air force and navy.

That's not to mention the tanks, fighters and war vehicles they'd be crafting, and although this would be implemented in their war vehicles in order to protect them against being hacked or hot wired, but for their firearms, just how many of them they're aiming to produce makes this countermeasure rather difficult to implement, although I'm not them, so I wouldn't know.

If they don't, all the better for us, and if they do, we just have to deal with it.

A good question, though."

A heavy cruiser raised her hand to ask another question, Shigure at least still capable of telling their classes apart due to the height difference between classes as androids of varying ages,

"Um, the production of guns from various countries require a license to produce it, right?

So how do I say it, um…

Doesn't that make things really difficult when only certain countries can produce certain firearms which only they possess a license to produce, limiting production?

I mean, not that I understand gun production too well, but…"

Jintsuu thought about the question as she tried to decipher it in her mind, raising a hand to pacify the heavy cruiser in question before answering.

"No, no, I understand your question perfectly.

Well the thing is, the Abyssals don't care about licensing issues since at the Battle of Twelve Navies, as I read from the cliff notes version, the _Flying Dutchman_ , a Japanese Nagato-Class battleship, sent out everything from Russian Sukhoi-Su to American F-35 jet fighters.

From where I'm looking at, the Abyssals have a terrifying knack for extrapolating, reverse-engineering and even upgrading whatever weapons we push out, such that they can squeeze out more performance from a similarly designed jet fighter, firearm or tank.

That way, they can research into any weapons fielded by every country and steal their designs before upgrading it like the Fairies do, thus creating Anti-Ship-Girl firearms from various countries that can penetrate your armored skin, within reason.

And because of the situation at hand, there'll no doubt be some treaty drawn up in the past in order to share weapon designs in order to improve their production rates, because even if 'alien invasion' wasn't enough of a reason to lift the red tapes around firearm and weapons production in a war, no one wants to be killed by self-imposed limitations which they put around themselves in the first place and are too shortsighted to remove during crises."

Amazon company responded with understanding grunts, because as Ma'am Jackie pointed out, no one wanted to go extinct because of licensing issues or some sort of self-limiting policy, and if the threat of total annihilation changed mankind forever, it was to show that whatever industry which was needed to respond to the call of duty, could do so and did so as one and put aside most (but sadly not all) of their agendas to accomplish what was asked of them.

The military forces of the world had already done so since the start of the Abyssal War, construction companies did so whenever a hurricane, flood or tsunami devastated an area and the Abyssals took advantage of it by sailing in to attack their mainland and wreck their infrastructure, oil companies did their best to unilaterally keep prices affordable for the military to buy, and gun production companies, with the help of the technologically advanced Fairies, were hard at work manufacturing Anti-Abyssal firearms which could penetrate the armor of an Abyssal within reason.

After that little Q&A session was over, Ma'am Jackie had them draw their firearms from the armory, and many of them still looked unused to the feel of the firearm in their hands, a weapon which they would be using for the rest of the war.

Shigure understood where they were coming from, since it was barely a week after they were shipped off to be conscripted into the newly-created army of ship girls who were considered disposable enough to re-deploy as foot soldiers at the drop of a hat.

Right now, due to the delayed delivery of the Anti-Abyssal weapons from America, they were now given normal firearms which were meant for humans to carry in order to get comfortable with its feel in their hands, and in order to make this an actual challenge because these firearms were considerably lighter than what they were supposed to carry, Ma'am Jackie took things to the next level.

Weights.

Lots and _lots_ of weights.

Shigure felt the strain of the weights, which were far heavier than what humans worked with in order to test their strength to their limits in accordance with their superhuman capabilities, her legs feeling as if they had been encased in cement shoes as she moved about while her arm muscles burned, having secured them around her wrists, forearms, ankles and around her waist.

They had been tasked with jogging around the entire camp four times and then running to the nearby hill where they were supposed to train at, before running up and down said hill _twice_ , all while carrying their weights, ammo, backpack and firearms.

Although the task had seemed daunting, the entire run wasn't as bad as Shigure thought it would be.

It was _w_ _orse._

Climbing and descending a hill while being fully-equipped with combat gear was hell for a destroyer, and considering how the smaller, shorter and weaker destroyers had to keep up with the larger, taller and far stronger ship girls on a sloped terrain which had uneven ground…

The medics who previously seemed as if they were about to have it easy as the ship girls began to hit their stride were now brought back in full force, ship girls collapsing left and right from the physically demanding exercise they which were forced to go through, thankfully helped by the fact that Ma'am Jackie wasn't shouting at them every half a minute in this particular exercise.

Face paint acting as camouflage did little to mar their beauty as they had applied it on their faces very reluctantly, and everyone now seemed truly indistinguishable from one another save for their heights which corresponded with their ship class as Amazon company trekked up the treacherous hill.

Fortunately, due to the amount of ship girls collapsing thanks to the accumulated fatigue from previous training sessions as well as their current one, Ma'am Jackie opted for a half-hour break, something that was unheard of ever since they came here, but only after she taught them how to use the rifle-cleaning kit which was issued to them beforehand.

There were no more Fairies accompanying them on their missions and tending to their weapons, and they had to learn to dismantle, clean and maintain their weapons by themselves, something they just had to get used to as a consequence of Apocalypse while being reminded to torrent and share this valuable memory file with their fallen ship girl comrades at the end of the day.

Everyone was now sitting on the ground, preferring to keep a distance from each other this time in order to gather their thoughts while still suffering from the whiplash of a rushed career transition from sailor to soldier.

Shigure took the chance to find and talk to her American friend, struggling against both the weights strapped to her body and the fatigue which plagued her entire body with moderate success.

Saratoga seemed absolutely miserable as she sat on a flattened rock by herself, and Shigure sat down beside her while placing her H&K MP7 sub-machine gun on her lap with the safety switch on, watching Saratoga hug her M24 SWS as if it were the last thing which anchored her psyche to this world, and Shigure's expression softened upon seeing her friend become like this after the mental breakdown no thanks to the nukes.

Saratoga seemed to notice her presence as she turned her drooping head in order to look down at Shigure's lap before looking back down at her own, and Shigure sat beside her American friend before meekly greeting her.

"Hey, Saratoga.

How're you feeling?"

Saratoga seemed depressed for the most part, her blonde hair cut short and darkened to a dark auburn hue so as not to arouse the enemy's suspicion as a mop of yellow in a sea of green and brown.

"I don't know…

The nukes sent me into a panic attack, I'm stuck in a job I never expected to be tasked with doing, and I'm going through basic military training while half a world away from home.

It's also really hard to remain optimistic while knowing that a comrade has fallen, and while I didn't know Naka for very long, still…"

Shigure nodded understandingly just as the American reached a point in her sentence where she was at a loss for words, feeling depressed over the grim reminder that they were all still capable of dying for real, and the loss of every ship girl was one too many as she agreed.

"Yes.

I also didn't know her too well, but I think that…

Once someone you know is killed like that, you not only kill everything they were, but everything they could have been.

All the conversations we could have had, anything more I might have learnt about her in possible interactions in the future, all those opportunities, all disappeared along with her."

Saratoga nodded, shivering as she hugged her rifle and voiced her thoughts, clearly distraught about Naka's death as an emotionally sensitive and empathetic ship girl.

"I understand.

It's difficult for us to even begin to fathom what Sendai and Jintsuu must be feeling right now, perhaps it's like a massive chunk of their heart's been torn out along with Naka's passing and left a hole where her sister used to be.

Wonder if there's anything we can do for them…"

Shigure shrugged as she maintained her poker face, because while this wasn't the first time a sinking occurred in their base, it hit especially close to home when it was someone she knew.

Sinkings still occurred everyday even though they had already hit their stride after having fought this war for the past 20 years, although with the advent of new Abyssal Beasts and units come Apocalypse, she had expected this to some extent after the Abyssals turned up the heat.

She just didn't expect this to happen so soon, and to them at this point in time.

Or was that just her being conceited, to think that just because their base was big enough to field so many ship girls, that they would be untouchable?

She heard Saratoga speak up again, her true age seeping into her voice as someone who had lived for too long and remembered the many ups and downs of her old life, remarking.

"I thought that with our combined willpower and strength, and with everyone watching each other's backs, I thought that we could avoid this.

But nothing's changed.

Everyone's still dying left and right, and it seems that no matter what we do, nothing's going to change that.

We're here struggling against forces beyond our comprehension, and fighting a war that's laughably one-sided.

I don't know… I don't know…"

Shigure patted her friend on the back in her own attempt to comfort her, understanding that times like these were tough on them, especially since they were created to be female androids, whose emotions fluctuated wildly depending on the ship girl and the situation.

And looking at Saratoga's emotionally compromised state, she wondered was if their capacity to feel emotion, which the Abyssals lacked was a boon or a bane considering the fact that they were supposed to be soldiers, and while women were fully capable of holding their own in times of crises, children and teenagers made up a large part of their armed forces.

Despite their past experiences in fighting in a world war toughening them up and desensitizing them to violence, the female form wasn't exactly the ideal vessel to fight in battles, what with the extra weight on their chest, regularly going into _that_ time of month until the end of days (too soon?), and how a male's body was naturally built to be tougher than that of a female's, what with men evolving to be hunters in primeval times while women were built to be incubators.

Shit, that was why female breasts contained more milk to be fed to babies while wide hips were called childbearing hips, right?

Getting off-topic.

Shigure reminded herself of Saratoga's well-being, chiding herself for losing herself in her own thoughts before turning back to the crestfallen Saratoga and quickly thinking up of something to try and comfort her with.

"Look.

This is a tough time for us, and not all of us will make it out alive by the end of this war.

But you already knew that, don't you?"

Saratoga nodded solemnly, looking quite pathetic with her teary eyes and forlorn expression, and Shigure had to snap the American carrier out of her funk as her friend, leaning forward to look Saratoga in the eye as she put on her most dependable look before commenting.

"Then you should have prepared yourself against the very possible prospects of loss.

Those who sank in the earlier stages of the war are likely looking to us for strength, because this is very likely their first time experiencing anything like this.

To my knowledge, your sister ship Lexington sank before you while you survived the war, right?"

" … Yes."

"The enemy may have nuclear missiles, but you need to understand that the world has moved on with its technological advances, and they've produced defense systems which are there in order to defend themselves to some extent against the ICBMs which deliver these nuclear payloads to their destination from the sky.

You need to be strong, not just for your own sake but for everyone else's sake since you're like an elder sister to them, and you're an American carrier representing your country in a foreign land.

It's tough, but that's what we ship girls are supposed to be, not to wallow in our own misery but to keep marching on in spite of our pain and accomplish our objective.

 _That's_ what we're made to do, and right now, you need to look at a mental mirror and ask yourself this.

Is your current state satisfactory?"

Saratoga's expression tightened as her grip on her M24 SWS, and Shigure leaned in as she gritted her teeth and repeated her question, daring to ask the hard questions which she knew Saratoga had the answers to, but she just had to think harder and dare to face them head-on.

"I said,

 _Is your current state satisfactory?_

If yes, then by all means, continue on.

If no, please pull yourself out from whatever cesspool of negative thoughts or fears you created for yourself to lounge in, because they're only going to slow you down.

What if someone dies on your watch because of these fears and thoughts holding you back?

Are you going to take responsibility for that, Saratoga-san?"

Saratoga shook her head vigorously, fearing that possibility more than anything else as she returned Shigure's gaze and stating in a fervor, leaning in with panic in her tone as her blue eyes brightened up with that horrid thought stuck in her mind.

"No… no!

That's horrible, I'd never allow that!"

Shigure held up her hands in a placating gesture, leaning back just as Saratoga leaned over her in order to pacify the American carrier.

"Look, I know you wouldn't allow that, and you would defend your comrades with your life.

But allowing these fears to paralyze you doesn't help anyone, and I would know how it feels to have the entire world collapse in on you as traumatic parts of your past flood your mind and drive you insane."

Shigure remembered what happened at the disastrous Battle of Mikura Jima Island, feeling her own expression sour at how she allowed her emotions and past get the better of her in the heat of the moment, and although she had come to terms with what happened that night, it was still emotionally taxing for her to struggle and keep a lid on the myriad of emotions which threatened to well up within her just by thinking back on it.

Saratoga seemed to understand that Shigure was a kindred spirit in that sense, backing up and giving her some space as she allowed Shigure to gather her thoughts before continuing.

"Look, I understand that this might seem hard, bordering on impossible to do.

But you're not doing this only for your own sake, but for everyone else since nobody wants to be the weak link in the company.

You need to let this fuel your desire to become stronger, not as a mental, emotional or psychological wall to box you in, but for you to climb and reach ever-greater heights."

Saratoga's eyes widened in surprise at the wisdom which Shigure was doling out, and she had more where that came from as she pressed on, looking deep into Saratoga's eyes and witness some sort of realization reawaken something within her, reminding her of who and what she really was.

"You're worrying over things which you're incapable of affecting or stopping, and none of us here can stop an incoming ICBM, unfortunately.

But as long as you draw breath, fight on and work hard to become stronger and expand on the amount of things you _can_ change, like saving the lives of those around you and accomplishing the mission.

Can you do that, Saratoga?"

The Lexington-Class carrier furrowed her eyebrows in consternation, considering what a trial this would entail as one of many rough patches in one's quest to become stronger, and this trial was one which no amount of training, upgrades or preparation could help her to overcome, and Shigure empathized with what she must be feeling right now as she held Saratoga's hand, looking her squarely in the eye.

Eventually, Saratoga's gaze hardened while her jaw became taut, nodding resolutely as she reaffirmed her will which was reflected in her eyes, and although it was shaky since the trauma of surviving a nuclear explosion in both lives wasn't something one could simply 'get over it' in a fortnight, she was still a soldier and was conditioned to do this.

"I… I think I get it now, Shigure.

Even if it takes me a lifetime, I'll do my best to get out of this funk, because I'm of no use to anyone like this, even as a friend.

And if I ever falter in my mission to do so, I'll be counting on you, along with everyone else to remind me of what really matters to us as soldiers, first and foremost.

I was really scared out of my wits by the nuclear explosion, and…"

Words failed to express the sheer terror that was felt by sufferers of panic attacks, but her devastated expression told Shigure everything she needed to know and more as she gave her American friend a sagely smile, something other ship girls had informed her only incredibly precocious children like her were capable of.

She hadn't yet determined if this was a compliment or everyone's subtle way of pleading for her to act her age.

"Anyway, even if the nukes were dropped on us, everyone's still counting on us not to give up until the end, and even if everyone, touch wood, perishes in the explosion and I'm the only one left alive, I'll still fight on because it's in my nature to do so.

I, I may not be able to live up to my words in the event things go south in the future, but to not even try to do so is an insult to everyone's memories, and I'll be exposing everyone else who's still alive to unnecessary danger!"

"Well said."

The two ship girls yelped in shock at the sound of a third voice cutting into their conversation, Shigure jumping up from where she sat as she struggled to maintain her hold on her MP7 sub-machine gun, spotting Ma'am Jackie squatting on the same rock which they currently sat on and had brought her face in close by leaning forward so as to hear their exchange, nodding approvingly as she pushed herself off of her knees in order to stand up.

Shigure landed on the floor and waited to be yelled at again, but Ma'am Jackie hopped off the rock and landed before Saratoga and Shigure, looking back at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer as she noted.

"Nice reflexes, Shigure, but do keep a tighter hold on your firearm at all times from now on.

Fall in with everyone else, I was waiting for you two to be finished with your little counselling session-slash-intimate talk before continuing."

Both Shigure and Saratoga blushed at the insinuation, but didn't bother denying it as they left Ma'am Jackie in order to follow the assembling ship girls, but Shigure stopped in her tracks and turned back to ask Ma'am Jackie something, feeling apprehensive about facing the stoic instructor.

"Um, Ma'am Jackie?

Did you wait for me to finish counselling Saratoga in order to allow me to reinstill the fighting spirit in her?"

"Hmm?

Of course.

I noticed that she wasn't doing so well, but you got to her before I did, and managed to get the job done by being there for her in ways I very likely couldn't.

Just because I'm harsh on you all doesn't mean that I won't allow you all the time to lick each other's wounds and be there for each other whenever possible, because you're going to be doing a whole lot more of that when shit really hits the fan.

Besides, broken soldiers do nothing but undermine an army's capacity to function properly, since they have already lost their fighting spirit and will to win, and we would be doing our enemy's job for them by demoralizing our own troops and throwing the battle."

Shigure nodded meekly as she kept her head lowered subserviently, understanding how pragmatic it was for those above them to tend to the mental well-being of a soldier without coddling them.

The stress of training coupled with anxieties about the upcoming world war in the form of Apocalypse was enough to wear them down, and Saratoga needed someone to help her start down the road to recovery from the traumatic panic attack, lest she end up as a shell of her former self after being broken from within.

Lightly knocking on her helmet, Ma'am Jackie ordered,

"Come on.

Your friends are waiting for you."

In which she nodded in response, holding her firearm close to her chest before jogging back into the mostly-assembled Amazon company, unable to see Ma'am Jackie giving her a wistful look after having listened in on her conversation with Saratoga long before cutting in, the senior light cruiser eventually exhaling through her nose before moving out in order to get back to Amazon company.

* * *

The day's training was hellish yet productive as they dug trenches, learnt the ins and out of a forest as well as how to disguise themselves with the foliage which their surrounding provided in spades, Ma'am Jackie running them through the land combat crash-course with the speed of a runaway freight train due to 'the possibility that a war could literally break out tomorrow.'.

They got a hearty taste of military rations and spent the entire day moving through the forest in formations which they were expected to memorize after going through them once in this practical session, which involved massive amounts of 'duck and cover', cover fire and leopard crawling as life saving tactics for when shit hit the fan and they were forced to resort to crude but effective moves in order to save their hide.

Not that Shigure had high hopes of that happening when they'd likely be too scared and overwhelmed by the intensity in which Apocalypse was carried out by the Abyssals to know what to do at the right time, until they became desensitized to the violence and were on the receiving end enough times to know what to do.

It was especially tough when the sun was at its peak during the early to mid afternoon as it humidified the forest and caused a temperature spike, although Ma'am Jackie encouraged them to drink from their water bottles and refill whenever possible by having several ship girls and humans carry Jerry cans that were filled with water and fuel up the hill in lieu of their weapons.

Thankfully, as androids who were designed to be super soldiers from the get-go, hunger wasn't a primary concern as they fired their firearms for the first time, recoil being a minor concern thanks to their super strength, and the relief upon getting back to civilization was unlike any other as everything they had previously taken for granted, from food to showers and toilet paper were now sacred to the ship girls and rightfully treated as privileges they had never really known to treasure in their time as ship girls.

The loss of Naka also put everyone on edge, many ship girls now choosing to sit closer to their fellow ship girls and huddle together for emotional support, even if some of them were previously unrelated to each other.

It was strange, yet fitting that every tragedy and misfortune that was heaped onto them made them inch ever so closer towards one another for support.

Unfortunately, the peace was broken by Sendai shouting loud enough for the entire canteen to hear, pained anger evident in her tone.

"IT'S HER FAULT, AND YOU KNOW IT!"

Shigure nearly choked on her drink, sputtering and cleaning her mouth on her sleeve as she turned around along with everyone else in order to watch the commotion that was Sendai picking a fight with, strangely enough, Shiranui, and she would soon find out why as the irate Sendai-Class light cruiser seethed,

"Kagerou was the one to cause Naka's sinking, the memory clip showed it!"

Shiranui retorted, clearly coming to her sister ship's defense with the following argument.

"Which was a direct result of coming into contact with an unknown enemy unit.

The Infiltration Fleet was unprepared and outmatched despite the Admiral's warnings in her briefing to expect the unexpected and also despite our best efforts to stave off the assault, as the memory clip showed."

Shiranui looked a little uncomfortable with talking about classified knowledge in front of an entire crowd for fear of revealing anything sensitive, and although Sendai shared the same sentiment due to being trained to handle sensitive information, she was emotionally compromised and was now lashing out at an easy target which was Kagerou due to her proximity to Naka during that fateful incident.

From an emotional point of view, it was easy to do so since being closer to the incident meant that in the eyes of the afflicted, you could've done something more to change the outcome of the event, and Sendai exemplified this as she started to break down, expression scrunching up just as her eyes watered.

"But, but…

Why did Naka have to sink?

She was last seen pushing Kagerou away from danger, and then…

And then!"

Shigure then saw Jintsuu walk up, the anxious crowd now silenced by the tense and heart-gripping scene which played out before then, and Jintsuu was similarly devastated by the loss followed up by the rigorous training session in the forest the day after.

The younger Sendai-Class cruiser faced her own sister, an aura of desolation following her as she did her best to comfort Sendai despite being in the exact same situation, Shigure herself only able to imagine what they must be feeling right now and was dreading what the future had in store for them in the form of Apocalypse, especially when it was already racking up the casualty count this early in the next stage of the Abyssal War.

"Sendai…

Naka knew what she was getting herself into when she accepted the responsibility to be the backup member of the Infiltration Fleet.

We all understood the risks, and it was unfortunate that the enemy decided to spring their secret weapon against us, and she chose to sacrifice herself for everyone else's sake."

"So, because I was injured, Naka had to take my place.

Does that mean it was _my_ fault that Naka's gone?!"

"No, I didn't say that, Sendai!

Please don't put words in my mouth!"

The situation started to devolve as Shiranui attempted to come to the aid of Jintsuu, but Sendai shook them all off as her respiration rate increased and she began sobbing, and Shigure knew better than to intervene when she wasn't remotely involved in the incident.

And frankly, like the other ship girls who were watching on with detached gazes, they also predicted that this would very likely be a recurring thing in the future and they were simply too tired to defuse the situation as of now, instead choosing to conserve their strength for later when Sendai had cooled her head.

Shigure then saw what she deemed to be the worst person available who could end this commotion, the light cruiser in question pushing Jintsuu away and spinning Sendai around with a hand placed on her trembling shoulder.

Sendai was decked in the face by Ma'am Jackie, everyone being silenced by the sudden appearance of their instructor along with the hard punch to the cheek, with gasps escaping the lips of the occupants within the canteen as some of them attempted to make a move for the exits, but being conditioned to follow orders in their programming as soldiers caused them to freeze up as Ma'am Jackie swiveled her head around, curtly shouting without raising her voice to the extreme.

" _Freeze!"_

Like a game of Red Light, Green Light, everyone froze as ordered, and Ma'am Jackie's dark expression was felt through the intimidating black aura she emitted, her contracted pupils roving over the crowd of freeze-frame soldiers stuck in the midst of their movements as she continued while walking over to a reeling Sendai.

" _All of you will watch this to the end._

 _No interference, no talking, just watch."_

This sentence was spoken without any overt tones of malice, just a stone-cold hollowness in her voice which seeped into her authoritative and commanding demeanor, standing over a downed Sendai as the junior light cruiser touched the bruise on her cheek, looking several parts terrified confused and angry that an older version of her sister struck her in the first place, muttering confusedly.

"Wha-What happened?"

" _Me."_

Jintsuu reached down and attempted to hoist Sendai up by the collar, and the name-ship of the Sendai-Class was distraught by the sudden roughhousing from her little sister as she flailed around wildly and attempted to shake off the assailant, her sobbing and sharp breaths extremely evident in her voice as she wailed.

"Stop it!

Get off of me!"

That comment was followed up by two more punches to Sendai's cheeks which sent her head snapping from side to side as Ma'am Jackie's fists blurred in order to deal out corporal punishment, everyone wincing as several of them inhaled sharply through puckered lips upon physical contact being made and the meaty sound of the impact resonating throughout the silenced canteen before their commanding officer let Sendai fall and hit the floor, Ma'am Jackie's voice and demeanor freezing over and reaching Antarctic levels of frigidity as her dulled eyes bored through her sister's downed figure.

She stated icily as Sendai laid on the floor, cradling her mouth in a fetal position and spitting out blood as a trickle of crimson fluid flowed out from one side of her bruised mouth.

" _Insolence._

 _You do not tell me, your superior officer, what to do._

 _Even if you are supposed to be my sister, I am responsible for maintaining order in this military camp._

 _And if giving you a beatdown accomplishes that, then that's what I_ will _do."_

Shigure winced at Sendai's injuries, because even if they weren't severe, they were still dealt by Ma'am Jackie of all people, and it came at a time when the light cruiser was emotionally fragile and required anything but physical beatdowns to break her out of her temper tantrum.

Sendai echoed this statement as she laid down on the floor, looking up at her sister with a gaze of confusion and despair more than anything else, utterly confounded by what just transpired as she exclaimed as though pleading for an explanation,

"What the hell, Jin - Ma'am Jackie?!

Don't you understand what's going on here?

Naka's gone!

Taken out by the Abyssals!"

"Who's Naka?"

Huh?

Everyone was stunned by the sudden and unexpected reply, Sendai and Jintsuu feeling the brunt of this revelation hitting them head-on as they stood there, frozen on the spot with widened eyes and slightly agape mouths while a seemingly apathetic Ma'am Jackie explained herself.

"I never knew how the human incarnation of Naka behaved, what her goals and dreams were, her likes and dislikes, or even what she looked like.

As far as I'm concerned, my sister ships sank back in World War 2, and you, Sendai, are simply a ship girl who bears her name and retains her memories, but I just can't bring myself to see you or her as my reincarnated sister ships."

Jintsuu stepped in, horrified at the sight of her future self acting so callous towards a sister ship and was a living reminder of what she could become.

"Please, Ma'am Jackie - no, Jintsuu-san!

Don't you feel _anything_ towards Naka and the news that she's killed in action?

Our Naka…"

Ma'am Jackie shrugged, turning to face her younger doppelganger as she dropped the harsh truth upon the two heartbroken Sendai-Class cruisers, everyone who was spectating now unable to turn away due to Ma'am Jackie's orders as well as a morbid curiosity as to where this dramatic scene would lead with its hairpin twists and turns drawing their interest like moths to a flame.

"No.

I've never met Sendai and Naka back when I was your age, and I managed to survive on my own by discarding everything regarding my past and moving on.

Remembering you all wasn't going to do me any good when I was never going to meet any of you in this life until last week, no?"

But Shiranui stepped in, asking about how unlikely it was that she wouldn't have made contact with at least one other ship girl during her time in the army.

"That doesn't sound right.

You said that ship girls from various countries were sent to fight on land, right?

It seems far-fetched that you could fight wars on land without coming across one other ship girl who was in the same situation as you, who would be recalled from the front lines to be an instructor like you today."

Ma'am Jackie shook her head, forlornly shaking her head and answering the question for all to hear.

"Not exactly.

Those of us who were a part of this classified project of 'land-ship' soldiers were sworn to secrecy and were instructed never to reveal our true identities to those like us, and especially not to anyone else we interact with unless dealing with life-and-death matters.

And many of the human comrades I fought with are now permanently disabled, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder back at home or are dead.

Just… dead."

Sendai's face scrunched up again as the conversation starred to veer off-course, Shigure noting that she was likely in the second stage of grief, anger.

Anger at the world for taking away Naka, and letting it override whatever ties she may have had with others by targeting those close to her, since the Abyssals were too vague and distant of a target for her to find out who was responsible and driving the grief-stricken light cruiser to target those who failed to prevent it or unintentionally caused it.

An irrational course of action in Shigure's eyes, but completely understandable from an emotional point of view.

"Who cares about that?!

Naka's gone!"

In which Ma'am Jackie finally blew up at Sendai, everyone pulling back a little from the sheer intensity of her roar that was directed at her own sister ship without any care for supposed familial bonds.

" _So what if Naka's gone?!_

 _Are you going to whine and cry here until the Abyssals attempt to take away the one other sister ship you have left?!"_

Everyone held their breath upon hearing that, Ma'am Jackie looking down at them with a dangerous glint in her eyes which could be interpreted as condescension under such circumstances.

"You're all so privileged, being so spoiled in that if you die, all you need to do is to be thrown into the docks in order to revive either yourselves or your friends, and personally, I think that in that sense, all of you are simply playing at being soldiers.

Most of you have become accustomed to understanding loss from an impersonal point of view because you know that things will be alright even if you die, that some bathtub is going to revive you all and things will go back to normal.

Well, more or less."

Ma'am Jackie pulled up her head in order to look down at a silenced Sendai, looking _very_ bitter about something or another as she continued on her monologue which was clearly directed at not just Sendai, but also every ship girl in the canteen who were still unable to get used to the paradigm shift which came with every wave of technological development on the enemy's part.

"It's only until someone close to you sinks when you get pissy about loss and start blaming anyone who's a convenient target, because this safety net called the dock has desensitized you to the threat of losing someone for good.

And it seems I have to remind you of this before you all step onto a new battlefield where said miracle bathtub won't be readily available, and some of you will very likely die for real while simply _waiting_ for a portable dock to be freed up.

This is a war.

People die."

Sendai sputtered as she tried to defend her position, clearly losing ground but was still afflicted by the loss of Naka to the point where she clearly wasn't thinking straight.

"But, but even so…

I don't want to die here!

Not on land, and certainly not so far away from the ocean where we truly belong!"

Ma'am Jackie then leaned down in order to partially pull Sendai up by the green collar of her army uniform, the Sendai-Class light cruiser wincing as she braced herself against the next punch which never came, Ma'am Jackie instead glaring daggers into Sendai's eyes and through her skull with a smoldering gaze before continuing.

"I don't give a _fuck_ about what you want, or where you think you belong.

Right now, you're here in this base and under _my_ command, and it's my duty to make sure that all of you do what it takes to stop the Abyssal horde from wiping us all out.

And even though I'd much prefer a living soldier than a dead one for the former's ability to fight on and the latter's lack of it, if winning involves giving your very lives for the sake of victory, then so be it.

Anything less, and we're already dead."

Sendai looked away guiltily as she perfectly understood their duty as soldiers to unflinchingly sacrifice themselves for the sake of protecting others and for the sake of winning the war.

But Shigure, with a past of surviving naval battles and emerging from them unscathed while comrades and sister ships fell, knew how it felt, to lose a piece of yourself with the death of someone dear to you and feel the urge to let loose and lash out at the world, at the unfairness of it all happening to you.

Ma'am Jackie felt Sendai's rage beginning to simmer, but the instructor continued to press the assault by using the World-War-2 card to drive the point home, and how Sendai should be hardened against loss by now.

"I remember that I sank earlier than you did, and I thought that it would have hardened you mentally to the prospect of a sister ship sinking, since it's understandable that a ship girl who was historically the first to sink back then wouldn't know what it feels like to have a sister ship sink in this life.

Is my elder sister really this weak?"

Sendai was now shaking her head vehemently, looking up into Ma'am Jackie's eyes and returning her piercing gaze with one of denial as the biting question was an affront to Sendai's pride as a ship girl, looking to pull herself together in order to refute Ma'am Jackie's point as Shigure suspected this was the instructor's intent all along, to coax the fight back into Sendai.

"No, no!

I'm the Night Battle Idiot Sendai, I'm anything but weak!"

Ma'am Jackie's stare didn't soften in intensity, but she instead raised her head in order to look down at the light cruiser that was in her grasp.

"Really, but you don't seem strong either, so what _are_ you, Sendai-san?"

Sendai pulled her head back as her expression became conflicted, but Ma'am Jackie surprised Shigure herself by asking this next question.

"I must ask you this, though.

Is your current condition satisfactory?"

Shigure lifted an eyebrow upon hearing that, her gaze quickly shifting to roam across the canteen in her attempt to find the Lexington-Class carrier, spotting her in the crowd as the American looked back at her, the both of them sharing incredulous looks at how Ma'am Jackie was reusing Shigure's words after listening in on them.

But hey, if they could be reused to help get another ship girl out of her emotional funk, she'd allow it any and every time.

"Crying about Naka when you're already lucky enough to have two sisters, of which the only one you have left is doing her best to comfort you when you're acting like such a child and pushing her away in your temper tantrum.

Are you going to sit there and cry, or use this incident to push you onto becoming stronger in order to protect your remaining sister who's still alive and kicking?

Are you satisfied with who and where you are right now?"

" … No."

The senior light cruiser go of her sister after Sendai gave that honest answer which was aimed more at herself than at Ma'am Jackie, Sendai collapsing back onto the canteen floor while Ma'am Jackie loomed menacingly above her, shadows clouding her face as she looked down and gave a simple order.

"Then get up."

" … Huh?"

Sendai echoed everyone's sentiments with that one subdued exclamation of slight disbelief, and Ma'am Jackie unclenched her right fist in order to straighten her palm, leaning forward again in order to offer it to Sendai, who shrank away from it after it had struck her down not five minutes before this, Ma'am Jintsuu intoning without any more compassion or warmth in her voice.

"When I say 'get up', it's because you're down on the floor.

And as long as you draw breath, that should never be your default position as a combat-ready soldier unless you're sleeping, ducking, sharpshooting or dead.

I don't care if you're having the best dream of your life, downed by the enemy, missing one or both legs in combat or having Saint Peter giving you the clearance to pass through the pearly gates, when I stand next to you and shout for you to get the fuck up, I expect each and every one of you to follow that order as if it were a _bloody commandment._

 _Now, get up."_

Sendai was finally compelled to get up from the floor after a moment of solemn contemplation while glaring pointedly at Ma'am Jackie's outstretched hand, her headstrong and outgoing demeanor finally crumbling as she hung her head with a sullen expression on her face while standing up sloppily and accepting Ma'am Jackie's hand, and Shigure was treated to the strange sight of Ma'am Jackie doing Sendai up.

Patting the dirt off her uniform while adjusting her collar and wiping what remained of the Sendai-Class light cruiser's blood from Sendai's cheek while her expression softened a touch, everyone stood there and watched uncomfortably while Sendai also seemed slightly unnerved by this sudden expression of concern on Ma'am Jackie's part, but stayed still and allowed her acting commanding officer to do as she pleased.

Finally, Ma'am Jackie stepped away to allow the ship girls to move in as one and gather around Sendai in order to give a group hug after being forced to stand by and wallow in their impotence throughout that physical beat-down and scathing verbal confrontation, Sendai finally breaking down in tears and hugging Shiranui as she muttered unintelligible yet sincere apologies.

And Shigure could see that Shiranui reined in her temper and tongue since she also felt bad about Naka sinking, allowing Sendai to lash out before slobbering all over her as part of her grieving process.

Shigure hung back as she turned to look at Jintsuu junior hesitantly approaching the lone instructor which was leaving the scene, everyone giving the both of them a wide berth as they approached the growing crowd around Sendai, the younger Sendai-Class light cruiser asking her with the shyness and fearfulness of a confessing schoolgirl mixed with a messenger who was fully expecting himself to be shot for delivering bad news,

"You behave so fiercely, but seem so sad on the inside.

Will… Will I become like you when I grow up, Ma'am Jackie?"

Ma'am Jackie glanced around at the small audience which they were attracting, her strange expression now revealing something resembling vulnerability as she considered the question, Shigure finding it reassuring to see that Ma'am Jackie clearly wanted anything but that to become a reality, parting the crowd and carving a path through the ship girls who fearfully scurried out of her way, the senior light cruiser brushing shoulders with a silenced Jintsuu as she whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Let's hope not."

* * *

Yuubari was sitting together with Sakawa and Washington on-board the _Flying Dutchman_ as it was docked inside Sakawa's island Beast Jasconius in order to prepare the aviation battleship for what was to come.

Namely, Apocalypse.

The light cruiser commander looked down at the chess pieces on the aptly-colored black and white chessboard, playing against the battleship directly before her while the other light cruiser watched, the two J.O.A.N. units having a discussion while the Washington-Class battleship silently contemplated the situation in the midst of waiting for Yuubari to make her move.

[Hmm, I'm getting kinda bored by this lull in the action.

I mean, the nuke was nice and all, but isn't that going to be the real kickstarter for the humans to begin training up their own ship girl army in order to oppose us?

Wouldn't that hinder our plans?]

In which Yuubari moved the black queen onto a white square before she reassured her secretary ship.

[Oh, don't you worry too much.

What proof is there that this increased productivity and preparation of the humans _wasn't_ within my calculations?]

Sakawa sat up straight at that insinuation as her emotive hair strands stood up straight in excitement, asking.

[Wow, is that so?

Yuubari-chan, you're so smart, pyon!]

[Naturally.]

Washington moved a white bishop and took Yuubari's pawn, putting the light cruiser in check and forcing her hand as she moved her black bishop in place to deter her, with another pawn guarding the defending bishop before continuing.

[The ship girls and humans will certainly be forming and training up some form of ship girl army as we speak in order to repel our _landkreuzer_ units, and our _kriegsmarine_ will continue attacking them from the ocean.

I'm not too certain about their air force, but rest assured that with Cynthia leading the _luftwaffe_ in order to take on the air forces of the world along with my assistance, we'll keep them on their toes before crushing them.

I'm counting on the rest of you to do your best as land units who'll have their boots on the ground the entire while.]

Washington acknowledged this order with a simple,

[Yes, Ma'am.]

And moved a white pawn forward, Sakawa now ecstatic but curious as her twin _ahoge_ curved a little in a question mark-sign, asking about what else they were to expect

[Yeah, but can I expect to deploy GUNGNIR again and test-run Sól in the near future?]

[Well, of course.

You are supposed to be the juggernaut of the New Wave units, after all.

At least, until we acquire more ship girl units to experiment on and convert to our side…]

Sakawa then jumped onto and glomped Yuubari, gleeful about being deployed as she squealed like an overexcited school girl while Yuubari did her best not to topple the chessboard, using a black pawn to jump two squares forward.

[Pyaa!

Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouuuu ~ !

It's finally happening, we're gonna go out on the field and kick some serious ass!]

[Ah, hey, I'm still playing here!]

Washington narrowed her eyes against the move, since it formed a diagonal line of black pawns which formed a reasonably powerful defense formation, the American battleship looking up and asking in a rare display of initiative on her part.

[Ma'am.

What are we to do with the light cruiser Lorelei managed to capture?]

[Oh, that Naka from Yokosuka?

We'll convert her to join the rest of her clones, and…]

Moving another pawn forward on the fringe of the battlefield, Yuubari hid her smirk from all but herself as she commented on their nature as the pieces with the lowest value but the highest numbers in order to form a disposable asset.

[Like that, we won't just have eight pawns, we'll have _forty-eight_ of them, which means there'll be more than enough to go around.

Somebody's gotta do the heavy lifting with their numbers, after all.]

And in response to Washington moving her white knight out in order to back her own pawns up and secure her position, Yuubari moved her black queen again as she spoke to her two subordinates.

[Sakawa.

I need your GUNGNIR system to target the US in order to back Washington and our America-invading forces up when Apocalypse begins, because until Cynthia's New Wave power is properly set up, your cast range will stay unmatched amongst us existing J.O.A.N. units.

And although we can pick out the targets later, the test-firing earlier last week did help you to get used to its ins and outs, no?]

Sakawa nodded vigorously, and Yuubari turned her attention back to Washington as she ordered.

[You'll lead the fight against the Americans in the West, and I'll take care of things on the Eastern side of the world.]

[Acknowledged.

Which New Wave units will be activated and placed under my charge?]

Yuubari considered their currently available members as she supported her head on her clenched power glove-encased fist while Sakawa leaned in and gave Yuubari puppy-dog eyes in order to appeal to her commander.

[Sakawa will target the USA with GUNGNIR even when she'll be with me, and you'll be able to make use of the chaos in order to pull off your invasion without too much fuss.

Have Amatsukaze go with you, and I'll have Lorelei start making passes at the USN's warships with her four Beasts.

We're halfway done with setting up Cynthia's New Wave ability, and when that's finished, she'll be able to support you even when she's halfway around the world.]

[And how many Naka units do we bring along for the invasion of America?]

The Abyssal commander moved her black knight onto a white square in order to take out a pawn before answering.

[Several of them, and don't worry too much about code names at this point in time, especially not with our front-line combatants whose abilities will be revealed soon enough.

You'll have Lorelei, Amatsukaze and Laffey along with what I can assume to be two dozen Naka units.

And in the case of Laffey…]

She watched Washington silently eat the black bishop with a white knight, narrowing her eyes and contemplating her words before speaking.

[She'll be instrumental in slowly pushing the Americans back with her unique abilities, nationality and background, but I expect you to keep her on a tight leash due to what the humans have done to her, and especially since you're both Mark III ship girls.

And I do believe that we need to make use of our little 'friends' within the ship girl navy and Central in order to sow a fair bit of discord in the days to come.

Certainly not right now, but I believe that planting these seeds of chaos and leaving breadcrumbs for them to find a month or two down the road could lead them down the self-destructive path which I predict will end with a bang.]

Moving her black knight up in order to target several pieces, Yuubari watched the North Carolina-Class battleship prepare for the carnage that was to come by moving her white rook and king in order to pull off a king-side castle, the stoic American Abyssal intoning her question after planting her king behind the pawns.

[And I don't suppose you have the presence of mind to stay back and not expose yourself to danger in the midst of a war, Ma'am?

You _are_ the most important J.O.A.N. unit amongst us, after all.]

In which Yuubari pulled back a little, giving her creation a strange but curious look as she mused.

[I didn't think you'd be capable of evolving your personality this quickly, to the point where you'd be developing wit at this point in time.]

Washington lowered her head subserviently while Sakawa leaned in to ask,

[So, when's the big day?

It certainly can't come soon enough, not ever since I met Nagato-san and friends for the first time in forever!]

Yuubari shrugged, moving the black knight forward in order to take out an enemy piece and begin the massacre of pieces which was slated to happen in the middle of the board, announcing lackadaisically as if commenting on today's weather despite being located deep underwater, where the light failed to reach.

[Eh, I suppose they've been given enough of a head-start, let's start turning up the heat and watch them squirm.

Start the worldwide invasion one week from today.]


	58. Chapter 58 - The End Of All Songs

Hiei was with Amazon Company as they were gathered and seated in the hall on the 7th of May in order to listen to Ma'am Jackie, and even though their instructor had an excellent poker face thanks to over a decade's worth of life experience, even Hiei could tell that there was something troubling her, and that was what put everyone on edge as they sat down with no superfluous talk or even whispers to fill the silence, Ma'am Jackie standing before a movable projector screen as she started to address the ship girls.

"Well, I have good news and bad news, Amazon company.

Which one do you want to hear first?"

All she got were mumbled responses, and although Hiei pulled her head back and anticipated Ma'am Jackie yelling at them in order to demand a loud and concise answer, Ma'am Jackie instead lowered her head and scratched the bridge of her nose, and everyone knew that this _had_ to be bad if even Ma'am Jackie was acting this shiftily.

"The good news is, you're graduating early, far earlier than even I expected.

The bad news is _why_ you're all graduating early."

Everyone exhaled as one while several ship girls hung their heads, likely in resignation at the fact that everything was going down the drain because of Apocalypse, and the fact that things would only get worse from here on out with the Abyssals crawling onto their land and encroaching onto their territory inch by inch.

And although Hiei wanted to believe otherwise, she couldn't help but think that there wasn't much they could do to stop their onslaught.

"The Abyssals are spreading from their base of operations like a plague infection, and although all of Japan's naval bases are readying their forces in order to meet the Abyssals halfway on the ocean, we need the rest of you to back them up both at sea and on land should the need arise.

Although I would personally have preferred to continue teaching you all some more in order to prepare all of you for Apocalypse, the enemy controls the flow of battle.

Not that all hope is lost, since I will be flying with you all in order to join the front lines and coordinate our defense forces, although I won't be getting my boots wet on the ocean when I haven't done so in nearly two decades, mind you, and I'll also leave the naval tactics to the Admirals."

The portable screen lit up as the distant projector projected a map of Japan and its various islands like Okinawa on the screen, and its presence was threatened by a red blob which radiated from the Pacific Ocean with several flags marking important locations in Japan, Ma'am Jackie starting her lecture.

"According to our predictions and what we can gather from our fragmented readings of the Abyssals moving underwater, Shizuoka, Kanagawa and Chiba are the predicted areas which we'll be defending while Okinawa, Kyushu, Hokkaido and Shikoku are also areas of interest.

Our coasts are at risk of being invaded, but anywhere beyond the three neighboring prefectures are none of our business for now."

Pointing at Chiba, Ma'am Jackie highlighted the outcropping of land which shielded the Yokosuka Naval Base from the Pacific Ocean.

"This is the most likely place the Abyssals would attack first, after which they'd head left and attack Yokosuka, supporting their forces which are assaulting Shizuoka and Kanagawa in order to allow the Abyssals to encroach on our land.

Tokyo, located close to the ocean, should not be lost to the Abyssals for fear of losing a capital city and a resulting dip in morale, and even though Chiba may be lost in the first stages of Apocalypse, we have to try and stop the Abyssals from establishing a foothold here.

We'll defend its coasts with everything we've got in order to buy time for our army to work with the JGSDF to booby-trap every single square inch of land that we leave behind."

Turning their attention to Shizuoka, Hiei envisioned their ship girl and human military moving around on the map and fighting with the Abyssals while they spectated from above as if watching two armies of ants doing battle with each other, although they would soon become part of said army who would fight the Abyssals in those cities sooner or later.

"The Izu Peninsula is also an area of concern, especially since it is an outcropping of land in Shizuoka which largely consists of forests, and even if we were to lose this Peninsula, we can still try and stop them from advancing up to Mount Hakone and Fuji, assuming we can secure Suruga Bay and Oshima Island.

Oshima Island should be defended since it is still a location which the Abyssal can use as a platform to launch a more effective assault on its three neighboring prefectures, but it should not be treated as too high a priority, because if the Abyssals are about to take over that island, we should be almost finished with our preparations on land and be retreating inland with guns blazing."

Weather forecasts and a calendar then popped up in order to estimate when the next seasons, namely autumn and winter, were coming and would drastically change the nature of the war.

"Of course, right now, weather isn't a problem since we're coming to the end of spring and the start of summer.

And although hazards like dehydration and heat exhaustion might be prevalent right now, they pale in comparison to winter warfare, which is when vehicles will slow down to a crawl and when we need to dig deep and hunker down in order to survive the freezing temperatures."

"Oh god, hell is going to freeze over by then."

The Kongou-Class battleship looked down at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer as Shigure looked rather perturbed, yet nonplussed at this turn of events as she remarked on the situation while Ma'am Jackie continued her lecture in the background of Hiei's mind.

"The Abyssals are used to the cold because of their ability to survive in the freezing depths of the deep sea, and it wouldn't be much of a surprise if they hit their stride during winter as our defense lines slow down to a painful crawl."

Hiei considered how the Abyssals would be at ease while living in temperatures which froze water in mere seconds, and this allowed them to occupy the North and South Poles along with swaths of land in Greenland, Alaska, Canada and Russia, amongst other locations, without anyone contesting their rule simply because they couldn't invade the Abyssals there without running the risk of being frozen alive.

"Hmm, that makes sense.

We'd have to find other ways to slow them down, and do you think that urban warfare would do the job, seeing how Japan's quite urbanized?"

Shigure shrugged as Hiei lifted her chin towards the map and Japan's metropolitan areas, and she listened to what the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer had to say.

"Well, much like the Battle of Stalingrad, I think that their advantage in the cold would be cancelled out by the urban areas which we would be fighting in, likely in areas like Tokyo, Yokohama and Tsukuba.

I think Ma'am Jackie is right in that the bulk of the fighting, at least where we're concerned with in the immediate future, will likely be in the Southern Chiba prefecture, where the hills and forests would be the battlefields since that's where they'd likely make their Normandy-esque landings."

Hiei nodded in agreement since Chiba was mostly surrounded by the ocean, and if they managed to cross the entire prefecture with Mount Atago as the tipping point, they'd move West in their path to Yokosuka and Tokyo if they were to cross the Tokyo Bay, making it the final area for them to defend before the Abyssals marched on Tokyo.

"However, if the Abyssals gain a foothold in Ibaraki and head South into Northern Chiba in order to press us from both sides, I think we may be forced into an early retreat so as not to be overwhelmed from the North, South and East.

Like Ma'am Jackie said, the outcropping of land in Shizuoka which leads to Mount Amagi is also another avenue of attack, but it's discouraged since it's pretty obvious that even if they take Oshima Island, we can still transport ship girls and soldiers onto the battlefield and bottleneck them by having them move down from Kanagawa or by crossing the Suruga Bay."

Hiei stared at her incredulously, holding her breath and reevaluating the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer in her mind before asking.

"You know, why haven't _you_ signed up to be a military adviser with your level of insight?"

"Well, the military high command's gotta be composed of brilliant minds who've been around longer than I have.

I'm likely stating the obvious to them, and I wouldn't be too well-versed in the tactics used on the ground or the overarching strategy in general.

Not unless I find out more."

Hiei lifted an eyebrow at how fast Shigure was learning as the destroyer humbly lowered her head, and her protective big-sister instinct drove her to slink her right hand over her shoulders and bring Shigure in close, confusing her friend as they listened on to Ma'am Jackie's lecture about enemy movements.

" … and that's why I'll be slowly training you up to be able to either keep yourselves afloat or even be able to swim while wearing part of or even your full combat gear.

Unlike the Abyssals, you all can't breathe underwater, and we don't want to waste submarines and have them form a body recovery division where they dive underwater in order to retrieve your corpses just because you are all unable to swim while carrying your equipment.

There will be several instances where you'll come under fire when crossing large bodies of water or get knocked into the sea, and that is pretty much the only time where you're allowed to drop your firearm and discard everything on you so as not to drown.

However, nothing makes up for a lack of training, and although you may have been accustomed to swimming in swimsuits, this will be different.

Any questions?"

Several hands in Amazon company went up, and Ma'am Jackie looking at someone and lifting her chin was an indicator for that ship girl to speak, Hiei turning her head to find Abukuma asking.

"Um, should the Abyssals advance into our mainland from the coastal areas, what is our navy going to do to turn the tide since our bases would be overrun and abandoned by then?"

Ma'am Jackie nodded as the map now displayed all of Japan along with both North and South Korea, Taiwan, Russia and China with Philippines in the lower left corner, their commanding officer answering the question.

"That's simple enough.

The Koreans will sail along Kyushu's South-Western coast with the protection of the Chinese on one side and us on the other, and the Chinese shall sail up with the Filipinos while the Russians sail down from Hokkaido.

We'll crush them with a devastating pincer attack by then, although we must note that this is a simple framework of a plan, since we're not oracles and need to keep our plans flexible."

Another hand was likely raised behind Hiei since Ma'am Jackie lifted her chin towards the ship girl in question in order to allow her speak.

"Are we going to practice the scorched earth policy if we are to retreat?

I mean, we aren't fighting against humans, and I really don't think they'll bother following the Geneva Conventions, so what're we going to do against that kind of enemy?"

Ma'am Jackie tilted her head backwards, contemplating that question for a while before giving her honest answer.

"In my honest opinion?

I don't think so.

What we need to run our war machine are two things: fuel and steel.

Fuel, we'll be receiving from the world, and steel means that anything metallic in the environment, we'll be eating."

The entire crowd erupted into silent whispers of "What?" and "Huh?", and Ma'am Jackie raised her right hand in order to pacify her audience before elaborating.

"Look, you'll very likely run out of rations out there on the field, and supply lines might be cut off when you need it the most.

Like I said, if you see anything that's made of metal around you, be it a vehicle, lamppost, cutlery or unusable weapons, you had better discard whatever notion of 'decency' or 'dignity' and eat it, lest you starve to death.

If that's what it takes to to win this war, by God, I'm gonna be there to force-feed the metal down your throats in order to keep you alive."

Hiei gulped nervously at the threat along with everyone else, Ma'am Jackie looking down at her own boots as she continued.

"As I was saying, I believe the Abyssals don't eat human food for sustenance, which would mean that destroying our own means of producing food in our wake wouldn't mean a damn to them, and water would very likely be considered a precious resource on both sides, which means they likely wouldn't poison or pollute it for fear of the same thing being done to them in retaliation.

Both sides would certainly have to fight for bodies of water in order to fuel their own portable docks, which would likely mean that they'd be left alone by the Abyssals.

It must be noted though, that even if it's in our power to deny the Abyssals any usable resources, it's our land which our people live on, and even if I say that _we_ have to do whatever it takes to win, when it comes to the livelihood of our own people, we must think twice about this."

Ma'am Jackie looked pensive about this, having seen things which few ship girls bore witness to due to their war being mostly separated from the outside world, and while it had its fair share of horrors and ordeals, the upside was that it rarely affected civilians as collateral damage save for natural disasters which Abyssals took advantage of to attack the mainland as well as the American _blitzkrieg_ all those years ago.

Hiei knew how land combat involved far more civilian casualties as mistaken targets or as unintended collateral damage, and what was worse was that the livelihood of the civilian populace were sometimes destroyed not by the enemy but their own government and military, thanks to a twisted tactic to deny the enemy of anything useful out of spite when retreating and allowing those left behind to starve and die, AKA the scorched-earth policy.

What made this even worse was that this wasn't another country's people they were screwing over by destroying their resources; it was their own people, and the repercussion in terms of public support and morale could and would be catastrophic, especially since there was a clear limit as to what the populace was willing to endure for the sake of victory.

Their commanding officer echoed this sentiment as she explained.

"We soldiers should not hesitate to use anything and everything at our disposal and make whatever sacrifice is required of us, but if we are to sacrifice what keeps our people alive and allow them to die, then what else is left to rebuild with even if we win?

We may ask for their support and help from the sidelines, but we should should not ask them to make such extreme sacrifices, and salting the earth as we retreat renders winning moot when we're left with nothing but uninhabitable land and resentful citizens.

So, all I have to say is, yes to some extent, but definitely not beyond acceptable levels of recovery."

Her answer was met with muted silence from Amazon company, who could almost feel the depressive air seeping from her pores and forming a bleak aura around her like a miasma, her battle experience aging her by several years even after she steeled her expression and soldiered on.

"Anyway, in the most dire of circumstances, I expect you to eat anything in order to feed yourself, and trust me when I say that it _will_ taste horrible, but we have this physical gift to be able to devour metal and fuel, something few humans can accomplish, if any.

We should not tax our resources too much if supply lines get strained, because there'll be times where you'll probably have to eat tree roots or expired food, and what I predict from my time out on the field is that any food will be scarfed down, expired or not.

Capturing enemy resources will be paramount should worst come to worst, and even if it runs the risk of poisoning us should they contaminate it or whatever, desperate times call for desperate measures."

Ship girls let out a hum of revulsion at the thought, but it was understandable that they had to secure food and resources for their troops, and since the Safety Zone would be remapped to be closer to the coast when Apocalypse rolled around, they'd have to scavenge for resources wherever possible, even if they had to steal from the enemy.

Not the most elegant of ways to win a war, but winning the war took precedence over doing so in style, and holding on too tightly to their pride and dignity in the face of imminent extinction would spell their doom, Mikuma asking the question this time.

"Um…

Engaging in urban warfare in cities like Tokyo and Nagoya would slow down the invading Abyssal forces considerably, so what do we do if the Abyssals bombard it to smithereens so as to avoid it altogether?"

Ma'am Jackie's expression was difficult as she considered the question, but she finally gave her answer.

"We've prepared for such an eventuality, and will adapt to the situation as the Abyssal War progresses."

Hiei shuddered at how callous the top brass had to be to shrug off losses like that, and the other ship girls apparently thought so as she heard Nagatsuki exclaim.

"Hey, isn't that being a little too cold?

That's like, our capital city, and if we were to lose such an important city to those blasted Abyssals, we'd - "

The Mutsuki-Class destroyer was promptly silenced by Ma'am Jackie lowering her head in order to cast a shadow over her solemn face, eyebrows furrowed disapprovingly like a stern teacher about to give a scalding lecture, and Hiei could see an eye twitching in annoyance at a seemingly ludicrous question, everyone being silenced by the aggressive air which Ma'am Jackie now exuded in lieu of her previously depressing aura, using this chance to explain herself.

"Losing Tokyo doesn't mean we lose the prefecture as a whole, much less the entire country.

It's entirely possible that they could also force their way through the urban areas since a lot of Japan is urbanized, and there's no getting around it completely.

We aren't pushovers in the forest should we go all-out with our booby traps and guerrilla tactics with foreign aid pouring in from China, Korea and Russia, so don't get attached to any one city or location out of misplaced sentiment and inappropriately deem it a priority for defense or offense."

Everyone conceded the point and nodded dumbly upon hearing that since there was no arguing with that logic as Ma'am Jackie noticed the considerable dip in their spirits, and considering the recent loss of a comrade and her confrontation with Sendai, Ma'am Jackie started to speak again as her expression softened, scratching her head and not looking entirely sure of herself for the first time while standing before them.

"Look…

Something I want to note is that a few days ago, a fellow ship girl was dragged down into the depths by some new Beast, and the navy has labelled her as missing in action, presumed dead."

Hiei didn't believe that Amazon company could get any quieter, but they did at the mention of Naka's demise at the hands of the Abyssals and yesterday's roughhousing-turned-pep-talk session shortly after Sendai's outburst, and Ma'am Jackie looked uneasy about discussing something like this likely because it wasn't her specialty, but she made a valiant effort anyway as she spoke.

"Look.

I've seen good men senselessly die left and right in my military tours, and I will say that even as a superhuman amongst men, there were many lives which I couldn't save, no matter how hard I tried.

There are going to be losses, and I'm making a positive estimate that only about two-thirds of you are going to survive this war, should we win."

Everyone finally released the breath that they'd been holding as they were extremely demoralized by that sentence, but Ma'am Jackie had something more to add in order to put a spin on her own words.

"But, I don't believe that we should stop fighting and resign ourselves to our fate, even if that's so.

Even if everyone else falls around you, fight on, because it goes against the nature of a ship girl to simply give up and throw the fight before rolling over to die.

Destroyers, battleships, carriers, whatever.

We all have that spark within us that keeps us going, and even if comrades and sister ships sink around you, you owe it not just to them, but also to yourself to keep moving forward."

Scratching the back or her head while looking bashful all of a sudden, especially when speaking about such a sensitive topic with her company in order to keep them in relatively good spirits and determined to fight on to the very end, she forged on nevertheless.

"You have to keep moving forward, not just because you'd disappoint the fallen, not just because those whom you could save in the future depend on your every action in the present, but simply because _you can._

I know that it's easier said than done, but a lot of you are stronger than you think you are, and there's more than one aspect of strength in this world, one which any and all ship girl can tap into and work as one in order to fight on with the strength and ferocity of a hundred battleships."

Not exactly a positive or effective pep talk which worked its magic like in sports movies at half-time, but there was a slight swelling in the chests of the ship girls in Amazon company after listening to that monologue which came from their Demon Instructor after seeing her make a genuine attempt to talk them out of this funk.

It wasn't the most eloquent of heart-to-heart talks, but Hiei could see as a former ship girl and soldier who was in command of ship girls who were following in her footsteps as sailors conscripted as soldiers thanks to circumstances beyond anybody's control, Ma'am Jackie wanted to help them tide over this feeling of hopelessness before Apocalypse ate up their time and kept them occupied.

"Also, there's something else I'd like to note.

On land, classifications like 'destroyer' or 'light carrier' are irrelevant as actual classifications of what you're capable of and more of a footnote tacked to the life you left behind, and allow yourself to widen your gaze with this new realization in order to adopt unorthodox strategies in fighting off the Abyssal horde, because if there's one flaw I think is inherent in their _modus operandi_ , it's that they adhere too rigidly to orders and protocol.

I mean, not that it's bad, per se, but I would certainly think that they'd stick to tried and true tactics and use sheer numbers to try and overwhelm us, but the battleground, coupled with the weather and morale, all serve as force multipliers in order to help us combat the Abyssals."

That was understandable, since the weather, morale and the battleground itself were all considerations to be taken into account even on the ocean, from freezing temperatures which forced them to burn more fuel, to the continuous battles which came one after another and piled up fatigue at the expense of morale, and was doubly true for land combat which, from what Hiei had experienced thus far, was going to be far more physically grueling and psychologically taxing than land combat.

The Abyssals were tightening the noose around them, the inadequate and harsh environments which they had to fight, sleep and live in without basic amenities was going to put a lot more stress on them, and yesterday's training in the forest gave them a taste of what that felt like, Hiei clearing her mind of such thoughts in order to focus on Ma'am Jackie continuing her lecture, looking invested in imparting whatever experience and advice she could.

"Also worth noting is that the Abyssals, most of them anyway, are about as emotive as a dead fish, which means although they are incapable of being emotionally compromised, it is also quite hard for them to be driven to win solely through emotions and grit.

They wouldn't know what it feels like to be pushed to the limits like you are in your home country, and because of that, I believe that there'll come a time where we push back hard, because a cornered rat _will_ bite the cat."

It wasn't hard for Amazon company to see the phase hit the nail a little too accurately on the head, since the ship girls had to dig deep and scurry about underground like rats in the face of the hunters that were the Abyssals, represented as cats in that comparison.

She started to feel that the pressure to perform for the sake of her sisters and friends started to tense up her muscles and quicken her breathing even outside of battles, casting furtive glances everywhere either to burn her friend's faces into her memory or to reassure herself that they were still with her and wasn't going to be ripped from her life by the reaper's scythe.

For now.

Still feeling Shigure's demure body leaning on her, Hiei found herself hugging her tight like a security bolster which anchored her psyche as a chill raced up her steel spine and spread throughout her entire body, numbing her skin as she tried to purge the horrid memories of the Battle of Twelve Navies from her mind where she dipped her hand into the sea in order to save a comrade and instead retrieved the upper half of Naka's corpse, the damage inflicted causing her blood and insides to spill everywhere as though right out of a snuff film while her resting expression was lifeless and blank _happy thoughts happy thoughts._

She brought Shigure even closer and hugged her as tightly as possible without breaking anything in her friend's body, forcing herself to flood her mind with memories of her lounging in Mamiya's canteen with the 1st Fleet along with the times she spent with her sisters and Onee-sama even before that, which strangely drove home a sense of desolation upon realizing that these moments would be lost forever in the hurricane of violence that was sure to come when Apocalypse rolled around.

Hiei felt even worse after that, and Shigure being here meant the world to her as she steadied her breathing and brought the tremors under control while hugging the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, and the quivering of her lower jaw which normally preceded a crying fit was thankfully stamped out as her teeth clacked together as a result of clenching her jaw, a wave of unbridled dread threatening to wash over her as she remained silent, tuning out Ma'am Jackie's voice for the far more reassuring presence of her destroyer comrade, a stray thought recalling her elder sister's comforting presence in her mind and how she was doing right now.

 _'Onee-sama…'_

* * *

The 1st Fleet was sitting together in the canteen after a day of briefing and training, and Shigure was eating her dinner as she shot Hiei a shifty sideways glance, the Kongou-Class battleship hardly looking worse for the wear even after looking so devastated during Ma'am Jackie's lecture.

And while Shigure didn't have a mirror to see what she looked like while in the middle of a meltdown during the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, if she had to hazard a guess, she'd safely say that it would look like Hiei did just now, probably worse.

She supposed that this would be a recurring thing with her friends, especially when one took the recent developments and Naka's sinking into consideration, and while Shigure felt some physical pain at the battleship's hug along with being suffocated in Hiei's surprisingly sizable bosom, she could see that Hiei needed her as a mental anchor to cling onto for dear life while suffering from what Shigure assumed to be a minor, but no less serious PTSD flashback, and anyone in her position could easily snap from the stress which was piled on them.

But right now, she was doing her best to uphold her end of her partnership with Shiranui by helping the two of them get into Project Psyche, and to that end, she aimed to share her observations with the 1st Fleet during dinnertime.

Shigure knew that Tenryuu and Tatsuta were very likely briefed on the opponent's powers by those who ran Project Psyche, and had a direct connection with both the Tenryuu-Class cruisers and the members of the 2nd Fleet.

Time to make full use of them in order to position herself as a possible candidate for the next round of Project Psyche applicants.

She played around with what remained of her dinner which consisted of freeze-dried tofu which tasted like sponge in her mouth, the staple food that was rice coupled with a chicken drumstick, potatoes and green beans, speaking to her eating teammates over the sound of everyone else eating their dinners in the canteen.

"I managed to get some time alone with the corpses of the 2nd Fleet, and what I discovered piqued my interest…"

"Wait, how exactly did you do that when the Fairies and orderlies were there to take care of the corpses before reviving them?"

Junyou asked a reasonable question, and Shigure had to come up with a half-truth in order to be able to cover herself when others questioned her alibi, having already decided to withhold the information about Project Psyche and how the Abyssal who killed the 2nd Fleet was likely related to it.

Create a situation where she expressed interest in the wounds of the 2nd Fleet and what these new Abyssals were capable of, and this would force either of or even both the Tenryuu-Class cruisers to confront her in order to convince her to stop her investigation which would in turn cause her to push on, finally allowing her to be brought into the loop and pulling Shiranui in along with her.

She kissed Yuudachi on the cheek in the morgue as a personal 'get-out-of-jail-free' card to ease her conscience and to wish her sister well, but not before personally experiencing how revolting charred and waxy flesh felt and tasted on the lips, and she had to simultaneously make her deductions while suppressing her gag reflex.

Oh boy, here we go again…

Shigure inhaled and filled her lungs with oxygen while fighting down the butterflies and the food in her stomach which plotted their second uprising to leave her body through her throat in a violent eruption, finally calming herself down and bringing her own body back under her control to the point where she could answer Junyou and friends with a straight face.

"Well, I _was_ emotionally distraught when Yuudachi was taken out in her last sortie, and I asked for some time alone with her body.

But as I struggled to pull myself together, I picked up several details which started a train of thoughts and led me to make a few intelligent guesses as to what the assailant was like and was capable of."

That was half true, she did want to visit Yuudachi and Shimakaze's corpses and wish them well on their way to recovery even if her first and foremost goal was to study their wounds, and while she did shed some genuine tears when visiting the mostly-deceased 2nd Fleet (Chitose being the exception), their recovery would erase their wounds, and with them, any possible lead regarding Apocalypse and its harbingers.

Not on her watch, playing up the 'devastated sister ship' angle for what it was worth and ignoring the sickened feeling with herself which her conscience used to convince her to stop, finally being let inside by the sympathetic orderlies (thank goodness she picked a timing where Akashi wasn't there) and was allowed to move their corpses about without disturbing or exacerbating her wounds.

And what she found out surprised her, but with Apocalypse in the backdrop of the Abyssal War, it only registered as a dull surprise at this point in time, continuing her explanation.

"Shimakaze's chest wound was what caught my attention, because of the odd angle of penetration.

Coming in from Shimakaze's chest level and judging from the girth of the wound, I theorize that the assailant was an adult, but when the assailant managed to take down Shimakaze in one shot without allowing the fastest IJN destroyer a chance to even react, I'm stumped as to who managed to pull this off.

What diminished the possibility of a cannon taking her out was how a shell spins as it is fired from the barrel and almost always tears a chunk of flesh out when exiting the body like a widening funnel, but Shimakaze's wound was roughly uniform in diameter through her torso, which is difficult to accomplish with a large or even a medium-caliber shell.

A hole was opened where Shimakaze's spine was while her front was torn out messily…"

"Oh, _god."_

Tenryuu placed her face in her palms with an exasperated remark escaping her lips upon hearing her young comrade talk about something so gory with such an intellectual interest, and Junyou now wore a difficult expression on her face, wanting to hear the deduction of who the assailant was which took out the 2nd Fleet; just not from the mouth of a Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

Regardless…

" … and while it is entirely possible for a shell to catch Shimakaze off-guard, why wasn't the supposed cannon which was firing this shell used to target other ship girls?

If it had no problem hitting the fastest ship girl on their fleet, shooting at others and scoring a hit would be a cakewalk.

Besides, the viciousness on that caliber wasn't noticed in the wounds of the others, only Shimakaze was the one to receive an attack of that caliber, since others were only punched and kicked.

It had to be personal for the assailant.

It should be…"

Shigure allowed the name of one particular Kagerou-Class destroyer to linger on the tip of her tongue, although everyone else already suspected the answer since Shimakaze's past blunder was no secret to the rest of the naval base.

She continued sharing her observations, letthing them know what they could expect in the months to come since their fleet consisted of the first two ship girls in the world with New Wave powers, and she expected them to come under heavy fire and be hunted down by stronger New Wave Abyssals once the Abyssal high command took an interest in them.

"Also, what struck me as odd were the wounds, since they were radically different from anything I had seen thus far.

Not just the splotches of first, second and third-degree burns, but several of the wounds caused by punches and kicks which had quite the twist.

Where the enemy's strike connected, the way damage was done seemed as if a heated branding iron had made contact with human flesh, roasting flesh and boiling skin on the afflicted area like sizzling meat on a burning grill."

Tenryuu inhaled sharply while Ayanami scrunched up her nose just as the destroyer was bringing her spoonful of food to her mouth, but Shigure barely paid attention to these trivial details in light of the situation at hand, observing Tatsuta and Tenryuu as they both shifted around in their seats.

' _Come on, come on, talk to me already…'_

Tatsuta shot a glance in her direction, making eye contact with Shigure as they both looked into each other's eyes, and she saw Tatsuta start to entertain the idea that Shigure might know more than she let on, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer deliberately breaking eye contact and looking away to fuel the light cruiser's suspicions, prompting Tatsuta to confront her in the near future, not that Shigure ever expected the Tenryuu-Class junior to believe her 'nightmare' alibi back when she sought them out in order to speak to them before Project Psyche.

"It's interesting to think about what could have inflicted those injuries, as well as the claw marks which were left on their flesh, which I assume was made by a Beast which accompanied this new Abyssal."

"New?

How do you know it wasn't an existing Princess or its Beast?"

Tenryuu spoke up and tried to derail her line of thought, and the effort was commendable as Shigure pointed out how she recalled the lessons about on the Abyssals, disseminating and enlightening them with information which was painstakingly collected throughout the two decades of constant and bitter conflict between them.

"Well, I did consider that.

I reviewed the lessons on Princesses and Demons, and a lot of their Beasts possessed human-like fingers and fingernails which wouldn't be able to leave these distinguishable claw marks on them.

And before you ask, off the top of my head, I recall the Armored Carrier, Light Cruiser, Harbor Water and Southern War Demons with the Seaplane Tender and Harbor Princess all have claws on their Beasts or on them.

But there is one thing all these suspects have in common which essentially eliminates them from my list, it's an evolutionary advantage which apes and humans possess while many animals don't."

A knowing smile graced Junyou's face, swallowing the portion of her dinner in her mouth as her eyes lit up in a moment of realization.

"Opposable thumbs."

Shigure formed her right hand into a thumbs-up gesture and raised it in Junyou's direction both to serve as a visual aid and to congratulate the Hiyou-Class light carrier before continuing.

"Exactly.

I think that this Beast didn't possess opposable thumbs, and if it did, it would have allow for more options for the Beast in combat than simply to 'scratch ship girls until dead', which was exactly what happened."

"Fair point."

Shigure looked back at Junyou as the light carrier nonchalantly accepted her reasoning and went back to eating her dinner as if her deductive skills didn't mean a damn thing to her aside from momentarily distracting her from her sumptuous meal, and Shigure sneaked the two Tenryuu-Class cruisers aside glances.

Tenryuu and Tatsuta were now looking at each other more frequently, with the former doing so more often per minute while the latter was more composed, but there was no covering up the concern they both felt even if they managed to play it cool, and Shigure continued sharing her observations both to enlighten her teammates and to aggressively move herself into a position to be accepted into Project Psyche.

"It's interesting, along with the supposed enemy Beast which took Naka out along with whatever fired that nuclear missile.

To think that there are so many Abyssals out there with unknown capabilities, and there are very likely even more out there, lying in wait until Apocalypse engulfs the world in a world war.

It's all a puzzle that just begs to be solved."

Shigure took a bite out of the sponge-like tofu, savoring its horrible texture and bland taste for what it was worth before they everything went to hell and they were forced to eat mud and delude themselves into believing that it was edible food in order to sate their growling stomachs, hearing Tenryuu ask her with a fair amount of suspicion in her voice.

"By the way, how were you capable of deducing such things when visiting a sister ship and friend?"

Shigure shrugged off the suspicion which laced question and answered truthfully, seeing no need to lie about this to her friends.

"That isn't too complicated.

When I see things that interest me, I'm just driven to think even more about them.

I just couldn't let the matter slide when observing the 2nd Fleet's wounds, and deducing what the assailant was capable of.

I mean, it is possible for anyone else to come to the same conclusions if they think hard enough about it all."

Everyone was giving her _that_ look now, and Shigure pulled back from the looks which she was getting as she asked meekly,

"U-Um, what is it?"

Junyou shifted her head's weight onto her left arm as she teased, looking amused at how Shigure was so curious about such things, no matter how morbid or grim it could be.

"Well, it just seems so much like you to want to figure such things out.

Even if you are a child, you're just so precocious that it's actually kinda cute, to see you put on your thinking cap."

In which Hiei responded, clearly a little exasperated at seeing Shigure behave far older than she was supposed to, considering how much she had been through back in World War 2.

"Geez, would it kill you to act your age for once, to play some hide and seek and do whatever children do every once in a while?"

Shigure pouted a little at the suggestion, since they were supposed to be soldiers and they had no time to be 'acting their age', even if she appreciated the sentiment.

She pushed herself from her chair and left the table to dump her finished food tray before tucking in for the night, only barely registering a pair of boots keeping pace behind her.

"Please wait, Shigure."

Shigure slowed down as she heard a familiar Tenryuu-Class light cruiser's voice call out to her, and she turned around to see Tatsuta walk up to her with an enigmatic look in her eyes, and Shigure held her breath upon seeing the light cruiser approach her since she hadn't mentally prepared for this talk yet.

Still, she held her ground.

"Yes, Tatsuta-san?"

Tatsuta studied her silently, Shigure feeling slightly apprehensive under her scrutinizing gaze, all while the light cruiser weighed her own words before she spoke.

"You really are a bright and precocious child, to be able to come up with those theories by studying the wounds of our comrades."

Shigure looked down in embarrassment, feeling warm on the inside after hearing such a compliment from such an unexpected source, shifting around bashfully on the spot as she observed her dull-black boots.

"Oh, you know.

Anyone else could've done it if they tried…"

"But you now know what the enemy is capable of, no?"

Shigure looked up at the amount of concern which laced Tatsuta's voice, and the genuine expression on her face said volumes about how much she cared for her, and Shigure could see that Tatsuta didn't want her to be caught in the path of whatever trashed the 2nd Fleet.

Exhaling tiredly, she agreed.

"Yes, I do."

"Then you must understand how outmatched you are, am I right?"

" … Yes."

"Then I must ask you this one question, not just for your own sake but everyone else's as well.

Is it too much of me to ask of you to leave this case alone?"

"And why is that?

Is there something you're afraid I'll uncover at the end of this road?"

Tatsuta's expression darkened, leaning over her and instilling the good old 'serial killer Tatsuta' vibes in Shigure, freezing her in place while a coldly furious Tatsuta chided.

"We're facing off against something which we have no idea what its true abilities and limits are, and they're more than capable of beating trained ship girls to death.

I don't care how this started, only that this has to end now.

Stand. Down."

"Is that an order or a threat?"

" _How about both?"_

Shigure certainly felt threatened by Tatsuta's aggressive negotiations, but she had to stand her ground if she wanted to get anywhere in life, looking up defiantly even at a friend who wanted nothing but for her to be safe, asking Tatsuta with a straight face.

"I don't believe you would go through with your threat."

"Like how I don't believe you had a nightmare of us leaving for good when we went to participate in the research for our _Kai Ni remodels_ , and you sought us out before we left in order to say goodbye.

Despite my best attempts to believe you."

"Hmm."

Shigure gave her comrade a million-watt smile, but deep down, she knew that this was inevitable as she hadn't quite managed to remove her emotions from the equation when she realized that Tenryuu and Tatsuta were to be the candidates for Project Psyche.

Besides, it was a case of 'I-know-that-you-know-that-I-know' situation when Tatsuta mentioned her own cover-up story with such disdain, as if she never expected Shigure to fall for it at all.

Right now, Tatsuta was exerting her influence on Shigure in order to cow her into submission, all the mirth and friendliness being expelled from every fiber of her being and leaving behind a menacing presence which towered over Shigure and stared down at her with an unblinking gaze.

And Shigure had to admit, she _was_ pretty terrified of Tatsuta when she was like this.

But while the past her would have genuinely considered giving up this case for good and not having Tatsuta and Tenryuu constantly worrying about her while breathing down her neck, she had grown as a ship girl and had Shiranui's chances of getting into Project Psyche banking on her success right now.

No backing down.

For her own sake, and Shiranui's.

"But right now, you seem pretty determined to solve this case.

And I suppose my advice for you to abandon this case only seems to have further piqued your curiosity, no?"

Nodding enthusiastically in response, she bristled underneath Tatsuta's withering gaze as the light cruiser tried to get her to back off, but she stood her ground and looked back up at Tatsuta's terrifying and hollow gaze, which were inexplicably capable of boring through her skull with the ease of a hot knife through butter.

The searing intensity of Tatsuta's gaze never wavered, questioning Shigure one last time with the tone a victorious commander would use in order to give an ultimatum to a demoralized enemy messenger.

 _"Last chance._

 _Back off, or you'll find yourself in the morgue like the 2nd Fleet, or at the bottom of the ocean."_

To which she respond with a willful shake of her head.

And after about thirty seconds of a stare-down which she struggled to endure without either blinking or tearing up while the stone-cold Tatsuta tried to strong-arm her into letting this case go, the light cruiser finally exhaled and relaxed, a resigned smile growing on her face in contrast to her deflating demeanor, and her reply was all but defeated in tone as her gaze and expression defrosted.

"Damn.

Well then, I suppose if you're not going to stop in spite of the danger and my warnings, I suppose the best I can ask for is for you to excel at what you're doing."

"Hmm, if to 'excel' means to be a precocious little kid who's also a magnet for trouble, I believe I'm unmatched in that regard.

Four sorties in two months, three of which were against a submersible battleship, a Princess and an invading Abyssal armada, and I'm here now, preparing for what is essentially the end of the world as we know it, aptly called Apocalypse.

No pressure."

She said it all with a faux-carefree tone as if everything which happened to her thus far was simply a hurricane which she waltzed into and came out the other side completely unscathed, but her slightly strained voice betrayed how it all took its toll on her, and was instead taking its time in winding her up for the next spectacular meltdown.

Turning away in order to walk off to their bunks, she flashed Tatsuta one last smile behind her as she remarked.

"Oh well, I'll be counting on you in the future, Tatsuta-san.

With what's coming next, we'll need all the help we can get, and I know that despite what you make yourself out to be, I know that you have your heart in the right place.

See you around!"

"Artificial aging."

"Hmm?"

Shigure's head snapped back as she came to a halt, Tatsuta giving her a knowing smile as the light cruiser filled in the last puzzle piece in Shigure's deduced profile of the assailant.

"Amatsukaze was artificially aged into an adult form as part of the Abyssalization process.

Her Beast was a cheetah, and that's all that I'll say in order to fuel your sharp little mind."

Cheetah, possess claws of a feline, hence the deep shredding wounds.

Amatsukaze, very likely personal vendetta against Shimakaze for past sinking, possible reason for particularly violent and fatal attack to her heart.

Artificial aging, explains enhanced mobility and capability to attack Shimakaze from such an angle.

Fire, possible New Wave power, either that or super-speed, require more information for more accurate analysis, likely one of many Apocalypse harbingers after being granted New Wave powers.

Snapping out of her thoughts in order to look up at Tatsuta with a bewildered gaze, her gaze demanded answers and found one as Tatsuta gave her a serene smile before answering.

"You're a good friend, Shigure, and I know that you have a brilliant future ahead of you, even if you tangle with death more times than anyone else is comfortable with in your quest to fulfill it.

And right now, instead of stopping you, I'm trusting you not to be a complete idiot with this information and do what you feel is right.

Because God knows I can't either trust or convince you to do the _smart_ thing and leave this dangerous business well alone."

Tatsuta lost her smile as she rolled her eyes derisively, but Shigure could tell that this was one way for her to vent her frustrations regarding Shigure's stubbornness, and how it couldn't be confronted head-on.

"I think that when when it comes to your inquisitiveness, much like a river, it can't be stopped, but I should be able to direct it towards the right ends, and that's why I'll observe your progress from here on out before making my next choice.

I'm telling you this in confidence, Shigure-chan.

If word gets out about this…"

Tatsuta formed a gun with her right hand's index finger and thumb, pointing it right at Shigure's head and shutting one eye to mimic aiming down its sights, firing it as she sang in a singsong tone.

" _I won't forgive you ~ "_

Before turning away coyly, slinking off as her army uniform did nothing to hide her shapely figure, humming all the while as she joined the 1st Fleet back in the canteen.

Shigure gulped nervously at the unsaid but undoubtedly fatal implications of betraying Tatsuta's trust, keeping her voice as steady as possible in her valiant attempt to convince both Tatsuta and herself of her resolve.

"I-I won't!

You can count on me!"

Tatsuta kept walking away while raising her left hand to give her a wave before rounding the corner, disappearing from Shigure's sight and allowing her to finally let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding the entire time, precious oxygen entering and filling her lungs as she grimly thought to herself.

' _Just what have I gotten myself into?'_

* * *

It was bright.

Was it daytime - no, her natural reaction was to turn on her HUD in order check the date and time even with her eyes closed.

'8th May 2015

3.35 a.m.'

It was nighttime, so why was the incandescent light illuminating her retinas through her eyelids?

Naka's mind was swimming as she struggled to think, her mind a mess of jumbled thoughts as she pried open her eyes, a bright light shining through the arcs of her eye slits which momentarily made her believe that this might be heaven.

But as Naka widened her eyes, she realized that the supposed 'heavenly' light was really an operating lamp composed of several light bulbs arranged in a circular pattern as it shone down on her, and any attempts to lift herself up from a supine position was met with failure, chains and belts holding her down on a cold, metallic table.

Even her head was strapped down by a belt which rested on her forehead and stopped herself from looking to her side, Naka straining her eyes to notice something which laid beyond the glaring light above her.

The light reflecting off of her and the table she laid on was caught by the tools which hung behind the operating lamp, her eyes widening in horror at the operating drills, scalpels, tweezers, clamps, scissors and syringes attached to an overhead machine with its weaponized 'fingers' pointing down at her, as if Edward Scissorhands himself was itching to gut her like a fish.

Oh, no no nononono.

This _had_ to be the other place, and the possibility that she was stuck several hundred kilometers below the ocean surface only served to let the gravity of the situation sink in, now starting to remember how she ended up here.

The Infiltration Fleet was on the run from some sort of giant underwater Beast of an unprecedented size, and they had been dropping depth charges at various intervals in order to discourage any attack from below.

Kagerou was about to get screwed from below by one such Beast, and in her haste, Naka pushed her away and allowed herself to be bitten by the whale-sized Beast, the last dredges of her memory banks filled with the horror that was being drowned by the crushing, frigid seawater and losing consciousness just as the pitch-black void that was the abyss swallowed her, blanking out after that…

She began to hyperventilate despite her futile attempts to keep calm while her thunderous heartbeat resounded in her ears, desperately struggling against her restraints in order to escape while she heard approaching footsteps.

Warily calling out,

"Who's there?

Please, help!"

She was instead greeted with silence along with the continued footsteps which got louder and closer, finally coming face to face with an Abyssal who eclipsed the operating lamp's light with her head while a fluorescent white circle was glowing just above her cleavage, glowing red eyes piercing her own as Naka struggled to identify who it was.

The unknown Abyssal speaking up helped to clue her in,

[So you finally woke up, pyon!]

As everything fell into place, recognizing it as a fellow light cruiser.

"I-Is that you, Sakawa-san?

It's me, Naka!

Please get me out of these restraints!"

And she was greeted with a lyrical,

[Nope ~ !]

"What?

Wha-Wha… Why?"

Sakawa moved away and began circling the table, Naka hearing the clack of her heels as a metronome to lull her into a false sense of security while the Abyssalized light cruiser explained.

[Well, we used to kidnap your doppelgangers since end of the First Decade in order to be Abyssalized, spacing out these kidnappings between intervals so as not to arouse any suspicion.

And back then, Yuubari was an engineer and not a surgeon, so we conducted hands-on biology sessions on a ship girl…

Hint hint, that's you.

We'd study how the Abyssalization process changed a ship girl's body, and how to best adapt it to New Wave powers, and you'll understand what that is soon enough.

Of course, it was quite difficult at first and _extremely_ messy, since we fudged up the vivisection enough to cause them to faint quite often.

If not from the excessive blood loss, then it was from the hellish pain due to overloading their nervous system, and I remember that one time when I accidentally shifted my weight onto my elbow which was resting on an exposed nerve, and it's best to note that we never used anesthetic in order to accurately determine a subject's response to pain, amongst other sensations.

Oh, I remember how she squirmed and screamed at that…]

"H-How many…?"

Sakawa pulled back from Naka's view, the light cruiser blinking rapidly in order to clear her watering vision while Sakawa teased.

[Oh, instead of simply telling you right now, let me turn down the brightness of this lamp and move it away so that you can see the fruits of our labors…]

The operating tools folded in and moved beyond her field of vision along with the dimmed operating lamp in order to plunge the space above her into relative darkness after becoming accustomed to the bright light, and she activated her night vision mode while blinking rapidly in order to look up at the pitch black ceiling.

Her breath stopped, and as did her heart upon witnessing the sight above her.

Hanging above them like limp, lifeless rain dolls were the bodies of past Naka doppelgangers who had been experimented on, their throats and mouths covered by jagged steel pieces which seemed to be welded to their pale skin as a pseudo-throat guard.

They still possessed pigtail buns with the one difference being that the corpses had theirs held together by steel rings, wearing a bastardized version of her uniform with steel gloves and boots, unfocused and dull blue eyes being lit up from within like the luminescent tails of fireflies in the dark.

And as if on cue, they all shifted their gazes onto her, unblinking and unwavering as they looked down upon what was to become the latest addition to their ranks, Sakawa coming back into view with her red pupils boring through a panicking Naka's skull along with a false smile stretching out her cheeks.

[Exactly forty-seven of them.

You'll be number forty-eight, and I'd like to share the good news that we've developed our surgical skills to the point where we know how to keep you alive while making you suffer as much as possible.

And you know what the best part is?

The one who's going to be operating on you. Will. Be. Me ~ ]

"Pl…Please…

You don't ha-have to do this…"

Naka was doing her best to not break down into a sobbing wreck upon seeing what was to become of her, and Sakawa's gaze softened as she leaned in to caress her temple with a gloved hand, cooing in an attempt to comfort the Sendai-Class cruiser in her final moments.

[Oh, don't you worry.

I was in your shoes once and was also from Yokosuka, I know exactly how you feel.]

"R-Really?"

Sakawa's expression and smile brightened for all the wrong reasons, and although Naka thought she saw a glimmer of hope upon hearing that Sakawa was trying to connect with and relate to her, the enthusiasm reflected in her eyes meant that there was no talking her way out of this.

[Well, how else do you think I got _this?]_

Sakawa leaned forward and allowed Naka to see the white circle on her chest which shone while being contained inside some sort of steel ring, and knowing of Yokosuka's Sakawa helped her to deduce that the hole in her chest, caused by a Princess's shell punching through her chest, was now used to house this device which kept her alive and powered her, likely installed via the same surgical procedure which was about to be performed on her, if Sakawa was to be believed.

Something which almost escaped her notice was the presence of a tattoo inked in black, looking to be the top profile of a lotus flower drawn to resemble a sun, hidden by Sakawa tucking her uniform back in place before speaking.

[When I'm done you, well, not to sound cliche, but you'd likely wish you were dead by then, because it's a sad truth of our world that passing on is the luckiest thing to happen to you when the alternative is to end up where you are right now.

Although, spoiler alert, after performing the exact same procedure on your clones about a dozen or so times, I daresay that you won't be thinking too much after this.]

The Abyssalized light cruiser cooed as she brought her face in close as a lover would, holding Naka's trembling face close while Naka felt her face contort from the horror of it all, that she was about to go under the knife to become the enemy, and her light cruiser strength was of no use in a situation which negated her strength, and Sakawa's reassurances weren't doing a thing to make her feel any better.

In fact, it made her feel worse due to how serene and even excited Sakawa seemed even when she was about to operate on a fellow ship girl.

[Don't you worry, dear.

With us, you'll be able to indulge in your passion of idol singing full-time, even if you have to work with 47 other clones of yourself to be noticed on the world stage.

Besides, you'll be noticed by so many people and become a superstar, shining bright like a diamond amidst the darkness of war just like the night sky…

Doesn't it all sound positively grand?]

The surgical tools swiveled back above her head as did the operating lamp, powering up as they drew closer to her strained face and tear-streaked cheeks as Naka fought to break free from her restraints with a renewed vigor while tears streaked down full-force, her hyperventilating breath gasping in tune with her heaving chest while her constricted pupils belied her terror at what was to come.

Her trembling lips failed to form any words in time and could only form a horrified grimace in contrast to Sakawa's grin which stretched out in an uncannily wide and eager smile, holding the operating tools in her hands and bringing them close to Naka's tearing cheeks to allow her to witness her own horrified eyes be reflected on their surface, the unholy odor of blood stinging her nose as Sakawa whispered eagerly.

[Chop chop.]

"No, no, please, pleaaAAAHHHH!

 _AHHHH!"_

The operating hall echoed with the shrill screams of the Sendai-Class light cruiser, not for the first but certainly the last time as the grisly operation was spectated by her own doppelgangers who w ere once in her position, blank stares a sign of their remodeled nature as unfeeling and unthinking pawns, their final member undergoing the excruciating rite of passage that was basically torture in order to become a full-fledged J.O.A.N. Abyssal unit.


	59. Chapter 59 - Brightest Before The Dark

Tenryuu and Tatsuta were sitting down with the manifestation of their souls in their little metal world, this time being the interior of a private jet known as a Gulfstream G650 private jet with well-lit, milk-white walls, the muted whir of the plane motors outside the fuselage along with barely detectable tremors indicating flight which almost couldn't be felt from the inside.

The four of them were lounging on the sofas, !Tatsuta lying on a couch in a 'Draw me like one of your French girls' pose and Tatsuta being seated on the other end, while Tenryuu looked down at what was on the table before her.

A professionally-made meal consisted of cheese-baked rice with shredded chicken and peas added to it, along with a cupful of orange juice along with mango jelly and a baked potato as side dishes, !Tenryuu sitting before her with the same dishes on her tray while Tatsuta was in the midst of reading a book.

She focused her attention on her own doppelganger as !Tenryuu leaned in to ask, still looking as pale as ever with her ivory skin, bleached hair and white samurai clothes like a ghostly apparition, which was not an entirely inaccurate comparison.

{So, what brings you back to us, Tenryuu?

We'd think that by giving you the upgrade blueprints to your weapons and extra mana in order to power said upgrades, you wouldn't be back this soon in order to keep us company.

Well, not that we didn't enjoy our time together, but there has to be a point to this visit, right?}

Tatsuta lowered the book she was reading, a copy of _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_ while Tenryuu asked.

"Wait.

How are we even here in the first place, wasn't our inner world supposed to be the ocean that's filled with lotus flowers and had a full moon?"

{We thought it would be rather boring if we were to spawn in the same ol' location and look at nothing but ocean all the time now, right?

Besides, this is our inner world and not unlike a dream, why shouldn't we be able to change it up a bit in order to spice things up?}

"Fair enough."

Tenryuu agreed with !Tatsuta's reasoning as she tried the cheese-baked rice and savored the sensation of cheese softening in her mouth with, the rice being what she chewed on for the most part aside from the meat sprinkled inside with mushrooms adding some variety, and she found herself truly enjoying its taste as she recalled what they were last doing.

"Hey, this tastes delicious.

We were flying on a plane which was headed back to Tokyo before flying towards Kamogawa in Chiba, and the Project Psyche admins reserved a private cabin so that we could get in contact with you all in mid-flight.

I suppose this food, while tasty, isn't really going to feed me now, is it?"

!Tenryuu nodded, leaning back as the plate armor which she wore clicked with her every movement, answering her as though stating the obvious.

{Well, no shit.

Just because you ate a five-star meal in a dream doesn't mean that you did so in real life, although I guess you can find some solace in that the mental experience of eating five-star airplane food alone is more rewarding than eating the trash that is real-life commercial airplane food.}

Tenryuu lifted an eyebrow in agreement as she continued, and Tatsuta took the stage as she leaned forward and asked,

"We're here for answers.

I'll post a few right now, and they should be easy enough to answer.

What are we ship girls?

Why are we created?

Who made us?"

!Tatsuta's eyes narrowed, and she retorted.

{We would be able to answer that question, if our programming allowed us to do so.

Whoever our creators were, they certainly didn't want us to tell you what's important until the time was right.}

"So did whoever create you forbade from sharing information with us?"

Another irritating tilt of the head and lift of the eyebrow in a cryptic and knowing gesture was observed as !Tenryuu answered.

{Not really, it's just designed us to speak in riddles regarding anything truly important, I guess.}

"So you admit to holding out on us?"

{Hm, we can at least give a definitive 'yes' to that.

It's up to you to find out to what extent.}

Tenryuu was irked by that brutally honest response from her mirror image, and she demanded an answer from the manifestation of her soul, whom she assumed was supposed to the most forthcoming between the two Tenryuu-Class doppelgangers.

"Hey, why's that so?

I thought you were on our side, and that you'd help us fight the Abyssals?"

!Tatsuta lifted an eyebrow, looking to Tatsuta as the spectre pointed out.

{Well, Tatsuta-chan here's certainly been taking anything we say without a mountain full of salt at her disposal, not that she does with anything others say, especially with - }

" _No."_

Tatsuta's voice contained an edge which was directed at her own doppelganger with a trademarked Tatsuta glare and snarl, but none of the sickeningly sweet tone she used to maintain her facade, and !Tatsuta relented with a tilt of her head and the lift of her left eyebrow.

And in response to Tenryuu's questioning,

"What?

What're you two talking about?"

She only got a cheshire cat-like smile along with an enigmatic response from her sister's doppelganger,

{Hmm, nothing.

We were just expecting a chance of rain in the days to come.}

Tenryuu pouted as she took a hearty bite of the potato, slightly annoyed that everyone was being so goddamned pretentious around her by making vague references which flew over her head and spoke in riddles so as not to give a straight answer, but she kept her frustrations to herself as she focused on the taste of the pudding after finishing the potato, because _damn,_ was this food delicious.

!Tenryuu shrugged as she looked down, making herself comfortable and reassuring the Twin Dragons that there was nothing to worry about; that their arrangement would be upheld on their end.

{Well, it's not as if we're unwilling to help you, it's just that we're designed to feed you puzzle pieces like a trail of breadcrumbs and allow you all to figure it out for yourselves.

We won't lie to you, that's for certain.

But then, it wouldn't be fair for us to give you all the answers when we likely didn't for the Abyssals.

Here's the answer to one of your question.

Perhaps not the one you needed, but instead one which you might have wanted all along.

Have you heard of the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea in Greek mythology?}

Tatsuta answered before Tenryuu could, and perhaps it was for the best as Tenryuu did all her research as part of her chuunibyou phase and would rather not state her past interests, and she silently listened to her younger sister describing the tale of the crafter who fell in love with his own creation.

"The sculptor Pygmalion?

He was uninterested in human women, but fell in love with his own creation that was a female statue, crafted from ivory stone by his own two hands and named Galatea.

He prayed to a goddess at a lover's festival to make her real, and said goddess granted him his wish by bringing his statue to life, and they both lived happily ever after.

I take it the Galatea in this case would mean us, and the Pygmalion would be whoever our creators were, no?"

!Tatsuta nodded as she made the obscure yet fitting comparison between the ship girls and even the Abyssals with Galatea as being brought into this world not through childbirth, but rather by a maker's hands.

{Yep.

Our exterior perfection in both talent and looks are all artificially crafted, sublime and far beyond anything humans could hope to achieve in another millennium.

To be borne from metal and fuel and be granted life everlasting from the roots of mankind, of which are tainted in war and bloodshed, to blossom and be reborn as something purer and greater anything that has ever existed on God's green earth.

Even so, are we not happy to live as the humans do, to forgo everything that we can become for the sake of experiencing life as they do, like living in peace, falling in love and the like?}

Tenryuu scrunched up her face as she pondered over that story and the logical conclusion to reach upon thinking about it all.

"So we're like, the ultimate waifu warrior race for mankind to rally behind and oogle from the sidelines?

I _really_ don't like the sound of that because of how icky those implications are, and how we were all created thanks to someone messing around and trying to create the ultimate waifu for themselves."

!Tenryuu raised an eyebrow in amusement as she responded, resting her cheek on her left fist in the process.

{What's wrong about it?

We not only kick major Abyssal ass, but we do so in style as Amazonian beauties with superhuman abilities.}

"Yeah, but…

I mean, we could have been created as the 'ultimate super-warrior' without all _this_ extra baggage, right?"

Tenryuu bashfully squeezed her shoulder and arms together in order to accentuate her breasts, since they sometimes got in the way of her movements and occasionally strained her back (thank goodness for their superhuman bodies as well as the existence of docks!), and her cheeks colored as both Tatsuta doppelgangers giggled at how embarrassed she was of her female assets while !Tenryuu answered with a bemused smile.

{Hmm, I suppose there is always a price to pay for the sake of aesthetics.

Besides, I suppose fuel has to be stored _somewhere_ , right?}

Tenryuu puffed out her cheeks as she folded her arms, but upon finding that folding them under her chest only served to push up her sizable breasts for the three other occupants to ogle at, she turned away from them in an embarrassed manner, especially since she knew how touchy-feely Tatsuta could be.

Double Tatsuta meant double trouble.

But !Tatsuta answered another one of their questions,

{As to what we are, exactly, we're supposed to be the next step in human evolution, in which we have conquered death and are eternally youthful.

To overcome one human hurdle that is death is a large step towards being a superior being, for to die as a ship girl means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Even sinking is merely a setback for us to reincarnate on the other side, and yes, you may quote me on that as a confirmation that ship girls reincarnate into Abyssals, and vice versa.

What else could be so beautiful as the sight of a being of war fulfilling her purpose, to fight on even in her next life, and the next, and the next and the next…}

Tenryuu could feel that her spirit was sinking as she listened to how they were essentially doomed to a life of fighting, and while she felt at ease on the battlefield, the loss of comrades and fatigue took its toll on any ship girl, and in response to !Tatsuta's remark,

{However, in contrast to the Abyssals, who can be interpreted as efficiency and industrialization of mankind, we are their emotional and humane side which allows us to socialize and bond with each other.}

She couldn't help but snark,

"Wow, that sounds pretty corny.

I mean, like, the Abyssals are cold, efficient armada of killers like Skynet and its Terminators, and here we are, with our 'Friendship is Magic' bullshit?

How's this balanced?"

{Honestly, I don't think it's supposed to be, but build a bridge over your river of tears and get over it.}

Tenryuu couldn't help but feel a little triggered by that comment, resorting to her tried-and-true tactic of looking away and scratching her temple with her middle finger, hearing everyone sigh upon seeing her throw that out.

Nailed that retort.

!Tatsuta continued on in !Tenryuu's stead by elaborating on how the two sides differed in perspective and methodology.

{Both sides are different representations of mankind's strengths, for we all aspire to become stronger by holding different views on mankind and walking down different paths as a result.

Abyssals aim to become stronger by purging themselves of anything which is perceived as weakness, like emotions, sentiments and even a sense of self to enforce 'strength in numbers' and to act as one, with one will and goal that is exterminating mankind.

Ship girls become stronger by accepting their weaknesses and turning them into strengths, so that emotional highs coupled with the right motivation can allow a destroyer to fight with the strength of one hundred battleships.}

"But _why?_

Why target mankind, and why all of it?"

{First ask yourselves; why do humans fight?

A myriad of reasons which are all beneath us ship girls and Abyssals, like revenge, resources, race, ideology, nationalistic pride, wealth, territory, religion, or simply due to the inability to tolerate the mere existence of the opposing side.

Allow me to explain a little more about how things work on the other side of this war.}

"Oh boy, Tenryuu-chan.

Make yourself comfortable, because this is going to take a while."

!Tenryuu turned her head to give Tatsuta a slightly annoyed look before continuing.

{The Abyssals look down on mankind for its hedonistic and ignorant ways of 'bread and circuses' while destroying the very planet which they live on, wiping out several animal and plant species every year and showing no signs of stopping.

Many of them also cling onto their old ways like tradition and religion, never daring to move out of the safety of the darkness in order to step into the light.

And then we come to the greatest joke that is politics, it's all just a high-school drama played out on a global scale.

The rich and powerful countries like the USA, Russia and China can be substituted for influential kids, the 'problem child' countries of the Middle East, terrorist groups and North Korea causing trouble and breaking rules, cliques formed everywhere with names like NATO, UAE and ASEAN, and the drama.

Oh my god, the _drama.}_

!Tenryuu lowered her face into her left palm in exasperation, and !Tatsuta continued the monologue in her sister's stead as she got up from her lying position into a sitting one.

{Countries get together or break up, secret deals are made behind closed doors as you quarrel and disagree on everything while never focusing on what's important in a self-sabotaging manner.

As a unified alien race who's looking in from the outside, 'high-school drama' really is the best way to describe your laughable yet pitiable situation, and I suppose global extermination is, in some twisted way, their way of putting you all out of your misery before you off yourselves.

Essentially, their mission to wipe all of mankind out is no different from a gardener pulling weeds due to how harmful it is to the rest of the garden.

As mankind's hatred distilled and turned back on them, they may hate mankind for every reason under the sun, but I'd say the ultimate source of their hate transcends all reason, and they hate mankind for simply being human.}

Tatsuta sharply inhaled at the purity of their hatred, and even Tenryuu had to admit that _that_ was cold to the point where it was inhumane to the point of being alien to them (which likely went both ways), hearing Tatsuta point out about how mankind's fate was tied with Earth.

"Well, don't the Abyssals know that should this war continue, countless forests, jungles and cities would be devastated in the ensuing fight?

Without us, nuclear plants would break down and infrastructures will begin to fail without our constant maintenance, while millions of domesticated animals would die without our care?"

Before !Tenryuu leaned forward with a dour expression as she pointed out the futility of appealing to the Abyssals, a force of nature unto themselves.

{Well, those are sensible points to make and use when appealing to enemies who give a damn.

But using these to stop the Abyssals is like stopping an impending hurricane or tidal wave with words, it's impossible when they have it out for mankind, in which anything and anyone standing in their way are all acceptable targets.

Besides, they come from another world, so if they destroy this world in order to exterminate you all, why should they give a shit when they can fuck off back home through their underwater portal?}

Fuck, why was it that they could come up with all these eerily accurate and haunting answers to all their questions?

Tatsuta moved on to the next topic regarding their future goals from here on out.

"Regarding the previous comment about being the next step in human evolution, what goals do we have to work towards in order to take the next step?

I mean, we are physically superior and only need a dip in the docks to heal from most illnesses and injuries, so my guess is that we need to work on improving and enhancing our mental state?"

!Tatsuta nodded as she leaned on the back rest of the couch tilted her body closer to Tatsuta in order to pick up the book that was _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_ before explaining what made an ideal ship girl.

{Yes, and to do so is to become the ideal ship girl, a similar concept to the Ubermensch.

Many things make up an ideal ship girl's mental state, but three points are the most important.

One, she should accept everything about her past and present in order to carve out a future, for it is only when accept our true nature as human weapons can we overcome ourselves with self-discipline and channel our drives into pursuits with terrifying effectiveness and ruthlessness.}

Tenryuu's interest was piqued by this discussion because it involved becoming strong, and that was something which she could get behind as she requested for a clarification.

"I don't exactly get it, but the 'effectiveness and ruthlessness' part matches that of the 8th Fleet.

If so, I certainly don't like where this is going."

But even though !Tatsuta shook her head at the inaccurate comparison, she went along with using the controversial fleet in order to compare and contrast what an ideal ship girl should be.

{Yes, and no.

For one step the 8th Fleet takes, they take two steps back.

Many of them are self-loathing, which is the opposite of what an ideal ship girl should be like since one must be able to accept oneself, strengths and weaknesses as well as one's past and present in order to move towards the future.

Something which the 8th Fleet also lacks is the mastery of their destructive impulses as they let loose in battle in order to sate their destructive tendencies, despite using these impulses to strive towards positive goals.}

She couldn't help but agree with that logic, since Unryuu, Hayasui and Akitsu Maru's self-loathing was almost legendary in Yokosuka and was a unifying factor which brought most of the 8th Fleet's members together as well as how most of them indulged in their sadistic whims in combat, and this comparison was used to segue-way into the next point.

{However, they excel in the second point, hence the 'one step forward' part.

Second, it is imperative for us to create values distinct from the goals of the masses for her to uphold and fight for, such that even in the nihilistic cycle of war, death and reincarnation, we can still stand by these new values and uphold them through our own will and strength for they are ours, and not have our purpose in life be given to us by a higher power a la mankind.

To rise above petty concerns, changing the world through our own values and methods instead of the default values programmed within us to become a force of nature powered by our will.

Because to have human values pre-programmed into us means that we'd reject our violent nature due to our lifestyle being fundamentally different from mankind's, like how human values condemn violence and possessing a warlike nature as being 'barbaric' despite both traits being ingrained into us and are quintessential to our survival.}

"So by 'own values and methods' instead of the 'default values', what does that mean?"

{We are conditioned to accept human values as our own, like 'killing is bad' or 'don't enjoy fighting - because it's bad'.

This means that ship girls condemn the desire to fight and the ease in which they slaughter Abyssals, and dissociating yourselves from the violence within you all if no longer needed in peacetime, and thus feel guilty for possessing these qualities, but should a weapon feel guilty for carrying out what it was designed to do, even if it is for the sake of the greater good?

An egregious case of this is if all of mankind dies out in the end, and since our primary directive is to defend mankind, should we roll over and die since we have nothing left to protect?

Of course not.}

An interesting point, Tenryuu choosing to interject by asking curiously,

"But to rise above conventional morality, I hope that doesn't mean we'll be reduced to violent killers who can't tell right from wrong."

{Hell _no._

To rise above the conventional 'good' and 'evil' label is not to do nasty things for the sake of it, just that you do not allow these generic and broadly applicable terms to limit yourselves to what you should and should not do as you walk your own path.}

Tatsuta was now fully absorbed in the conversation as she leaned in and rested her chin on her right fist with her right elbow on the folded left kneecap, asking for the final step.

"So there are three steps, one is the complete understanding, acceptance and absolute mastery of self, the second is the formation of values and morals which differ from the masses and carrying them out with one's will.

What's the third step?"

{This leads into our third point, that a ship girl, or Abyssal, must be neither slave nor master to anyone else, not to bow to external control or have her purpose granted to her by an outside source, she must also not seek to control others as she previously was.

Instead, she should be in full control of herself, to give her own life value and create her own set of morals in order to become a force of nature which either changes the world in the wake of her own pursuits as stated in the first point.}

"Why is that a weakness?

We work with the humans, and we know better than to get drunk on our power by allowing the humans to give us orders, being more long-lived as a race and mostly wiser as a result."

{The world's most powerful slave, without the capacity to break free from the control others hold over her, is no more powerful than its weakest master.

The greatest obstacle which prevents us from transcending our present selves is our crippling reliance on mankind to give us our purpose in life as well as our orders, and it is only when we break free can we _choose_ to follow mankind's orders instead of being compelled to do so all the time.

To be free of mankind's golden cap is one of the final steps towards greatness, to be free to create our own set of morality and values and be free to act on them without mankind's rules, values and decrees holding you back, you will instead influence them to follow you towards greatness in your wake, _that_ is the ideal ship girl.}

Tenryuu thought about it all as !Tenryuu finished the monologue about their ideal state, attempting to digest it all before shrugging her shoulders in resignation, only bothering to comprehend the cliff notes version as she remarked.

"Well, that's all fine and dandy, but…"

But…?

She could only stick to her guns in the face of such pretentious philosophical rambling, striving to cut through anything which stood in her way as she continued her sentence.

"But I'll keep on fighting anyway, because that's what I've always done, and I'll keep doing it until the end.

It doesn't really matter what our past is, only our present and future, and with my sword and my comrades, I'll build our future atop the corpses of our enemies.

If they want to come to a ceasefire and fuck off, whatever, but I just want the violence to end, and I'll cut through to the future with Ezekiel, as cheesy as that might sound."

{I'd expect no less from you, Tenryuu-chan.

But you know, I believe, and you need to know that my beliefs are but an extension of your beliefs, that anything ugly and self-destructive can always be salvaged and nurtured into something better, something greater if enough effort is put in.}

Tenryuu raised an eyebrow at !Tenryuu's personal beliefs being shared, and her mirror image gave her a warm smile as she leaned in on her fist and answered her unspoken question.

{Oh, I don't know.

The bloodiest war in human history, all of its violence, bloodshed and loss _did_ produce all of you ship girls.

And amongst them, I have you, my cute little chuunibyou master.}

Her cheeks flushed upon hearing that come out of her mirror image's mouth, looking away bashfully and doing her best not to feel elated upon hearing others praise her, because a real hero would have played it cool instead of haughtily basking in the spotlight, which her past self was prone to doing, Tatsuta leaning with a slightly apprehensive expression plastered on her face.

"You know, you soul manifestations would make brilliant and utterly terrifying politicians, because for all the talking you two have done, I feel like the both of you never really _said_ anything useful.

And for all the progress we made so far, why does it feel as if we've walked in a huge circle the entire time?"

!Tatsuta shrugged off Tatsuta's insinuations as she answered, Tenryuu now also looking suspicious of how they wanted answers, and instead got a spiel about the fundamental nature of a ship girl-slash-Abyssal dynamic and their highest ideal.

{Like we said, there isn't much of a choice on our part, since we were all programmed to withhold information from you all.

Besides, what we say, while not explicitly useful, isn't entirely useless now, hmm?}

"Well, when you put it that way…"

Tatsuta didn't look convinced by a long shot, and Tenryuu suddenly started feeling bad about how the Abyssals would likely make the first move before they reacted, this being how everything worked other than assaults on the Pacific Ocean, which never really accomplished much other than whittle down the Abyssals' numbers which they eventually replaced, the chills causing her pulled-in shoulders to shake as she asked.

"This is it, isn't it?

The end of human civilization, and our previous way of life."

!Tenryuu shivered along with Tenryuu at the feeling of an impending storm which was headed their way and sending chills up their spines, and her doppelganger's gaze softened in order to display genuine concern on her part as she responded sympathetically.

{Don't make me repeat things you already the answer to.

You know it from the bottom of your heart, and so do I.

This _is_ the beginning of the end.}

* * *

It was 8.15 a.m. on the 10th of May when American President Robert Miller was pulled out of the start to a meeting which he secretly dreaded, and he knew that if they had to pull him out of meetings to handle something else, it had to be serious as the usual Secret Service agents ushered him out of the room, having been through the motions enough times to know that the Abyssals were likely the cause of the interruption again.

Politicians and aides left and right were receiving phone calls and pager messages, and although some would have questioned what was up in the past as he was escorted by the Secret Service agents who were brushing people aside, but it now turned into the 'same shit, different day' kind of mentality which permeated those who were in charge of overseeing the Abyssal War.

That notion would be proven wrong very soon.

Walking up to his friend and secretary Oliver Haydn, he noted that his friend was wearing the same dark-blue working man's business suit with a black tie to complement his hawkish demeanor and lean physique, a trait picked up in his military brat days while the horn-rimmed glasses fitting him to a tee as someone who was a constant in the hectic and ever-changing landscape that was Washington D.C., unafraid to work every man to the bone in a utilitarian manner in order to produce results.

He gave Haydn a small, tired nod as he joined his army friend on the long walk down the White House's alley, asking with no small amount of weariness about the situation at hand.

"On a scale of '9/11' to 'End of the world', how bad is it going to be this time, Haydn?"

Haydn raised an eyebrow at the scale used and one of the two extremes being a national tragedy.

"I'd just say Cuban Missile Crisis, just hotter.

 _Nuclear_ hot.

Besides, I don't think that using that measurement to assess disaster levels is appropriate for the situation, but…"

Robert raised a palm in order to show that he wasn't in the mood to care about political correctness when lives were at stake here, and they took big strides down the white hallways of the similarly-colored White House as he clarified.

"You mean that the Abyssals are nuking us this time?

With the hydrogen bombs that they tested in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?"

Oliver lowered his head despondently, hating to be the bearer of bad news despite it being his job.

"Yes, sir.

We pulled you out the instant we detected the distinct heat signatures of ICBMs being launched, and we already got the Secretary of Defense into the PEOC even before then for him to coordinate and prepare our defense systems when the island Beast appeared near our East coast."

Robert rubbed his face and felt the leathery texture of his own skin, as it was marred by years of army service as part of the family tradition before moving on to politics.

And the strange thing was, he'd rather be out there taking cover alongside his fellow countrymen on the battlefield, who bled and died for this country, rather than playing mind games with politicians, which was like managing a kindergarten at times while fending off the vampiric reporters, even if he could potentially change more with one policy than a soldier ever could in a hundred battles.

"Well then, are we heading down to that blasted Emergency Operations Center and hunker down until everything blows over, or up into the sky in Air Force One?"

"Well, we determined that being in the air would be leaving you too exposed to a possible blast wave which could easily reach beyond several hundred kilometers.

Not that we doubt the integrity of the White House's infrastructure, but we also couldn't rule out the possibility of the blast wave causing a building collapse if we were to camp out in the Situation Room.

Our best bet is Presidential Emergency Operations Center, which was built to withstand nuclear attacks.

This way, please."

Nodding and acquiescing to his bespectacled friend's request for him to move down a flight of stairs which led underground with one hand held out for him, he asked for their intended targets in order to do some quick damage assessments in his head and plan ahead for the future, deploying the National Guard along with the Red Cross while preparing for an international address all included in his thought process.

"Alright, do we know where these ICBMs are headed?

We need to start using every single defense system we have to stop those missiles, and I'll bite and ask this even if I know the answer, but is there enough time to evacuate the citizens around the targeted areas?"

A shake of Haydn's head was all that was needed for him to secretly start praying to a higher power, now understanding why Obama quit early in order to allow a sharper and more war-oriented politician with his heart in the right place to take the reins.

Shit like this occurring several times a year was why.

"According to our best analysts, we predict that the ICBMs are headed for New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Miami and New Orleans.

And as for the latter, I'm afraid there's simply no time for evacuations, sir.

We began the nation-wide broadcast for citizens to stay indoors in their basements with all available rations on hand, because while a hydrogen bomb produces less fallout than an atomic bomb, the blast wave and fallout's still dangerous to the point of being lethal for humans to be exposed to.

Besides, along with the ICBMs that are headed our way, the Abyssals have just been confirmed to be moving towards our coasts on the ocean bed like an army of ants, and we believe that this might be the opening move to usher in Apocalypse before their infantry marches on our coasts."

"Bloody hell, I didn't think that they'd start this early _._

And what else are we doing in order to stop these ICBMs?

We must have _something_ left over from the Cold War days in order to stop this, and don't tell me we didn't expect something like this to happen after they invaded us in the '07 _blitzkrieg_ , right?"

"Fortunately for us, yes.

We've deployed all our available jet fighters around the targeted areas as well as the Aegis Defense System on our destroyers in order to take out the ICBMs that are headed for the coastal cities, and we're even utilizing the Ground Missile Defense System in Alaska to intercept the missile headed for several locations.

Right now, we need you to decide where to focus our efforts and time on to ensure the highest odds of success - "

"Hold up, hold up."

President Robert nearly gave himself whiplash by halting his fast stride in order to turn and face his friend a frigid stare,

"Look, Haydn, I know that this might be the logical thing to do, to sacrifice some lives in order to save others.

But do you agree that our anti-ICBM technology is woefully outdated even with the help of the Fairies, no?"

" … Yes sir."

"And given the measly success rate of our missile defense systems, stopping these missiles is more of a Russian Roulette, involving skill and prayer more than anything else.

So until such a time comes when focusing all our efforts on saving one particular city actually _improves_ our odds of success, we will do our best to save as many cities as we can."

Oliver looked back down at him, finally nodding and respecting his opinion as he answered his boss.

"Yes, sir.

Luckily for us, the Secretary of Defense thought so too, and he already gave the go-ahead for all the military bases to spare no expense in stopping them."

"Is that so?

Well, it's nice to see that our two parties can still come together on some issues."

The President's demeanor relaxed as he knew that their parliament had always been a house divided, but winning the Abyssal War was a bipartisan issue which both Democrats and Republicans could work on without quarreling over every single issue which cropped up.

Entering the PEOC as the doors closed behind him, he could see his workers, agents and advisers all stand up to greet as a form of respect due to him being the most powerful man on earth, but he didn't want to distract them from the task at hand as he raised his hand for an idle wave.

"Gentlemen, as you were."

Everyone got back to work, Robert sitting himself down on the chair that was reserved for him and spotting his Secretary of Defense, Anthony Campbell, sitting down and speaking with several military advisers in order to discuss something on one end of the briefing table, giving him a quick nod as one beleaguered worker would to another by virtue of suffering through the daily grind together.

The Secretary of Defense was a stocky man who carried himself with dignity and passion for his job, his slicked-back graying hair and slight wrinkles on his head and face being an inaccurate indicator of what the aging Secretary of Defense was still capable of, and Robert appreciated his management of the ship girls in order to press the attack with his straightforward attitude, although even that appeared to be a ruse with the unexpected curve-balls he could throw, which put him above other candidates during the recruitment process.

The Vice-President, Waylon Tells was nowhere to be found, although asking one worker got him the information he desired, that he had to be driven here from downtown D.C..

He leaned in to ask Haydn,

"So what is the situation regarding the island Beast?"

"Our ship girls are sortieing in the hundreds in order to try and take it out, but due to its size, its overwhelming defenses and unknown capabilities, we can't exactly sail up to it without being extra cautious of what it's capable of.

And even though it's daybreak and we have the jet fighters on our side, should that turtle Beast start crash-diving, the resulting vortex is theoretically capable of pulling in about two dozen fleets' worth of ship girls, easy."

"Jet fighters?

Warships with cruise missiles?"

We're sortieing every available asset right now, but it'll take a while for them to reach the target, and we intend to coordinate our forces such that they'll assault the enemy as one."

He nodded in order to acknowledge the fact that the various branches of the military needed time in order to sortie and arrive at their destination, and due to the more immediate threat of the ICBMs headed for their country's cities, defending them took precedence over attacking an unknown enemy who could potentially decimate their fighters.

Someone in the PEOC then announced,

"We've got an incoming transmission hailing us, Mr President!

It appears to be originating from the turtle Beast itself, and it wishes to open up a two-way communication channel!"

Both Robert and Anthony stood up, and Robert saw that his S.O.D. shot him a hesitant sideways glance as if to say,

' _I know what you're thinking, and I don't encourage it.'_

And he lifted a fatigued eyebrow in a grim answer.

' _Well, how much worse can it get than this?_

 _It's just a call.'_

Anthony raised his eyebrow in surrender as he turned away and flippantly waved his hand for Robert to do as he pleased, and he leaned forward to ask of the worker who announced the detection of the mysterious signal as he observed the crew-cut blonde, mostly likely a college graduate who got hired as fresh meat.

"How secure is the line?

We can't afford to get infected with something should we accept the call."

"Hang on, working with the techies in the Situation Room in order to secure the line.

… And there we go."

Whipping his mouse over to the 'accept call' button, the speakers in the room came to life while the projector screen displaying the source of the call along with the identification tag reading,

'UNKNOWN CALLER'

And since there was apparently no one speaking up on the other side of the other line in order to kick off the conversation, he decided to do the deed himself as he greeted their alien caller.

"Hello, who is this?

You're calling from where the enemy is headed, so I suppose this is nothing more a courtesy call after what has transpired in the last hour."

[Hello, Mr. President.]

Robert narrowed his eyes in order to ascertain who that voice was despite his memory pool of IJN ship girls being rather limited, and he looked to his secretary in order to help decipher anything regarding the voice, giving the direct route a shot as he asked for a name.

"I certainly wouldn't want to offend you by constantly referring to you as 'girl' or 'lass', so would you be so kind as to give us a name to work with?"

[Sakawa.

And I'll make it easier for you by saying that I was part of Operation Crossroads, you know, that one in which you _fucking_ nuked me?

Payback's a bitch, ain't it?]

Oh dear.

This was quite the conundrum, and the screen now flashed with information being brought up, Haydn speaking into his ear so as not to allow Sakawa to hear them speaking.

"Sir, the information we're receiving about this Beast and the Abyssal appears to have come from the Japanese.

One of their naval bases, Yokosuka, lost a ship girl named Sakawa several years ago, and according to what they've provided, this Beast is themed after nuclear power perhaps as an ironic twist of fate and is slated to be part of Apocalypse."

"Oh, that's just great.

An enemy who knows how to kill with irony, that really drives the nail in, doesn't it?"

His S.O.D. Anthony sidled up to Haydn and looked down at the hard-copy screenshot of a ship girl's memory file, jogging Robert's memory as a light cruiser who now had some sort of white circle on her chest, a black marker circling it before leading an arrow from it and writing,

'POWER SOURCE'

Turning back to the screen, he asked curiously.

"So is this what you've been working on, Sakawa?

[Yep!

I mean, there's really no other way for a girl to make an entrance and one hell of an impact, amirite?]

He could only raise an eyebrow upon hearing that, but he really felt a little at grinding his gears at the amount of smugness in the light cruiser's voice as she gloated and held one of their greatest failures over their head.

[We also invaded your country's Eastern Coast in 2007 in order to steal your poorly-guarded nuclear nuclear warheads and study your missiles, and as we found them painfully outdated since they were mothballed after the Cold War, it fell upon us to improve on your flawed designs in order to show you what you were missing out on.

Our weapon designs for Apocalypse have all been based on what you've created but simply done better, so I suppose this would be called 'Hoist by your own petard' now, hmm?]

" _You're talking about millions of lives lost here!"_

Anthony made the occupants in the PEOC jump along with the stationery on the table as the Secretary of Defense slammed his fist on the briefing table in a righteous fury, shortly before he looked around at his startled companions in the bunker, his gaze turning sheepish as he uttered an apology.

"Sorry.

It's just…

You aren't just talking about a world war.

This will become a total war, which we _will_ retaliate with the appropriate force!"

The response was nonchalant, as though the speaker on the other end of the line was simply talking about squashing an ant which crawled on her arm.

[Oh, ok, I guess.

You seem to forget that should we win, there will be no more mankind, for we will give no quarter and will require no human slave labor for what we will build atop your ashes.

Captured humans will be exterminated and subjugated ship girls will be Abyssalized, and we are fully prepared to destroy everything around you in order to starve you out.

Hell, me nuking civilian-heavy cities, which counts as strategic bombings, already counts as a declaration of total war due to a breach of the Geneva Conventions, pyon?]

There was no way for them to find a counter-argument to that, and Robert asked a question which he wanted a genuine answer to come from the lips of an Abyssal, and now that he was talking to a high-ranking one, why the hell not?

"I'd like to ask you something, as one who has spent time studying your motives and tactics…"

[I'm flattered, and intrigued at the same time.

Shoot.]

"You certainly don't seem to want to destroy us like one would kill a snake by decapitating it, because you didn't choose to target Washington D.C..

I couldn't help but detect a hint of sadism in your movements as you play with your food, but only because you would suffer from the same problem we do, perhaps worse.

At least we are fragmented enough as a race to still have someone else to fight, but as a wholly unified alien race, should we humans die out, you'd have no one else to fight but yourselves, and that's not happening anytime soon.

So while we humans and ship girls are your worst enemy which you want to exterminate, our complete annihilation would give you quite the existential crisis as weapons with no one left to fight, hmm?"

There was nothing but soft chuckles on the other end of the line as it resounded throughout the silent PEOC, Sakawa finally saying something in order to explain what she found so damn funny regarding the situation.

[Oh, Robert, Robert, Robert.

You really are too smart for your own good, it's really too bad you're a disgusting human.

We are one of two forces of human nature, in which ours is to destroy everything mankind in lieu of the ship girls' desire to defend all of it.

Our confidence in our ability to put you all down if need be is unmatched, but as living weapons, should we not take the time to smell the roses as we wipe you all out one human at a time, the chances to experience this fulfillment would become increasingly limited as we whittle you down, no?]

He could almost feel the Agano-Class light cruiser shrugging apathetically and speaking as if stating a fact, although he knew better than to take their word without a pinch of salt, no matter how true it may sound right now.

[After all, the world's wrath was turned upon itself in the both world wars and even during peacetime, where even the defenders had to take up arms and lose themselves in the violence while the people's innocence was lost and civilians slaughtered.

So isn't it rather poetic that we Abyssals, who embody that hatred and violence, would use everything that mankind has created for the sake of waging war in order to destroy all of mankind?]

He was sadly familiar with the friction which could occur between countries due to a myriad of asinine reasons, and he was well-studied enough on war history to be acquainted with the bloody and dark history of the USA itself in Philippines, Vietnam, Iraq and the Middle East in general, but to think that the Abyssals embodied that hatred and directed it back at them…

Was it all karmic in some sense?

A sigh threw up a grainy hiss of static which was caught by the microphone, and Robert could hear the exasperated tone which was used as though lecturing an obstinate child on the faults of clinging to the illusions one held in childhood.

[It's just that…

You humans and ship girls really believed that there was a light at the end of this tunnel, the darkest before the dawn?

I'm afraid I'll have to shatter those illusions of yours and wake you up, preferably with a 50 to 100 megaton payload dropped on your heads and bringing about dawn.

Several times, teehee ~ ]

Robert noticed Haydn walking over to his side before leaning in to speak in a subdued tone, praying to a higher power in a rare show of desperation that it was good news which he brought.

"Sir.

The two ICBMs headed for Los Angeles and Seattle have been successfully intercepted, one by the Ground-Based Interceptor missile and the other by our upgrades to our THAAD and Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system, thanks to the Fairies.

Thank goodness their '07 invasion drove us to upgrade both of them in order to prepare for today, otherwise…"

A larger sigh of relief had not left his lips before today, and taking this stressful job into account as the commander-in-chief who led the ship girls and the world against the Abyssals with curve-balls thrown at them left and right, this was quite the claim as he muttered a quick,

"Thank you."

Before he turned back to an expectant crowd in the PEOC and relayed the message.

"Gentlemen, our boys have just saved Los Angeles and Seattle."

The operation room burst out into cheers, hoots and claps as Robert kept on his weary but relieved smile and motioned for them to keep at it, but one particular clap resounded throughout the room and silenced everyone as it came from the speakers, producing a slight burst of static with every clap.

Sakawa's voice was congratulatory with little derision in her tone as she commented on their tenacity.

[Woah!

I knew that you humans certainly had some safeguards in place and wouldn't go down without a fight, but that was brilliant!]

Robert allowed himself a sigh in order to unwind from the tension which stiffened his aging body, and he gave a defiant answer.

"That goes without saying.

You didn't expect us to sit around and dwindle our thumbs after the Abyssal War started, and especially since you stole almost all of our nukes in 2007, no?"

[Yeah, but to see you all go about it so competently, now that's quite the shocker!

Seeing how you humans quarrel amongst yourselves over every damn issue, I half expected you all to still be in the contemplative stages of upgrading your missile defense systems, pyon!

Now then, let's put your new missile defense to the test a la Missile Command, shall we?]

The threat behind that last line was all but subtle in a demand for a duel to the death between worlds, and Robert had to struggle to keep his cool in spite of the falling nukes outside, as well as conversing with an omnicidal maniac (also likely insane) who wanted nothing more than their complete and utter extermination, holding no reservations about fanning the flames of war in order to roast them alive by recreating Hell on Earth for the third time.

Oliver turned away from the monitor as though afraid of the Abyssal spotting him through the screen and picking up his weakness by smelling his fear, putting down his mobile phone as tremors plagued his shoulders and back, whispering shakily into Robert's ear.

"We've lost New Orleans, sir.

The ICBM was intercepted and knocked off-course, but the diminished explosion wiping out a portion of the city and the nuclear fizzle, the radioactive fallout, is the final nail in the coffin for our people in New Orleans."

Damn.

He knew that this was coming since it was highly improbable for them to successfully destroy all eight ICBMs, Sakawa picking up on the silence which the PEOC slipped into upon receiving an update on the partial success of her ICBM, gloating about the success of her missiles.

[Oh, look!

New Orleans is pretty much lost, so I suppose that's one point in my favor, hmm?

And even if the yield wasn't as powerful as I thought, it still wiped out a good chunk of the city and poisoned the land around it, so I still win!]

Robert wasn't in the mood to say anything right now as he struggled to comprehend just how many people had perished in the blink of an eye while turning away from the silenced crowd, which allowed him some time to gather his thoughts as did the Abyssal, strangely enough.

All those lives, so rich in potential yet fleeting in their time on this earth, and now, all atomized and returned to nothingness…

He felt so small of a sudden, now feeling the weight of their successful actions in stopping two of these blasted weapons and saving so many lives in the process as it pressed down on him, ignoring how the operation room was buzzing with the sounds of machinery without human voices drowning them out as they intoned their chorus of electronic hums and whirs, putting his train of thoughts back together, with a chill running down his spine as he dared to ask.

"Then, as two individuals speaking on behalf of their own worlds, shall I take that last act as well as your provocative words as a declaration of war?

Or at least, a true world war?"

And all he got was a jovial answer from the ecstatic Abyssal,

[Yeppers!

Oh, I suppose now's a good time as any to tell you that our forces are sailing up to your coasts as we are for the rest of the world, although if your intelligence-gathering capabilities are anything to go by, you already know that, hmm?]

Robert heard Anthony attempt to get a word in edgewise, remarking on the invading force which was headed for both their Eastern and Western shores even as they spoke.

"Well, you certainly didn't make any attempt to keep your intentions hidden, what with sending so many enemy units towards our coasts to the point where we detected them as one big swarm."

[Oh, don't you worry about us keeping _our_ intentions hidden.

After all, didn't we keep Apocalypse a secret from you all for almost eight years before you even began to investigate into these rumors?]

Anthony inhaled sharply and raised his head since he likely felt threatened by that quip, and Robert backed him up by responding.

"Keeping your intentions hidden isn't too hard when you're hiding out at the bottom of the ocean.

Besides, didn't you keep this such a tightly-contained secret only because you screwed up the last time and leaked the Princess plan to us before pushing it out?"

"Ohh!"s and "Roasted!" were whispered amongst his subordinates, and he could see his Secretary of Defense look thankful for his support in that verbal sparring session, everyone now hearing static in the form of sharp inhalation as Sakawa stated in an affably evil tone.

[You know, you're _sorely_ tempting me to fire another ICBM at your country.

But I'll be the better man and say I'm above that, although being by virtue of being an Abyssal, it's arguable that I _am_ the better man.

Pya, technically it's the better woman, but whatevs.]

President Miller still felt her threatening presence seeping through the screen even without a face-cam displaying her face, and with five more airborne ICBMs hinging on the effectiveness of their missile defense system, he got to preparing the military for follow-up action in the wake of New Orleans being nuked, turning to Oliver while Anthony was speaking with his own aides.

"Get the ship girl army looking for survivors in New Orleans, and arm our men with whatever we have in order for them to do their job.

Hazmat suits, gas masks, anything and everything."

"Already on it.

And sir?

There is a side effect of the hydrogen bombs dropping on us.

Apparently, several dozen reports are coming in right now about the ship girls who were in Operation Crossroads are now suffering from panic attacks across the country.

Arkansas, Hughes, Nevada and Anderson, amongst others are all incapacitated by meltdowns, which is the last thing we need right now.

We should have prepared for this."

Drat.

Turning back to the computer screen, his tone was incredulous yet awed by how ingenious this plan was to use nuclear warfare as a psychological attack on their ship girls.

"Did you plan for this as well, Sakawa?

To disable several of ship girls via traumatic flashbacks to Operation Crossroads before invading the mainland?"

In which the jovial light cruiser responded, being a part of said nuclear test and was now ironically the one who turned their weapons of mass destruction back on them.

[Well, of course!

I mean, Nagato-san and Saratoga-san suffered through this, why not have everyone join in the fun as well?]

Anthony shuffled up to him, looking similarly devastated yet even more determined to take up arms in order to defend themselves as soon as possible.

"Robert, our people need us, and they need us now.

We need to prepare for a national address, to comfort our people and - "

"No."

Both Anthony and Haydn looked confused at Robert cutting them both off, but he only did so in order to correct Anthony's statement about this only being a _national_ address.

"This will be an international address, because there is no more distinction between countries.

Everyone is just as much of a target as we are, and they know it.

We'll have to speak to them all in order to rally the world under one cause and retaliate together, just as we Americans did during Pearl Harbor and 9/11, but now on a global scale."

Turning back to the screen, Sakawa apparently picking up on their words as she responded, maniacally announcing to the occupants in the PEOC.

[Heehee, you go ahead and do that!

Just as the last world war ended with a bang, let's start this world war with one, shall we?

The Spear versus the Shield, the rest of my missiles against your defense system.

 _Let's see who's left standing.]_


	60. Chapter 60 - World War III

Shigure was sitting down in a tent located in Chiba, specifically in the Kamogawa Naval Base on the 11th of May after taking a flight from Tokyo, the base itself now rife with JGSDF soldiers and workers running about in their preparations for Apocalypse, which was predicted to begin tomorrow.

Military vehicles were carrying who-knows-what to God-knows-where while the ship girls of Amazon company, Kamogawa and Yokosuka gathered around a television set as the Yokosuka ship girls were flown in to fight on the oceans and back up the naval bases in Chiba.

The television set displayed the American president Robert Miller sitting in the Oval Office and behind the fabled wooden desk of power, his aides giving the formal introduction to the president's address both to the people of America and of Earth.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the 45th President of the United States, President Robert Miller."

The American leader's expression looked haggard as if he had recently been put through the emotional wringer, this being expected when his country was nuked thrice by hydrogen bombs, more specifically, New Orleans, Atlanta and Chicago.

Judging from the preliminary damage assessment reports, the number of wrecked buildings left standing could be counted on one hand, and American ship girls who were in Operation Crossroads were in no position to fight right now after suffering panic attacks as soon as the detonations were streamed and news started to spread.

"Greetings.

Today, I address you all, citizens of Earth, in a time of great crisis and in the aftermath of a national tragedy which is but a horrific preview of what is to come.

In the last twenty-four hours on the 10th of May, a date which will live on in infamy, the United States of America came under attack by a deliberate and crippling nuclear strike by the Abyssal Forces, its destructive scale far outclassing the nuclear strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.

The partial destruction of New Orleans as well as the complete annihilation of Atlanta and Chicago weighs heavily on our hearts, and brave souls are working around the clock in order to repair the damage and provide assistance to our afflicted citizens, who were indiscriminately attacked without prior warning by enemies who held no regard for the internationally agreed-upon laws of war.

Rest assured, this injustice will _not_ go unavenged."

His expression darkened and his jaw went taut upon uttering those words, and only now did Shigure understand just what they managed to provoke in the last world war by assaulting Pearl Harbor, and she was stunned upon seeing the Abyssals outdo Imperial Japan and Islamic extremists by terrorizing the Americans with such a bold and devastating attack on their territory.

President Miller's expression never wavered in its intensity even as he drew back, fingers interlocked as he spoke his mind.

"For too long, we humans have grown complacent in thinking that the we are simply spectators in the Abyssal War, one of the deadliest and costliest wars in modern times as we support our ship girls from the sidelines while they pay the price with their lives.

And as of yesterday, we were given a harsh reminder of the Abyssals' ultimate goal; The complete extermination of mankind and the enslavement and indoctrination of ship-girl-kind.

Their hatred of us transcends race, religion, ideology, nationality, borders, age or gender, amongst many other factors which divide us but are irrelevant in their eyes.

And it is because we are dealing with an alien military superpower which cannot be reasoned or negotiated with much like a force of nature, we must now move beyond reason."

"Gee, it took them all but 20 years for those blockheads up top to figure that shit out, but better late than never, I guess."

Akebono's bitter voice cut through the voice which was broadcasted by the TV set, but no one had the presence of mind to get her to shut up while watching a determined President Miller's address.

"To yield our land, our freedom and our very lives to these aggressors is not an option, and to ensure our survival is to set aside all our agendas, to find it within each and every soldier and civilian to work together as one and unite in our global struggle for survival, and to that end, I shall declare this on behalf of Congress, and the world at large.

The various nations and their respective ship girl navies of the United Earth Alliance will formally and unanimously declare war upon the Abyssal Forces, and shall henceforth strive to work together on an unprecedented scale to utilize any and all measures in order to bring this world war to a successful conclusion and triumph over the Abyssal menace."

Whelp, that was it.

This effectively marked the end of the lives and the naval battles which they were used to, Shigure feeling crushed about not getting to feel the sea beneath her feet for the foreseeable future, instead having to make do with the hard earth which simply didn't feel the same to them.

"This war shall test the human spirit and our will to survive as we bring about destruction on a scale that has been witnessed only twice in mankind's long history of warfare thus far.

Soldiers and ship girls will die, losses are inevitable, sacrifices will have to be made and pain is to be expected.

But all this is par for the course, for we are fighting to ensure the continued existence of mankind and ship-girl-kind for generations to come after the passing of this great storm.

And this storm _will_ pass, of that there is no doubt."

President Miller's expression hardened, now addressing the Abyssals who were no doubt watching their unencrypted public broadcast, and he had a means of speaking to them while reassuring his watchers of their determination which was channeled through his short speech to the enemy.

"And should the Abyssals intend to take the fight to us?

Well, to them, I say this.

They will find one on every sea and every coast, in the skies, on every hill and forest, street and square inch of land which we shall only yield to them at the price of ten thousand dead.

We will come together and persevere in the face of staggering odds, for that is what we must do, and will do in order to overcome all who dare to threaten our way of life.

We will endure, and we _will_ prevail."

Taking in a deep breath after delivering the monologue of his life to the world, President Miller cooled himself down and looked into the camera with a firm yet empathetic look, appearing more human than anything else as someone who was not only braving the storm alongside them, but was attempting to lead them through it as the most powerful man on Earth.

"Normally, I would end speeches like these with a mandatory 'God Bless America', but in the face of what is to come, I now say this as a prayer for the safety and success of all our soldiers, ship girls, civil servants and volunteers who risk their lives so that we may weather this storm.

I thank each and every single one of you from the bottom of my heart, and may God bless you all."

The screen faded to the picture of the President's Seal against a navy-blue backdrop, Shigure suddenly feeling the weight of the world pressing down upon everyone after having been through something like this before World War 2, the uncomfortable and oppressive air silencing Amazon company as they had previously thought things couldn't get any worse, a notion which had been proven wrong.

As every ship girl struggled to accept the increased possibility of death and prolonged suffering, Ma'am Jackie snapped them out of their thoughts with two quick claps, having flown here with them in order to repel the land invasion as a land combat veteran, drawing their attention by speaking up.

"Alright, standing around here isn't going to accomplish anything

This only confirms what we've been preparing for, and since Apocalypse is coming, we need to dig deep in order to survive what comes next."

Shigure blinked, still numb to the feeling of another world war actually starting on their watch, despite everything they've done up to this point.

All seemingly for nothing.

Still, if it was any consolation, the humans were in their element on land and in the air, and she knew that the Abyssals knew this, and if they were crazy enough to even try, they had to have surprises at the ready in order to balance the scales.

Hell on Earth.

Again.

It seemed almost inevitable for things to escalate to this, Amazon company shuffling out in order to join in the pre-war preparations and the end of the world that was to come soon enough.

* * *

The day went by fairly quietly, as Amazon company was too busy with preparations to think too much about things, although the myriad of makeshift tents were filled with the barely-suppressed sobs, sniffs and hiccups of ship girls crying all throughout the night, an infectious sentiment which almost swept Shigure up as she felt like shit while she laid down in her sleeping bag, lethargy weighing her body down while a lump was stuck in her throat and refused to go away.

No one was in the mood to talk even during breakfast on the 12th, and the invasion alarm which came at 8.36 a.m. was what truly jolted them awake from their insomnia-induced drowsiness and got them ready for anything, rushing to the docks en masse without needing to be briefed as they sortied with the strength of a naval armada while Amazon company still wore their army uniforms.

For some reason, Ooyodo spoke up about needing the battleships to sortie from elsewhere, but they had no time to wonder as their instructor announced,

"Battleships, I need you to follow Mutsu and move to the North West of this naval base, and she'll give you instructions from there on out!"

They all ran through the preparatory motions like a contestant in a competition, to do what she trained for to the best of her ability while letting fate decide everything which was beyond her control.

Hitting the sea was like slipping back into a set of clothes which seemed to fit comfortably throughout the years, Amazon company only listening to the mission briefing after they sortied and sailed towards the ocean's horizon as Ooyodo spoke up as a Coordinator who was part of Mission Control.

"Alright, the Abyssals have already entered the Safety Zone, and are now at a distance which we can safely and quickly break off our engagement and retreat inland at the drop of a hat.

The Japanese citizens are in the midst of an evacuation, and the JSDF are almost done with their preparations in order to combat the Abyssals on land.

Do _not_ engage in a prolonged naval battle with the Abyssals even with the battleships acting as coastal defense with their large-caliber cannons, and make sure you retreat with guns blazing into the cities, where the real fight starts, understand?"

" _Roger!"_

So that's where the battleships went.

Even though Amazon company was tasked with being the rear guard, no doubt in order to make a quick retreat and take up arms for the inevitable land combat, the 1st Fleet was still jumpy, especially with Hiei somewhere else as they scanned the ocean for the Abyssal armada which intruded upon their Safety Zone, reconnaissance planes immediately sent out in order to join the Japanese and American jet fighters whose engines roared as they flew overhead at breakneck speeds, likely receiving an earlier warning in order to sortie sooner and deliver a preemptive strike so as to soften up the enemy.

Even discounting the battleships, whose riggings and relatively slow speed were best suited for coastal defense in this case, the number of bench-warmers had more than doubled with numerous clones in order to make up for the loss in manpower after creating the ship girl army.

And to see them all sortie together with the eight fleets of Yokosuka and the five fleets of Kamogawa and then some, made it a sight for the ages and bolstered the destroyer's confidence in their ability to repel any threat, although it also registered as a the shock in the back of her head as she wondered just how many enemies they were facing.

She didn't have to wait very long for an answer.

Within five minutes of finishing that thought, she heard the Coordinators back at base patching the human pilots through in order to give a heads-up,

"Yo, ladies.

Looks to be a swarm of enemies on our radar, and we'll be thinning out their ranks before engaging in aerial combat about five minutes from now.

Watch yourselves down there, over."

"Thanks for the heads-up, Sparrow.

Same to you."

It was after Ashigara, the designated leader, finished her thanks when the missiles were dropped, Shigure barely able to make out yellow pinpricks bursting into white spheres on the surface while Junyou tensed up and warned the 1st Fleet, her easygoing attitude now replaced with an urgency in her voice, raising her scroll in order to get the battle started.

"Enemy spotted, eleven o'clock!

There's an unknown Abyssal signature sailing beneath the ocean and approaching us, it's appearing as a giant… thing on my sonar!"

Tenryuu was unsurprisingly the one to start cursing at just what it was trying to do,

"I think I detect it too!

Fuck, I don't think that fits the signature of any known Abyssal thus far, and did they hide underwater in order to avoid being detected by the jet fighters?"

To which Tatsuta icily responded while brandishing her torpedo launchers, strapped around the long pants of her army uniform.

" _I don't care what it is._

 _It doesn't seem capable of evading a torpedo salvo at the rate it's moving, and it's not sailing an inch closer to our shores."_

"R-Right!"

Ayanami responded swiftly as the four ship girls fired their torpedoes along with the armada before them, who likely got the same idea as they fired their underwater projectiles while the bird carriers continued summoning their planes in order to start their bombardment of the distant Abyssals who survived the initial jet fighter bombardment.

The fireworks were starting as indistinguishable pinpricks flitted about in the air, but no matter how many Abyssals they downed or enemy signatures they blew out of the water with copious amounts of water, fire, steam, fuel and steel being thrown into the air, the enemy just filled in the gap and kept coming.

Admiral Mako's voice chirped on the radio, her voice and presence on the battlefield naturally putting Shigure a little at ease as someone who knew what she was doing, voicing her thoughts out loud.

"Huh, why would they want to send forth their infantry units before performing an air strike to clear the path?

Everyone, keep a distance and approach cautiously!"

Shigure continued firing her torpedoes as she heard Iku speaking up worriedly in a squeaky voice,

"Iku here!

The Abyssals are also walking on the seabed in order to approach our coasts, although like the naval mines which are stopping the mystery Abyssal signatures, the specialized land mines we scattered on the ocean floor are slowing down their advance!"

Oh god, the seabed too?

It was inevitable that the Abyssals would use that route in order to attack them, but thanks to tactical forecasters mining the easy way to their shores, it at least bought them some more time to keep the enemy at bay.

"Admiral!

I'm approaching the underwater Abyssal signature which has been neutralized by the naval mines.

Just what are these things?"

In which Admiral Mako exclaimed,

"Oh shit, I think that might be an armored personnel carrier!

Everyone target them all, there's bound to be several Abyssals inside one of them!"

Before a very confused Goya responded,

"Um, that's kinda the thing!

We're looking, but other than the wrecked APC, there aren't any body parts inside!"

The live feed of an underwater personnel was streamed just as Shigure was firing her paltry cannons at the enemy for what it was worth, observing that the wreck probably resembled something akin to a steel box before being blown up by the naval mine, serrated steel forming the edges of its torn walls while internal mechanisms floated out, a destroyed machine gun sinking to the ocean floor.

Problem was, there were no dead Abyssals, not even body parts.

Admiral Mako's voice came up on the radio again, stating something the instant it all clicked together in Shigure's mind.

"They're decoys!" "They're all decoys!"

Everyone turned to look at her incredulously as she echoed her Admiral's thoughts, but Admiral Mako was faster on the draw at giving out orders,

"Shit.

Ship girls, slowly retreat while aiming for the APCs behind the decoy APCs, because they'll probably be hiding in them and allow the decoys to set off the mines!

Drop depth charges sparingly, because the decoys might set them off; save them for those with Abyssals in them!

Eagle, Sparrow and all airborne planes, don't get caught out and overwhelmed, the JMSDF destroyer _Choukai_ will be there in order to back you up!"

Everyone hit the brakes hard as the Abyssals got within range of the coastal battleships' long-range cannons, allowing the heavies of the two armadas to begin firing at each other, Shigure performing evasive maneuvers with the 1st Fleet as she noticed several Princesses making their presence known through their might, several APCs surfacing in order to start pushing the ship girls back towards the shore.

With machine guns and grenade launchers at the ready, these metallic boxes were all firing them at distances which diminished their effectiveness due to bullet drop and air resistance, but they were closing in without much regard for their safety as the grenade detonations threw up seawater upon hitting the ocean, Admiral Mako commanding,

"Fall back, keep firing on them and draw them in!"

Their cannons surprisingly managed to hinder the advance of the APCs, shell barrages smashing into the sloped front of an APC and denting it while bombers swooped down in an eagle dive to drop their payloads on their weak roofs, Abyssal units defending their APCs with everything they had on hand, like firing their Anti-Air cannons and sending out fighter planes.

The result was nothing short of complete pandemonium as Shigure fired at the myriad of Abyssals who were getting too close for comfort as several ship girls got creative by firing at the airborne grenades and knocking them off their intended trajectories, the rare white-hot sphere blossoming ephemerally in mid-air and injuring nobody before dissipating.

Bombers dived down from every angle while jet fighters duked it out at high altitude, dummy APCs tanking whatever was thrown at them while sailing Abyssals covered their approach, and the ship girls retreated back towards their naval base since they never had any intention of allowing the Abyssals to overwhelm them here.

Ooyodo was on the radio the entire time, giving them notifications while Admiral Mako was speaking in the background and was drowned out by the frenzy of activity on the other end of the line,

"Another wave of enemy aircraft has been detected, approaching your location in six minutes and are likely here to soften up the landing zone!

We're sending out intercepting planes and readying our Anti-Air missiles in order to fire upon them, and the turret pods lining the coast will be used to shoot down either the Abyssals or the APCs!

This will be danger close, continue to retreat while whittling down their numbers because there's no use in sticking our necks out here for too long!"

Tenryuu piped up with a question regarding relying on such a relatively ancient and untested piece of technology to back them up,

"Um, not to be a Debbie Downer, but those turret pods were created to prevent another land invasion, but we never really got to test them in combat until now, right?

So how useful are those antiquated weapons going to be against the APC's armor?"

To which Junyou responded offhandedly with her face red and slick with sweat as a result of managing as many airborne planes as she possibly could.

"Ah, I don't really care at this point in time, all they have to do is point at the sea and fire everything!

With so many bloody Abyssals in front of us, there's no way they can miss!"

"Amen to that!"

Tenryuu agreed with that logic as she fired all her cannons and torpedoes, the coastline now visible to them as Surface-to-Ship Missiles started flying in from behind them, wiping out hordes of Abyssals with a brilliant explosion or sending them flying head over heels.

And yet they advanced.

The grenade launchers and dive bombers provided a curtain of explosions to keep ship girls from getting too close to the horde while their battleships acted as the spear, standing behind the APCs to provide long range fire in order to keep them moving while poking at their defenses.

Ayanami then looked up in unadulterated horror at the sight of something or another and could only yell out a warning,

"Evade!"

And the destroyer didn't have to finish uttering that word before Shigure tensed up and jumped before looking, looking up and reacting to the sight of an enemy F-35 falling out from the sky, burning holes in its fuselage and smoking intake vents belying its imminent destruction as it blew up upon crashing into the ocean and threw the dispersed 1st Fleet into disarray.

The scream of soaring missiles and jet fighters sounded out and got sharper as they flew overhead, a disoriented Shigure starting to feel a fair bit nauseous at the choppy waves throwing her about, blast waves constantly bombarding her body and the scream of jet fighters buzzing overhead, although she was thankfully pulled back by Tenryuu while Tatsuta and Ayanami provided cover fire.

The coastal turret pods and battleships did their job as medium and large-caliber shells were fired from the mainland, carriers pointing and shouting into the radio in order to provide coordinates and improve their accuracy, and most of the APCs had surfaced by now due to the amount of naval mines detecting their underwater presence and detonating if they continued advancing while submerged, the first wave of decoy APCs almost wiped out by this point.

Admiral Mako was concerned with other matters as she spoke into the intercom in order to keep them updated on the overall situation,

"The _Flying Dutchman_ has surfaced near the Kujukuri Naval Base!

There's nothing we can do for them right now, but our planes are already on their way in order to intercept it!"

Tenryuu noted,

"Kujukuri?

That's further up North of our current location, shouldn't we go and help them out?"

But Shigure vehemently shook her head, believing that the _Flying Dutchman_ was a hit-and-run kind of enemy aimed at cutting off their escape by helping their forces carve a path from Kujukuri to the city named Chiba within the prefecture of the same name, and she shielded her face against the missed payload of an Abyssal Cat Fighter which threw a bucketful of seawater on her as the demonic plane screeched overhead, likely frustrated at having missed its target as she coughed over the din.

"We… shouldn't…

Because… by the time we get there, the _Flying Dutchman_ will have left, and we should be focusing on the enemy… before us.

Besides, the Japanese created the Nagato-Class slow battleship which the _Flying Dutchman_ 's based off of, hopefully they've found something which works against it in the third encounter!"

"Grr…

Let's hope you're right!

Third time's the charm, after all!"

Now that they were approaching the coast, Shigure could see that Czech Hedgehogs lined the beaches, three I-beams bolted and welded together in order to form an X, Y and Z-axis which discouraged war vehicles below a certain weight from advancing, their grey surfaces contrasting with the yellow sands they were standing on while parked Type 88 SSM-1 and Type 12 trucks were firing all their missiles at the incoming Abyssal horde.

With another crackle of static, a male pilot's voice spoke up urgently,

"Girls, the enemies have got several dozen LCACs that are heavily defended!

And despite our best attempts to fend off these Abyssal planes with help from our surface-to-air and ship-to-air missiles, they'll overrun us soon enough!"

Tenryuu's barrage of shells and torpedoes fired from all her cannons and launchers managed to hit the mark, and Tatsuta hurling her torpedo in a javelin throw, aided by her superhuman strength, allowed it to easily clear a hundred meters and detonate on the face of an unfortunate Ri-Class.

The resulting explosion was nothing short of spectacular with the Ri-Class's head being the epicenter of the explosion and vanishing wholesale while its shoulders were blown off its body, its chest completely annihilated while everything beneath was charred by the searing fireball, impurity-colored ghostly-blue flames erupting while a fountain of blood, which spurted from the cross-section of her waist, came into contact with the sea as the remaining Abyssal half collapsed.

But Shigure had no time to dawdle as a turret pod shell threw up sparks upon hitting an APC, causing it to shift the instant it fired a grenade from its roof launcher in her general direction, and Shigure dived into the ocean and allowed it to envelop her in order to prevent the shrapnel from working its way into her body.

Several piercing sensations caused her to howl in silent agony which let out rising air bubbles as her soundless scream was lost in the cacophony of muted underwater explosions, muffled screams and rumbling noises, eventually hauled out of the sea by Tenryuu as she felt something within her move and ignite the afflicted area near her shaking hand.

A piece of shrapnel was embedded in her upper left arm, and even though blood was oozing out from the wound's entry point, the nano-machines which were injected in them performed as advertised as the tip of a metallic shard jutted out from her skin and was slowly being ejected, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer grunting at the pain which came as the price.

"Ghh rkk! Urgh… "

Despite her trembling fingers becoming slick from her own blood, she finally managed to hold onto the slippery metal surface as it was halfway out and yank it out, before immediately regretting this course of action as triggered nerve endings flared up at her foolish action, flinging the damn thing away from her while she felt the shrapnel that was ejected from her torso start poking her in her uniform, Tenryuu hauling Shigure to her feet after dragging her away from the advancing enemy lines.

She noticed Junyou looking up in horror, and the skies were blotted out with the silhouettes of allied and enemy jet fighters blanketing the skies, battling for air supremacy while the mainland just _did not relent_ with its missile barrage in order to bring down enemy fighters and also to cover the ship girls' escape.

The ship girls were now within a hundred meters of the shore as the submarines had already landed, and JGSDF soldiers were manning machine guns and auto-cannons amongst others, which were all prepared before today as the turret pod roofs produced missile racks containing short-range Type 81 Missiles, letting them fly and surprising both the enemy planes and the ship girls who certainly didn't expect this nasty surprise, a nearby Hatsushimo echoing this sentiment.

"Woah, looks like those old cannons had some tricks hidden from even us, huh?!"

The military's overwhelming firepower along with that of the ship girls, who retreated with cannons blazing, managed to discourage the Abyssal horde from getting too close as they hung back and chose to bombard the coast, some of them starting to target the protected turret pods which covered the ocean with their respectable firepower.

This next part of the battle plan was why the battleships were discouraged from fighting on the front lines.

The ship girls reached land as they slipped off their boat slippers and ran towards the road at the end of the beach and the town beyond that, their stamina now increased thanks to Ma'am Jackie's harsh training to make sure they could cross a simple beach with their riggings on without tiring out, turning back and firing their cannons while JGSDF soldiers fired Type 91 SAMs from their shoulder launchers at the enemy, others firing at the APCs with their Type 79 Jyu MAT, a tubular device stuck on a ground-hugging tripod in order to take out the AAV-P7 personnel carriers which were parked on the beach, Abyssals crawling out of these personnel carriers with firearms in hand.

Reaching the road on the other side of the beach was tough and made more difficult by the fact that their riggings were a burden on land, offset by the relatively short distance and Ma'am Jackie's strict emphasis on their physical endurance as they reached their checkpoint and dumped their riggings on the Fairy-modified trucks before suiting up for land combat, the modified trucks being one mode of transporting their riggings across the country.

Shigure asked Ayanami a quick question,

"So these trucks were created specifically for Apocalypse in order for us to sortie on lakes and reservoirs which are all located inland, right?"

Ayanami nodded as she held her own MP7 submachine gun with shaky hands after holstering a SIG Sauer P220,

"Of course.

Besides, if we were to all crowd around the harbor in order to get in and out of the sea, it would take one well-placed bomb landing on the harbor to cut us off from our main access to the ocean!

We didn't need these back when we were protected in our own waters and could sortie and dock at our own pace, but the times they are a changin'!"

All the while, battleship shells pounded the coast from afar while tanking large-caliber shells in return, with every aim being an intelligent guess more than anything else while enemy planes attempted to break through the iron dome defense above them, which thankfully protected them with fired missiles accelerating into the air in swarms with Anti-Air turrets, auto-cannons machine guns blazing as they spat out bullets in the tens of thousands while flares were fired in order to throw off their sensors and blind them to the sight of the beach, Shigure forcing herself not to look up at the light show which was far more intense than any firework, shining down on the retreating ship girls with a luminosity which outclassed the sun by twofold.

Retreating ship girls were divided into the army and the navy, where the navy would be transported to another coast with access to the ocean in order to sortie with the rigging-carrying vans and engage in flanking maneuvers or hit-and-run attacks, and the ship girl army would hold the fort that was now the abandoned town of Kamogawa, Admiral Mako giving orders all the while.

"The army will retreat into the town and back up the JGSDF's retreat before joining up with our forces from the South, and the ship girls will circle around to Kameda General Hospital up North!

Move!"

Tatsuta spun around as she held a lowered firearm which was a M4 Carbine, wishing to find a certain Kongou-Class battleship in the midst of the urgently-moving ship girl crowd.

"Where's Hiei?

We need her strength and firepower in order to round out the team."

Junyou, carrying an M24 Sniper rifle just like Saratoga did due to being a bird carrier, turned back to look at someone pushing through the crowd in order to meet up with them, the distant explosions getting louder while the big guns that were anti-tank weapons like the Panzerfaust 3 or the M72 LAW were being rolled out and distributed.

Hiei joined the 1st Fleet as she cocked the sturdy-looking Sumitomo MINIMI machine gun which she held with two hands, looking equally distressed about the situation yet relieved at how her comrades were safe.

"All of you are safe, that's a relief."

Another resonant explosion went off and shook their surroundings, several ship girls stumbling before recovering and moving on while Tenryuu started to fret for their immediate well-being.

"Not if we stay here for long.

Let's move inland and start joining the rest of Amazon company."

Everyone unanimously agreed to that, now starting to become desensitized to the sight and sounds of explosions, gunshots and the occasional piercing scream in the distance.

The JGSDF was on the retreat as the trucks carrying either the Type 88 Surface-to-Ship or the Type 03, 11, 81, 91 and 96 Surface-to-Air missiles carted their payload around, engines whirring as they flexed their horsepower in order to keep up with the infantry which escorted them, who in turn were carrying rocket launchers and battle rifles in order to leave a trail of fire and fury behind them, Shigure pulling back the cocking handle of her MP7 as she heard Ma'am Jackie speak up, taking over as adviser for land battles.

"Amazon company, we need you all to get back and help the JGSDF retreat beyond those tall buildings!

Don't bother occupying them for now, not when it'll expose us to fire from all sides!"

It was a reasonable deduction, seeing as the town of Kamogawa which they were in was filled mostly with short civilian houses with the occasional high-rise building, the occupation of which would allow the opposing forces to bombard said building with rockets and cannons from all directions, watching the Abyssals start advancing with their handheld firearms.

An enemy APC, and M113 was moving up with a resounding rumble permeating the earth, a Ri-Class manning the M2 Browning machine gun on its roof and laying down cover fire for the Abyssal infantry to move up, but as Akebono and Nagatsuki blind-fired with their MP7 submachine guns with help from their aiming systems, forcing the Ri-Class to duck behind her gun shield with sparks bouncing off it while Takao hoisted an Anti-Tank Panzerfaust 3 onto her shoulder and peeked around the corner before pulling the trigger.

The back-blast area was, as per training and common sense, not a place anyone wanted to stand in, and even though the back-blast contained little fire as Shigure imagined it would, she could feel the power by witnessing its velocity along with the equal and opposite force which it produced behind a rocking Takao and shook the cruiser's entire frame, the Ri-Class cruiser wildly firing at it in hopes of prematurely detonating it.

No chance.

The APC went up in a spectacular explosion with a metallic crunch, Shigure shielding her face and eyes from the intensity of the fireball's brightness, the radiated heat and the mini-earthquake which shook the ground yet again, several ship girls going,

"Kyaa!"

"Woah!"

While Abyssal infantry units were flung onto nearby walls due to the shock-wave, Junyou looking down her scope in order to fire at a Wo-Class who was similarly looking down her own sights, Shigure firing controlled bursts at the window which the Wo-Class attempted to snipe from after climbing up a two-story building, Shigure spotting the miniaturized Wo-Class headdress which now acted as a helmet.

Several JGSDF soldiers were helping to direct a few Type 87 Self-propelled Anti-aircraft Guns which were retreating with their two twig-like guns blazing, discouraging the Abyssal F-35 and Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighters from making their bombing runs, not that it was easy to do when AH-64 Apache Helicopters, F-4 Phantoms and Mitsubishi F-2 fighters were hounding them in order to protect their retreating infantrymen.

A Japanese soldier ran up to them in order to get Amazon company's assistance, shouting over the din around them.

"Protect these vehicles, they're the things that are preventing the enemy jets from dropping their payloads on us like birds taking a shitter on us, eh?"

"G-Got it!"

Grenades were now being thrown back and forth, Shigure jumping every time a grenade detonated nearby as abandoned cars were strategically positioned in order to clog up the street and shook with every explosion, firing at a corner where a Ne-Class was hiding beyond as they retreated beyond the high-rise building with the JGSDF and the ship girls giving them hell, but Ma'am Jackie spoke into the radio in order to give them a heads-up,

"Iku, hit it.

Amazon company, you might want to hold onto your butts for this one."

And before she knew what was up, the ground floor of a high-rise building blew up before them and lifted Shigure clean off her feet, the Abyssals looking just as confused as they did as the destruction caused the concrete to crack, the metal to screech and the building itself to moan in faux-agony, and Shigure hit the floor and had the wind knocked out of her, feeling the earthquake shaking the side of her face repeatedly while the demolished building started to collapse.

Her attention was drawn to a Wo-Class holding an M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle and was closest to the collapsing building, and as the Wo-Class carrier looked up with wide doe eyes in the midst of the ensuing dust storm, she felt something for the helpless Abyssal carrier which would never get out of the falling building's path no matter what, and could only make her peace before she was crushed by the building as it was torn from its roots and toppled over like the world's largest domino.

She didn't see any actual gore due to the dust storm whipping up and enveloping her like a tidal wave which threatened to displace her, but the shaking of the ground and the fissuring of the deafening earth was not unlike what she assumed a real earthquake was like, and the tremors plaguing her limbs along with the chills running up her spine was numbed by the adrenaline pumping throughout her body, and the air around her was full of bursting pipes, cracking earth along with horrified screams of any and all variants of,

" _WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"_

And somewhere around her, her concerned comrades calling out each other's and her name in a hoarse whisper, Shigure's paralyzed mind able to discern the genuine fear that something had happened to her which she couldn't recover from.

"Shigure…?

Are… Are you there, Shigure?"

"H-H-Here I… am…"

Less than an hour into this war and she was already falling apart at the seams?

' _Damn it, Shigure._

 _Pull yourself together.'_

A feeble attempt to convince herself that she was alright as Tatsuta, surprisingly, was the one to seek her out as the teenager flexed her superhuman strength in order to move debris out of her way in order to get to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, and Shigure could only attempt to hold up a shaking peace sign to her face before quipping.

"Twenty t-three minutes and… fourteen seconds after sortieing before experiencing and surviving a life or death e-experience.

P-Personal… best!"

Tatsuta gave her an exasperated smile at how she was indeed a magnet for trouble, hauling Shigure to her feet by lifting her up by the collar and pushing in the direction of the retreating 1st Fleet.

The Abyssals were now blocked from advancing via this route, but the Abyssals were still attempting to force their way through with a Ru-Class Abyssal smashing through a wall with the super strength which battleships possessed, wearing her usual uniform and tactical gear over them.

Dust and white concrete powder which caked her entire body puffed and dispersed into the air as she came under heavy fire from Amazon company, but even as she fell while fighting valiantly, Abyssals just kept pouring out from the smashed hole or from shattered windows while both sides blind-fired their grenade launchers and mortar shells over the toppled building as though in a game of Battleship, Shigure pressing a button, slapping in a magazine and pulling back the cocking handle before opening fire while Ma'am Jackie announced.

"There's a strong Abyssal signature making land on the shore, and according to the Coordinators, it's a land boss unit with the acronym J.O.A.N.!

I'm coming down there in order to back you up, do _not_ engage it in combat without fully understanding what it's capable of!"

Sounds of gearing up could be heard with Ma'am Jackie pulling back the cocking handle of her firearm before leaving her commanding post, and Shigure saw several ship girls shooting flares into the skies, confusing the missile sensors and causing them to collide with the flares instead of a ship girl.

These explosions shattered the windows of nearby buildings, Shigure feeling thankful for both the provided helmet and her skin armor which shielded her from the falling glass shards, although her bloodied army uniform didn't fare as well against the onslaught.

Isuzu fired her M4 Carbine at the riot shield which a Ta-Class battleship was hiding behind and was using to advance despite the hail of bullets raining on her shield, and the Nagara-Class was suddenly thrown back with a crimson blossom of blood spurting out from behind her right shoulder, emitting a piercing,

" _Arrgh!"_

As the smoking barrel of a M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle in a Wo-Class's hands was a dead giveaway as to who the culprit was.

The wall a hair above her miniaturized headdress-slash-helmet puffed out smoke as the holes punched into the concrete spread web-like cracks, the spooked Wo-Class holding up her rifle and getting behind an abandoned van.

Nagara predictably ran out in order to retrieve her sister, yelling out something or another while Nachi laid down cover fire with her HK417 battle rifle, and the radio crackled yet again with a gruff Japanese man shouting on the other end.

"Amazon company, we're preparing mortars in order to halt their advance!

Throw purple smoke grenades at them in order for our spotters to calculate the required trajectory!"

Tenryuu, now moving up to Shigure's side while keeping a low profile, pulled out a smoke grenade and lobbed it as far as inhumanely possible with her light cruiser strength before running back in order to rejoin the 1st Fleet.

And that was before the smoke grenade left a comet-like plume of smoke as it flew back at them with the sound of a metal-on-metal,

 _KLANG!_

And looking down, Shigure and Tenryuu's eyes widened in abject horror at the sight of the activated smoke grenade coughing out dissipating purple smoke while rolling back towards them, Shigure barely registering the fact that an Abyssal's boots were made from steel and allowed them to kick it back in time.

They looked at each other and shared the brief glance of two soldiers about to be engulfed in a fiery and explosive death, the horror reflected in the displayed eye of the light cruiser before they bolted back towards their comrades, Shigure screaming into her radio all the while.

"Don't shoot!

They kicked the smoke grenade back at us, _don't shoot!"_

The blast occurred anyway, throwing her into the air like a ragdoll and allowing good ol' gravity to slam her face back onto the asphalt road, her ears ringing from the explosion as her body ached from the constant exertion.

She still had a death grip on her firearm, and she could barely feel Ayanami's hands on her in order to drag her away from the advancing Abyssal front lines, Shigure mumbling an incoherent question in her mind.

"Wuh… wuh…

Told them, not…"

But Ayanami solemnly shook her head as she clarified,

"No Shigure-san, it was the Abyssals who fired on us.

Kicking back the smoke grenade allowed them to mark us for _their_ spotters to help the artillery target our position.

But, I think it clued us in on their position due to the shell trajectory, allowing the anti-AFV divisions to take them out."

Shigure nodded, lifting up a weakened arm in order to pat Ayanami's arm while she made an effort to stand up, the name-ship understanding her intentions as she helped Shigure up while hiding behind the cover of a car that was turned on its side in the middle of the road.

Since her radar worked on land, she detected an Abyssal who was about to round the corner as the two of them raised their firearms in response, but nobody could have predicted that the Ri-Class cruiser, which appeared with a bulletproof vest, helmet and an M16A2 assault rifle in hand, would perform an impromptu vanishing trick as a deafening explosion flared up from beneath her and consumed her entirely with a land mine detonation.

Both destroyers whipped their heads around in order to look away from the blast and to avoid getting a face full of shrapnel, Shigure peeking back to find that the Abyssal had vanished, bloodstains splattered over the cratered ground with a fine crimson mist permeating the air before them if Shigure squinted and stretched her imagination enough.

The shuddering ground shook them out of their daze with a M270 MLRS rolling up, a truck-like driver's cabin with an extended rear carriage in order to tow around multiple rockets in its launcher, all this on two tank threads which rolled to a stop in front of Amazon company.

What happened next would change not only Shigure's life, but also the entirety of the Abyssal War forever.

The MLRS unfolded and transformed before her very eyes, revealing internal machinery which was far more advanced than what its human military counterpart possessed as the cabin unfolded into a head and shoulders with two fan-like ears.

Its undercarriage and the launcher which it carried around joined together in order to form the Beast's hunched main body with four legs which were essentially as thick as tree trunks, revealing an elephant-like Beast which _ohmygod._

' _So_ that's _what they were testing on Aogashima Island.'_

Before everything clicked together in her head regarding the anomalies which she uncovered, swearing for probably the first time in her life since Mikura Jima Island.

"Fuck me…

There's no way my luck can be _this_ fucking bad!"

And the rider atop the elephant's head looked suspiciously similar to a certain Sendai-Class cruiser…

There was no more time to think as the elephant Beast charged up a beam attack in its snout, reddish flames snorted out in ever greater intensity before Amazon company snapped out of their awed-slash-horrified stupor, everyone reflexively following the instruction of,

" _DUCK!"_

Before Shigure recognized it as her own, the beam warping the air above her prone position alongside Ayanami while hearing an explosion go off behind her.

The radio started to sound out with various voices crying out for attention and drowning each other out in the process, Shigure coughing at the smoke which was thrown into the air as she heard ship girls speaking up and trying to identify each other's voices as a way of accounting for strength.

The ground began to shake, everyone either going silent or screaming their heads off as movement was heard, gunshots being heard in front of Shigure as she tried to recover while combating a sudden wave of lethargy which slowed her body down.

That attempt was fully thwarted by the road popping with every bullet which penetrated the ground around her, Shigure involuntarily letting out a scream at the bullets whistling around her while another Ri-Class cruiser emerged, pointing her M16 right at Shigure and Ayanami and allowing the dust to settle in order to get a clear shot at her.

It came.

Just not from her M16.

A bullet was fired into her skull as it drilled into and deformed her left eye, looking as though it formed a vacuum which hollowed out her left eye and caused the flesh and fluid around her left eye socket to be sucked into the dome of her skull in its wake, whatever coming out the other side being a cauldron of squick.

Fragmented skull chips, cerebrospinal fluid and brain bits flew out in an enlarging circle as the bullet caused it all to spin as though in a vortex, the Ri-Class's head snapping back from the bullet impact while her right eye left the scope as it widened at the post-mortem realization that she was dead before expiring.

Shigure found herself freezing up at the aftermath of the gruesome scene which played out before her, and she allowed her comrades' arms to cart her away as her mind was threatening to collapse.

She had seen headshots before.

But never so visceral, and how if it came a second later, she might have…

She collapsed as her legs turned to jelly at the morbid thought, the 1st Fleet rounding a corner in order to take a shortcut through an alley, and the enemy war vehicles would have to bypass the abandoned vehicles which served as either barricade or cover, plus the innumerable number of land mines which were planted by the JGSDF and the submarines, and would only activate in the presence of Abyssals.

Junyou held her up and supported her as they retreated inland, earthly tremors now either a result of bombardment or from the advancing elephant Beast as the Hiyou-Class light carrier spoke urgently into her face.

"Yo, Shigure!

It ain't like you to space out when having a gun pointed at you, you alright?"

Shigure could only hold up her MP7 which was shaking like a leaf in her quivering hands as an answer, and Junyou sighed and furrowed her eyebrows in concern as she led them out of the alley, and before them, even more single-detached houses had been left unattended by the fleeing residents, and if they hadn't already been wrecked by artillery or missiles, ship girls and soldiers alike were breaking into and taking anything they could use.

It wasn't morally sound by any stretch, but since the Abyssals didn't eat human food anyway, they couldn't simply leave it to rot in the abandoned ghost towns they were retreating from, right?

Ma'am Jackie, having met up with Amazon company without Shigure noticing, was hurriedly motioning for them to keep moving inland, munching on a chocolate bar which she likely procured from a nearby convenience store as she yelled.

"Come on, slowpokes!

Move inland, their war vehicles will have a tough time traversing the hilly terrain!"

The 1st Fleet stepped into a retail store, finding several ship girls like Urakaze, Choukai and Kinugasa, amongst many others, sifting through the store as they grabbed whatever was useful on the field like shampoo, toilet paper, drinking water, repellent, survival tools, first-aid supplies, clothes, and above all else, _food._

Everyone fied out from either the exit or from the human-sized holes in the wall which ship girls likely created in order to provide more avenues of retreat, Ma'am Jackie guarding them with Mutsu outside the mall as the former wielded a FN SCAR assault rifle while the Nagato-Class battleship carried an M2 Heavy Machine Gun.

Hiei slowed down as she took the time to step into a convenience store in order to reload her piping hot MINIMI machine gun, the rest of the 1st Fleet doing an inventory check while reloading their firearms and grabbing anything they could see.

The shelves were already partially emptied out even after an entire ship girl company breezed through this store, but as a form of etiquette, the ship girls took only what was necessary so as not to hoard resources, slow themselves down with extra baggage and to allow those behind them to receive some supplies.

Tenryuu passed out torn parts of a bread for everyone to feed on, and with an utterance of,

"Itadakimasu."

Before they scarfed down their food with the intensity of starving animals, listening to Ma'am Jackie relay instructions from above.

"Alright, Amazon company.

We need to move to Kamogawa City Hall, where the JGSDF is reinforcing in order to consolidate our defenses and hold our ground.

Several ship girl carriers are sending out dive bombers from Tokyo Bay in order to cover us, and - "

" _DUCK!"_

The 1st Fleet hit the floor without hesitation before the store roof caved in with a mighty explosion, because as their training demonstrated, anytime anyone shouted an order, it was because they saw a threat you didn't, and to disobey their orders was to court death.

Their world shook as falling dust and debris blanketed the 1st Fleet like an inverted mushroom cloud from above, hearing some unknown cruiser shout into the radio about who the culprit was.

"Damn, that stupid elephant Beast is firing its missiles at us!

And the driver is…

Is that Naka?!"

Another voice, clearly a distressed Jintsuu, spoke up as she clearly wanted to get in touch with and try to talk some sense into her sister ship.

"Naka? Naka!

Please, I have to go see Naka!"

Ma'am Jackie grunted, stepping up to the prone 1st Fleet and screamed at them.

"Get up, and keep moving!

Reach Kamogawa City Hall and get in touch with the JGSDF there!

The mines and the missile barrages from this town's elevated flanks isn't going to hold them off forever!"

Everyone jumped to their feet as they didn't dare to incur Ma'am Jackie's wrath even with the Abyssals piling the pressure on them, picking up their firearms and flinching as a shell penetrated the front of the building, throwing up more dust and debris while flash-bang and fragmentation grenades started raining in.

Shigure fired her MP7 submachine gun as she retreated from the retail store, which now had a gaping hole in the roof with sunlight streaming in and the noise of speeding jet fighters booming throughout the hall, and white-hot lead redecorated the architecture and the various displayed items flying about, with books and electronics being flung into the air while the retreating 1st Fleet were evicted from the crumbling retail store.

The rumbling of the earth told them all they needed to know about how far the enemy was advancing, following Ma'am Jackie as the instructor pulled the pin from her grenade and cooked it for about two seconds.

And right when everyone was starting to look unnerved about the prospects of Ma'am Jackie taking herself out with her own grenade, the light cruiser hurled her grenade in a fastball pitch in order for the grenade to close the distance.

The Ta-Class who rounded the corner reflexively angled her riot shield in order for the grenade to bounce upwards, but the resulting explosion still caused her to stagger while the loosened building debris fell on and temporarily incapacitated her as she went down.

Junyou looked down her M24 SWS's scope and shot at an advancing Wo-Class who got down into a crouching position and returned fire, and as Shigure saw the muzzle flash of the Abyssal's M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle and felt her heart stop because of it, but even as Junyou crumpled from having a round pierce her stomach, Hiei and Tatsuta gunned down the Wo-Class who was in the midst of chambering the next round as she went down with blood splatters sprouting from her chest and stomach.

Hiei shifted her medium machine gun over to her left side while hoisting up a limp Junyou and propping her up on her right shoulder, and Junyou winced as she unbuttoned her army uniform and allowed the nanites to eject the bullet from her body.

Amazon company was now trekking through the part of the coastal town which was more hilly and less populated with buildings as they crossed an Izakaya Restaurant with JGSDF soldiers and ship girls from Amazon company exiting it, Admiral Mako sounding out over the radio about receiving backup.

"Girls!

Our girls are defending the Kamo River, which is within plane-sortieing distance of Kamogawa City Hall, and you'll be receiving backup from bird carriers sortieing in the nearby Kamo River and another river which is even closer to the city hall.

We're doing a good job of bottle-necking and killing the Abyssals sailing in from the ocean, but we can't keep supplying reinforcements indefinitely!"

Shigure reloaded her MP7 in response, trekking through the disfigured streets with her enhanced stamina.

And as they moved into the forested hills, they heard the consecutive thumps of something moving closer to them with tremors of increasing magnitude, Shigure turning on her radar to find a gigantic blob heading towards them through the streets.

Oh, _no._

The building before them was demolished as Naka charged through a two-storied single-detached house with her juggernaut of an elephant Beast, and even as Amazon company flinched at the jump-scare, they recovered enough to begin firing on the enemy boss unit before the Beauty and the Beast got too close.

And then there came another surprise.

The mother of all screams radiated from the light cruiser and cracked the roads, shattered the windows of cars and warped the air as it threatened to displace anyone standing before her, Shigure instinctively dropping her firearm and covering her ears like everyone else did in response to such an unexpected development, the charged-through building now caving in and collapsing perhaps as a result of the sonic scream weakening the structurally-compromised columns holding the house up.

Some of the more resilient ship girls kept firing at the Beast, the elephant looking more and more aggravated than anything else as it trumpeted and snorted out hellish-red flames before lowering its head in order to charge them.

Shigure was understandably frozen at the sight of a 6-meter tall elephant charging straight for her even as Ma'am Jackie shouted into her radio,

" _Get out of the way!"_

And she almost did so in a fight or flight reflex, but realized that she left her MP7 on the ground and reached down for it, looking up to find the charging elephant Beast now only fifteen meters away from her with its flaming eyes and snout, steel tusks and thick tree-trunk legs causing the ground to quake with every step, a seemingly-impenetrable forehead which shone in the morning light and the Sendai-Class light cruiser atop it.

There was no more time to spare as she performed an evasive roll and felt the juggernaut of a Beast passing her like a moving freight train, her entire body shaking like a leaf while feeling chills plaguing her back, limbs and skin while she heard agonized screams coming from Amazon company.

She struggled to get up to her feet, falling back to the ground more than once and stupidly having her face tank the landing for the rest of her body before propping her body up with her trembling legs.

Everyone in her fleet was alright (although Junyou was still reeling from the sniper round despite the nanites doing their job), although the elephant Beast was already circling the corner of the faraway street in order to regroup with its comrades, and she could see that Tama was trampled half to death with everything between her abdomen to her thighs completely crushed and unnaturally shaped as though a steam roller had went to town on her.

Zuihou's status was marked as,

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

SHOUHOU-CLASS LIGHT CARRIER 113

"ZUIHOU"

STATUS: DECEASED'

After Naka's Beast gored her chest with its tusk and tore into her, as shown by the fissure-like gash which stretched from her gut to her right shoulder as it sundered said shoulder and arm from her body, blood free-flowing from her body and pooling around the corpse and caused Akizuki and Yura to slip and stumble as they attempted to retrieve the corpse.

Ma'am Jackie and Musashi were opening fire on the Abyssals who used this distraction to close in on their position, and the latter's M2 Browning machine gun helped to deter a vast number of them from even attempting to do while Amazon company continued their retreat, Ma'am Jackie willing the others into motion by shouting,

"Put suppressing fire on the Abyssals for our girls to evacuate the casualties!"

Another Abyssal bit the dust as Wo-Class's cracked helmet flew out of a window with the detonation of an explosive planted in the second floor of a nearby house, and Shigure reloaded her MP7 yet again but pulled out her SIG Sauer P220 pistol in order to conserve her submachine gun's ammunition, hearing the same JGSDF commander speak up again.

"Amazon company, we're ready to lay down another artillery barrage in order to cover your exit!

Due to the ability of the Abyssals to relocate smoke grenades, no thanks to their heightened physical capabilities, we need you to give us the coordinates to where the enemy is for a more effective barrage which can't be misled!"

"Got it!

Um, aim at the Izakaya Restraunt about a hundred meters from our position!"

"Alright…

Building located, firing now!"

And before long, the distant boom led to the whistling of artillery travelling at terminal velocity as they smashed into the area around the Izakaya Restraunt which they had passed.

And with the announcement of,

"Amazon company, reinforcements are headed your way from your seven o'clock!

Allied bombers also coming in hot, so duck and cover!"

She heard the familiar sound of allied dive bombers approaching their position, the heavy, chain-like cling of tracked vehicles coming up behind them making her pause for a second before recognizing them as friendlies.

About damn time.

An allied Type 89 IFV and a Type 10 battle tank rolled up, working in conjunction with the two Type 87 mobile AA guns blasting any and everything away with more firepower while Shigure ducked and hugged herself at the sight of everything quaking, and while she had seen combat, this was something else entirely.

So much fighting…

It was far more devastating than naval combat in so many different ways, Ma'am Jackie whispering ominously as their four allied war vehicles fought against an enemy American M1A1 Abrams tank, a Russian BMP-2 IFV and a German Kanonenjagdpanzer tank destroyer,

"Closer…

Just a wee bit closer…"

And while the Suisei Dive Bomber squadron scared the Kanonenjagdpanzer into retreating by dropping their payloads as one, Shigure felt another wave of chills radiating from her spine and into her limbs at the sight of an Anti-Tank mine blowing the M1A1 Abrams up, shocking almost everyone present as the turret was blown off with absurd ease with the eruption of hell-fire from its hull, the walls of the nearby buildings shaking from the blast wave as windows cracked or outright shattered.

Instead of reacting with the appropriate horror of Amazon company, Ma'am Jackie instead whistled in awe as she opened fire on an immolated Ri-Class who was attempting to climb out of the flaming tank, flesh seared from her bones and caused her to look especially ghoulish with her bulging eyes, charred body, burnt-off lips and impurity-tainted blue flames, their commanding officer putting her out of her misery with a controlled burst to her center of mass.

The no-nonsense light cruiser turned back and shouted at the ducking and immobile ship girls while keeping a low profile and kicking one of them in the hip,

"MOVE, YOU GODDAMN IMBECILES!

Get to Kamogawa City Hall, or so help me God, I'll fuck you all over by shoving my 'rifle' up your v-holes and fire my load into every single one of you until the end of time should we end up meeting Saint Peter and his merry band of angels instead of JGSDF forces!

 _You fucking hear me?!"_

This threat jump-started Amazon company back into action, watching Tenryuu and even Tatsuta get back up on their feet and retreat with renewed vigor, the horror that was a world war playing out all around Amazon company, moving further inland and leaving nothing but destruction in their wake for the Abyssals to pick up the pieces, heading for Kamogawa City Hall for the first decisive siege battle to take place in Apocalypse.


	61. Chapter 61 - The Rain And Lightning

**_Author's Notes_**

 _Because the various ways to mark out dialogue is rather limited, from here on out, the Kyoka Suigetsu speech will stay as {this} while anything said in a foreign language will be written like **this** , with the nationality of the ship girl corresponding with the language used unless stated otherwise._

 _Also, double upload._

* * *

The Situation Room was in a panic in the early afternoon on the 12th of May as Admiral Mako considered the many movements around Chiba, noting how the ship girls and the remaining civilians from Tateyama further down South were moving North to Amazon Company's predicted pathing lines in order to reinforce their numbers.

Kamogawa was a coastal city which was flanked by a Southern ridge and hilled forests up top, and while they could simply make a run for the hilly Northern sectors and engage in jungle warfare right now, she wanted to make sure that their comrades down South were accounted for before doing so.

Right now, this siege in the Kamogawa City Hall was nothing more than to stall for time, and with the Kamo River being defended while a nearby river was used to sortie more ship girls, it was easier for Amazon company and the JSDF to make their stand there.

The elevated positions would allow the artillery and missile launchers to provide cover fire, and the river would be close enough for their battleships to accurately bombard the decisive siege area.

Getting in contact with Ashigara on the ground, she asked her darling cruiser about her current condition down there.

Sure, everything was going to hell, but no harm in asking how bad it was.

"Ashigara, dear?

How's it look like down there?"

"Oh, you know…"

* * *

 _" … just peachy."_

Ashigara single-handedly fired her 14 Cm at an advancing Ho-Class light cruiser, causing it to go down as her shell penetrated its helmet and gave it a concussion at the very best, and a very bad case of dead at the worst.

The Abyssals were moving up the river which was supposed to lead them closer to the Kamogawa City Hall than the Kamo River did despite being as wide as a three-lane road, and the land-based Abyssals were trying to overtake this one river by flanking the adjacent lands and supporting the Abyssals sailing up the river, who were getting shot at from all sides as they were bottle-necked.

For the most part, their defense was holding up, hearing the sound of another sniper rifle going off and hitting a Tsu-Class Abyssal in the temple as it penetrated her helmet, spraying grey matter everywhere and downing her in order to topple a Wo-Class sailing up behind her.

Missiles were raining down on the Abyssals in the river while artillery was raining down on the buildings and roads which flanked the river in order to flush out the Abyssals and prevent them from getting into sniping positions, witnessing another casualty listed as,

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

MOGAMI-CLASS DESTROYER 101

"MOGAMI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

And she could hear Admiral Mako injecting some much unneeded snark into the battle, even though she was secretly reassured with the voice of her girlfriend speaking into her ear.

"Y-You know, I really don't like this sarcasm which I'm hearing right now, would you mind toning it down a little?"

"Oh, _I'm sorry._

You wanna come down here and get your ass shot at with white-hot lead in my stead, I'd be more than willing to."

"Hey, you know me, darling.

I'd go down if I could, but I work better when I'm in a position to stay on top of things, and we both know it from our time together."

She lifted a deriding eyebrow in agreement at the suggestive statement as she fired off another salvo of torpedoes, suddenly feeling grateful that their torpedoes bothered to detect an enemy's presence before detonating, otherwise the ship girls on the front lines would be decimated by the torpedoes fired from the launchers of their own allies and enemies.

Yikes.

Someone must've spotted something she didn't, because another scream of,

"BRACE!"

Caused her to tense up and be ready to withstand or retaliate against anything which flew her way, another missile being shot out of the sky by the hail of Anti-Air fire which was provided by their own Anti-Air turrets or from the half dozen Type 87 self-propelled Anti-Aircraft guns which were unloading so many bullets into the air, they might as well be forming a wall of lead above them, and Ashigara nearly collapsed from the waves which it made from the ocean.

Another wave of Abyssals fell like wheat before a scythe, a metaphor which was somewhat accurate as they were now fighting in the part of the town which was used for wet rice plantation, several acres now cratered or filled with burning tanks, AFVs and APCs from both sides as they continued to duke it out on land, rumbling either in advance or retreat and unleashing a bolt of thunder or a hail of metal rain upon the opposing war vehicles.

Despite shooting fish in a barrel due to the narrow confines of the river maximizing the accuracy of their torpedoes, the reverse was also true since the ship girls on the shores were carting off ship girls who were either dead or dying, and as they retreated, the Abyssals advanced as they sailed over the corpses of their own kind, a Ri-Class stepping over the headless corpse of her doppelganger without any remorse or sentiment for a fallen comrade.

 _Damn_ , that was cold.

Ashigara was actually starting to fear for their lives if this continued, leaning towards Nagato as the slow battleship shrugged off the brunt of the shell damage in order for their carriers behind them to cover their retreat with dive bombers and fighter planes, shouting into her ear as she stretched her arm out underneath Nagato's armpit and fired her 14 Cm cannon all the while.

"Admiral Mako says that we need to retreat towards the Kamogawa City Hall!

From there, Amazon company and the JGSDF can cover us with rocket launchers and the like while we cover them with our cannons and planes!"

"Oh, sure, that's easy to say when these Abyssals are tripping over each other in trying to overrun us with their numbers!

They're practically clogging up the river at this pace!"

Ashigara ducked as a Ru-Class battleship fired a large-caliber shell at them, but Nagato, being the badass commander and battleship that she was, uttered a bestial battle cry as she lifted her gloved palm in order to give the shell the bitch-slap from hell,

"RRAAGHH!"

A shock wave was produced at the point of contact as Nagato slapped the large-caliber shell into the river with monstrous strength and drenched herself in the resulting splash of river water, her 41 Cm Twin Gun Cannon firing from both barrels in order to smash into the cannon column of the same Ru-Class battleship.

The success of this reckless action gave the Abyssals pause as they looked hesitant about confronting someone as powerful as that without proper backup in the form of the Princesses.

Dive bombers were making passes on their enemies regardless of whether they were on land or sea, payloads throwing up swaths of dirt in lieu of seawater as Ashigara was used to in order to take out the Abyssals' tanks, not that the Abyssals made that easy with their own self-propelled Anti-Air guns and missile launchers, Kaga highlighting this as she stated tersely.

"Our planes are getting shot out of the air by their own Anti-Air defenses.

It was a valiant attempt to overwhelm with aerial superiority when they landed, but it was a matter of time before they got this far by bringing human war vehicles in to secure the coasts.

Our best course of action is to to fall back."

"Agreed!

Fall back along this river in order to meet up with Amazon company at the Kamogawa City Hall!"

Ashigara continued firing her Anti-Air turrets in order to stave off dive bomber assaults who dropped bombs on them with varying levels of accuracy.

And if it was any consolation, any torpedo bombers who wanted a piece of the action had to come up front and center in order to drop their payload, and if the meandering route of this river didn't already throw off their aim, having to sail in no other direction than directly towards them allowed the ship girls to open fire with a shower of Anti-Air bullets, putting them down before they knew what hit them.

The Abyssals then halted their advance, most of their land and air vehicles circling around while the dive bombers and fighter planes swooped down in order to scare off the ship girls.

And for the most part, it worked.

The firefight still continued as Ashigara tanked a hail of 5 Inch shells shredding her clothes and drawing minuscule amounts of blood on her stinging skin, and neither side wished to relent or show their back to the enemy as Ashigara found the distance between them increasing meter by meter, and only did the Abyssal horde disappear behind another bend did Ashigara lower her cannons, although she was far from relaxed as she consulted the people looking down from above, noting the Abyssal planes and jet fighters retreating.

"Sparrow 4, is the enemy breaking off their advance?

This might be the precursor to an ambush, so we need you to confirm."

"Nope, looks like they're drawing the line here, although note that some of the land vehicles are still firing in your direction, so it's best to retreat and catch a breather like they are right now.

Today's going to have an unexpected bout of rain slated to occur in the late evening and into the night.

The Abyssal infantry and armored divisions will be back soon enough, though."

Despite the sound of the tank and artillery cannons barking out in the distance and slightly shaking up the river, Nagato and Ashigara's tensed up demeanor softened upon hearing that reassurance, leaning over in order to breathe heavily as she tanked no less than twenty two large-caliber shells and several hundred small-to-medium caliber shells.

She gave the slightly fatigued battleship a concerned sideways glance in order to check up on her, having fought beside her for more than half a decade and knew that Nagato was a hard worker who was willing to take hits so that no one else had to.

But this was taking it to a whole other level as she not only volunteered to be the meat shield for everyone, but had Admiral Mako not intervened, she would have also refused to allow any other battleship take over her place for her to rest and recuperate, placing undue stress on herself.

Damn it all.

Ashigara warily uttered in her mind as she lowered her handheld cannons while keeping them on hand in order to prepare for any curve balls thrown their way,

"Great.

A bout of rain grounding planes on both sides, that means that we need ship girls on the roof to send us the coordinates of our targets for shelling.

Shoukaku, radio in for Amazon company to have several Birdmen keeping watch from the rooftop of the City Hall in order to help us mark out targets!"

"Yes!"

Looking up at the gathering rain clouds as she coupled her cannons to her rigging, she wondered if this was really the end for them as slated to happen during Apocalypse AKA the end of days, shortly before holding up her palms in order to slap herself lightly and banish these thoughts, reaffirming her resolve and putting on her game face as she always did during sorties.

No weakness shown.

No quarter given.

* * *

 **"Hey."**

Shigure blinked and flinched at the noise of a pair of fingers being snapped before her as she looked away from the darkening clouds casting a shadow over the ruins of the town, smoke ascending from the wrecked town towards the stormy heavens while the incoming rain must've jogged up some bad memories.

She looked up at a concerned Bismarck as she recalled how she had blanked out after trekking all the way to the Kamogawa City Hall and leaving a trail of Abyssal corpses behind them, and they were now taking a break as the Abyssals did after establishing a stronghold on the beach and the coastal areas, hopefully too busy with counting their dead to attack them in this heavily fortified building anytime soon.

She felt embarrassed at spacing out when someone was trying to get her attention, her body moving into action in order to entertain her superior.

Strangely enough, the fast battleship gently held her down by the shoulder in order to keep her seated, unbuckling her helmet and ruffling her shortened blonde hair in order to achieve that 'unkempt beauty' look which almost all ship girls were capable of, planting her down beside a hesitant Shigure.

Bismarck asked the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer with a palpable amount of concern lacing her voice.

"So.

What's bothering you?"

Shigure could only look at her with an idiot's expression on her face before breaking out in an awkward smile and cough, shifting her gaze away before looking back at Bismarck, who looked unamused as she deflected with a flimsy lie.

"Oh, nothing, really…

I was just lost in my thoughts - "

"Don't."

Bismarck leaned in close with a concerned expression layered behind stern eyes, who knew of loss and devastation and had come out stronger in spite of it.

"I don't know what it is about Japanese people or some ship girls in general, and I can't for the life of me understand what it is despite living here for so long, but I don't like it when people care about keeping up appearances for the sake of keeping them up.

You'll find that there'll come a breaking point where keeping them up does nothing and means nothing, and pride?

Honor?

Convention?

That all means nothing in the end when you're facing down the wrong end of a barrel, so tell me what's wrong.

Please."

Huh.

Although Bismarck carried herself around with a haughty air, it was clear from the company she kept and her turbulent past that she was different from many other Bismarck doppelgangers, and this was nowhere more evident than right now as the fast battleship continued, gesturing at her own face.

"You have that same look on your face, the one which many devastated ship girls have when things just get too rough for them, when they blank out and look at nothing.

I had that look once, when the world which was crumbling about me was smashed to bits by a wave of seawater 20 to 30 meters tall, so I of all people would know best that everyone needs someone else to lean on sooner or later, so please.

Allow yourself to lean on me."

Shigure's gaze then flitted about in order to check up on her comrades, watching ship girls awkwardly opening up to each other in order to be each other's therapists or at least as someone to confide in while the mentally resilient ship girls of Amazon company worked with the JSDF in order to prepare for the upcoming siege, a strange sight being Inazuma consoling a dispirited Chokai as a senior destroyer to a junior heavy cruiser.

Ma'am Jackie, strangely enough, was also sitting down beside a sobbing Maikaze, allowing the crying Kagerou-Class destroyer to lean on her and cry her heart out while bringing a comforting arm around the child's hunched and curled-in shoulders, looking to be a tough-love parent being there for her child when it really mattered, stoic and unsure of what to do in times like these, but her powerful presence was all that she provided and all that mattered when they were fully embroiled in a world war.

Bismarck followed her gaze in order to look at their instructor with Shigure, playing with her hair as she commented.

 **"Mrs. Commander…**

She's still a good person, it's just buried underneath all that pessimism and self-loathing she holds for herself for not saving enough of her comrades."

Shigure sort of saw it coming a mile away since Jintsuu's inner niceness couldn't be beaten out of her much like Akashi's, as the medic always made an effort to help repair and patch others up, even going out of her way to talk to troubled ship girls like how she had _that_ talk with Shigure shortly after coming to Yokosuka, and after her reckless performance at Mikura Jima Island which resulted in her first death.

Shigure exhaled as the fatigue rolled off her shoulders just as her breath left her lungs, feeling quite overwhelmed about having to fight on land for real.

Things were moving too quickly for her, and the stress of such prolonged conflict really tired her out along with the juggling of priorities as she struggled to keep track of the Abyssals, J.O.A.N. units and keeping herself and her team alive while the Abyssals piled on the pressure.

And the pointlessness of it all…

"It's just…

Resisting feels so pointless at this point in time, and I know that we can't just roll over and die, it'd go against our nature as weapons to stop fighting and give in, but…"

"But you wonder if you can keep fighting on in the face of standing to lose everyone and everything just like you did before?"

Shigure looked up in surprise, and Bismarck looked down at her understandingly as she elaborated.

"Forgive me, but your reputation precedes you, Shigure.

And might I hazard a guess as to how you feel, to wonder if what little that's left at the end of this war is worth everything we've lost.

Is that it?"

Hanging her head, Shigure felt a little down after surviving the bulk of today's fighting, and to think that she'd have to keep fighting tomorrow and the day after, and the day after that day…

Not that she was going to give up, oh no.

She just wanted to rest, Bismarck resting a weary palm on her shoulder as she spoke.

"It's alright to think like that every once in awhile, especially when considering how much resources and reserves the Abyssals possess.

Just let it all out, and we'll talk about it."

To talk…

No.

She needed to think.

She wanted and needed something else to think about, and she looked to Bismarck in order to ask for that something in the form of what Bismarck thought about the topic at hand, perhaps incidentally being the right person she needed to hear from right now due to her troubled past, both distant and recent.

It'd help her understand a comrade better and distract her from the hell which she was well and truly stuck in now.

"Actually, I think I'd want to hear you have to say, Bismarck-san.

If you start talking, I can focus more on your words and less on what I'm currently going through, and it works even better if you want to express your opinion, because it gives me another perspective with which to see things."

"Hmm, I suppose for a precocious little girl like you, it might work better this way.

In which case…"

The German's expression became contemplative as she reviewed her entire life experience thus far, her shifting gaze an indicator of deep thought before speaking up again.

"I suppose I could share with you a drug-induced hallucination which I had some time ago, and how it helped to tide over a bout of depression which I had after feeling the same way."

"Alright, lay it on me."

Bismarck gave her a look in order to make sure that she was alright with just listening, and Shigure's inquisitive eyes must have convinced her, because she looked down at her boots and began.

"Back in about '12, I had another existential crisis as to what we were really fighting for much like your current predicament, and Akitsu Maru suggested that I take some drugs in order to find my answers as a last resort."

And in response to Shigure's disbelieving eyebrow raise which spoke volumes about such a dubious method of 'finding answers', Bismarck replied,

"Well, sometimes you need to see things from a different point of view, and although I don't advocate drugs at all, I will admit that drugs sometimes help if used correctly.

And as super-soldiers with heightened withdrawal resistance and are always stuck in trauma-inducing combat, it's not out of the question to use it every once in awhile in order to take the edge off.

When I used it, I couldn't remember the specifics of the initial high due to everything being a blur right then, but eventually, I ended up at what I thought was the end of the world."

Shigure's attention was piqued as she leaned in and grabbed onto every word which flowed out of the German battleship while building a mental recreation of her drug-induced world, Bismarck looking more and more invested in sharing her revelation with the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

"But then I realized that it wasn't the end of the world, but rather it's _start._

Imagine it.

A world consisting of dirt hills and boiling water flowing everywhere, along with dusty-brown, overcast skies above us and stretching out for miles.

An orange sun illuminating the clouds as they rained lightning down from above while dust storms rage on the surface, volcanoes and fissures vomiting out red-to-white lava, and with it, the belching of gases and ash not unlike a smoker's drag of his cigarette and the exhalation of smoke.

Of course, as a disclaimer, it's all a drug trip, so I really don't think it'll be scientifically accurate in any sense of the word."

Getting that disclaimer out of the way, the German battleship continued.

"It was complete death on our world back then, but not in the sense that beings have left this earth, but that feeling that no one was ever there in the first place, and that desolation, that _nothingness_ , that sticks with you for life.

It's like getting that chilling feeling of utter emptiness at Auschwitz and Dachau, which I've been to, but even worse with the lack of birds chirping and fauna rustling.

Not because of a massive reaping of life back then, but a complete absence of it before life began."

Shigure saw that Bismarck's expression became heavy upon using such locations for comparison, but it was a burden she had likely learnt to live with some time ago as she continued, her MINIMI machine gun lazily laid on her shapely lap with the safety on.

"I was aware of _everything_ around me.

Every building block of life, every molecule in the air around me, in the dirt, water and air struggling to piece themselves together in the right positions in order to even begin the process of performing simple chemical reactions, all without being conscious of what they were doing, like…

Like solving a Rubik's Cube without being conscious of what you're doing, it's all rather difficult to translate things like these into words.

In the end, when the first microorganisms put themselves together by sheer luck and by virtue of trying so many times, like pulling at the lever of a slot machine a trillion trillion times and coming up with three '7's a million times in a row, instead of dying out in an environment which was still far from what you'd call habitable even after stabilizing considerably after this planet's formation, that little microorganism instead did the opposite.

Struggle and struggle, and in the end, multiply, survive and thrive."

Bismarck seemed as though she were relieving the initial awe of her experiences all over again, and Shigure certainly felt herself get swept up in the intellectual fervor of this seemingly meaningful hallucination as she continued.

"In that drug-induced vision, the simplest life form, without possessing a mind or anything resembling a consciousness, struggled to overcome everything the world threw at it as it was surrounded by the nothingness that was death.

And instead of returning to the void from whence it came, it chose to fight the status quo and fill this once-barren planet with life."

Shigure was now entranced by the drug-induced hallucination which Bismarck experienced as it all seemed so symbolic of something just beyond her grasp, gulping before daring to ask the Bismarck-Class battleship about it all meant, since she certainly had the time to ponder over its true meaning.

"W-What do you think it all meant?"

Bismarck now looked far older and wearier than she normally did after letting all her experiences and thoughts out, her shortened blonde hair making her look radically different from her usual ship girl self as the German explained.

"I think that you might probably be right that all of this might be meaningless, the fact that we're all going to die in the end being quite probable.

But, I don't think that just because we die in the end, it means that we should throw in the towel, roll over and die before allowing the Abyssals to make fertilizers of our corpses or whatever."

A slightly revolting idea, but one which had some merit as Shigure pushed that thought out of her mind with great effort in order to focus on Bismarck's discussion on her own ideology.

"Life's always been a struggle and an uphill climb, to stay on top of the game and try to climb up the food chain or the social ladder, surviving whatever it is that comes our way or even just trying to get through the daily grind.

Some have it harder than others, of course.

But we owe it to ourselves to keep fighting to the end, to give meaning to our struggle and make the Abyssals remember that we went down fighting to the last man in order to ensure the continued existence of ship girls and humans alike."

Bismarck lowered her head and cast a shadow over her expression, but the look in her eyes was anything but defeated as she shared.

"After the Indian Ocean Tsunami and after the drug hallucination, I sincerely believe that there's really no inherent meaning or value to life, and that hallucination exemplifies that since life itself was created as a result of getting lucky.

But if that's so, then why are we still here and not offing ourselves or sitting around, holding each other's hands and waiting for the end?"

Bismarck's eyes were now shining, looking more alive and expressive than she'd ever been as she was now revealing her ideology and part of her way of thinking to Shigure, something which the German had no obligation to do but wanted to do so in order to both help give Shigure some peace of mind and to distract her from what she just experienced.

And it worked.

"Because we give the experience of life, and by extension, the struggle to survive some semblance of meaning, and because of that, we can and will resist the imminent threat of death with all our might simply because we can.

Because we're still here, still living, still fighting.

Sure, when the cannons and guns stop ringing, and the missiles stop falling after the last ship girl falls, just like in that drug-induced world before life sprang into existence, sure, there'll be nothing save for complete silence reigning supreme once more.

But until then?

It's going to be _loud."_

Shigure exhaled upon hearing the verbal affirmation of Bismarck's convictions to keep fighting on, and she saw that despite the German battleship's horrific past weighing down on her conscience, she still soldiered on nonetheless simply because it was what she was made to do.

The German was strong, to do that even after living for so long and surviving traumatizing experiences which might have broken the minds of lesser ship girls, and she could see past and discard any notions of misplaced pride in her country and battleship skills by virtue of having them beaten out of her.

Beaten down, but certainly not defeated.

The battleship was now on a roll, and the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, subconsciously wishing to focus on Bismarck's voice and learn of her convictions in order to drown out the dire situation at hand, was now fully invested in Bismarck's monologue.

"The Abyssals' form of peace is built upon the death of all mankind.

But death isn't peace.

Peace requires a constant effort to maintain, and requires a lot of communication and bonds to be able to connect and live with one another, but it's certainly not found in death.

Death's just a dead end, and seeing what we reincarnate into, our afterlives really aren't a better alternative.

But…"

Bismarck looked a little conflicted about something or another, but what she was about to share with Shigure showed that she didn't wish to avoid whatever it was as she looked towards the sky, instead choosing to learn from those who experienced a historical tragedy but sadly didn't survive it despite leaving behind words of wisdom.

"I'll share this quote with you.

 _'It's utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death._

 _I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions._

 _And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.'_ "

Shigure inhaled sharply the instant she realized where that quote came from, and she could only utter in astonishment,

"An Anne Frank quote?"

Bismarck looked into Shigure's eyes with a sagely smile on her face and nothing but warmth flowing from her kind eyes as she elaborated.

 **"Yes.**

I know that I can't run from my past, but I really don't want to run anymore, not unlike what Akitsu Maru still does, and I still try to help her with that even now.

And I know that things may seem bleak now, but like President Miller said, this storm will pass, as it always does.

Looking up at the sky, that's what I reassure myself with in order to find it within me to make a stand, to expand all my strength into making tomorrow a little better for everyone else."

Shigure looked up at the darkening skies outside the windows as she now was lost in her own thoughts, thinking about her own namesake and how it was related to the issue at hand.

The rain of shells, payloads, missiles and even of blood and ash, no matter how loud and intense, will end eventually, and when the skies cleared up and the clouds parted, the daybreak which shone down upon them was what she yearned for.

What she fought for.

Yes.

Preferably not what she'd die for, though, she had learnt the hard way that dying was bad in every way, because like Akashi and Bismarck said, it was a dead end where nothing else could be done.

Bismarck seemed to understand that Shigure had come across an epiphany of some sort, giving her a sentimental look as she asked.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

" … I think so, yes."

"That's good then.

I suppose there's one last thing I can do for you…"

Shigure was brought in close for a hearty hug courtesy of Bismarck as the coarse fabric of their army uniform and her bra failed to hide the German's large bosom, Bismarck's soft and heavenly breasts threatening to smother her alive as she felt her oxygen supply get cut off while she struggled in vain against her comrade's overwhelming physical strength, despite the German battleship holding back in order not to break her.

Feeling around before lightly tapping Bismarck's hugging arm, she felt her darkened vision start to swim while her lungs burned from the deprivation of precious oxygen as the battleship's mammary glands pressed on her face like a fleshy pillow, and it took another two full seconds before Bismarck eased up on the hug and allowed her to haul her head out of the German's right breast, her mouth forming an 'O' while she inhaled through her nose and mouth in order to savor the air soothing the stinging sensation in her lungs and chest.

Doubling over in order to breathe in deeply, Bismarck's tone was now remorseful as she leaned in to apologize sincerely,

"Oh, I'm sorry!

Did I put too much force into that hug?"

But Shigure held up a hand to reassure Bismarck that this wasn't really her fault, and the intentions behind the hug was all that really mattered to her.

"Oh, no, no.

That was quite the passionate hug, and I needed that.

It's just…"

Although she recalled Hiei doing the same to her like one would with a security blanket back during Ma'am Jackie's briefing before the twin nuking of the USA and President Miller's World War 3 address, and seeing how this hug also almost asphyxiated her, she did not want to go out in this fashion.

Not because it didn't feel good (which it most assuredly did), but it was especially humiliating after considering everything she lived through, blushing a little at the thought as she elaborated.

"If these kinds of hugs are going to be a recurring thing, I think that an investment in snorkels or breathing apparatuses would be a real lifesaver, lest I get smothered into unconsciousness by another one of these hugs.

Or worse still, keeping my helmet on at all times lest I get knocked out cold by anyone's pair of melon-sized knockers slamming into the side my head or whatever."

Bismarck gave her an exasperated smile as she clapped a hand on her shoulder and commented dryly.

" **Girl…**

When you say things like that, you're really tempting the heavens to make fun of you by making it all come true."

Shigure considered how the world now seemed as if it was starting to regard her as its new chew toy (although her meddling, nosiness and inquisitiveness didn't make it _entirely_ unwarranted), and this time was no different with her 'disaster luck' keeping her from dying, getting into a thinking pose as she seconded the notion.

"Shit, you might be onto something here.

Note to self, stay away from well-endowed teammates and closer to flat-chested ones…"

Before she felt the kevlar vest which she was wearing, and considering how she felt Bismarck's bosom through her uniform and bra instead of hard kevlar, she looked up with a confused look as she inquired.

"Wait, why aren't you wearing body armor, Bismarck-san?"

Bismarck's look changed to become slightly bashful about why, looking down at her own chest and explaining.

"Well, we battleships can stand to take a few more scrapes than the other classes, and I lent mine to Haruna-san when we battleships were short of a few, Musashi and I deciding to take the bullet for everyone else.

Don't tell anyone else this, though, because the more everyone else tries to protect us once they learn of this, the more it'll call attention to us rather than mixing in with everyone else and taking a few bullets that'll only sting more than anything else."

She agreed with the logic even if she still disagreed about going onto the battlefield without proper protection, but they had to come to a compromise in the situation they were in, and she was a little destroyer while Bismarck was a mighty battleship, so she could only nod and express her concern for Bismarck's well-being.

"I don't want you to go, Bismarck-san.

Not after Naka-san sank, and how she might have been turned into one of them…"

But Bismarck reassured her as she pulled Shigure in close in order to only lean on her bosom this time, commenting.

 **"Yes, dear.**

Nobody wants to go, but things happen whether we want to or not, and many of them lie beyond our power to influence or prevent."

Power…

Yes, she needed more power to be able to protect more people.

Project Psyche, Tenryuu, Tatsuta…

There was no more time for her to dawdle.

Her Kai Ni remodel was still a ways away, and Project Psyche would provide her with the power boost needed before her second remodel helped to make her even more powerful.

If it didn't kill her first.

Tenryu and Tatsuta were both caught in a Catch-22 situation right now, where they were likely ordered to conceal their powers due to their inexperience in using them in order to combat New Wave J.O.A.N. units, but without adequate time to train or the chance to engage the J.O.A.N. units in combat, they remained inexperienced in their usage of their own powers.

One of the possible ways for them to escape this conundrum was to have more ship girls participate in Project Psyche in order to bolster their numbers in combat, because the fact that the Abyssals had several J.O.A.N. units while they only had two was ultimately what forced them hide their powers lest they get overwhelmed.

Time to make her next move, then.

* * *

Junyou was sitting with Zuikaku along with one other bird carrier and a heavy cruiser in the top floor of the Kamogawa City Hall as dark clouds floated over the town at around 6.34 p.m., sniper rifles close by as they scouted the area with military binoculars, Junyou's gaze roving over the abandoned medical center across the road which was raided for medical supplies before being booby-trapped to hell and back by the submarines, just like most of the buildings around them.

Zuikaku's surveying sector was overlooking the nearby river where the military battery was firing on sporadically in order to help the recuperating ship girls and soldiers stall for time, with portable rocket launchers hauled up onto the roof for the carriers to use should the Abyssals return.

While the threat of rain discouraged any further planes on either side from taking off, another assault was entirely possible, and any armored vehicles were to be taken out with these rocket launchers and with help from both the ship girls in the river and from the battery located further up North, covering their position from a junior high school.

Junyou was using the radio's private chat function in order to be heard over the breezing wind and the occasional explosion in the distance as she looked at a pigeon soaring through the skies, thinking out loud about what the enemy might do next.

"You know, what do you think might happen if the Abyssals drop a MOAB on us?

Those Americans really love their explosions, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Abyssals, being good ol' copycats, had one manufactured to be dropped on us right now and we all go poof into the air right now."

"Well,"

Zuikaku was certainly not enjoying how Junyou was nonchalantly predicting their doom in order to pass the time if her vexed tone was any indication, pointing out how unfeasible that would be as of now.

"To my knowledge, that bomb is heavy, and they'd need a big and thus slow military transport aircraft for that, which our military can likely detect and shoot down in our airspace.

Not that they'd bother with that when they have jet fighters which can make a break for our location, fire everything and retreat and do as much damage to us with higher odds of success.

Besides, it's about to rain heavily, I don't think any plane's taking off in that weather."

Junyou only let out a bored,

"Hmm. Ok."

To which Zuikaku silently ground her teeth in annoyance, but she had already abandoned that morbid train of thought as the Hiyou-Class light carrier teased.

"Say…

Are you looking down at Kaga's clothing-damaged form right now?

You do have the equipment and the right excuse to do so, you know?"

"You know that at this distance, I can give you a mini-concussion by throwing these military binoculars at your head, right?"

"And pay for them out of your paycheck?

For someone like me, dear, definitely not worth it.

But admit it, you thought about it when I suggested it, didn't you?"

Zuikaku's fuming silent treatment was what she received, Junyou completely understanding that the carrier displaying the bristling side to her personality was a reaction to the paradigm shift of a world war, turning to Saratoga as the carrier still hesitantly held her rifle despite looking somewhat eager to contribute to the fight, attempting to strike a conversation with the friendly yet subdued USN carrier in order to lighten the mood without distracting them from their duties.

"So, Saratoga-san?

How about you?

Moving from being a fish-out-of-water carrier in Yokosuka to camping in the middle of a bombed-out town in World War 3, how're you holding out?"

Saratoga still looked rather dispirited about the drastic turn of events, but her compassionate nature still shone through as she gave her response.

"Well, it's all moving too fast for someone like me to keep up with, and I still don't know what to think about it all, especially since we were still in Yokosuka two weeks ago.

But…"

Clutching the military-issued sniper rifle in her hands, Saratoga's gaze hardened as she looked into the distance, everyone looking at her and listening with rapt attention.

"What I do know is that this weapon is what will change everything, and all superfluous thoughts are unnecessary in order to wield it effectively.

The battlefield's changed, but what we're fighting for hasn't changed in the slightest, and in order to protect you all, I won't hesitate to step up as a USN carrier who's fighting for more than her country now."

Junyou was surprised at the carrier's conviction to protect them, but considering her heart-of-gold-fist-of-steel personality and how she cared for them all despite being a soft-spoken carrier who had no reservations about putting her foot down and playing rough in order to protect those dear to her, she really should've seen it coming.

She then heard the radio crackle before a JASDF pilot spoke up on the other end.

"Amazon company, this is Sparrow 3 heading back to base in order to refuel after performing our bombing runs and to avoid getting rained on.

We're detecting a good number of enemy signatures headed your way on the fringe on our radar.

Birdmen, recommend you tighten your surveillance in the South by SouthEast direction in order to catch them in the radars on your fighter planes before the rain falls and the sun sets, over."

"Copy that."

Shoukaku's voice sounded out over the radio as the nameship carrier spoke up.

"Amazon company, this surprise bout of rain is going to interfere with us carriers' ability to sortie our bombers, so all airstrikes are unavailable for now.

It's up to the JSDF up North to cover you all with battery fire.

Please be on the lookout for any Abyssals moving in your direction through the ruins of the buildings."

Junyou looked back at Zuikaku, who also pulled back from her binoculars in order to give her a look as they moved into position along with Kinugasa and Saratoga as the designated Birdmen who kept watch from above, Junyou now mumbling.

"You know, it might be a bit late for this, but I suppose it's now or never."

Before uncapping a flask in order to take a sip of her beloved alcohol, knowing her own limits as she felt the warm and bitter taste of the familiar nectar sliding down her throat.

A hand pulled her baby from her, Zuikaku now holding the flask in her hand as she looked back at an irked Junyou.

"What?

Is it a crime to drink when on the job?"

"No.

The _real_ crime here is not sharing."

Zuikaku threw her head back and took a swig of her flask, coming back down with a hearty exhalation as she wiped her mouth and passed it to Kinugasa, who followed suit.

Her heart ached at the sight of someone else drinking her alcohol, but seeing how Saratoga, being so silent after watching the falling nukes and being through a grueling training regimen at Camp Itazuma, looking better as her cheeks colored a little from the shot of alcohol, it wasn't too bad of a loss.

Junyou lifted the flask, only to find it now devoid of alcohol while Kinugasa piped up with a warning as she diligently continued looking for the enemy along with Zuikaku,

"Watch out.

I spot several tanks making a beeline for us, but I'm not sure about how many Abyssals are hiding in the ruins.

They may be camouflaged, because all I'm seeing are moving shadows."

Lifting up her binoculars while leaning over in order to grab her rifle, Junyou spotted some shadows slipping through the skeletal wreck of collapsed houses and the upturned bodies of vehicles in the backdrop of the orange setting sun, and any doubt was erased as she spotted a Ta-Class battleship, wearing a black poncho to camouflage and hide their albinism when moving through the darkness, holding out metal detectors as they advanced.

Calling out anxiously,

"Check the shadows again, girls.

They're wearing black to blend with the shadows and are using metal detectors, take them out if you can.

Amazon company, got that?"

Which she got several replies of,

"Got it!" or,

"Acknowledged."

Kinugasa was now passing out ponchos in order for them to keep themselves dry as another peal of lightning preceded an ever present rumble of thunder around them, and Junyou kept her binoculars on the Abyssal horde in the distance while she donned the poncho by draping it over her head.

The Abyssals were still too far away to be of any threat while their war vehicles were keeping their distance, likely waiting for the rain to fall before attacking, since the range of their vision would be heavily reduced by then.

And right on cue, someone up in the sky decided that now was the best time to rain on their parade just as Junyou finished that thought.

The rain hit them like a curtain of water, Junyou squinting as she looked down the scope of her M24 SWS while her poncho did an abysmal job of protecting her against the rain, Kinugasa standing back from the bird carriers and standing guard with her Howa Type 89 assault rifle.

Junyou heard the crack of a rifle going off next to her, and Saratoga must've spotted an enemy in her sights, because she called out.

"Everyone, we've got trouble.

The Abyssals are headed our way, and there seems to be a whole lot of them, likely about two hundred foot mobiles advancing with their armored vehicles!"

"Birdman, we need you to mark out targets for us, otherwise we're firing blind here!"

Nagato's voice sounded out over the radio with grainy static in the background due to the rain, and Junyou zoomed in with her military-grade binoculars, straining to spot the enemy vehicles in the distance before clicking a button on the binoculars in order to highlight two spots on its HUD reticle, Nagato then calling out,

"Coordinates received!

Firing now!"

Before a barrage of artillery, cannon shells and missiles lit up the dark graveyard of a town before them.

One artillery shell punched through a tank off in the distance as the ensuing explosion, though dwarfed by the fireball caused by the missiles, was enough to illuminate several nearby Abyssal foot soldiers being thrown off their feet.

Not that the armored vehicles made it easy for them to hit as they zigzagged erratically and swerved out of the way of incoming barrages, although the latter caused several vehicles and medium tanks to flip over on their side as they were thrown off by the blast wave, Abyssals climbing out of them either to flip them back into an upright position with their superhuman strength or to distance themselves from their vehicles, lest another barrage do them in.

The Czech Hedgehogs placed on the roads were effective at slowing them down, and even though the Abyssal battleships could simply walk up to them and toss them aside with relative ease, occasionally, landmines planted around them went boom, Abyssal went everywhere.

Despite their metal detectors decreasing the casualty count, several Abyssals were still triggering the booby traps with their distinct signatures as the cautious approach slowed down their advance, the three bird carriers now more concerned with putting as much lead downrange as possible just as Amazon company was starting to do the same in the building levels below them in order to stop the advance of the Abyssals.

Not that they didn't take any damage on their side as an incoming rocket was fired from the shoulder of a Wo-Class before being downed by Zuikaku, someone shouting over the radio,

"BRACE!"

Before the entire building shook from the explosive impact along with the symphony of window panes shattering, Nagato asking anxiously while her deafening cannons fired in the background.

"Amazon company!

Is everyone alright?"

 _"Everything's not alright!_

Kiyoshimo, Kinu and Yahagi are down, and several more are wounded!"

"Then evacuate them!"

Mutsu barked out on the radio, being large and in charge while several voices sounded out and the chaotic rhythm of disorganized machine gun fire could be heard.

"Go out the back, and use the vehicles we managed to procure from the nearby auto shops!

Drive inland before crossing the river and getting in touch with the medics, the nearby bridge has been demolished in our retreat!"

Junyou looked through the scope of her M24 sniper rifle and was lining up another shot in order to take out a Tsu-Class cruiser hiding behind a blue sedan, but she heard a simple,

"Rocket, out!"

Over the radio right before a rocket breezed into her view through the sniper scope and annihilated the sedan, and hopefully the Tsu-Class too as Junyou pulled up and peeked back at Kinugasa as she held a smoking Panzerfaust 3 propped on her shoulder, stepping down from the roof's elevated edge platform in order to load the next rocket.

Zuikaku was firing her rifle at the Abyssals who were covering the advancing faction's movements, Junyou almost being counter-sniped as spotting a flash of an Abyssal Wo-Class's scope was all the warning she needed to duck for cover, the concrete shortly below her position powdered by the bullet which impacted it.

She let out a curse,

"Goddammit!"

Her army uniform was getting drenched from head to toe, and the poncho did jack shit in attempting to keep her dry due to the rain soaking into her poncho and through her army uniform, and even though her boots were designed to prevent water from getting trapped inside like buckets, her socks and feet were still thoroughly soaked due to a lack of roof cover.

Zuikaku shouted into Junyou's ear in order to be heard as Abyssals took pot shots at them in order to avoid being dealt death from above while Saratoga called down another JSDF battery barrage with her binoculars,

"This isn't ideal!

We need to get off this roof before they start trying to blow us to kingdom come with mortars or rocket launchers!

Get some Amazon company ship girls down there and push them beyond mortar-firing range!"

[Hello.]

The four of them whirled around in order to point their weapons at whoever said that, but the presence of an Abyssal standing behind them while evading their detection until that moment shocked them into a second of silence as her signature suddenly popped up on their radar, staring at a caped Yuubari in the downpour as it drenched both parties.

She raised both her gloved hands as lasers mounted on her fingertips emitted red dots which danced on their bodies while something within the gloves whirred at an increasing pitch and caused the gloves to glow, her luminescent eyes crackling with lightning while electricity streaked from her pupils as the four of them were now spooked enough to start pulling the trigger on their firearms.

Too late.

Lightning jumped from the light cruiser's glove like coiled snakes riding along invisible laser beams towards them while letting out thunderous roars like the world's loudest firecrackers going off in their faces.

And soon, all four of them were being electrocuted and let out bloodcurdling screams from the bottom of their roasting lungs while their firearms were accidentally discharged due to the coursing electricity causing their trigger fingers to spasm, Junyou collapsing onto the slick floor while her body failed to respond to any command prompts coming from her frazzled mind.

There were no more sensations coming from her supine body as her brain stem was disconnected from her spinal cord to prevent brain damage, and the rainwater hitting her burn wounds caused her flailing body to writhe about on the ground unconsciously, twitching wildly as muscles likely contracted and squeezed at random while wisps of smoke wafted from her charred body in order to obscure her view of the approaching light cruiser.

Yuubari waltzed into Junyou's bloodied field of vision as the paralyzed light carrier did everything in her power to do anything in a fight-or-flight response while damage assessment reports popped up on the side of her tearing, static-y HUD, and only after giving them a cursory glance did she realize that she was now at the complete mercy of the enemy.

She heard Nagato's voice come in to ask for their status.

"Birdman, I saw something happening up on the roof, what's your status?"

 _'The bloody enemy snuck up and tased us, that's what!_

 _Help!'_

But despite being unable to even speak, the bright idea which struck her was to turn her mental radio on and off three times quickly, then three extended intervals and thrice again in quick succession, the wary Nagato-Class battleship now shouting into the radio in outright panic upon recognizing the SOS signal.

"Amazon company, there's an enemy up on the roof, and it's taken out the bird carriers keeping watch up there!

Tenryuu, Tatsuta, get up there, now!

Everyone else, the building is compromised, evacuate the City Hall!

We'll cover your escape!"

And above her, a tubular handheld tool extended from the shadows of Yuubari's cape in order to heat up into an unholy, luminescent red before her while Yuubari's ghostly-blue, electrified eyes stared down at her, Junyou starting to fear for her life as she could only look up dumbly, mentally pleading, begging and wailing for anyone to save her in a fit of desperation while she outwardly remained mute in spite of all her efforts to scream for help.

The light cruiser, once belonging to their naval base, now lifted her lightsaber in an executioner's pose, devoid of any remorse or satisfaction in her own actions, and in Junyou's panicking mind, she briefly wondered if she was going a wee bit mad from hysteria as she giddily thought to herself.

 _'Oh, come on._

 _Not even an "Off with your head"?_

 _Well, I at least deserve to get a post-mortem Bond one-liner, right?_

 _How about 'Don't lose your head'?_

 _Heehee_ _…'_

And just as she saw the lightsaber swing down and leave a brilliant afterimage in order to form an arc which was aimed somewhere close to her head, she saw a familiar Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's face peeking out the stairwell which led up to the roof, thinking to herself,

 _'Shigure!_

 _Help -'_

Before her vision started to roll as though she were trapped in a washing machine, the last thought running through her mind being,

 _' - me… '_

As Shigure's eyes widened in abject horror shortly before the Hiyou-Class carrier blanked out.


	62. Chapter 62 - Enter The Dragons

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

HIYOU-CLASS LIGHT CARRIER 066

"JUNYOU"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Shigure dumbly stared around the corner as a mop of drenched purple hair was sundered from her main body and rolled about on the floor, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer no longer breathing as she stepped out into the rain in order to confront what appeared to be the Devil herself.

Black wing ornaments which covered her ears and sideburns before tapering at the tips…

An onyx black cape stretching down from her shoulders and making her appear larger-than-life, with her luminescent and ghoulish-red lightsaber smoking from the raindrops vaporizing upon hitting it…

Her beheaded comrade was lying there as her corpse and uniform was smoking with burns of varying degrees, while blood which was spurting from her white-hot neck like a severed artery and was starting to pool…

Casualties lying all around the Abyssal cruiser, all their gazes straining to ward off Shigure's shakily approaching figure with concerned stares wordlessly screaming for her to abandon them rather than add to the number of casualties…

The Devil.

This _had_ to be her.

What was she doing here, again?

Shigure snapped out of her trance as she realized that amidst the chaos and the rain, she forgot her helmet if her thoroughly soaked hair was any indication, although her trusty MP7 submachine gun was still clasped in her white-knuckled grip.

Right, as if a submachine gun was going to stop an Abyssal who took out three armed light carriers and one heavy cruiser without breaking a sweat.

Wait, what _was_ she doing here, again?

Oh, right, the plan to get herself and Shiranui into Project Psyche.

Suddenly, she didn't feel so good about her odds of surviving the next five minutes, let alone worry about the admittedly half-baked plan.

The Abyssal was staring right at Shigure, her sparkling-blue electric eyes studying her like one would an insect under a microscope, and she was petrified by the callousness in those eyes, almost picturing the Abyssal mentally taking her apart piece by piece before discarding her like one would throw away a broken toy once she lost interest in Shigure, looking away and shifting her gaze to a downed Zuikaku with smoke escaping her burnt lips with every breath and frayed hair.

No.

Raising her MP7 to aim at Yuubari (she finally recognized who it was by recalling and sifting through her ship girl database), her hands were shaking badly as if she had a case of Alzheimer's Disease and likely couldn't hit the broadside of a barn, the rain further impairing her vision and exacerbating her tremors as she croaked numbly.

"F-Freeze."

Yuubari didn't comply, instead lifting her lightsaber in order to begin another execution, Shigure feeling her psyche start to fall apart after watching the first execution as she howled loud enough to make sure she was heard, the safety switch already flipped as she pushed her firearm forward.

" _I SAID FREEZE, OR I'LL SHOOT!"_

The Abyssal paused as though considering the validity of her threat, but Yuubari swiftly whipped around in order to point lasers which originated from her fingertips and painted red dots on her.

A jumpy Shigure suspected that her downed friends were likely taken out in a single and swift attack, likely of an electric nature due to their severe burns and paralyzed state, dodging a lightning strike with practically no time to spare, although she dropped her MP7 in the process and slipped on the wet floor due to her flinching at the deafening volume of the thunderclap which followed immediately after.

[Vajra.]

Another laser pointed right at her forehead and exciting her eye made her heart stop beating as she evaded yet again, the light cruiser missing another electric attack as Shigure huffed and scrambled to put some distance between herself and the J.O.A.N. unit, the Abyssal clearly attempting to cut her off from her submachine gun as the rumbling thunder resounded in the stormy night and blended with the falling rain to form the background noise to their painfully one-sided battle.

Pulling out her SIG Sauer-P220 pistol and flicking the safety off, she pointed at Yuubari as she clumsily fired, her capacity to hit the Abyssal only accomplished with the aid of her aiming system.

Yuubari could parry this as her lightsaber danced in the rain, almost dazzling in its movements as the heated blade formed arcs with its afterimage, and every bullet was vaporized upon coming into contact with the lightsaber and left the light cruiser untouched, Shigure's hopes of winning sinking from 'pretty much hopeless' to 'downright impossible'.

"No way…"

 _[Yes way.]_

She saw that she had expended all of her ammunition, pressing the button to allow the magazine to slip out while she fumbled to find another to load into the pistol's handle, the patient Abyssal skulking towards her at a snail's pace.

The tremors in her two hands now reached critical levels as numbing, slightly tingling waves danced along her skin while the chilling rain beating down on her didn't help one bit since she couldn't get it to go in, and even when she did, the lack of strength behind her loading meant that the magazine slipped back out and hit the floor with an awkward _clack_ , Shigure now at a loss as to what to do right now as she mumbled,

"Uh, uh…"

Yubari was now all but two meters away from her, Shigure looking at the Abyssal cruiser who readied her lightsaber in order to strike her down, the destroyer's mind racing for solutions to the problem.

Finally, Shigure evaded just as Yuubari slashed down at her previous position, stumbling out of her way as the tremors plaguing her body made it hard for her to right herself, a stab flying her way now as she ducked and performed a combat roll away from the light cruiser while Yuubari skidded to a stop.

Shigure was panting, not from the physical exertion which was nothing in the face of her superhuman stamina and capabilities, but because this was a do-or-die situation which terrified her, to face down a J.O.A.N. unit without knowing what she was capable of and could end up a roasted corpse like her four comrades with a single slip up.

[Hmm, you run fast.

As a destroyer should.]

She blinked at the sound of the Abyssal addressing her, her thoughts running a mile a minute as she retorted with a line she once used on Shimakaze in their downhill race, just paraphrased a little.

"You g-got that right.

T-Too bad for you, I don't run like a coward."

[Hmm.

You believe that alone amounts to bravery?

 _When going up against me, that's utter foolishness.]_

The sky lit up as though the sun itself had been transported into their atmosphere, but even without squinting and shielding her eyes with a palm in order to make out the third party, she suspected that the light source from above was neither a sun nor was it divine intervention.

A jellyfish Beast floated in mid-air, lightning jumping to and from its translucent and luminescent body into the rain clouds as Shigure felt something within her physically sink upon seeing how outclassed she was, Yuubari continuing her sentence just as shouts could be heard from the same stairwell which Shigure used to get up here.

[Of course, not that running does any good against someone like me.

I'll give you this.

At least you won't die tired.]

Before bolting forward with her lightsaber in hand, Tenryuu finally bursting through the door just as Shigure was starting to inch away from the incoming Grim Reaper.

Shigure began mentally praying for Tenryuu's timely intervention with her New Wave power just as Tenryuu ran for her at breakneck speeds, staring down at the lightsaber which was headed for her heart like a wooden stake aimed straight at a vampire's chest, her unfortunate death all but assured unless Tenryuu managed to pull something out of her ass in order to parry Yuubari's lightsaber.

And parry she did.

Tenryuu's flaming sword clashed with the lightsaber for an instant, pushing it off its projected path as the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser stood before her defensively, Shigure collapsing onto the floor as her weakened knees gave out beneath her.

Yuubari stepped back in order to put some distance as her body tensed up at this new development, sensing something else coming her way as her lightsaber parried an incoming glaive and the resulting impact produced a shock wave.

Tatsuta stepped in, her smile wiped off her face as her glaive contracted until it was only as long as a knife in her hand while the blade was red-hot after making contact with the lightsaber, and the sound of a cocking handle was pulled as Ma'am Jackie wielded her FN SCAR assault rifle and wore her combat gear, likely having climbed the fire exit as she approached them from another direction.

Three light cruisers against one, and one destroyer spectating the fight.

On the opposing side was a light cruiser with her jellyfish Beast, Yuubari looking as cool as a cucumber as she lifted her power glove into the air and remarked expectantly, her jellyfish Beast increasing in luminosity and exuding a vibrant electric-blue glow the entire while.

[Three on one.

Let's hope that you'll all prove to be more of a challenge than Shigure or the four ship girls at my feet, especially since two of you possess New Wave powers.]

Before a lightning bolt rained down from her Beast and struck her hand, but there was no illusion as to what it was supposed to do as the light cruiser still stood before them, the Tron lines on her equipment now doubling in luminosity after receiving an electric charge from her Beast.

* * *

Tenryuu was eerily silent, raging thoughts swirling in the whirlpool of primal fury within her mind and cancelling each other out to the point where she didn't know what to say.

She took in the sight of the various ship girls who were immobilized which included a beheaded Junyou, Shigure cowering behind her after inexplicably holding Yuubari off long enough for Tenryuu and Tatsuta to intervene.

They had been fending off the Abyssals who encircled the building and tried to flush them out, ensuring that Amazon company safely evacuated the building before running to the top of the building, all while thunder rang out at close range and sounded much like large-caliber cannon fire.

Ma'am Jackie was the first to speak up, looking pissed-off as she usually did in combat scenarios.

"The Abyssals were a diversion, and so was the rain such that we would least expect an attack from above.

My intelligent guess is that you sneaked in on that…"

Lifting her head to look at the jellyfish Beast which was idling about like a hot air balloon in the midst of the rain, tentacles gracefully swaying on their own accord in spite of the howling winds all around them as the clouds almost seemed as they spun around the Beast's body as though in the eye of a storm.

" … and took out our girls, somehow hiding from their radar until the moment you struck.

Anything I missed out?"

Yuubari said nothing in return, and Tenryuu delivered her question in the form of a growl as she was beyond pissed off on the inside.

" … According to our reports, you're the planner and leader of Apocalypse.

Is that right?"

[ … Yes.]

"Then that means all those deaths and sinkings at the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, Naka being turned into one of you, as well as the lethal injuries of several of my friends on this roof.

Were you the one responsible for all that?"

[ … Yes.]

Tenryuu's temper and fighting spirit flared up, tearing off her eyepatch in order to look at her enemy with both her eyes in a seething glare as she unconsciously bled out mana which weighed down the air around her in a show of emotional force, and she could see that Tatsuta's halo turned crimson just like her own mechanical ears-slash-radar equipment likely did as its color corresponded with her mood, her dark expression instantly contorting into the mother of all scowls as she roared.

" _Then that means that you're the one whom I have to kill, RIGHT?!"_

Yuubari finally broke her stoic exterior as her cheeks stretched out into a coy and serene smile, devoid of warmth as she repeated herself with the utmost of confidence in herself.

[ … Yes.]

Tenryuu raised Ezekiel above her head in order to fire off a Blade Rush, Tatsuta firing a revised God Killing Spear in Yuubari's direction while the Abyssal light cruiser smoothly avoided both attacks, whipping her lightsaber around in order to either evade or block the volley of bullets Ma'am Jackie fired from her FN SCAR, Tenryuu charging forward without abandon as she heard Tatsuta shout.

"Shigure, get our downed comrades out of here!

It doesn't matter if you drop them over the edge of the building, radio in for Amazon company to ready a blanket or whatever in order to catch them!"

"C-Careful!

She fires lightning from her hands, and if you see lasers pointing at you, evade!"

Firing off another Blade Rush in order to keep Yuubari on the move, Tenryuu then brought up her sword in order to pull off the Chorus of a Thousand Birds with a slight revision, pumping mana into her sword in order to eject flaming darts from the blade tip en masse.

Rather than waste energy and time evading or parrying it all, Yuubari moved out of the way before her power glove powered up with lasers pointing at Tenryuu from an unorthodox angle, forcing Tenryuu to evade as a lightning strike missed her, although the bark of thunder next to her ear was not unlike the roar of jet engines blared next to her head, causing her to flinch and stumble.

"Rrhh!"

Yuubari's Beast powered up, Tenryuu taking a few steps away from the Abyssal J.O.A.N. unit before she pulled out a palm-sized sphere from her utility belt, the LED lights on it coming alive with a press of a button before she threw it in Ma'am Jackie's direction.

The senior Demon Instructor evaded as its yield revealed itself to be harmless smoke, but the floating jellyfish Beast struck the spreading smoke cloud with a lightning bolt from above and caused it to go up in flames, expanding in volume and temperature at an explosive rate as its radiance forced Tenryuu to shield herself while a pouncing Yuubari slapped away Tatsuta's elongating glaive attack and headed straight for the stumbling Ma'am Jackie with her mechanized boots boosting her forward.

The Sendai-Class cruiser, although pulling the trigger and nicking Yuubari in the shin with a bullet, was a second too late to raise her FN SCAR rifle to aim for center mass as Yuubari sundered Ma'am Jackie's left hand from her arm along with splitting the assault rifle in her hand and rendering it useless, Ma'am Jackie collapsing to her knees as her facial muscles and jaw tensed up from trying to endure the pain, seething through clenched teeth while looking down at the instantly cauterized cross-section of her left arm.

 _"Rraaghh!_

Urgh!"

But before Yuubari could do anything else, Tenryuu ran up and charged up another Blade Rush as she howled,

" _GET AWAY FROM HER!"_

Yuubari moved away from the downed Sendai-Class cruiser, using her left mechanized slipper to boost away before facing off against a mid-flight Tatsuta, who only uttered frigidly,

" _Life Break."_

Her younger sister flew through the air and crossed the distance with a running jump, descending upon the J.O.A.N. unit with her glaive Sado held in a reverse grip as if attempting to spear a fish, stabbing the blade into the tiled floor with a vengeance and causing the ground to shudder and crack from the impact, even throwing up puddles of rainwater in the process.

Tenryuu noted that Shigure, as a child, was having trouble dragging the bodies of her paralyzed adult comrades to the edge of the building, but they were not only trying to bring down Yuubari but also trying to buy her more time for the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

Yuubari was then fired upon by someone, using her power gloves to protect her as sparks flew at the contact between bullets and steel, Tenryuu's attention snapping back to Ma'am Jackie as the wheezing light cruiser was bravely wielding her SIG Sauer-P220 pistol with her working right hand.

Running out of bullets, she pushed on the magazine release button and allowed it to drop to her feet as she slipped the pistol beneath the elbow of her chopped arm, clamping it with help from her stomach before pulling out another magazine to load it.

Tenryuu tackled her to the ground as Ma'am Jackie was too distracted with her reloading to notice an ominous laser pointed at her forehead, another brilliant show of lightning making her hair stand up as it was attracted to the lethal light show above her while Shigure made a futile but valiant attempt to contribute to the fight by firing at Yuubari's head, throwing the J.O.A.N. unit's head to the side as the bullet ricocheted off the winged headdress on the sides of her heads.

Yuubari worked together with her Beast in order to prevent Tenryuu from closing the distance as the Beast swiped at her with its no doubt electrified tentacles, Tenryuu dodging them with her light cruiser agility before bursting forward with Ezekiel brandished and ready to impale the Abyssal, her roar being amplified by an incensed fury boiling within her,

" _Stinger!"_

While Yuubari parried her sword stab, and her electrified power glove came swiping down in order to try and electrocute her, and gracelessly falling to the roof in a last-ditch attempt to evade the incoming palm worked to some extent, although the steel boot slamming into her stomach was certainly not part of the plan.

Tatsuta came in and slashed at the retreating light cruiser with her shortened glaive, and her sister included several trick shots in order to keep Yuubari guessing as she slipped Sado behind her back before extending it as part of her superpower like a behind-the-back pool shot, Tenryuu hacking and coughing as she got up and stabbed at the Abyssalized light cruiser in order to back the light cruiser into a corner, Yuubari deftly evading several Blade Rush attacks with the finesse and agility befitting that of a light cruiser.

And that was when she had had enough.

Receiving another bolt of lightning from her jellyfish Beast while she retracted her glowing lightsaber blade, Yuubari called out,

[Nice job, Indra!]

Before pocketing her lightsaber with her right hand and pressing a button on her utility belt with her left, Tenryuu hearing some sort of high-pitched whine which could split eardrums as it increased in frequency as she suddenly felt as though she wanted to puke her guts out, her mind blanking out for a while and chills ran up and down her spine, her legs weakening to the point where she stabbed Ezekiel into the ground to keep herself upright while her HUD teared and scrambled, attempting to show the progress of her internal systems rebooting themselves and coming up as garbled hieroglyphs.

Tatsuta crumpled and hit the floor hard, dropping her glaive in the process while Tenryuu battled the numbing sensations spreading across every inch of her body and barely preventing it from freezing up, as well as the incessant tremors which were all part of the aftereffects of a ship girl being hit by an EMP wave.

Feebly swinging her sword around at an approaching Yuubari, who likely safeguarded herself against such an attack for fear of being affected herself, the Yuubari-Class cruiser walking up and slapping a palm on a downed Tatsuta as her sister's body seized up, screaming in a voice of such undignified agony and coming from such an unlikely and personal source, Tenryuu almost feeling the pain on her behalf.

" _AAAHHHHH!"_

Fingers and arms spasmed for several seconds, Tatsuta's halo falling to the floor just as she did after her smoking clothes started to catch fire, only to be snuffed out by the rain as Tenryuu noticed that blackened flesh was what Yuubari left her with after breaking off contact with her left upper arm, some of the rainwater hitting her also being vaporized due to the heat radiated from Tatsuta's body as her younger sister writhed and convulsed on the floor.

The smell of charred flesh now hit her nose like a fist to the face and caused her face to crinkle in disgust, smelling nothing like rotting fish or anything she had the dubious honor of taking a whiff of in her entire life as chemicals in the ship girl body fouled up the stench, fueling her hatred of the J.O.A.N. unit before her which now burned hotter than the furnaces of Hell itself, Yuubari ignoring the two fallen Tenryuu-Class light cruisers as she turned away and commented.

[Disappointing…

I was hoping you'd put up a little more of a fight, but I should have known that Cynthia's saying of 'No expectations means no disappointments' holds true even now.

You all got your powers recently, and it's too much for me to expect anything more from you.

Akashi isn't here as well, so my interest in you all has reached its end.]

But Tenryuu still found it within her to try and talk back to and taunt the retreating enemy, if only to spite her even though their opponent was too calm to get baited into making mistakes through words alone.

"Where ya goin', huh?

Running?"

Yuubari didn't miss a step as she responded offhandedly.

[Back to those who possess _true_ power, unlike you children who play at being adults.]

Her sense of touch was slowly coming back to her at a snail's pace, now screaming herself hoarse in order to get her point across through sheer volume.

" _DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME, YOU COWARD!"_

That stopped the J.O.A.N. unit dead as Tenryuu flexed her mana reserves, allowing herself to let loose and allow her passionate and intensified willpower to be felt, Tenryuu pulling Ezekiel out of the floor and activated her Sword of Billowing Flames in order to envelop it in spirited black flames once more as it flowed out of her sword like a protective aura.

Charging forward without much concern for her well-being, she put all her spirit into her final attack in order to strike the enemy with all her might.

She wanted to make Yuubari bleed.

She _needed_ to, partially to convince herself that all her gambles and training thus far in Project Psyche thus far haven't been for nothing, and also to convince herself that the Abyssal unit she was facing off against could bleed and thus be killed.

Yuubari's front lit up with a ominous red before she spun around in order to block Tenryuu's blade, and the thing to note here was that instead of parrying it by allowing the blade to meet at an angle and deflect some of the momentum behind the enemy's sword swing, she had the two blades meet at 90-degree angles.

Hearing some sort of metallic squeal scratch on her soul as her sword seemingly hit nothing, Tenryuu had a second of doubt that their blades met and that one of them had whiffed, but pulling Ezekiel back into full view allowed her to deduce what happened.

The upper half of Ezekiel's blade clanged as it smashed into the roof's floor and skidded off to who-knows-where, Tenryuu's eyes widening in surprise and horror to find Ezekiel slashed clean in half by Yuubari's lightsaber, the molten cross-section of her sword spurting out black flames like a severed artery for a few more seconds before coughing it out like the wheezing exhaust of a dying car before stopping entirely.

Tenryuu collapsed on her knees as she just kept staring disbelievingly at what was left of her sword, smoking water vapor wafting from the tip like a lighted incense stick, Yuubari retracting her lightsaber as her words barely registered in Tenryuu's mind.

[Your current capabilities have been weighed on the scales of power, and you are found … _wanting.]_

Before Indra scooped Yuubari up with its tentacles, the light cruiser likely immune to its electrifying capacities as she radioed in something or another on her winded headdress, the distant explosions and the pop of discharging firearms promptly halting and leaving the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser alone with her thoughts in the rain, the raindrops streaking down Tenryuu's cheeks as she hung her head while looking down at her broken blade, a lump formed in her throat as her heart ached and her expression was now utterly wracked.

Good.

At least that way, Tenryuu could pretend that she wasn't crying over Ezekiel, who would likely never be put back together and be the same ever again.

* * *

Tatsuta was experiencing by far the worst moments of her life.

She thought that dying would be the worst experience of all, but the saying went that for a ship girl, dying was the least of her worries, it's how she died, if at all due to the severity of her injuries.

For the last three times she'd been awake, she slipped in and out of consciousness as she waked up in various states of being, none of which were particularly pleasant.

She first awoke in a van with screaming, crying and other all forms of incessant noises around her, and everything hurt as her body recovered just enough to allow her to feel sensations in her body again, to let her know what it felt to have every inch of burnt skin on her body sting upon being exposed to air,

Someone was shouting,

"Prepare some clean bandages!

When I remove the burn uniform, I need you to apply pressure on that burn wound!"

While the tremors of the distant yet intense shelling could be felt by the earth and was transmitted into the shaky chassis of the van they rode in, Akashi leaning in with a no-nonsense look on her face and urgently slapping her on the cheeks before speaking up.

"Tatsuta, if you're awake, sorry about this."

And as cloth was torn from scorched flesh like a Velcro strip, she barely recognized her own voice screeching in agony as the army uniform had been burnt into her skin, and had to be peeled off in order to begin the recovery process.

The blood loss and excruciating pain was the upper limit of what her fatally injured body could handle before blacking out, and the last thing which she heard was.

"She's blacking out again!"

And the last thing she could think was,

' _Well, no shit.'_

The second was in a field hospital, where she was lying on a few tables and was half-naked for Akashi and several other ship girls to operate on, with Mutsu holding up a heavy-duty flashlight in order to illuminate the wound.

Repair Fairies stood on her bare shoulders with clipboards, concreting equipment and a few extendable rollers, except that they were using them to lay out medicinal gel on affected areas.

Concerned voices sounded out as they attempted to placate an approaching someone,

"Tenryuu-san!

Please don't, Tatsuta-san's being operated on!"

While she could hear her elder sister yelling her name with the desperation a lost child would use when calling out for his mother,

"Tatsuta!

 _Tatsuta!"_

And she could feel that her psyche was still too frail at this point in time as she started to black out again while everyone's attention shifted to someone just beyond her field of vision, feeling Tenryuu approach her as Akashi and Mutsu tried to push her away.

But she could see on the peripheral of her vision that Tenryuu's expression was utterly crushed as if she was on the brink of an emotional collapse, reaching out to Tatsuta with her eyebrows furrowed in concern with tears streaking down her cheeks.

Her last thoughts were chiding in tone but were ultimately concerned about Tenryuu,

' _Oh, Tenryuu-chan._

 _Please don't make that face, and don't cry, because that make me feel bad about dying more than anything else._

 _It also makes the Tenryuu-Class cruisers look bad, and while I like seeing your flustered or annoyed expressions, I_ never _want to see that expression which you're wearing right now._

 _What do all of my power-ups and training amount to, if you still end up looking like that by the end of it all?'_

Before everything faded to black again.

The third time was the last, and she jolted awake in a kindergarten which had likely been turned into a makeshift hospital ward for the injured or the dead as she assumed they were quite far away from the city hall which they did battle in due to the lack of tremors or gunfire, Ma'am Jackie and Junyou lying on the foldable tables beside her, with the former having her hand reattached and the latter, her neck, while the 1st Fleet was sleeping in this tent and were using either Junyou or her bed as head rests.

Her attempts at movement managed to wake a sleepy Tenryuu up, her elder sister waking up with red circles around her eye (and likely her eye-patch-covered one as well), mentally registering the fact that she was awake before leaning in with nothing but the utmost of concern for her well-being reflected on her face, asking her a question whose pained tone silently pleaded for a positive answer.

"Tatsuta!

Are you alright?!"

Her raised voice managed to wake Hiei, Shigure and Ayanami up, all of them still wearing their army uniform along with Aoba and her copper helmet as the heavy cruiser fell asleep near the electronic monitoring equipment, Akashi and Nagato entering the room after hearing the commotion as they wore their normal ship girl uniforms, since the former was simply an overseer of Amazon company and not officially a 'land ship' combatant, and the latter was still a ship girl.

Hiei, Shigure and Ayanami's face crowded her vision since she was conscious and Junyou was not, the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser feeling a fair bit unnerved at the amount of attention she was receiving in the form of concern as she sank into the pillow in hopes that she'd be swallowed up whole by it, Nagato placing a reassuring hand on Hiei's shoulder in order to speak up in a 'benevolent authority' tone which she pulled off with ease.

"Look, Hiei.

We need to talk to Tatsuta and Tenryuu about what happened the both of them two days ago on the roof Kamogawa City Hall.

After that, you can spend as much time with her as you wish, at least until the Abyssals start attacking again."

Hiei looked uncertain about leaving them alone, but she acquiesced with a reluctant nod, leaning in close as her expression darkened,

"Tatsuta.

I'll make sure that whoever did this to you pays for this."

Before her gaze shifted back into one of compassion and hurt as she left the tent with Ayanami by her side, and Akashi snapped her fingers as several orderlies filed into the room in order to wheel both Junyou and Ma'am Jackie out of the First-Aid tent.

Akashi herself didn't even need to look back as her right hand shot out behind her and grabbed onto the back of Shigure's collar in order to stop her from escaping, darkly remarking.

" _You_ stay."

Aoba rolled her own seat over to her bed, looking at the equipment and then back at her as she inquired,

"Do you feel any tremors in your body?

Splitting headaches or static-y vision?

Numbness?

Shortness of breath or pangs of pain inside your body?"

She went through the list of questions as she tried moving her body, nerves flaring up in order to shoot down any attempts to move her left arm while her body became numb from the failed action, wincing as the heart rate monitor spiked in response to her body reacting adversely to pain, seething through clenched teeth which hurt her gums.

"My left arm hurts…

The numbness doesn't hurt, but it doesn't entirely drown out the pain, either."

Akashi pulled a meekly complying Shigure along with her as she notified,

"Not surprising, because that's where Yuubari slapped her power glove on you in order to electrocute you."

Yuubari…

Her mood soured at how easily they were defeated, Nagato remarking on how they might have played a hand in their defeat.

"Apologies.

Had we dared to fire danger close and cut that jellyfish Beast off from Yuubari, you might have stood a better chance against the J.O.A.N. unit."

Aoba shook her head and idly waved her hand, looking up at a monitor as she shared how the Beast might have had tricks up its metaphorical sleeves.

"I don't believe it would have helped.

We don't know what the jellyfish Beast is capable of, and it might have turned its wrath on us instead, especially when our equipment showed that the jellyfish was controlling the weather."

"Damn, so it can not only shock people to death via lightning bolts, but also summon rain wherever it goes?

That's going to be a problem, especially since it can ground our planes at will."

Nagato's concern was understandable, and Tatsuta noticed that Shigure and Tenryuu had been silent all the while, it being natural for the former as a reserved and precocious little girl, but it was her sister which she was worried about.

There was no time to worry about others, though, as a dizzy spell hit and she began jerking her limbs, ignoring the stabs of pain in her skull as her vision warped before her very eyes, puffing out her cheeks all while everyone flew into a rightful panic.

Rolling over onto her left shoulder and instantly regretting her move with another blistering wave of pain flooding her nervous system, Tatsuta threw up into someone's helmet as her stomach churned in order to regurgitate scalding bile which came straight from her gut.

This was _very_ likely the worst day of her life.

She heard Shigure ask and Akashi answer,

"Who does this helmet belong to?"

"It's Tatsuta's."

 _And the good news just kept rolling in._

Flopping back to a supine position while allowing herself to wallow in her own misery for once without trying to put on a strong front, she heard Tenryuu finally speak up with a weary voice,

"Yuubari called her Beast Indra.

She was also interested in looking for you, Akashi-san."

Akashi raised a nonchalant eyebrow as she remarked.

"Of course she was.

But one thing to note is that she stated how she was working for someone above even her, and we'll have to find some way to cut the snake off at the head in order for her superiors to reveal themselves."

"You do realize they could be lying to us about everything, right?

That's one of the perks of being a J.O.A.N. unit, that their _modus operandi_ would be different and they'd be capable of playing us all with their glib tongues."

The medic shrugged at Nagato's entirely plausible suggestion as she countered,

"That may be so, but it doesn't change the fact that she's an important target, and their loss that day only proves that we need more New Wave units to take her down.

Which leads us to _you."_

Looking down at a silent Shigure, Akashi then shifted her flinty gaze back to Tenryuu and Tatsuta as she addressed the twin dragons.

"You used your powers in front of others.

Not that you had much of a choice in that matter, but Shigure now knows of what you two can do.

We needed more candidates for the Project anyway, but we need to keep this on the down low before an entire swarm of ship girls come begging us for superpowers."

Tatsuta moved in her bed, struggling to look Akashi in the eye over the mounds of flesh on her chest as she wheezed.

"It… was justified.

The enemy was before us, and we had no choice but to use them lest we allow more ship girls to die if we kept them hidden."

Aoba looked up at Akashi, now leaning more towards their side as she tried to convince the repair ship.

"Hey, I mean…

If Tenryuu and Tatsuta didn't use their New Wave weapons and caused more ship girls like Shigure to die, perhaps permanently, the 'what if's that haunt them might be too much for them to bear in the long run.

At least if they used their powers and still lost, we all know they did their best, and the enemy was just that much more powerful."

And with Shigure giving Akashi the 'puppy-dog eyes' look and Nagato placing a hand on her shoulder in order to let it go, Akashi found herself outnumbered and was also starting to see things from their point of view anyway, icily acknowledging.

"Fair enough."

Shigure was remaining silent throughout all this, and Akashi released her hold on her collar in order to question her.

"Yo.

Why were you even on the rooftop two days ago?

The instruction was for Amazon company to evacuate, and you instead ran towards trouble instead of away from it."

"Well, I wanted to leave, but I suddenly remembered that Junyou-san was on the rooftop, and the light show up there made me fear the worst.

A-And when I got up there, Yuubari-san had already beheaded her, and was about t-to do the same to the others…"

She started to tear up as she hiccuped, a precursor to a crying fit as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer did her best to keep her emotions in check, and even though many ship girls present bought her story, Tatsuta didn't believe her sob story for a second, and judging from the stink-eye which Akashi secretly gave Shigure when the destroyer wasn't looking, neither did she.

But there really was no way for them to prove anything against Shigure, and them requiring more ship girls to participate in Project Psyche meant that trying to lock her out at this stage meant that they'd have to bring more ship girls into the loop than was necessary, complicating the whole affair.

Shigure piped up with a recommendation, either having planned this all along to be implemented once she got in, or probably came up with it off the top of her head.

Knowing the precocious little brat, it was likely the former.

"There's also someone else I'd like to recommend for this Project Psyche you all are talking about, since she's also in the same predicament as I am.

She also wants to get stronger despite her limits holding her back, and I believe that with the skills she possesses, she'll be quite an asset to your current team."

Everyone looked at her with veiled interest, Tatsuta lifting an exhausted eyebrow at the amount of hype Shigure managed to build around this mystery ship girl which even got her intrigued.

* * *

Shiranui was sitting with a hospitalized Shigure, Tenryuu and Tatsuta along with Aoba, Nagato and Akashi on the other, having been called in to participate in a confidential Project which meant that Shigure had succeeded.

Ma'am Jackie was sitting in on the meeting after waking up and dismissing everyone's pleas for her to rest, flexing her reattached hand with a hand grip exercise tool which emitted a squeak with every squeeze as it acted as a metronome for the ship girls present.

Aoba was sharing their currently gathered intelligence on the enemy's abilities.

"From what we know, Yuubari possesses several weapons at her disposal in order to complement her superpowers.

Her utility belt is capable of emitting an EMP wave which can cause nausea, dizziness and temporary disabling of HUD displays in order for her to do as she pleases, being immune to her own attack.

Another tool is the lightsaber which, as shown, is capable of cutting through steel due to its insanely high temperatures which managed to cut Tenryuu's sword in half."

Moving onto the next drawing of the jellyfish Beast Indra, everyone could feel Tenryuu's depression forming a downer aura around her, her destroyed sword Ezekiel being a sore point as of now.

"The jellyfish Beast is called Indra, and with good reason as it likely controls the weather in order to create thunderstorms, attacking with electrified tentacles or sending down lightning bolts in order to either strike ship girls down or to give Yuubari a power up while somehow being capable of evading radar detection.

Her lightning attack Vajra appears to utilize lasers in order to ionize the air and allow electricity to flow down its ionized path, not unlike how a wireless stun gun works."

Now moving onto the next drawing of an Abyssalized Naka on a metal elephant, it looked as if someone drew an elephant before filled in the plates and rivets on the Beast.

"Then there's Naka.

We've received several reports of Abyssal Naka clones terrorizing the coasts, and while we initially believed that this was some sort of mistake, there appears to be more than one Naka running over buildings in order to act as juggernauts to clear paths through towns.

Her Beast Airavata is named after an Indian mythological mount, and as it transforms into an M270 MLRS, it stands to reason that it can fire missiles even in its Beast mode while its snout fires hyper beams."

Pointing up at Naka, Aoba reported on the enemy abilities with a renewed passion to put her information-gathering skills to good use.

"The full extents of Naka's abilities are not known, but it is clear that she is capable of emitting a scream which can shatter glass, crack the earth and, at close enough range, deafen ship girls and humans alike.

We're not sure about this yet, but their ability to coordinate their attacks so as to keep us moving up Chiba might hint at some sort of long-range communication ability which we're not privy to yet."

The next drawing then moved to a map of America, with several places marked out with mushroom clouds and red dots.

"Chicago, Atlanta and New Orleans are all bombed out by the nukes, but the last city, being coastal, is now being overrun by radiation-resistant Abyssals and ship girls alike in a bid to control the city, and by extension the entire affected state.

An Abyssal J.O.A.N. unit which Akashi identified as a Mark III Washington-Class battleship Washington is created to be different from existing Mark I and II Washington battleships."

A crude drawing of some sort of Abyssal stood beside a Smilodon Beast with its long and sharp canines and, true to its name, formed a slasher smile as a result.

"These Mark III Abyssals are dangerous because we are not sure which naval base they hail from, their pasts and thus their motivations and behavioral patterns.

For example, for Yuubari, we know that she has an obsession with Akashi and might be baited into a trap if we sortie her.

But for these Mark III Abyssals, we'll have to discern their M.O. the old-fashioned way."

Akashi stood up and loomed over the two destroyers, looking down at Shigure and Shiranui as the former looked rather apprehensive about the repair ship's intimidating presence, and Shiranui herself managed to maintain her poker face even as the repugnant smell of blood seeped from Akashi's very being in spite of all the showers to rinse away the stench of blood.

"You two brats are going to be a part of Project Psyche, and even though I'm going to say that it's quite likely that you may die, you two aren't going to bat an eye at that, are you?"

Shigure spoke up, her deterministic vigor coming back to her as she announced.

"If I can harness this power in order to protect Tenryuu and Tatsuta-san, I don't mind taking that risk!"

And Shiranui intoned her answer.

 _"I'll do what I must in order to win."_

Shiranui then turned to look at Tatsuta as the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser wheezed.

"Oh, Shigure.

Don't you know that the both of us accepted this gamble while putting our lives on the line in order to protect you?

You're just so precocious, wanting to protect everyone you know despite having been through so much…

Can't you allow us to protect you just this once?"

To which Akashi remarked, partially to shoot down Tatsuta's misaimed goals.

"That's just not possible now.

I understand that you might get cold feet after facing off against Yuubari, to want to keep Shigure in a secure box in order to protect her from the monsters which now walk the earth.

But she's stronger than you think, and it's undeniable that she has more potential than you do, as harsh as that might sound.

If she wants to participate, don't you think you should allow her to make the choice instead of making it for her?"

" … She's a child, and isn't even three months old.

She's also the biggest magnet for life-threatening trouble."

The repair ship thought about it, finally shrugging and lifting an eyebrow in order to concede the point.

"Eh, fair point.

What do you think, Shigure, Shiranui?"

Wait.

How did _she_ get involved in this?

Shiranui was stumped at why her opinion mattered on a debate which barely involved her, but Shigure made it a point to lean in as close as possible in order to pull the 'puppy-dog eyes' look on the light cruiser as she pleaded sincerely,

"Tatsuta-san.

Please let me participate, and let me carry part of the burden for you, _pwwease?"_

And Shiranui stood behind her and gave her two cents for what it was worth.

"Um, Tatsuta-san.

I will take care of Shigure, and make sure that she never gets into trouble."

And when Shigure wasn't looking since she was too preoccupied with maintaining her gaze on Tatsuta, Shiranui rolled her eyes at what she said as though silently deriding,

 _'Not that this little lass is going to stop suicidally jumping into them, from the looks of her pathetic little attempt to fight Yuubari._

 _Might as well give herself something to defend herself with, if this is going to be a recurring thing.'_

Tatsuta deflated upon witnessing their convictions, weakly waving a dismissive hand while Tenryuu gave the barest of nods in order to give her reluctant blessings, which brought that conversation to an abrupt and awkward end.

Nagato then chipped in with some news about something seemingly unrelated but concerned their company of ship girls,

"Oh, and I suppose this is a good time as any to tell you all in advance that Admiral Mako wishes to pay us a visit.

She wishes to be here when the first Anti-Abyssal weapons are shipped to the front lines along with the twin Princesses of Japan paying us a visit in order to keep morale high."

Shigure seemed interested in what they were talking about now despite having no knowledge of it, and Shiranui leaned in to elaborate in a whisper.

"Our latest heir apparent didn't have a male heir who was old enough to succeed the throne after him, so in their desperate bid to find suitable successors, they birthed a pair of female twins in order to raise them as future candidates."

"Couldn't they have adopted someone from outside the traditional family tree?"

"Ah, but then they wouldn't be completely 'divine', as is part of _tradition_.

In the end, they decided that raising female heirs who knew what they were doing, and allowing them to succeed was far more preferable than allowing a relative unknown on the throne."

Shiranui rolled her eyes in order to display just how trite all these little arguments were, giving her own personal opinion.

"Personally, I find that they're no better than a bunch of boys creating a club with the rule,

'No Girls Allowed'.

Add that to the fact that there has been a sort of 'female empowerment' movement of sorts whose effects are most strongly felt in Japan ever since the Abyssal War began, can anyone blame them for changing the rules in accordance with the times?"

Shiranui leaned back in order to make herself comfortable in the chair which she sat on while folding her arms, continuing her explanation as to what these twins were doing by coming all the way out here to visit.

"These twins are surprisingly vocal about supporting the Abyssal War, and their visit to the front lines, although dangerous, would be a huge morale booster to all our forces.

After all, it has been noted that they're two halves who complement each other, and whichever one of the two will succeed the throne, is often touted as 'the Amaterasu-ōmikami who will unite and lead our nation to victory and greatness'."

Followed by another eye roll at the amount of self-fellating present in that sentence, Shigure looking a little more interested in what they would bring to the table, Shiranui lifting her chin

"They'll be meeting us at the Kamogawa Golf Center here, and they'll be escorted by Ashigara-7, who has been reactivated and brought back into service in order to back up our retreating forces."

Shiranui noted the tone of grudging respect in spite of the slight disgust in her tone, in which Aoba replied.

"Her, of all people, being posted here?

Our Ashigara won't like it."

"She doesn't have to.

Our Ashigara can go suck her thumb in annoyance, but Ashigara-7's just that good, and she has expressed genuine interest in helping out on the front lines."

Shigure leaned in after hearing the hype around the escort heavy cruiser, her eyes gleaming with the curiosity of a child as she asked.

"Ashigara-7…

What does the '7' stand for?

7th ship girl to be produced?"

Shiranui sighed, tuning out the sound of the adults speaking in order to speak with her friend.

"You're not wrong there, but not entirely right either.

She was the 7th Ashigara doppelganger to be crafted, not the 7th ship girl overall.

The Ashigara doppelgangers created before her have all sunk, and she is arguably one of the greatest success stories of any ship girl in the First Decade, being chosen as the royal escort to the Twin Princesses being one of them.

She's naturally got insane skill required for the job to be qualified for the job even if she is a ship girl, even though her behavior can be quite… _off-putting_ even to those who are acquainted with her.

But… I won't say anything more and allow you to form your own opinion when you meet her yourself."

Shigure raised an eyebrow in agreement and left the topic alone to be investigated at a later date, and Shiranui looked up as Nagato took the stage in order to explain how the meeting would go down.

"The ship girls from Tateyama are going to rendezvous with us here in these hills in another three days, since they've constantly been on the move on land and air vehicles.

Nothing but rice paddies from here on out, so we'll be able to move fast.

Together, we'll move Northwest inland and further into the forest-lush hills, and from there on out, we move North along Tokyo Bay to ensure air support and should the need arise for us to cross it and head for Yokosuka and Tokyo.

The two Princesses, Amaya and Ayane will touch down via helicopter at the Golf Course with Ashigara-7, and we'll have them meet Admiral Mako as she drops off the Anti-Abyssal weapons nearby before the meeting.

If we yield another inch of land to them from there on out, we'll jeopardize the lives of the ship girls in Ninja company, who hail from the Tateyama Naval Base."

The Nagato-Class battleship turned to look at the Tenryuu-Class light cruisers as she raised two fingers to point at them and remarked sympathetically,

"You two, rest.

Before looking back down at Shiranui and Shigure, her titanic bosom partially eclipsed her face from Shiranui's point of view as she continued.

"And you two, I'm sorry to say, will have to be worked a little harder and faster than usual.

We can buy some time with Amazon and Ninja company's combined might, we're not so weak or desperate as to hinge all our hopes and lives on the success of two ship girls."

"Yet."

Nagato gave Akashi a withering sideways glance which bounced off the stone wall that was the repair ship, who shrugged it off with an eye roll before Nagato continued with a receding scowl.

"But we need to push forward the speed in which you two will get your powers and get some training in before being deployed.

Tenryuu's sword is broken, and we need to craft a stronger one for her in the meantime.

You two will sadly have to bear the burden before Tatsuta recovers and Tenryuu gets another sword."

Shiranui and Shigure didn't look as if they expected anything different, especially since they were already knee-deep in shit ever since World War III began, Shiranui feeling her own expression become taut with determination and smoldering rage as she uttered.

"I'll do whatever is required of me in order to win."

In which Shigure chimed, as her own form of enthusiasm was more of a hopeful yet realistic one.

"If that's what it takes.

This power, if it's everything it's hyped up to be, is worth risking my life over.

To help Tenryuu and Tatsuta to push the Abyssals back, that's all that matters right now."

Nagato was likely surprised at the amount of fight left in the two destroyers, nodding respectfully as she commented.

"Very well then."

We can't afford to keep still when we have to make the rendezvous and meet up with Ninja company in the South, so our operations will have to go mobile.

We… are capable of going mobile, right?"

Aoba nodded in response to Nagato's concerned look, looking a bit more optimistic about this as she shared their various developments.

"Yeah, it'll do the job.

The problem is the power source, in which we'll need to carry some kind of generator with us, which'll slow us down.

But it'll do the job, and we'll be done by time we get to the hills, which isn't too far from us anyway."

* * *

Shigure and Shiranui were sitting in a transportation van of sorts, the Fairies having jerry-rigged several contraptions such that when inserted into car keyholes, they'd automatically unlock them so that they didn't have to hunt around for the car keys all the time.

Thank God for small mercies.

The road wasn't too bumpy since it wasn't bombarded too heavily, although it was offset by the fact that they fitted six ship girls into a cramped space, with various technical equipment being shoved in along with them and the four seats which were for them to sit down in before logging in, and it made for one uncomfortable ride even if the suspension managed to make it marginally more bearable.

Besides, as many ship girls found out the hard way, at least 'uncomfortable' didn't kill you.

"Alright, preparations are almost done, and once we reach the camp in the woods, Akio and Kousuke can arrange for the start of the creation process further inland before shipping the finished products to us.

You girls ready?"

Aoba turned to them, her helmet now taken off as the exterior of the van was welded with lead and copper plates prior to this in order to allow her some peace of mind, the former acting as protection while the latter was to block radio waves.

Shiranui was munching on a soggy sandwich which doubled as her dinner, finishing whatever remained of it and savoring whatever taste was left within the tuna, and she nodded grimly as she maneuvered herself onto one of the four seats, Tatsuta having been helped onto one by a concerned Tenryuu before this.

Shigure did the same as she gave Shiranui a concerned sideways glance, and for once, the Kagerou-Class destroyer found it within herself to return the sentiment with a look which wanted nothing more than for her to be safe, and infuriatingly, there was nothing she could do for her friend since there was nothing more to this than simply chancing it.

Just as Shiranui's average luck could come in clutch, Shigure's incredible luck could fail her this time and kill her in this life-or-death gamble.

Akashi leaned over the two destroyers, genuine concern shining through her world-weary eyes as she asked, perhaps to distract them from the gravity of the situation at hand.

"Any last words?"

Shigure shook her head, a strange sort of determination shining through her eyes which seemed too old for her apparent age as she spoke up.

"'I won't die.'

If that isn't irony at its finest should I die, I don't know what is."

Shiranui rolled her eyes along with Akashi, but as the repair ship looked down at her, Shiranui couldn't help but find herself saying the same thing for the different reasons.

"What she said.

I don't wish to die anytime soon, I've got too much riding on this and too much people counting on me to fail now."

Akashi raised an eyebrow at her show of implacability, but she nodded at Aoba as the heavy cruiser responded in kind with one of her own, Shiranui forcing herself to remain calm in times like these as she reassured herself.

' _Relax._

 _It's just like falling… asleep… '_


	63. Chapter 63 - Dial 'S' For Shigure

This world wasn't half bad.

Shiranui had been around the world a fair bit in her globetrotting sorties, and she still hadn't seen anything like the sight around them, devoid of life yet being a colossal reminder of what could have been.

The Maunsell Sea Forts were a series of naval buildings constructed in the Thames Estuary in order to report and deter any German air raids headed up the River Thames and ward off possible Nazi assaults on the mainland, and the four ship girls were standing on one of the many army fort roofs with their spectral doppelgangers, a 3.7 Inch Anti-Aircraft Gun standing right behind them and planted right in the center of the derelict rooftop, its erect cannon barrel pointing to the skies as the rust had set in long ago and petrified it in place.

With four slanted columns supporting these colossal structures from beneath the swirling ocean, they bore a passing resemblance to oil platforms with two-story steel fortresses atop them, the salty sea coloring the metal in order to give them a caked layer of pseudo-makeup in the form of reddish-brown and chestnut-colored rust with stained beige-white flags waving and billowing about idly, and these deserted naval fortresses were standing at a location in the sea which stretched out in every direction with no signs of land in sight.

A welcome sight to the Kagerou-Class destroyer, both as a landship who was going to have to fight on land and wouldn't be seeing the ocean anytime soon, and also as a welcome relief to reassure herself that she, you know, _wasn't fucking dead._

With a chill racing up her steel spine while the breath she'd been holding escaped her lungs, her spirit was suddenly filled with a newfound appreciation for life, a sensation which hit hardest right after any death-defying experiences which tested a ship girl's luck like nobody's business, and in a bloody affair that was war, no one could escape the grim feeling that they were ultimately living on borrowed time and the reaper's scythe was but a hair's breadth away.

She really wanted to be cuddled by her sisters and especially Kagerou, as out-of-character as that may seem since she was still (partially) human and needed an island to occasionally take refuge in a storm of life-and-death situations.

Tenryuu walked up to the two mirror reflections of the destroyers which were recently inducted into Project Psyche, addressing them formally so as to start things off on the right foot.

"So, you two are supposed to be aged reflections of Shiranui and Shigure, hmm?

Let's see what gifts or powers do you two have in store for us?"

To which one of them sported a recognizable ahoge as she stepped up, planting her reassuring yet firm palm on the Tenryuu-Class's shoulder in order to calm her down, Shiranui seeing that the light cruiser was too wound up and obsessed with bouncing back with a counterattack after her crushing defeat at Yuubari's hands, something Shiranui understood completely.

{All in due time, Tenryuu-san.}

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, as a young adult, had a respectably-sized chest which was covered by a giant ' **S** ' emblem on her chest if you took out the tie in her Kai Ni sailor-uniform and replaced it with the ' **S** ' emblem to hold the sailor collar together, and she had the back of her sailor collar extended in order to form the cape which led down from over her shoulders and down her back.

Her usual get-up was the same as her Kai Ni remodel with the finger-less gloves, hair ornament on left temple, dog ears and child heels along with an age-inappropriate miniskirt covering her hips (thankfully she wore compression pants), and the other occupant in this dream world was an older doppelganger of herself, just with a serious case of albinism just like an Abyssal.

!Shiranui still had the same ponytail like her own except with white hair, wearing a yukata with cherry blossom petals dancing on its fabric and designed in order to seem as though they were in movement should she shift where she stood, thanks to the exotic material and intricate weaving patterns used in its creation process which accomplished wonders on a level which modern fashion designers had to stretch their imaginations along with the capabilities of current technology to even hope to reach in several decades.

Not that watching the exquisitely-designed yukata and its cherry-blossom pattern design come alive like a peafowl displaying its plumage was possible when her mirror image stood still like a observing statue with poised discipline which was likely drilled into her from a young age, and from her _obi_ sash tied snugly around her yukata along with socks being worn and wooden _geta_ sandals on her feet, long sleeves reaching down and enveloping her arms entirely in order to hide them from view, and she thus seemed completely normal in comparison to the superhero vibe !Shigure was giving off.

Tenryuu shook off !Shigure's hand, looking distressed after the devastating loss of her beloved sword and her inability to protect her friends even with all her power-ups as she remarked hoarsely.

"It's not!

We got our asses handed to us by the Abyssal J.O.A.N. units, and…

And…"

Tenryuu seemed utterly deflated as she collapsed onto the elevated edge of the center platform which they all stood on with slumped shoulders, and !Tenryuu sat down along with her as the Tenryuu-Class name-ship high-fived her own face with both palms in exasperation while Shiranui kept her distance from the four ivory young adults which shared looks with one another, and since this dream world was some sort of consciousness-sharing platform, this would mean that these four fuckers would likely be able to share their thoughts.

And from what she heard about these sentient and sapient personifications of their souls, they were terrifyingly capable of speaking in circles by waxing philosophical which ultimately led nowhere at the end of their two get-together sessions.

Shigure, however, possessed a nonexistent sense of wariness around strangers who were of admittedly extreme interest, circling around her adult self in a look of admiration, expectancy and of unbridled and childlike curiosity at what this mystery would reveal at the end of the road as well as getting a preview of what she was projected to look like in the distant future.

"Wow…

So this is what I'm supposed to look like when I grow up?

Not to toot my own horn, but I have admit, I do look quite stunning.

Or _will_ look stunning, from my point of view, since you appear to be my future self…"

!Shigure gave her a warm smile, breathing out a little harder through her nose and raising a gloved fist in order to clap it on Shigure's forehead in a show of serene mirth as someone who had seen too much, but was glad to see a past version of herself which could still look like this.

Shiranui stood still and appreciated the scenery and the fact that she still remembered her time with her Kagerou-Class sister ships as a ship girl of Yokosuka, still immobilized due to the fact that she _fucking survived_ , looking at the Shiratsuyu-Class as she asked,

"Is none of this is still hitting you yet, Shigure?

We beat the 30% odds of survival, don't you think that having just survived a life-or-death gamble should warrant a bit more of a reaction?"

To which Shigure turned to her and gave a nonchalant reply, more interesting in studying their ebony-colored alternate selves.

"Yeah, of course I'm glad that we survived!

But if you think about it, it's not entirely out of the question for us all to survive this procedure since our odds of survival are independent of each other, and I said that I wouldn't die before this.

So it's 30% for us both, and our combined chances of survival add up to like, 60%, right?"

{Um, I'm not exactly sure that's how probability works, dear.}

!Shigure ruffled Shigure's hair endearingly before sharing a look with Shiranui as the Kagerou-Class destroyer recognized the look in the similar-looking pair of eyes on the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyers as those who belonged to someone who had seen far too much while still so young, but while the younger was still finding her way in the world, the senior already knew her place in it and could only try to help others reach the heights which she had reach and surpassed long ago.

Shiranui then gave herself a stoic sideways glance which her doppelganger reciprocated in kind with a withering glare which, although lacking the resolute intensity behind her own gaze due to the spirited determination behind them, but !Shiranui's gaze simply made Shiranui feel small not out of any sort of ill will in her mind, but was more like the case of a human looking down at an ant and simply knowing that he was superior, which was by no means the fault of the ant or the human, but simply a vast gap in capabilities.

Charming.

She admitted defeat in this little staring contest as she looked away, and Tatsuta looked at !Tatsuta as she shared their most recent loss with them.

"I believe we need to clear the air in order to understand each other better.

You see, we were soundly defeated by Yuubari-san on the roof of the Kamogawa City Hall, and - "

{And you wish to ask for the blueprints to a stronger and better sword, right?}

!Tenryuu finished the sentence for her, and !Tatsuta leaned in to give Tatsuta a look of concern which was also present in her subdued voice,

{And _you_ got EMP'ed and electrocuted, so you need to rest.

No trying to act tough, I'm connected to your body and can tell when you're pushing yourself too hard too soon.

I _am_ you, after all.}

Shiranui turned to give !Tatsuta a look as she commented on their situation.

"There isn't enough time for that.

The Abyssals have already established a foothold on the coasts of Japan, and the situation is just too dire for any one of us to be out of commission for too long - "

 _{Which is none of our business.}_

!Tatsuta spun around to face Shiranui, the light cruiser's look of consternation now replaced with a fair bit of ire which also filled her tone as she remarked on what really mattered to them.

Or rather, _who_ mattered to them.

{What we want to protect isn't what you want to protect.

We want to protect you, not your friends.

Their fates are beyond our control, and we can only give you the necessary strength to protect only yourselves as of now, who mean the most to us, and only when you can protect yourselves can you protect your friends.}

Before turning to face the younger Tenryuu-Class cruiser and reassuring.

{But don't worry, though.

We'll do everything in our power to protect you, and if you ask us for upgrades to your powers and weapons, that is what we shall provide whenever possible.}

That was rather cold, but Shiranui supposed that from their point of view, they ultimately concerned themselves more with protecting the vessel which housed them since it was essentially their entire world, and like a fish in a fish bowl, anything and anyone outside was like a human looking up into space and acknowledging the existence of the galaxy and by extension the universe at large.

But when that was all said and done, what mattered to a human was this blue little mud ball which he lived on, and anything which occurred outside of it wasn't their immediate concern unless it directly involved or threatened them and their continued existence.

Looking to !Shiranui, she saw that her yukata-wearing mirror image chose to soak in the salty sea breeze and the isolated feeling of the Maunsell Sea Forts which allowed for an air of isolated serenity, the lapping waves added to the peaceful atmosphere instead of subtracting from it, and she broke the silence as Shiranui posed a challenge veiled as a question to her mirror image.

"Can you talk, or are you simply giving us the silent treatment?"

Her initial answer came in the form of a frigid stare directed at her, before !Shiranui daintily pointed to !Shigure and commented on the emblem on her chest.

 _{That_ … is a walking copyright infringement and potential lawsuit right there.}

The four Tenryuu-Class cruisers chuckled mirthfully at the verbal critique of !Shigure's uniform which no one wanted to say out loud as a form of tact, and Shigure now seemed rather curious as to its true purpose and meaning.

"Um, !Shiranui-san raises a good point.

What does the ' **S** ' stand for?"

{Would you believe me if I told you it stands for 'Hope'?}

Shigure could only stare wide-eyed at !Shigure, Shiranui's slightly more sadistic side finding a little bit of enjoyment in witnessing the bewildered look on the destroyer's face when it told volumes as to how she _didn't_ see that coming, smart she may be.

{Just kidding.}

That addendum managed to snap Shigure out of her stupor as she nodded dumbly before lowering her head bashfully and returning !Shigure's wistful smile with a brilliant one , the senior Shiratsuyu-Class leaning forward and showing off her assets to her younger self as Shiranui noticed how Shigure warily eyed her older self's swaying bosom which was a legitimate concussive hazard at her height, leaning away from it as the adult Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer pointed at it and reassured.

{This is just a symbol of the first letter of your name, and it ties into what I'm about to give you since it fits as a symbol for other ship girls and soldiers to look up to as you descend from the skies like the first rays of sunlight which break through the dark clouds as the storm clears.}

Stepping on the metal platform twice and producing two hollow rings which rumbled throughout the Maunsell Fort, a circular section behind her was raised as if it was always intended to do that, with an armored suit being revealed as it leaned back on the unfurling metal storage container at an angle.

The four ship girls were awed into silence as the container's interior LED lights did the suit justice in showing off its sleek curves, futuristic design and the technological brilliance behind it, along with the signature ' **S** ' symbol on its chest, and as the adult-sized suit was allowed to stand on its own with the storage container slowly and majestically ejecting it from its confines, the helmet dismantled itself and broke off into two sections, the front disassembling into steel plates which were packed together like a deck of cards before a mechanical arm stretched out from, retrieved and stored it in a prism-shaped display located between her collarbones and above the ' **S** ' symbol.

The back of the helmet was similarly folded into a deck of steel plates and stored in a compartment directly behind the nape of the neck with another mechanical arm, and the armored suit's three sizes and dimensions were seemingly perfect for !Shigure to step into, numerous gaps in the armored suit existing to allow for ease of movement in order to make it both cool and practical to use.

Tenryuu whistled as she gave the suit an admiring look from top from bottom before dropping an offhand comment,

"Now _this_ , I could have done wonders in."

To which !Tenryuu raised a snide eyebrow in her direction and raised a middle finger,

{Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, bitch.

Were the power and upgrades I shared with you not enough?}

Tenryuu suddenly looked rather conflicted as to whether she should retract her last statement, raising an idle hand to the suit as her eyebrows furrowed, gaze simultaneously softening as she attempted to salvage the situation by elaborating.

"No, I mean…

The Blade Rush ability is everything a chuunibyou like me could ever hope for, but I'm just saying that this suit is shiny, and I just found myself wondering if I could have done more in it since this was built for an adult."

Tatsuta gave her sister a sympathetic glance as she snarked,

"Not that an armored suit made out of _metal_ and runs on _electricity_ could ever hope to offer you any sort of protection against a lightning strike."

And the Tenryuu-Class name-ship gave a tired shrug in order to concede the point, !Tenryuu looking away and dropping the case.

Shiranui then piped with a question,

"Do you have a name for it?

The suit?"

{H.A.L.O.

' _Not all angels need wings to fly'_.}

The side of Tatsuta's mouth quirked as the cruiser raised an impressed eyebrow at the impactful tagline which !Shigure casually dropped, and Shigure was still silenced at this point in time, looking up at the powered armor which was clearly full of unknown functions waiting to be learnt in due time, and she only bothered to come out of her trance in order to ask a simple question about its incompatibility with her childlike frame.

"Um, not that I'm not grateful or anything, but why is it that it's larger than me?

Do you have any, umm, platform heels hidden inside those metal legs, or perhaps a bottle of growth pills?"

!Shigure shrugged as she scratched the back of her head where her hair braid was, looking rather sheepish about the reason behind this.

{Well, it _was_ originally designed for an older version of you to wear, like you in your Kai Ni remodel, and I suppose that in its creation process on your end, you'll have to craft it according to your own measurements.}

Shiranui, despite her discipline and patience keeping her composed, was now quite eager to see what she was going to be given in return for putting her life on the line while Shigure only looked somewhat dismayed at the fact that she was going to have to modify this marvelous suit to suit her demure body of a child.

"So, what's my little toy supposed to be?"

{You mean the one in the locked second drawer of your safe, hidden in the bottom left corner beneath your bed and whose combination is currently '0-6-9-2-1-7'?

I think not.}

Shiranui's felt her face erupt into a luminescent blush as her mirror image lackadaisically and casually revealing the location of her 'toy' which only she alone knew about its existence (she was still human after all), and only now did it occur to her that the manifestation of her soul would also be privy to that kind of information, strutting up with stomps which slammed into the ground with a vengeance as she sidled up to her older self, who was looking away as an apoplectic Shiranui seethed through clenched teeth.

" _Do_ not _tell anyone of anything this sensitive in nature. Ever. Again."_

Her other self didn't bat an eye at the murderous aura which was free-flowing from her pores, which sent her further over the edge as she silently fumed in !Shiranui's face, and her own doppelganger merely raised her chin for another circle-shaped storage container to be raised, and Shiranui was at first rather confused as to what she was seeing.

The reveal was jaw-droppingly anticlimactic as Shiranui looked at yet _another_ doppelganger of herself, this time colored in her own image (beige skin, pink hair) but looked to be a sleeping, fully-grown adult version of her just like !Shiranui, along with wearing black tactical espionage gear as the Kagerou-Class destroyer crossed the distance, anger fading away and being replaced by curiosity and confusion as she looked up at her inactive future self and questioned.

"And what's _this_ supposed to be?"

{A remote-controlled body.}

Shiranui's head spun back in surprise as everyone's attention was now drawn to the seemingly asleep Shiranui No. 2 in the container, Shiranui now starting to see what it might be capable of doing even as !Shiranui narrated.

{Sitting in a chair in order to transfer your consciousness into this adult body, coupled with these clothes which can conceal your presence from sight, night vision and radar within reason, you can become a ghost in order to sneak into any location on Earth.}

"And with an adult body, you can do so much more than in a child's body."

!Shiranui lifted an eyebrow in agreement with Shigure's statement as its possible uses started to dawn on her, now stating the few downsides to this power.

{Of course, the downside is that this body will take some getting used to, what with the difference in limb length and height, amongst others.

Second is how you'll definitely need to work out the kinks in your new body by working out a lot, since these muscles are more human than ship girl despite being more resistant to muscle atrophy than any human thanks to advanced engineering.

And since this body contains significantly less steel in order not to be picked up by metal detectors, getting yourself shot at is very much _discouraged_ , even though this body, again, can withstand and deal much more damage than a normal human can hope to survive and deal it back in kind.}

Shiranui nodded in acknowledgement, understanding the logic behind those flaws as they were enough of a compromise for her to take precautions on the field, even if she were using a remotely controlled body.

Tatsuta looked to !Shiranui, asking warily about various hypothetical scenarios which could crop up.

"Moving the consciousness from body to body?

Sounds dangerous, are you sure that there won't be an incident where the soul is torn into two parts and corrupted should you fail to safely eject like a USB stick?"

"Yo, should she leave her child body alone for more than seven days, will it become a glorified corpse which she won't be able to return to?"

"Um, !Shiranui-san?

Will Shiranui have to sleep anymore, since her real body can work in the day while her adult body can work at night, and would that possibly lead to a meltdown should she attempt to do that?

And should she die in her adult body, will she die in real life?"

These questions popped up and caused Shiranui's faith in this new development to waver just a little, looking up at !Shiranui expectantly as if to silently plead,

' _Please tell me you have a sound answer to all that, or I will move heaven and earth in order to get myself a goddamn refund.'_

!Shiranui shrugged as her yukata shimmered in the daylight, a trick of the light which was somewhat regretfully ignored by Shiranui to focus on the doppelganger's answer.

{Short answer, it just works.

Long answer, no, we have fail-safes in place to specifically prevent that kind of thing from happening, Tatsuta-san.

The ship girl consciousness isn't as vulnerable as a simple and corruptible computer program, thank you very much.

Tenryuu-san, the body will be classified as alive and put in a state of hibernation which will not die, although naturally aging is possible should the possibility of return be… compromised.

But should her body be removed from the chair while she is in her adult body, we cannot guarantee its condition unless replaced.

Shigure-san, she will no longer have to sleep in the conventional sense, but both bodies will work while the other is resting, and should worst come to worst, the eject function will triangulate and send your consciousness back here, although I would advise against this as recovery will be _very_ troublesome after you give yourself a new breathing hole.}

Everyone seemed convinced enough by the subtle confidence in !Shiranui's words as she spoke like a seller attempting, and actually succeeding at reassuring them of their product's reliability, continuing on her explanation to a fully attentive Shiranui.

{The upper limit of your strength, while not anything remarkable compared to most ship girls, is far above what any human can hope to match.

Of course, we needed to remove anything which might inhibit your movement on the field, so your hips and bust are downsized to the average human size.}

Understandable, and much appreciated.

For practical reasons, she didn't want to have a battleship's child-bearing hips and humongous chest only to have them be caught in a window frame and have her get caught while trying to free herself.

Still, her adult self was attractive as her sleeping expression was not yet marred by the 'resting bitch face' which she always seemed to see whle looking in a mirror, and a lack of curves didn't diminish her appeal by too much as she now resembled a 'everyday beauty', which was someone whom you would remember due to her above-average looks and would go out with in a heartbeat, but her second body was specifically designed not to draw too much attention like most ship girls, especially battleships and heavy cruisers did with their inhumanely sublime figures, looks and charms.

She promptly decided to end that train of thought right there because she was now starting to think of how physically attractive her older self looked, and although she understood the logic behind keeping her body lean and free of hindrances, she certainly did _not_ entertain a fleeting thought as to what she would look like with such… _prominent_ features on her.

Except now.

Shit.

Further coloring her cheeks was another stray thought highlighting how since she had two bodies and one consciousness, which meant that one would be unconscious while she was possessing the other, and how vulnerable her unconscious body would be while she had the chance to feel herself up -

 _Ok, stop thinking_ _ **RIGHT NOW.**_

Everyone was giving her weird looks as she found herself looking at the floor with burning cheeks, and turning to !Shiranui for clarification only yielded an enigmatic eye-roll and a snide,

{Hormones.}

Tenryuu looked up at the sleeping beauty that was Shiranui's new body, remarking on its simplicity yet practicality behind the scenes,

"Damn.

With this body, even though what Shiranui will be doing won't flashy and attention-grabbing, it might be of far more importance than all of us combined.

To sabotage supply lines and steal enemy intelligence, it's potentially more damaging than what our brute-force attacks could hope to accomplish."

And to that, !Shiranui proudly lifted her head in order to explain the benefit of subterfuge, espionage and sabotage, and how it was truly fitting for the Kagerou-Class destroyer to gain this ability.

{The phosphorescent lights can only shine bright in the darkness, so is that not poetic in some sense that she would gain a body which allows her to utilize her intelligence-gathering skills in the dead of night?}

Shiranui shrugged, not caring too much for allegory or symbolism which bounced off of her in order for her to get to what mattered as she answered blithely.

"Whatever.

I don't care too much for all that symbolism you're going for, just what you're about to bestow me with.

It's just…

A body and a set of clothes which won't be easily detected by radar, and is also artificially aged in order to grant me greater mobility and capabilities?"

A wide grin appeared on her face despite her best attempts to maintain her neutral expression as if she had received the greatest Christmas gift she could possibly have wished for, starting to look forward to the amount of intelligence she could gather and damage she could cause with such a flexible platform (and to find out who that damn mole in the naval base was).

In the back of her mind, she was starting to wonder if she was slowly being consumed by the infectious enthusiasm which Shigure had understandably demonstrated upon seeing the shiny suit of armor which had likely possessed her, the Kagerou-Class destroyer uttering expectantly.

"That's something I can work with."

* * *

Hiei was cleaning her disassembled MINIMI machine gun with the issued cleaning kit at 6.32 p.m. on the 14 of May, Ma'am Jackie drilling it into their heads that handheld weapons, even high-tech ones that were crafted by the Fairies required regular maintenance and cleaning, and since they didn't have the Fairies to do it for them, they had to spend time doing it themselves.

She was sitting in an underground trench bunker which was previously dug out by excavators and then reinforced by ship girls moving support columns and camouflage material into place along with copper mesh on the ceiling which hid their ship girl signatures from the world, and right now, the foliage which shielded them from the sun was also what prevented any surface encampments from being spotted by overhead planes.

There were morbid discussions amongst the resting Amazon company as to what stopped the Abyssals from simply burning the forest down in order to flush them out, and the final consensus was that it all ultimately came down to precision.

Burning down the forest was a legitimate tactic, but the ship girls would simply dig deeper and further in order to endure the firestorm since there was no way to outrun a forest fire (even for a destroyer), and after that would come intense firefights in which cover would be incredibly scarce and would result in aerial bombardment on an unprecedented level that would swiftly vitrify the earth beneath their feet.

What would also discourage such a course of action was how fire was a double-edged sword, and add weather to the mix and you've got either a recipe for either epic failure or disaster, be it a sudden bout of sudden rain stopping your plans dead or the winds doing a 180 in order to burn _you._

To raze an entire country and then the world to the ground was crude and potentially self-destructive, and they assumed that the Abyssals would want to utilize more controllable means of destruction in order to precisely achieve their goals, rather than leveling everything in their path.

Heck, if brute force alone was all it took to kill all humans en masse, mankind wouldn't have lasted this long against the Abyssals, even with the help of the ship girls.

"Hiei."

Hiei snapped her head up from her machine gun in order to look up at a familiar face, Haruna looking down at her with a concerned gaze as she stood in the doorway.

Her sister looked radically different from before with her charming short hair and the rolled-up sleeves on her army uniform, and there was little to place her as Haruna of the Kongou-Class battleships.

A smile spread across her face as she motioned with her head for her younger sister to come in, and Haruna did just that as Hiei observed how she had changed.

That greyish-black hair, once so luscious as it flowed down her back, was now trimmed in order not to impede her movements, and the _miko_ uniform which allowed the utmost of grace in her movements to the point of being divine was now stripped and replaced with a utilitarian army-green uniform.

And yet, her younger sister still shined as bright as ever with her serene smile and genial demeanor, sitting down and setting down a portable music player which she brought in and pulled out from her pocket while Hiei moved her machine gun to the side, Haruna asking in a tone much like a mother would to her child.

"Hiei nee-san, are you alright so far?

I wanted to visit you and see how you were doing, but things were moving so quickly and we were so busy, and there were these last few days…"

Haruna then shook her head, looking quite ashamed of herself as she shot down her own points.

"No, those are all excuses…

I had enough time to do so, it's just that I was too unsure of what to say then."

Hiei placed a hand on Haruna's shoulder, feeling the coarse uniform fabric on her skin as she did her best to put the brakes on Haruna's turbulent train of thoughts.

"It's alright.

All I have to know is that you're still here, and that you're alright."

"Yes, yes, I suppose you're right.

Haruna… I am alright, Hiei nee-san."

Looking down at her laps in order to make an effort not to address herself in the humble yet distant third-person, the younger Kongou-Class battleship let the air settle between them before revealing why she was here today.

"You know, nee-san, I was watching you from afar, and I saw just how dependable you had become to everyone around you.

You were a pillar of strength for them to lean on and center themselves around, and even though you may dismiss it as nothing much, I personally find such strength of character admirable considering how far you've come and have yet to go."

Hiei's eyes unfocused as she thought about her elder sister, who was bravely defending the seas which they still held onto and how she was now no longer at the center of her universe, despite still being #1 in her heart.

"Onee-sama…

I admit, I have thought of her only a handful of times in recent memory, because I strived to do right by my teammates more than her, and in our personal dialogue, Onee-sama consoled me and said that she would love me as a sister forever.

That's more than I could have ever hoped for, and I'll always be grateful for that."

"But was it what you wanted?"

A perceptive Haruna saw and cut through Hiei's words as she didn't know how to answer her sister ship, and the ensuing silence was an answer in and of itself as Haruna continued.

"It was everything you needed, but not everything you wanted.

But, under those circumstances, you made your peace with your unrequited love for her and allowed her to be happy with Admiral Mako, right?"

" … Yes."

Blinking in response to Hiei's acceptance of the final outcome and moving on, Haruna made eye contact with a patiently listening Hiei as she remarked on her elder sister's growth.

"You know, Hiei nee-sama, I think you've become a bit more like Kongou nee-sama ever since then.

Last time, the three of us were all content to play second, third and fourth fiddle to Kongou nee-sama, and perhaps that's why she decided to split us up back then, so that we'd spend some time away from each other's company and come into our own as full-fledged battleships.

And right now, you're almost like everyone else's Onee-sama in your fleet, and your prior adoration and worship of Kongou Onee-sama has evolved into a platonic and sisterly respect, in which you're content just to watch her be happy from afar and are now working hard to become like her while retaining your own identity."

Haruna then looked into Hiei's eyes and allowed the senior Kongou-Class battleship to see the utmost of sincerity and the firm determination hidden beneath those soft amber pupils, and they were shining with some hints of maidenly shyness intermixed with a mature playfulness as Haruna leaned in and spoke huskily.

"Then, Hiei nee-san, would it surprise you when I say that that's the kind of person I'm attracted to?"

Hiei snapped her head towards her sister ship in order to give her an incredulous look, and Haruna, although retaining most of her shrinking violet demeanor due to her in-built shyness, now forged on with the strength of a maiden attempting to make her feelings known.

"Um, make no mistake.

I love Kongou nee-sama's exuberant nature in a slightly more-than-sisterly sense, but the strength and independence in her nature is inherent while yours is grown as you step out of Onee-sama's shadow as an admirer in order to become strong and stand by her, and perhaps in my eyes, someone which earns and develops that strength attracts me more than one who is born with that strength of character.

P-Perhaps what I'd like to say, Hiei, is that I like you.

In the romantic sense, in case your were wondering."

Insert 'Hiei. exe has stopped working' meme here.

She was absolutely floored by this recent development, watching Haruna wave her hand before her eyes before snapping her fingers as an unbroken sequence of actions since she had frozen up on the spot with unblinking eyes.

And it took a 'true love's' kiss from Haruna before her brain kick-started itself back to action, jumping back from the action as she held the back of her right hand to her lips while she scooted back and away from her younger sister, doe-eyes complementing her bewildered expression along with her sputtering attempt to construct a proper sentence.

"W-W-Wha… thuh… thuh kiss…"

Haruna's expression crumpled, and Hiei's heart instantly broke and threatened to crush her from within as her younger sister hung her head and shared in a pained whisper.

"I'm afraid, Hiei.

I'm afraid that I'll lose you all again, and even though we're doing our best in order to prevent losses, there's no telling what'll happen in the future.

And, touch wood, but should you die again, I want to take the time to let you know me better and vice versa, andnot be a wallflower like in the last war where we couldn't talk to each other.

And this time, I'd only have myself to blame for not reaching out to you all when you were still alive."

The third member of the Kongou-Class battleship sidled up to her as Hiei felt herself wondering if this was one more trial of being an 'Onee-sama', and now knew a little more about how Kongou Onee-sama felt whenever she made her advances towards her elder.

Oh, how she wished there was a training manual for elder sisters on how to deal with romantically-inclined younger sister ships coming on to them, and she sputtered as Haruna leaned in and invaded her personal space with romantic intentions.

"H-H-Haruna!

We shouldn't be doing this!"

Haruna genuinely seemed confused about why Hiei was so hesitant about being this intimate with a sister ship, citing her worship of Kongou as an example before chancing on a possible explanation.

"Why not?

With how attracted you were to Kongou nee-sama, I believed that the thought of getting intimate with a sister ship wasn't much of an issue…

Or is it because I'm not Kongou nee-sama, and that's why you aren't attracted to me?"

" _No!"_

As Haruna's expression drastically fell upon coming across that mortifying thought, Hiei grabbed Haruna by her upper arms in order to derail that train of thought before it led anywhere, and her concerned expression relaxed into an awkward one as she soothed her sister ship.

"That's definitely not it, Haruna.

I… I just had no interest in that sort of thing, and I did love Onee-sama in a completely romantic and chaste manner.

… Alright, not entirely."

Hiei looked away as Haruna gave her a disapproving look in order to pry the truth out of her, and her sister ship's expression brightened again in a warm smile as Hiei continued uncertainly.

"Maybe it was the natural pathos of things, but knowing that Admiral Mako truly loved Onee-sama and vice versa, I knew that any lewd thoughts about us both will never come true.

And like that, I never really paid such thoughts any serious attention, which is why this development took such a strange turn, to think that my own younger sister thought of me in that manner.

I'm honestly surprised, embarrassed and maybe a little proud, perhaps even happy to know that you think of me that way?"

Giggling lightheartedly as they made eye contact, the amber-eyed battleship looked down with a grim expression as she continued her speech to Hiei.

"Look, Hiei nee-sama, I…

I want you to know me better, because I don't want you to remember me as just the Kongou-Class battleship who was the team mom.

… I admit that sometimes, I do let my mind wander quite a bit when doing the routine paperwork and the daily grind, and while this love for you was previously on par with my love for Kongou nee-sama and Kirishima as sisterly love, I have to admit your recent developments has me falling for you even harder than them both."

Her expression then morphed to become ashamed as she lowered her head and brought her shoulders in like a child expecting a reprimand as she whispered uncertainly.

"And I understand that I haven't been as forthcoming about this part of myself, and I'd like to ask you and only you this.

Do you disapprove of this side of me?"

Hiei gave her a quizzical look as she gave an immediate answer, cupping Haruna's cheek and lifting her head to lock gazes with her.

"Oh, Haruna…

I'd accept this side to any of my comrades should this be revealed, and for you, my sister, I'd embrace it as something which I never knew about you, but love equally.

If anything, I feel a little bit of whiplash at how fast our relationship is changing, and how much more I'm learning about you, and it isn't too professional of us to be in _that_ kind of relationship in the midst of a world war when others aren't."

Haruna raised an exasperated eyebrow as she tried to get her point across.

"Um, well, nee-san, didn't you notice?

This is far from a rare occurrence.

The estrogen levels in this company have spiked even before we left for the Itazuma training camp."

"Uhh, what?"

Hiei was now genuinely confused as to what her sister ship was talking about, requiring an elaboration which Haruna readily gave.

"Well, a group full of bisexual women placed in a constant high-stress situation, what else do you think they'd be doing in locked closets and unused bunks in order to take the edge off?"

Hiei raised an eyebrow as her cheeks colored, still somewhat unconvinced that ship girls would be so loose at a time like this even if it did take the edge off, although Haruna's final argument got through her admittedly thick skull.

"Well, you know that ship girls have been passing around and using portable music players left and right, right?

And two or more ship girls bring it into a room in order to listen to music and drown out the noise of…

You know, the _other_ mouth-to-mouth?"

" _Oh."_

If her cheeks were tinged with pink in slight embarrassment before, they were now a ripe tomato-red as she tried to wrap her mind around various ship girls doing 'this and that' with one another, and how she really should have seen this coming when they were still humans at heart with very… passionate desires bubbling beneath their masks of logic and civility.

She attempted to reconcile the demure and kind-hearted Haruna with the equally kind-hearted but a lot more romantically and sexually aggressive Haruna before her.

"Haruna…

You were never like this, as I recall."

"Hmm…

I never revealed everything about myself to you all with how outgoing you and Kongou nee-sama were, and Kirishima nee-san was too wrapped in her work and adoration of you two to learn more than what she knew, which was admittedly a lot, perhaps to maintain that idealized maternal image of me as the status quo.

Also, the Abyssal War has changed, and along with it, my priorities and mindset.

No more waiting around for the other shoe to drop with a false smile on my face while you all drop like flies.

Just like how your love for Kongou Onee-sama was shelved in order for her to be happy with Admiral, I now want to make my romantic feelings known to you while I still can so as not to harbor any regrets should anything happen to us.

And to that end, I'll break out of my 'perfect wife' demeanor in order to become closer to you, because I love you, Hiei."

Hiei looked down with a crestfallen look, feeling somewhat guilty about devoting all her attention to Onee-sama and neglecting her two little sisters.

"I'm sorry, Haruna.

I used to worship Onee-sama so much, that I didn't pay you two enough attention.

That's why I didn't know about this side of you sooner…"

But Haruna lifted her head back up with her slender fingers to Hiei's chin in order to look her in the eye before rebutting.

"No, you wouldn't have learnt it if Haruna… if _I_ didn't want you to know of it.

And I understood your yearning for Kongou nee-sama's reciprocation of your affection, and now that that's done and dusted…"

Haruna unbuttoned the top button of her uniform and slipped it off one strapless shoulder in order to show what she _wasn't_ wearing, exposing a tender collarbone covered by flawless skin along with part of her cleavage as a tease to inform Hiei as to what she was missing out on by remaining celibate at a time like this, causing the aroused Hiei to clamp her tingling thighs together so as to hide the lubricant leakage down under while Haruna continued her advance.

"So that we have more to remember each other by.

The pitch of our voices, singing in a frenzied duet as we reach a crescendo.

The sensation of our heated skin pressed against each other, feeling our body warmth be transmitted via intimate body contact.

The curves on both our bodies, our lips and fingers roaming and tracing over every inch of skin and the recesses of every crevice in order to memorize them by touch, and later by heart.

 _The taste of each other's sweat on our tongues, like two cats in heat licking each other clean in places they can't reach themselves_ _._

 _Hiei nee-sama, won't you indulge in your little sister's wish and partake of her just this once?"_

A big gulp rolled down Hiei's lumpy throat as she felt her entire body become piping hot, which was even hotter than the summer was warm as the sweltering dugout shelter didn't provide much in the way of cooling her down despite the ventilation keeping the shelter habitable in times of cave-ins or disasters.

She was now _very_ conscious of her body's sensitivity, being a spring which was wound ever tighter in the form of her her tensing body as she fought in conflict after conflict without unwinding, feeling the sweat trickling from every pore and tickling her flushed skin along with Haruna's labored breathing on the surface of her skin, her younger sister not-so-innocently tempting Hiei with her feminine wiles as ember orbs met cerulean blue ones and ignited a blaze in the former.

Hiei's final line of defense was painfully flimsy as she weakly attempted to find an excuse out of the situation,

"I'm dirty, Haruna.

Besides, I haven't bathed yet, so I'd taste weird with my sweat."

To which Haruna managed to up the ante by sultrily replying, single-handedly undoing the top button to Hiei's army pants.

"Then perhaps the old adage still holds true even to this day, that the quiet ones are the kinky ones.

I don't mind cleaning the dirt and grime off of my beloved and hardworking elder sister with just my tongue alone.

And besides, Haruna needs her daily salt intake, Hiei nee-san.

Are you going to leave your dear younger sister hanging?"

Followed by a tantalizing lick of her moist lips, eliciting another nervous gulp from a sexually-charged Hiei as she adjusted the collar of her army uniform and prayed that it was the effect of the stuffy air in the bunker which was causing her temperature to rise, as opposed to the awakening of a dormant and frustrated inner passion which always had to be repressed as Kongou slipped out of her grasp and into Admiral Mako's loving arms.

Admiral Mako had always proven herself worthy of Kongou's affections, but that left her romantically unfulfilled as a woman, and that desire was unleashed today as her younger sister confessed her love to Hiei, who felt humbled and happy that someone looked at her that way.

Haruna pressed down on the music player's 'Play' button and played something oddly fitting for the occasion,

 _Marvin Gaye_

 _34\. Sexual Healing_

Before the two Kongou-Class battleships, in accordance to the slow and balladic, yet rhythmic tempo pulsating softly as it stirred up their war-weary souls in a series of beats and took its time to get them ready to procreate instead of reap, taking their time in stripping themselves and each other as they occasionally broke eye contact in order to undo a stubborn button or two, but kept their eyes on each other otherwise.

The song's rhythm seemingly enchanted their sweating bodies and synchronized their heartbeats which resonated throughout their bared bodies as their bare bosoms pressed against each other, allowing Hiei to feel the anxiousness which also plagued Haruna's heaty body despite aggressively putting the moves on Hiei.

All the pain, all the stress, the entire Abyssal War in and of itself seemed to fade further into obscurity in Hiei's mind with every millisecond of contact being made in their erotic grind, as Hiei now only had eyes for her younger sister Haruna, who was the center of her universe right now.

And in order to reassure Haruna, Hiei clasped her hands and interlocked their fingers as they spread their legs, thrust their hips out and kissed each other with their other pair of lips in undulating motions and allowed their erect nipples to teasingly graze each other's breasts while their vulva delicately made contact with each other, Hiei wincing as her vulva was stimulated by the intoxicating contact as a carnal wave of pleasure flowed and spread throughout her body via her excited steel spine in a long-awaited leak of bottled-up sensations, Haruna breaking out into a worried grimace as she asked.

"Nee-san…

Does it hurt anywhere?"

Her labored breathing, heaving bosom, excited tremors, blushing face, the sweat-glossed skin and the tears which formed on the corners of her watery eyes were subtle but mixed indicators regarding her true condition, huffing in a raspy voice as her lust seeped through her crumbling mask and dripped from her voice like the trace amounts of saliva from her mouth,

"No…

In fact, it felt really good.

Please, continue…"

Resuming their stress relieving ritual that was tribadism while half-drunk from the pleasure, Hiei found herself redoubling her efforts with a vigor which almost bordered on animalistic, and Haruna's amber pupils now shined with a fire behind them, their sweat and lubricant mixing into a sticky and delectable nectar as Haruna and Hiei both climaxed with a kiss using both their lips up top and below.

Pulling apart their faces in order to watch each other's blush hit critical as a loose string of saliva still bound her lips to her sister's, her heartbeat was reverberating throughout her body and Hiei suddenly felt weak and found the urge to hug Haruna like a drowning sailor would with a piece of flotsam in a raging storm, wheezing into her younger sister's ear in an impressed tone,

"Y-You're pretty good at this, Haruna."

"Like I told you, nee-sama.

Lots of idle time and being surrounded by beautiful women fuels a stir-crazy ship girl's imagination and gives her ample time for mental practice.

It's as good a distraction as any."

"Hiei."

Haruna's dilated eyes widened as she stared dumbly at Hiei, and the senior Kongou-Class battleship clarified about the respectful yet relatively distant honorific right now,

"Call me Hiei.

'Nee-sama' sounds so formal, and if we're getting this intimate, call me by my real name, Haruna.

Please."

Haruna's cheeks then stretched into a radiant smile, bringing her respiration rate under control as she brought her face in close in order for her humid breath to brush against her naked chest and collarbone to get the fine hairs on her skin to stand on end and sway with every racy sigh, agreeing to her simple demand.

"Yes, of course.

I love you, Hiei."

Haruna's slender hand reached down, her shoulders supple and arm muscles lean as they rippled and squeezed with the Herculean strength of a fast battleship delicately applying said superstrength, Hiei's toes and legs spasming and squirming in delight at what she felt with her younger sister's handiwork and knowing just how to tickle her fancy as Haruna toyed with Hiei like putty in her hand.

Hiei could feel her heated face morphing into a plethora of delighted expressions for Haruna to view and burn into her memory banks, gulping down lungfuls of oxygen as her heart raced and her vision watered, fervently moaning Haruna's name while the volume of the background song helped to mask it from the outside world,

"Oh, Haruna!

 _Haruna!"_

The final, bewitching attack which caused Hiei to lose any remaining vestige of self-control and enticed her into surrendering her mind, body and soul to the quicksand of pleasure was how Haruna knew just when to lean in and trace the tip of her salivating tongue down the side of Hiei's neck to her shoulder, another crescendo of inflamed passion almost making her hips give out as she peaked yet again and made her feel conscious of Haruna sensing every convulsion, twitch and spasm throughout her body the entire while, pulling back in order to allow Hiei to look into her intense amber eyes as they melted Hiei's demeanor and resistance with her mesmerizing gaze.

Collapsing onto the mattress that was laid out beneath them, Hiei's mighty battleship strength was rendered impotent as she trembled like a newborn foal and was feebly mewling like a kitten while Haruna now prowled on all four limbs with raised shoulders and taut haunches like a tiger waiting to pounce on her wounded prey while her shortened grey hair flared out near her back and shoulders much like a lion's mane.

Her ample breasts were swaying like pendulums which were a beat out of sync with each other while her voluptuous figure arced and swayed in a hypnotic trance, both physical traits complementing each other with her hungry gaze eyeing Hiei's body in order to make for a _very_ licentious Haruna, who was oozing pheromones which tinted Hiei's view to make her think of Haruna as more than a sister.

Mikura Jima Island, Twelve Navies, World War 3.

They were all mere afterthoughts, painful memories and horrid memories which faded from conscious thought which were washed away with every passing moment she spent with in intimate contact with Haruna, Hiei curling in her shoulders and feebly covering her bare breasts in order to at least pretend to defend her modesty even at this point.

And what did Haruna do?

Lower her head in a leer and lick her lips again as she continued her crawl, turning Hiei on even more.

 _Damn,_ had her sister ship been this alluring?

Haruna, in her predatory crawl, slunk over Hiei and allowed her to witness her younger sister's toned abdomen and shapely hips, her heart pounding away a mile a minute in her heaving chest as Haruna pulled up into an upright position while her thighs straddled the head of the supine Hiei and supported her suspended hips, love nectar dripping from her drenched nether regions onto Hiei's face as Haruna peeked over the horizon of her bare bosom, nipples standing at attention as she begged in an aroused whisper.

" _Please, kiss me tenderly down there, Hiei."_

Licking her ripened lips and savoring the perfect blend of body sweat, love nectar and saliva that was discharged from both their bodies, dripped down and mixed together into the perfect blend in Hiei's gaping mouth, she could only answer before opening her mouth and allow her saliva to pool while she stuck out her tongue,

"Of course, Haruna."

Haruna obliged as she slowly lowered her hips so as not to hurt Hiei, making sensual lip-to-lip contact with Haruna's little secret garden while Hiei traced her hands down the contours of her abdomen and pelvic area before hitting the jackpot, eating Haruna out as her sister ship arced her back and threw her head back in a howl of sheer, unadulterated ecstasy while Hiei indulged in 'shlicking', feeling the incorporeal waves of physical delight being triggered by the movement of her trembling fingers within her fleshy folds, stimulating her nub and allowing her to ride another wave of pleasure as the sisters climaxed yet again as one.

Hiei inhaled sharply just as Haruna broke off the kiss by lifting her weak hips and circling around in order to lie parallel to Hiei's body with her glossy face millimeters away from hers, thinking gladly to herself,

' _I needed this._

 _God, we_ both _needed this.'_

As Haruna lowered her head, and they both closed their eyes for a kiss which was taken slow in order for her younger sister to savor the sensation of her tender lips which was enriched in taste by Haruna's love nectar acting as a condiment, tongues roughly feeling each other out and grinding them together as they Frenched each other in the nude and made sweet, sweet love to each other not just as sisters, but also as lovers throughout the rest of the day.

Hiei slept well that night.


	64. Chapter 64 - The Green Hell

The underground bunker which the 1st Fleet hid in on a humid afternoon on the 15th of May was well-maintained, with discarded food wrappers buried in one corner above their cooking and eating utensils, two pails with sponges standing in the second along with cleaning and healthcare products which were previously procured from abandoned stores thrown in the third, cleaning tools like brooms, dustpans and garbage bags along with six gas masks (you never knew) thrown in the fourth.

Lessons had been learnt from World War 1 about horrific living conditions in makeshift bunkers, and the ship girls were strongly encouraged to maintain some semblance of discipline in terms of hygiene, and being girls meant that they were at least a little more conscious about it even in times like these.

The fact that their superhuman bodies were resistant to the effects which preceded the onset of horrid diseases like dysentery and the like were a godsend.

Wooden columns held up the insides of the underground bunker, stale and thick air being filled with the expectant breaths of the five other ship girls stuck in the cave with her which Ayanami ignored in favor of listening to the vibrations in the ground of the trench, her ear touching the ground in order to gauge the enemy's position.

With the aid of her super-hearing, she detected the minute vibrations produced not just by the walking Abyssals, but also the sluggish and rumbling movements of their armored vehicles shaking the ground beneath them.

She couldn't determine the exact distance due to not knowing the hardness of the dirt beneath around them, the formula for calculating distance in this case and also being an unfortunate victim of the fear which gripped the hearts of the ship girls in hiding, tersely whispering to her comrades.

"They're coming."

The 1st Fleet was mostly present aside from Junyou and Tatsuta, who were held back for observation purposes lest they collapse on the field, and they were replaced with Suzuya and Kitakami, the usually-cheery aviation cruiser now donning her game face as she nodded in response while the torpedo cruiser cocked her M4 Carbine.

Kitakami looked up with eyes which had clearly lost some sleep over the last few days, looking haggard as she commented on the exceptional events occurring around them thus far,

"So, what do we got?

We came from killing Abyssals on the seas to fighting on land in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, and we're going up against 6-meter tall transforming war elephants made from steel, jellyfishes with a _real_ nasty touch and several million Abyssals on our beaches.

What the hell is even going on anymore, man?"

Everyone else also looked equally distressed about the recent chain of bizarre events while Ayanami chipped in with the hearsay and gossip which had been floating around Amazon company, who had unfortunately taken on several of these oddities due to some strange twist of fate which tied all these Abyssal powerhouses back to their base and put them right in their cross-hairs.

"I understand, Kitakami-san.

Even though it should feel no different than fighting Princesses which are tailored to walk on land, but everything we've trained for has been rendered almost useless when these New Abyssal units possess superpowers, which we've most assuredly _not_ been trained to handle."

"Yeah,"

Hiei shifted where she sat, looking despondent about their missing comrades and how the midnight light show on the roof of the Kamogawa City Hall was likely related to their injuries, and her concern was clearly witnessed in her cloudy expression.

"That light show on the City Hall roof, Tatsuta and Tenryuu were called in to handle whoever took out Junyou, Saratoga, Zuikaku and Kinugasa and likely got taken out by the perpetrator.

I heard the medics say that whoever did this, they likely electrocuted Tatsuta via some sort of taser to scorch her skin, and she then used some sort of superheating cutter in order to cleanly sunder Ma'am Jackie's arm.

What the hell are we supposed to do against _that?"_

Everyone wordlessly sighed as one as their shoulders sagged and their spirits dampened, but not the kind which would stop them for good when they were soldiers first and foremost, and there was a war to fight and Abyssals to kill.

Ayanami then looked to a withdrawn Tenryuu, likely still using this respite to worry about Tatsuta, asking her a question which was bouncing around in her mind.

"Tenryuu-san.

Why were you and Tatsuta-san called up to go onto the roof on that day, anyway?"

Tenryuu snapped out of her thoughts as Kitakami gave her a deadpan look and lightly knocked on the side of her boot with her own as the eyepatch-wearing light cruiser wearing a face of utter surprise like a kid who was called up to answer a question which he hadn't prepared for, but Shigure piped up with an answer in order to cover her teammate.

"She was protecting me."

"Oh.

And what were you doing up there that day?"

"Junyou was up there.

I wanted to check on her condition."

"Oh."

Nobody knew how to continue the conversation as it led back to the downed Hiyou-Class light carrier of the 1st Fleet, and it was awkward of them to question any further due to how delicate it had become, and to question Shigure and Tenryuu any further was to question their intentions in wanting to help a comrade which would make themselves look bad.

The 1st Fleet then anxiously held their breath as another unapologetically loud jet fighter flew by their position, the copper wire mesh pasted onto the walls of the underground bunker preventing either side from detecting one another via possible use of ground-penetrating radar while tree logs acted like the bones in a human body and prevented it from caving in.

Hiei wiped the sweat from her temple using her sleeves, and Ayanami could see that everyone was silently bemoaning the fact that the instruction from Ma'am Jackie was for them to camp in the hills and defend them at all costs, and the senior light cruiser had to be forcibly held down by her younger doppelganger Jintsuu and a mildly annoyed Akashi in order to stop her from jumping back into the fray immediately after recovering.

Ayanami flicked the safety switch off and pulled back the cocking handle to her MP7 submachine gun while Suzuya manned a jerry-rigged periscope made of mirrors, cardboard, steel, wood, black-tinted translucent paper and a lot of leaves in order to conceal both the periscope itself and the reflective properties of the lens.

Another earth-quaking shudder from the surface.

The Abyssals were using metal detectors to try and bypass their land mines, and they now had to resort to using Antipersonnel Claymore mines in order to target as many enemy Abyssals as possible, taking a page out of the Viet Cong by utilizing pit traps filled with sharpened metal poles, mace-and-chain dangling from above head level and released with the pull of a tripwire and false hideouts were filled to the brim with C4, plastic explosives which couldn't be picked up by metal detectors and could be remotely detonated.

Tenryuu nervously uttered in the cave which they hid in,

"Man, those submarines sure know how to plant those explosives and booby traps, huh?

They're already this close, and yet the Abyssals are still finding it this tough to advance…"

"Well, from here on out, there's nothing but forests and jungles keeping us hidden, and it's not as if we're in a tight enough pinch to be throwing ourselves at them in our haste to defend this area.

We _do_ have to stop their advance, though, or they'll keep on rolling along with this momentum all the way to Tokyo and beyond."

Tenryuu lifted an eyebrow in agreement to Kitakami's rebuttal, Ayanami hearing a sharp sound in the distance which sounded more like a twig being stepped on in the muffled cave, Shigure coming up with an educated guess as to its origin.

"Sounds like our snipers have already engaged the Abyssal forces in battle.

We'll have to start moving."

Nodding, the 1st Fleet remained crouched as they exited the maze of tunnels while trace amounts of dirt fell on their uniform, the dirt above them shaken loose due to the distant tremors in the distance which radiated from unknown, likely enemy origins.

Their faces were painted with removable green and black paint in order to serve as camouflage since it went well with their brown-green-black army uniforms instead of their flashy and impractical ship girl uniforms, and the air in the cave was humid with six ship girls all vying for oxygen in a cramped space while sweating and moving about, carrying loaded weapons for battle.

Shining only one flashlight in order to move about underground stealthily, the nameship occasionally heard the leading Kitakami hold up a fist for them to stop, in which the 1st Fleet anxiously echoed down the line,

"Hold!"

"Hold."

Before they met up with another group of ship girls as another lone flashlight danced in the distant darkness, and Ayanami could hear the Kuma-Class cruiser speak up after a while,

"Sunray!"

And the countersign was whispered loud enough for them to hear,

"Moon!"

"Ok, let's move."

That was uttered when the ship girls before them moved out of the way, shortly before arriving at and escaping through the cave exit as the cramped cave gave way to dense foliage some distance away, the last man being Suzuya as she replaced the floorboards to the cave exit, but not before arming it with landmines which would go off should the Abyssals discover and enter the cave.

The forest was a crowd of trees with life teeming in every tree crevice and square inch of land around them while forming walls of leaves with trees standing in everyone's way just like in a packed rush hour train, and the ship girls were doing their best to blend in with it all as they crawled through the jungle, and before the operation, Amazon company was told the position of the concertina wires, sniping trees, booby traps, land and clay-more mines so as to avoid them entirely.

Even if their presence couldn't activate these traps, it was still not a wise idea to next to explosives in the first place.

Keeping their firearms pointed down so as not to be spotted, Kitakami lowered her body frame as she called out anxiously to the 1st Fleet for them to echo,

"Hold!"

"Hold."

Ayanami followed everyone else's example as she took cover behind one of many deliberately felled trees in the area which provided some cover, listening to the light cruiser now calling out to someone in the distance in a wary tone using their agreed-on callsign.

"Sunray!"

And the countersign was whispered loud enough for them to hear,

"Moon!"

The 1st Fleet exhaled in relief as one, Ayanami raising her head a fraction in order to spot ship girls doing the same and identifying familiar faces such as Kinu, Fubuki, Mikuma, Maikaze and Houshou in the foliage.

It was still a strange sight to see ship girls dressed up as soldiers and hiding in a sea of trees, another distant boom sounding out in order to signal the Abyssals getting closer while Kinu, mostly recovering from her sustained injuries at the Kamogawa City Hall along with Yahagi and Kiyoshimo to be combat-ready, wildly gestured for them to cross over the concertina wire from the right as Fubuki was already moving, likely in order to open a gap in their defenses.

"Move."

The 1st Fleet moved across the opening in half-crouch positions while keeping low profiles, and as they circled around in order to meet up with the vanguard of Amazon company as Kitakami spoke up.

"The Abyssals are approaching our location, likely arriving in about five minutes."

"How many?"

Kinu's concern was understandable, and Suzuya piped up with the answer,

"Probably about a hundred or so foot mobiles."

"And armored vehicles.

Don't forget the armored vehicles shaking the earth."

Suzuya looked behind her shoulder and jerked her thumb at Ayanami, and Kinu face planted into the relatively shallow dirt trench which they laid in while Fubuki, looking positively frightened about their odds of survival, squeaked about possible reinforcements.

"Um…

If that's so, then when can we expect backup to arrive, either as planes or reinforcements, Ma'am?"

Hiei shrugged as she sat up straight and cocked her machine gun, looking up into the sky as it was blotted out by the dense foliage of leaves and branches above their heads which formed a shade of sorts for them to fight in, remarking darkly.

"Well, today's the 15th of May, which means that the ship girls of Ninja company should be approaching our location by tomorrow.

We need to hold this location until then, otherwise it'd muck up the entire plan."

Shigure, squinting her eyes while studiously looking at Hiei's back, suddenly asked a question which no one saw coming.

"Hiei-san.

Why do you have bite marks on the back of your neck?

The skin around it is also discolored, do you need to see a medic?"

The ship girls present lapsed into dead silence upon hearing that, the void now filled only by the sound of the chirping birds, rustling leaves as well as the buzzing insects all around them, Ayanami turning towards Shigure as did everyone else while the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer shrunk back within herself upon having ten pairs of eyes staring holes into her.

Hiei's face was burning, although she still maintained enough of her composure to give Shigure an exasperated look as she pleaded.

"Shigure, can we _please_ focus on the fight at hand?

Don't we have, like, a World War to win?"

"... Oh. Ok."

Ayanami exhaled through her nose as the 1st Fleet got back to discussing their next possible course of action while Hiei conspicuously flipped up her collar, the Ayanami-Class destroyer understanding that Shigure's curiosity, while a positive trait, could crop up at the most inopportune moments as she asked about whatever caught her fancy at that moment, leading to awkward situations like these.

Houshou suddenly froze up as her horrified expression caught Ayanami's eye, suddenly tackling Fubuki and Maikaze to the ground even before she yelled in a panicked tone,

" _DUCK!"_

Everyone immediately followed suit and threw themselves to the ground, and even though the mortar shell missed them by a considerable margin, it's falling whistle was likely what the light carrier heard as the dirt and dust that was thrown up began to rain on them, Hiei pulled them up and started shouting into their ringing ears,

"They're shelling us!

We need to start fighting back; where the hell is the rest of Amazon company?!"

Sharp cracking noises could be heard from behind them, the first sounds of gunfire sounding out in the distance as leaves were perforated and trees branches were splintered from the bullets flying in from both sides of the battlefield.

Ayanami then saw Mikuma gesture behind them, remarking with a shaky confidence lacing her voice,

"Right behind us!"

Before the ship girls began filing out from the forest itself, several of them discarding the copper wire-laced poncho as they broke away from the trees and spot of earth which they were hugging, and others burst out from tunnels and started opening fire from the foxholes which were dug out beforehand, light carriers and cruisers hiding in distant trees and raining death from above with sniper rifles.

Smoke grenades were thrown, and these were different as the white smoke which they exhaled fogged up Ayanami's radar, which she highlighted in her question to her teammates,

"Umm, just asking, but…

Are those smoke grenades supposed to do that, blocking our radar and all that?"

"Well, look on the bright side, at least the Abyssals also can't detect us because of the nano-machines in the smoke reflecting radio waves in every direction."

"That isn't much of a consolation, just so you know!"

"It wasn't meant to be one, just so _you_ know!"

Ayanami's banter with Hiei helped to ease some of the tension, the 1st Fleet now in a full-on firefight with the Abyssals as they fired into the smoke, white-hot lead being thrown in both directions and causing Ayanami to crouch behind the trench and sandbags which they were lying behind, concertina wire before them now looking pathetically weak in comparison to the amount of firepower which the Abyssals brought.

A dull boom sounded out in the distance, trees being felled and dirt being thrown up immediately after shell-to-earth contact as a tank made its way through the battlefield, Ayanami hearing a spotter reveal whatever was approaching them.

"It's a light tank!

Um, two, no, three PT-76 light tanks moving up!"

The rumbling of the earth was a minor spoiler before the reveal, Atago sounding out with a notification to all of Amazon company.

"Everyone, Atago here!

I'm moving up with a Panzerfaust 3 rocket launcher in order to take them out, I need covering fire along the way!"

"You heard the woman!

Let's move!"

The smoke was dissipating, and the Abyssals were now hiding behind some sort of artificial wall which was erected in order to stop Anti-Abyssal rounds from penetrating them, Ayanami getting a sneak peek as to how they worked.

A Ri-Class semi-crouched as she pulled at a steel rod in order to extend a black wall of what she could only assume to be bullet-resistant material like unrolling a roll of tin foil to form a horizontal wall, and she planted it into the ground before taking cover behind the portable defensive wall.

That was shortly before a grenade plopped into their trench, Ayanami and Fubuki turning to face the grenade which was conspicuously missing its lever and safety pin, which meant -

Ayanami's expression contorted in fear as she bolted for it and went against her fight-or-flight instincts telling her otherwise, scooping it up and hurling it straight into the air while aiming it slightly outside the trench while screaming,

 _"DUCK!"_

And the ship girls around them followed her instruction to the letter while Ayanami collapsed onto the floor and covered the nape of her neck, feeling the air, earth and her insides quaking with the explosion about a second later, being partially buried by the loosened dirt which was sprinkled on her prone body before someone pulled her up, still dazed from the shock of what just transpired before Tenryuu shook her awake, remarking in an impressed tone and a grateful smile.

"Jesus, Ayanami, you just saved several of the ship girls in this trench with your quick action.

Just don't make this a recurring thing, alright?"

"A-Alright."

Hiei popped up behind them, sounding concerned about their position being overrun as she remarked tersely.

"Not that I don't enjoy you girls having this bonding session, but we need to get moving before we get overrun by these damn Abyssals!

Second line, defend the retreating first line, we're headed back to you and regrouping!"

The second line was directed at the second line of ship girls located behind them, and the battleship looked back at Suzuya, who nodded as she produced a packet of C4 and primed it by pressing buttons on a disposable phone before producing a mirror which was glued to a tree stick in order to peek above the trench sandbags and scout for available targets, all while the ship girls retreated through another underground cave.

It was immediately shot up into oblivion as a distant _crack_ smashed the glass into innumerable pieces, Suzuya suddenly doubling over and seething,

" _GODFUCKINGDAMNIT!_

 _NOT THE FACE!"_

While Kitakami moved up to her, picking up the dropped C4 and hurling it out of the trench in a Hail-Mary shot before slapping Suzuya on the shoulder, the aviation cruiser getting the message as she pressed the call button.

And since the radio wave-blocking smoke had all but dissipated by now, the button press precipitated a distant explosion which definitely caused damage due to the screech of flaming steel in the distance as Suzuya allowed herself to be pushed into the tunnel by the Kuma-Class light cruiser, Ayanami taking over and guiding her in before she recoiled slightly at the sight of the Mogami-Class aviation cruiser's bloody face.

Shards of glass were being pushed out thanks to the nanites and dropped them into the ground, but there was no hiding the blood which was drawn as a result of the broken glass cutting into her face as it flew into her face like shrapnel, and Suzuya now smearing red 'war-paint' on her face as she wiped her face with her left forearm and cleared the glass shards away, now two applications of eye-shadow away from becoming a complete ghoul in appearance.

The radio crackled again, static slightly muffling it somewhat but was still tolerable as Mutsu's voice complemented.

"Whoa!

Whoever threw that, good job, because the explosion destroyed one of the PT-76's tracks and caused it to fall into the pit created by the explosion!"

To which an invigorated Tenryuu-Class cruiser called out,

"Yeah!

 _That's_ what I'm talking about!"

"Ow!"

Kitakami, despite feeling some pain at the meaty impact which was likely Tenryuu punching her either on her shoulder or butt in the dark cave, the torpedo cruiser's tone was lighthearted enough to know not to take it seriously when she knew what Tenryuu was like.

Kinu came up to the end of the tunnel as she waved and called out,

"Sunray! Sunray!

It's us!

The Abyssals are hot on our tails, fire everything we have downrange while getting sections to flank them with heavier firepower!"

Ayanami popped out of the tunnel in order to see Arare helping her up, and Hyuga was firing her Browning M2 machine gun with no fuss despite the recoil which would give most humans and even lesser ship girls sores for days, the Ise-Class battleship firing controlled bursts so as to conserve ammunition.

Mortar shells were falling in a dispersed pattern to try and keep them moving before concentrating their fire, and the wafting smokescreen helped to disrupt their aim somewhat as they cowered from another shell creating a mini-earthquake and throwing dirt everywhere, causing Maikaze to smack the sprinkled dirt off of herself as they hugged the wall of the trench.

Up in the tree, Ayanami could see that Yahagi was manning an M24 SWS in order to snipe the enemy due to a lack of bird carriers in their company, and the mortar explosion shook her camouflage-colored poncho as the light carrier's next shot went wide.

Another mortar shell hit a little too close to home as Ayanami felt the shock-wave even from here, the shell chucking up and dislodging swaths of land like a dynamite excavator to partially bury Shigure, the tremors still present in the soil as Ayanami rushed over to her comrade.

Throwing aside her MP7 submachine gun, she hurriedly dug Shigure out of the makeshift grave while fearing the worst, shortly before she jumped as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's head popped out like a budding tree shoot from the mound as she comically spat out dirt from her mouth, feebly attempting to shake the dirt off of her while Ayanami helped her in that regard by digging in deep and hauling her out, a leaf-wearing Samidare moving up to pat her sister ship down as she squeaked.

"Come with me!"

The previously blue-haired Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer had her ocean-blue hair bleached before being cut and dyed black just like all the ship girls with colorful hair colors which didn't belong in a forest and made them stick out like sore thumbs, the leaves having been plucked from their surroundings and stuck to their uniform in order to further conceal themselves, but there was no hiding the concern in her expression as Samidare led the two 1st Fleet destroyers through the maze of trenches.

Hurling another unpinned fragmentation grenade over the trench sandbags, Ayanami mentally counted the seconds leading up to the explosion while preparing to duck in case an Abyssal decided to hurl the grenade back at them, and that possibility thankfully never occurred as an Abyssal corpse was sent flying into the trench thanks to the grenade explosion and had the three destroyers dumbly staring at the smoldering remains at their feet.

A Tsu-Class cruiser with charred skin was missing three limbs after having them blown clean off her body, and the helmet which the ship girls were familiar with due to their encounters on the ocean was cracked with parts breaking off to allow them the dubious honor of looking at the rarely seen sight of the Tsu-Class's shrapnel-shredded face, having blue-tinted flaming stumps for limbs and exemplifying the horrors of war as her bloodshot, empty eyes stared into the distance and had blood free-flowing from the mouth.

Samidare holstered her MP7 and dug into the walls of the trenches with trembling hands in order to scoop out dirt and bury the Abyssal corpse in dirt and smother the flames before it blew up in their faces, and she turned back in order to frantically gesture for them to move while they could.

Ayanami's HUD wasn't forgiving in what it displayed as it succinctly read,

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

ASASHIO-CLASS DESTROYER 089

"ARARE"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

TAIGEI-CLASS SUBMARINE TENDER 184

"TAIGEI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

A resounding boom in the distance followed the woody fracturing of steel against wood and caused a tree to be felled as Noshiro, camping on the sniping platform on the treetop, jumped ship as the tree collapsed rather than be crushed by the tree possibly falling on her, thankfully landing on the ship girl side of the battlefield while the fallen tree transformed the landscape yet again with a mighty crash.

Hearing someone else yell into the radio,

"Watch out!

A Ri-Class is about to use a bangalore in order to carve a path through the trenches and wires!"

It was followed up by a crack of a high-powered rifle being fired before Yahagi noted,

"No she's not!"

Several ship girls were crying out about getting shot, and the curt response over the radio was to tell them to either walk it off or suck it up, and a masculine voice sounded out over the radio as a JSDF soldier spoke up,

"Amazon company, the artillery battery is set up over the ridge, ready to shoot and scoot!

Awaiting target coordinates!"

To which Atago sounded out anxiously, Ayanami barely noticing her silhouette on the peripheral of her vision with a rocket launcher propped on her shoulder.

"Men, target these coordinates which I'm sending you, I'm targeting the incapacitated PT-76 tank!

This will be danger close, over!"

"Acknowledged, firing now!"

The forest then rang with the shrill scream of missiles and shells flying everywhere, Ayanami clutching onto the nearby tree trunk columns for support while feeling the soil tremble beneath her feet as though in the midst of the earthquake, her insides and mind being similarly shaken as her clenched teeth, shut eyes and brain shuddering in her skull hurt quite a bit from the vibrations plaguing her insides.

The aftermath wasn't any better, the little destroyer shaking her head to get rid of the tinnitus in her ears after being in such close range of a battery bombardment, the dust settling down on whoever survived the initial bombardment while her dazed mind was starting to lag a little from the mental fatigue which started to creep up on them, despite the earlier reprieve in the woods.

Samidare yelled into her ear as another mortar shell impacted, cratering and shaking the earth which surrounded them on three sides,

"Come on!

We have to keep moving!"

Before the unique growl of an armored vehicle's movements became apparent in the chaos along with its tracks causing the earth to quiver as it rowed along the earth, and the Abyssals were approaching their location while shouting about something or another, keywords including,

[Kill],

[Ship girls], and,

[Clear a path].

Samidare pushed Shigure into a tunnel just as the rumbling reached a crescendo and Ayanami could hear wires being snipped with heavy-duty cutters, and she let her MP7 submachine gun hang by the sling she had crafted for her main firearm as she unpinned a fragmentation grenade, cooking it for two seconds and almost dropping it out of fright as the PT-76 tank approaching their location fired its main cannon and caused her to jump.

She tossed the grenade over the trench and hoped that the sloped surface would direct most of the lethal explosive force away from them and towards the Abyssals, a notion which was proven right as the grenade performed as advertised, throwing up harmless dirt on her while Abyssals on the other side seethed,

[Urgh!]

[Sskkhh!]

And in her haste to celebrate having done some damage to the Abyssals, a niggling thought in her back of her mind piped up with a question as she brought up her MP7 submachine gun.

' _Wait, won't that grenade explosion blow a wider hole in the wires and sandbags for the Abyssals to crawl through?_

 _Shit._

 _No time to - '_

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw a Wo-Class's helmet popping above the crest of the trench and was wielding an AK-47 to wipe out ship girls who were hiding in the trenches and tunnels.

Ayanami, pushing on Samidare's butt to shove her into the tunnel before entering herself, was faster on the draw due to spotting the Abyssal's helmet, spraying bullets in her direction while climbing in and causing the Wo-Class's shots to miss except for two which hit her kidney and and left shoulder blade, and the latter started to heal almost instantaneously while the former was slower to reform.

The pain was similar to getting shot with shells, and yet so different.

With shells, those which couldn't straight-up penetrate your armor was reflected with blunt trauma leaving you feeling as though you'd been punched, and those which _did_ penetrate simply carved out their pound of flesh, bone and body from your body like cutting a cake.

Firearm bullets were far smaller and bounced off due to the uneven contours of their bodies and their armor providing some protection, but its intense velocity was concentrated in a small projectile and allowed for more thorough penetration even if their metal bodies could stop its trajectory, which could deal potentially lethal damage and _whywasshethinkingaboutthiswhileshewasbleedingout?_

Not that she should hang around Shigure less, but she tenderly clutched the entry to the bullet wound, panting for dear life and feeling her flesh close up in her palm while wondering if she was becoming too smart for her own good like the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer.

Samidare pulled her in and shielded her just as another grenade went off at the mouth of the tunnel and shook up the entire cave while Shigure cocked her reloaded MP7 submachine gun once the shock wore off, Samidare revealing herself to be hurt by the shrapnel drawing blood and staining her uniform while Shigure took note of both their conditions and guarded the rear flank as she urged,

"Retreat.

I'll cover you two as you move to the tunnel exit on the other side."

Ayanami crawled with both hands in order to move through the tunnels as quickly as possible, trying to block out the throbbing pain in her side in order to recount which ones were the correct paths, since several of them were dead ends aimed to mislead the Abyssals who crawled in along with them, if the proximity mines planted within its walls didn't blow them up and cause the caves to collapse in the first place.

Bursts of gunfire were heard directly behind her while thunderous growls of the earthen walls around them rang from raining mortar shells, and Ayanami could feel her trickling blood escaping through the pores of her bloodied uniform while the stifling darkness eventually gave way to the light at the end of the tunnel, shouting the password,

"Sunray!"

Before the clacking of lowered firearms could be heard, human hands reaching down in order to help her out as a dirt-covered Kinu thankfully remarked.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright!

Our left and right wings are attempting to flank the Abyssals, and we need to hold this area until Tateyama's Ninja company arrives tomorrow!"

Ayanami nodded weakly, leaning over as she shook the bullet free from her uniform while Samidare, ever the concerned ship girl, leaned in with a steel patch for her as she remarked.

"Ayanami-san?

Please, use this to ensure a full recovery."

"Oh, but what about you, Samidare-san?"

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer gave her a pained yet determined smile with her camo-painted face, shaking the shrapnel from her uniform in the meantime.

"Oh, don't you worry.

My injuries aren't severe since they didn't penetrate, but your bullet wound is since the assault rifle rounds went through you.

And is that another wound I see on your shoulder…?"

Samidare leaned in to check her second wound once she caught a glimpse of it, but Ayanami gently pushed aside the leaves on Samidare's uniform which tickled her skin as she got closer, not wishing to be caught off-guard by any Abyssals as she hastily accepted Samidare's gift, pulled up her top and slapped it on while dismissing.

"Oh, that's nowhere near as serious as this one.

Can we, you know…"

The difficult and pleading look which she gave Samidare was enough for her to understand the severity of the situation, hardening her gaze as they pulled back the cocking handles of their MP7 submachine guns, popping up from the trench crest and unloading white-hot steel into any Abyssal unfortunate enough to stand in their way.

One of many disguised booby traps was activated as a Ri-Class heavy cruiser was caught in a snare, being hoisted up by a lasso which caught her by the ankle and caused her to drop her assault rifle as she wildly flailed her arms about in a panic, several bloody holes being torn into her helpless form and ending her life right then and there.

Hearing Musashi call out with a question,

"Birdmen, is the area free of enemy scouts on elevated positions or incoming aerial units?"

" … No, there doesn't seem to be enemy snipers on our platforms, and the skies are clear of planes as of now!

The last light tank also seems to be hanging back and taking pot shots at us!"

"Then it's time to push back!

Smoke 'em!"

The two PT-76 tanks were keeping their distance, but the commotion coming from the left flank made her think that the ship girls there were doing everything they could in order to take them down while missiles were flying in after the JSDF missile battery had relocated, Hiei, Musashi and Hyuga propping their MINIMI machine guns on the trench crests in order to lay down cover fire on the Abyssals hiding behind the mechanical roller walls.

Hiei stopped her firing in order to snap her fingers at them before reloading, and on cue, more smoke grenades were thrown over the trench as Ayanami saw Tenryuu, Kitakami, Kinu and several other ship girls reload and prepare their firearms before climbing the trench in order to take down the Abyssals at close range.

Ayanami felt the adrenaline coursing throughout her body with every beat of her steel heart, and she wondered if this was what World War 1 soldiers felt like, climbing the trenches and suddenly being the most religious person in the world, with explosions going off all around them while bullets whizzed and either spat into the ground at their feet or kissed her skin as they flew too close for comfort.

All they needed was someone playing a bagpipe, and they were set.

The fact that both parties' radars were disabled by the smokescreen was far from comforting, instead making her wary of everything around her.

This was all so similar to naval warfare, yet all too brutal and … _permanent_ for her to get used to as the forest was changed by the tides of war for the worse whereas before, the ocean was mostly a neutral plane of existence in which those who went under were either sunk or were Abyssals, the line between the two being blurred in the murky depths which was the abyss.

She trekked over the body of Kitakami writhing on the floor as Suzuya covered the torpedo cruiser who was in the midst of recovering, and a downed Ri-Class materializing through the smokescreen revealed the perpetrator, the Abyssal lying at the foot of a tree and was still alive even after several rounds were emptied into her, still attempting to reach for her Mossberg 500 shotgun which was resting in the fork of a tree root.

Without thinking, the Ri-Class could only utter a surprised,

[Motherfu-]

From her bleeding mouth before Ayanami emptied the entire magazine into her face in a panic.

Armor didn't mean much when firing into sensitive areas like the eyes, nose and mouth as the muscles on the Abyssal's face were ripped from her, well, face, eyeballs popping and more blood erupting from her mouth while her tongue was perforated and was turned into a lump of bloody mush.

The bullet caliber of her submachine gun was enough to do all that, but it had some trouble penetrating the heavily-armored skull as it was dented with every impact, but was ultimately unable to get the job done.

Her firearm clicked as it rang empty, and with it, came the dawning horror of Abyssals possibly being attracted to her position if they heard the gunshots, relying on the fear of dying more than training to push herself forward to pick up the pump-action shotgun which the damned Ri-Class cruiser was still trying to reach for, even if the Abyssal had to blindly crawl towards it.

Holding it awkwardly since it was never designed for a child to wield, she simply said,

' _To Hell with it!'_

With the shotgun stock which was unable to fit on her shoulder and went under her armpit, holding it by the foregrip and bringing it up as best she could before pulling the trigger.

The recoil was beyond anything which her body was used to handling, feeling as if a heavy cruiser had punched her in the left shoulder and caused her to move back several steps, and the fired shell roared as it flew out in a flaming conical arc from the muzzle and erased the Ri-Class's head from existence and caused Ayanami to jump at the sound of the gunshot going off right before her.

That wasn't something she would ever see when fighting on the ocean.

She _really_ wished she could've stayed on the ocean.

A bleeding stump which was the neck was what was left as the Abyssal's grey matter and skull bits were strewn behind her, and the enemy heavy cruiser fell to the ground and polluted the earth with her blood, and Ayanami found herself hyperventilating at the gruesome sight as the smokescreen fell on it like a curtain call, now flinching at the sound of rustling trees and urgent voices amidst the white haze of death enveloping her and hiding everyone else.

[ - ver there!]

Time to go.

Tingling sensations crescendoed at the ends of her limbs as she crouched and crept foward just as she heard a tanned Yamato-Class's voice yelling while moving up,

" _MOVE FORWARD!_

 _PUSH THEM BACK!"_

To which an Abyssal voice called out derisively, likely in retaliation,

[Abyssals!

 _Hold your ground!]_

And with their radar disabled due to the smokescreen, Ayanami really held off on pulling the trigger every time she saw anything fade into sight, understanding that backs facing her were friendlies, and the white faces and black clothes peeking through the smoke were _very_ much enemies.

Shifting her balance on the uneven ground of the unforgiving forest, she whispered hoarsely to a small back in front of her,

"Sunray!"

The figure looked back to reveal Fubuki, her frightened green eyes wide as saucers while the natural-black hair extensions down the sides of her face were the only things left of her old look, the rest now covered by paint, helmet, uniform and combat gear while she held an acquired AK-47 with an ACOG scope on it, looking like a bona fide child soldier.

Ayanami gave her a reassuring nod to calm her cousin down (their classes were close due to being sub-classes in a greater Fubuki-Class classification), gesturing with her Mossberg 500 shotgun for Fubuki to follow her as she took the lead.

Fighting without radar was like entering a fistfight with one eye blinded; you could compensate for it, but the lack of situational awareness which couldn't be overcome made you jumpy, and the fact that she couldn't see three feet in front of her made her fearful to the point of outright paranoia as every beat of her heart resonated throughout her body, ready to leap out of her chest at any time.

Hearing another whisper to her left,

"Sunray."

"Moon."

She didn't even need to look back to know Tenryuu was behind her as they moved, and a Kevlar-like wall appearing before her with a peeking Ta-Class staring right back at her with emerald orbs caused every fiber of her being to go into overdrive, shrieking,

" _CONTACT!"_

And the four of them fired at each other at the same time, the Ta-Class battleship outclassing them with an Ultimax 100 light machine gun but was outgunned in a three-to-one match-up as Ayanami's reflexive shot to her torso stunned her long enough for Tenryuu and Fubuki to empty their magazines into the Ta-Class.

A Tsu-Class light cruiser likely circled the bulletproof wall, because she came up from their flank and sprayed fire at Tenryuu and Fubuki to scare them off, and Ayanami raising her shotgun and turning to her side was met with a shoulder strike to her face, feeling her nose crack sickeningly as she hit the ground hard as her butt slapping on mud while she felt her nose flood with the slick texture and the metallic scent of blood, but all that was undercut by the Abyssal Tsu-Class emptying several of her HK416 assault rifle rounds into her.

Pain.

Just… pain.

Everywhere.

She could feel the bullets which weren't aimed at her torso and thus stopped by her Kevlar vest biting into her flesh and drawing blood as they caused a throbbing ache deep within her body as though she had taken a sledgehammer to her internal organs, the nano-machines doing their job as her muddled vision started to clear after the surprise facial.

She valiantly struggled to remain conscious as Tenryuu tackled her assailant while Fubuki, after giving her a concerned look, circled the downed Ayanami to get at the Abyssal who was beyond her upward-looking field of vision, feeling her pooling blood stain the back of her uniform.

That was gonna be a bitch to wash off.

She assumed that they took out the Tsu-Class together with the sound of gunfire as Fubuki came back to her, helping her up as her muscles were still attempting to piece themselves back together.

"Ayanami, please retreat!"

She vehemently shook her head at the mere thought of that, weakly propping her enemy shotgun close to her armpit while hearing the steady beat of a heavy machine gun being fired as its owner advanced, eventually responding with,

"I… I'm fine.

The enemy is before us, let's move."

Her cousin was reluctant to allow that, so Ayanami gently shook off her arm and stood on her own two feet while double-wielding her Mossberg 500 shotgun in order to convince her cousin, and Fubuki finally acquiesced with a compromise being that she went in front this time, although they both lagged behind Tenryuu as the light cruiser led the charge.

A few more notifications dampened her spirits even further as they read,

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

SENDAI-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 046

"SENDAI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

JUNSEN TYPE-B SUBMARINE 283

"I-26"

STATUS: DECEASED'

The smoke was only now starting to disperse, allowing her to spot Musashi firing her M2 machine gun at anyone who dared to stand in their way, easily piercing through trees and less-armored foes who weren't behind sturdy enough covers, Kitakami, Nachi and Kinu flanking her and frantically watching the trees in order to cover her advance.

If the battlefield was chaotic before, it had nothing on the cacophony of noises which filled Ayanami's ears now, understanding Ma'am Jackie prediction that compared to previous human wars in which the discharge of enemy firearms would allow them the chance to make an intelligent guess as to where they were, this would be complete pandemonium.

Since the Abyssals plagiarized firearm designs from various countries (including Japan) and the ship girls would eventually find themselves using Abyssal firearms, it would be a mess where it sounded like enemies were firing on enemies and allies firing on allies, further muddying their situation awareness and putting everyone on edge.

Damn it all.

Ayanami felt the weight of her combat gear as well as the unwieldy and heavier Anti-whatever shotgun which she held take a toll on her stamina, compounded with the fact that she was shot several times and it made for a very winded Ayanami, but she had no time to rest as another wave of Abyssals were advancing as they attempted to push them back.

Taking cover behind a tree and temporarily discarding the Mossberg 500 shotgun, she reloaded her MP7 submachine gun as she was afraid that taking it slow and preparing for any scenario was leagues better than rushing forward without a plan.

Having reloaded her submachine gun and pistol sidearm, she picked up the shotgun again to check how many shots she had left (two) before rushing to catch up and jump into the firefight which was heating up before her, with three Wo-Class carriers attempting to pick off anyone who strayed from the pack.

Ayanami heard Nachi call out with no small amount of concern in her voice,

"Right flank, the left flank's dealing with the PT-76 tank, so where the hell are you all?!"

"We'll be there!

 _We'll be there!"_

Ayanami sidled up to Fubuki as they both crawled on the forest floor and allowed her to taste dirt and the low-lying vegetation which was only slightly above calf-level height, spying an opportune moment to peek from her hiding spot and fire at one Wo-Class carrier.

Another funnel of hell fire burst from her firearm and caught the Wo-Class off-guard, and the Abyssal stumbled back as her skin ripped apart with white-hot 12-gauge steel tearing into her skin, and Fubuki backed her up by putting the afflicted Wo-Class down with several dozen 7.62×39 mm bullets piercing her armor and dropping her, the rest of the Abyssals now turning their attention and wrath upon them with a vengeance.

Tenryuu chose this moment to show how she had circled around before attacking from a ten o'clock direction in contrast to Ayanami and Fubuki's seven o'clock assault with the right flank finally sweeping in from the three o'clock direction as the Abyssals were forced to focus on three threats, the medium-damaged Wo-Class and an undamaged Ri-Class cruiser hunting Ayanami and Fubuki down.

Pushing Fubuki away before scampering away herself, the name-ship of the Ayanami-Class was now preparing to catch one of them off-guard with the remaining shotgun shell into one Abyssal before switching to her sidearms to finish the other off.

And everything went to shit as a flash-bang grenade landed in front of her.

 _FOR THE LOVE OF -_

Her entire field of view turned to a painfully luminescent white while her ears started to ring from the million or so high-pitched bells suddenly and incessantly chiming within the delicate inner canals of her ears and forcing her to double over while her mind and body attempted to recover, causing her to lose her balance as she stumbled and drunkenly fell into a ditch while the feeling of disorientation which plagued her body was being flushed out by her internal systems, squinting as the swirly double vision began to subside.

Swallowing the rising bile in her throat and flexing the control she had over her body to shakily hold up her Mossberg 500 shotgun while using the ground she laid on to prop it up, she was jumpy, disoriented and paranoid enough to simply fire at the first person who showed her face.

The appearing Ri-Class cruiser, wielding her own Mossberg 500 shotgun, stumbled back from the 12 gauge shell fired into her as the Abyssal's jerking of the trigger caused her shots to go wide despite her successful attempts to maintain her footing and not double over, and Ayanami was desperate enough to push her sore muscles beyond what she was normally comfortable with by throwing the empty shotgun at the Ri-Class.

[Urgh!]

The wounds on the Ri-Class's body did not take well to a foreign object smacking them if the Abyssal's seething expression and flinch was any indication, but Ayanami understood that this was now or never with her life on the line, whipping out both her MP7 submachine gun and her SIG Sauer P220 pistol in order to empty them both into the Ri-Class while closing her eyes and angling her helmet forward so as to protect her vulnerable optics, praying the entire while.

Tanking the 12-gauge shell flying into her helmet and body felt like a handful of heated beads tearing into her flesh while also acting like a flurry of fists coming down from above and pounding her into the dirt as her ribs creaked and her helmet painfully pressed on her skull, both firearms clicking empty with the fireworks abruptly stopping as the Ri-Class was inexplicably still standing even with holes filling her body and bloody steel bones being exposed, and repeating her trick of throwing both her firearms was folly at this time as it would leave her defenseless.

Ok, compromise time.

Throwing only her pistol in order to squirm on the floor and reach for her magazine, the Ri-Class was certainly fuming at Ayanami's audacity to even attack her but was too dazed from the pain induced by her wounds to aim straight while Ayanami's HUD read,

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

FUBUKI-CLASS DESTROYER 011

"FUBUKI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

No.

 _No._

A second wind drove an infuriated Ayanami to her feet but was instantly knocked right out of her as the Ri-Class's Hail-Mary 12-gauge shell pounded her chest through her Kevlar vest like a battleship's punch and pushed her to the ground again, but she ignored the breathlessness and the throbbing pain in her chest while hearing gunshots in the distance, the world in her eyes sharpening in resolution yet slowing down due to the adrenaline in her body.

Slamming her magazine into her trembling MP7 submachine gun, she emptied everything into the Ri-Class heavy cruiser while her labored breathing significantly threw off her aim, and the Ri-Class cruiser was then tag-teamed by Tenryuu who put her down for good with a barrage of bullets penetrating her body, the Abyssal dropping like a sack of potatoes as the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser came into view.

The panting Tenryuu-Class light cruiser then turned her attention to Ayanami as she offered a hand, Ayanami accepting it and climbing out to join Tenryuu in crouching beside Fubuki's dead body.

The deceased Fubuki-Class destroyer's uniform, like Ayanami's, was ripped as it was riddled with bullet holes, and a bullet wound in her throat instantly killed her and likely shot out the nape of her neck as well, strips of flesh keeping her head attached to her neck being as fresh-red blood had already pooled beneath her head and tainted the dirt while empty eyes looked to the sky.

No.

Ayanami kept a low profile as she closed Fubuki's half-lidded eyes while complicated feelings began to well up within her like a boiling cauldron which threatened to overflow, and her expression started to sour as her throat clamped up and her vision started to water as precursors before a crying fit, feeling Tenryuu's reassuring palm on her shoulder, the both of them tuning out the cacophony of whizzing bullets, screaming ship girls and booming explosions as Tenryuu's tone was understanding and was even choked up with grief, but was also pleading.

"Ayanami…

There's nothing more we can do for her except to call in for a medevac, which I already did.

Can you still continue on?"

Continue the fight.

Finish it.

Those ingrained values kept urging her on despite her wish to be with Fubuki until she was revived, inhaling sharply as she remembered Junyou and Tatsuta's states as an indirect result of her weakness, channeling all her bottled feelings of impotence, grief and frustration into a curled fist which splintered the tree root beneath them, cratering the soil in the process.

Despite bruising her knuckles and greatly surprising Tenryuu, she exhaled and nodded tersely before giving a simple,

"Yes."

To answer Tenryuu, feeling the catharsis reliving the tension from her body and allowing her to bring her breathing under control thanks to an action which she once found quite silly, but she realized the merits of occasionally letting off steam, looking up at Tenryuu with a steely gaze which was softening by the second as her body was brought back under her control, humbly requesting.

"Yes.

Tenryuu-san, can you please help to reload and pass me Fubuki's procured AK-47 rifle and magazines?

I'll find and salvage more 12-gauge shells from the dead Ri-Class's body…"

Motioning with her chin to the recently killed Ri-Class courtesy of Ayanami and Tenryuu,

"And we'll use their weapons against them.

Might as well take this time to find my pistol as we - "

Tenryuu jumped as another tremor of considerable magnitude shook the earth thanks to the JSDF missile battery raining hell down upon the enemy, but Tenryuu reached into a pocket and handed Ayanami's thrown P220 pistol back to her, Tenryuu's distressed expression belying her concern regarding Ayanami's status.

"You sure?

You've taken a lot of punishment already, and…"

Ayanami's breathing stabilized as her gaze stopped Tenryuu from finishing her question before she walked towards the Abyssal corpse, hearing Tenryuu comment,

"W-Well, I'll use the shotgun, then!

I'm better built to use it!"

"Huh.

Good point, alright."

She moved over to the Abyssal corpse and picked up the shotgun to check for the shells left in it (one), and she searched the enemy's combat gear for shells to load the Mossberg 500 shotgun with, because carrying excessive ammunition was going to tire them out prematurely.

The shotgun was now in Tenryuu's hands due to its ergonomic incompatibility with Ayanami, reloading her weapons and giving Tenryuu a grim nod which was returned as the cruiser brought up the enemy shotgun, looking back to find Akizuki and Yuugumo moving Fubuki's corpse onto a medical stretcher, the former cringing in disgust as she cradled Fubuki's head, shoulders and almost-severed neck with her bloody forearms so as not to allow it to detach entirely.

Ugh.

Creeping forward, the smokescreen was now gone with Abyssal corpses strewn everywhere and ship girls hiding behind cover, a Wo-Class cruiser being impaled and pinned to a tree by long, steel-tipped sticks fired from a buried harpoon gun as her head was partially destroyed after suffering a head-shot after being pinned, several more Abyssals killed in action by these booby traps which included mines and pits, amongst other.

Everyone in Amazon company looked haggard with bloody uniforms, ragged breathing, glossy skin and ruined camouflage along with Ayanami as she felt the nano-machines demand payment in the form of stamina and fuel and glanced upwards upon hearing an approaching chopping noise, recognizing it as a helicopter's blades at work as a Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter hailed them over the radio,

"Amazon company, Helios-4 here.

Laying down cover fire.

Requesting manual acquirement of Abyssal targets for a more accurate barrage."

As a machine of whirling death descended from above with missiles, mini-guns and machine guns at the ready to deal death from above, watching Nachi fire at and scare off a cheeky Ta-Class who tried to peek out of a ditch with a Stinger missile launcher, Amazon company now emboldened to advance with it in order to prevent their backup vehicle from being shot down.

Several ship girls used laser attachments and specialized binoculars to mark their targets while Musashi advancing with Hatsuzuki followed behind and carried her roaring machine gun's ammunition, Tenryuu turning back and motioning for Ayanami to take a tunnel route as she heard Helios-4 open fire on the Abyssals with a steady _BRAAAPP_ sound of certain death, one of the two pilots grunting.

"Helios-4, recommending clearing out the Abyssals who're targeting us with Anti-Air rocket launchers!

We're getting multiple attempted lock-on signatures, and we can't keep out of their sights for much longer!"

"That isn't your only problem!"

Ma'am Jackie's urgent voice made herself heard over the radio within the claustrophobic confines of the tunnels, sounding winded as though she were exerting herself which she very likely did even after the Kamogawa City Hall Roof incident.

"Reports of multiple vehicular signatures closing in from your East, recommend that Helios-4 pull back, circle around and flank them when you're done, Amazon company will advance further before taking the other flank!

You'll be receiving vehicular backup in about ten minutes!"

"Rrgh!

Acknowledged!"

Tenryuu snuck through the tunnels along with Ayanami, the duo coming across a few ship girls along the way headed for various other locations, hurriedly whispering,

"Sunray!"

"Moon!"

In order to confirm that an Abyssal wasn't crawling with them in the tunnels, and as they came up to an opening thanks to the memorization of the network's entrances and exits, the light cruiser pushed aside the camouflage hiding it from the Abyssals, peeking at the back of an occupied Ru-Class with a shoulder-mounted SA-7 Grail MANPADS launcher and was covered by other Abyssals.

Tenryuu peeked out with her shotgun and fired into her back while Ayanami unpinned a fragmentation grenade to pass to the light cruiser.

[SON OF A BIT-]

The Ru-Class battleship tumbled forward from the 12-gauge entering her back, and it was enough to momentarily distract her before Tenryuu's cooked grenade plopped into their midst in order to send the Abyssals scurrying away while exclaiming,

[Duck!]

Tenryuu slunk back into the tunnel and protectively hugged Ayanami as her face was pressed against the light cruiser's Kevlar vest, the earth rumbling like an underground subway tunnel for an instant before stopping, the both of them releasing their hold on each other as the sound of gunfire sounded out again.

Flashbang grenades were thrown out as Helios-4's stream of gun fire either perforated the armor of lesser Abyssals or cut down trees like wheat before the scythe by messily penetrating them and sent splinters flying everywhere like a field of sprinklers on full-blast, Tenryuu yelling into her ear,

"Let's take these bastards out and use their own weapons against them as we move East!

Those enemy vehicles aren't going to take themselves out, and we don't have much Anti-Tank weapons with us!"

Nodding, they scurried through the tunnel network in order to get to another exit, and this time, they popped up from beneath a collapsed tree as though it had been felled by a dynamite stick thanks to the Apache's firing, which rearranged the landscape and was now circling around and rising into the air in order to fire its Hellfire missiles at enemy vehicles.

Encircling the Abyssals in order to take them out, the firefight resumed its usual intensity as Ayanami hid behind cover, something which was quite the sensible thing to do despite the Anti-Abyssal rounds being entirely capable of penetrating trees, and she heard Ma'am Jackie speak up about backup, only seconds before said backup arrived.

"Amazon company, I just got news from the Japanese Princesses, Amaya and Ayane.

Their escort, Ashigara-7, just used the UH-1J helicopter they came in on and was headed your way four minutes ago!

She'll be on the scene any moment now!"

Ayanami didn't bother to register that announcement since it didn't immediately concern her immediate prospects of survival as she got a Tsu-Class Abyssal in her sights, but as soon as an enthusiastic voice shrieked,

" _HEADS UP!"_

Everyone's gazes turned upwards ship girl fell out of the sky as the Abyssal light cruiser also looked up warily, a ship girl's high heels meeting the Tsu-Class's helmet, and if this wasn't a live demonstration of what a Goomba stomp was like in real life, nothing was.

The Tsu-Class light cruiser's helmet caved in as a mystery ship girl landed on her, and she was partially driven into the ground before the structural integrity of her steel bones failed as her body crumpled like a soda can being crushed on a sailor's forehead, bones cracking loudly while innards flew everywhere as Ayanami thought she saw the Tsu-Class's head and neck get curb-stomped into her torso beneath shoulder level before being squished.

The dust wave thrown up upon touchdown thankfully obscured the worst of the gruesome scene as the impact caused the ground to crater and the air to swoosh and burst out from its epicenter, causing ship girls to take cover while exclaiming every variant of the following two sentences.

"What the hell?!"

"The fuck?!"

And as the dust settled, Amazon company sneaked in with raised weapons to find that the Tsu-Class cruiser was suffering from a very bad case of dead, the Abyssal now a smear in the center of the crater as whatever remained of her was either disfigured or broken beyond any means of recovery, the crater now completely colored with the alien's fluids which got on the heels of the unidentified ship girl as she wore a blue uniform top, a black form-hugging miniskirt, ivory pantyhose along with bloody steel heels and chestnut-brown hair, recognizing her as Ashigara due to the unique collar ribbon, headband and gloves.

Except this wasn't Ashigara of Yokosuka.

Ayanami wasn't entirely sure of this, but the vibe given off by the heavy cruiser who tried to wipe the blood and grey matter from the soles of her heels was far more different, sensuous, and _much_ more powerful than Yokosuka's Ashigara.

Amazon company warily sneaked up on the Myoukou-Class cruiser because, well, she _was_ a ship girl after all, but unlike Helios-4, Ashigara's arrival here was an unforeseen occurrence which came out of left field.

And even though the she wasn't carrying her rigging and weapons of any sort, there was an aura of subdued strength around the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser which subtly convinced Ayanami that it wouldn't make a difference even when on land.

Ashigara turning back to acknowledge their presence just as the AH-64 Apache opened fire in order to cover them along with the JSDF's timely missile barrage, Ayanami jumping with her AK-47 along with Tenryuu carrying the Mossberg 500 shotgun as the heavy cruiser noticed their existence, holding up a hand in a horizontal victory pose to her winking left eye as she exclaimed cheerily while putting on a million-dollar smile.

"Victory is at hand!

Ashigara-7, better known as Mata Hari, on the scene!"


	65. Chapter 65 - Eyes Of The Sun

Shigure was staring at the Ashigara before them, looking far too similar, but definitely not identical to the Ashigara she knew.

This Ashigara was half a head taller.

Her breasts were far more bountiful in size, her sinfully voluptuous figure and bosom now on par with those of a battleship.

And the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra meant that her, um, _nipples_ were poking through the fabric of her tight uniform, likely not wearing any underwear down under as well.

And if Shigure's memory banks were working correctly, the heavy cruiser's form-hugging business miniskirt was short, but never _this_ short as it had hiked up her shapely thighs by no less than five centimeters.

This woman looked more like a cosplayer of Ashigara because she appeared far older than any other doppelganger of herself, but the fact that she fell from the sky and landed without breaking a single bone convinced her beyond a sliver of doubt that she was one of them.

And did she say her nickname was Mata Hari?

Appropriate, as the heavy cruiser oozed sex appeal not just with her appearance which any ship girl could mimic and pull off with moderate success, but there just seemed to be an awareness in the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser about not just who, but _what_ she was and being proud of it, and it likely came with being long-lived.

But this was neither here nor there right now.

The Apache helicopter made a detour as it circled around to flank the enemies to the East, Ashigara-7 whipping her head up as she exclaimed,

"Ah, so that's where the action is, hmm?

Onwards then, cover me!"

Before turning back to wave them on, Nachi stepping up as she asked quizzically,

"Wait!

Ashigara-san!"

To which Ashigara-7 broke out into a run towards where the bulk of the fight was as the rhythmic chop of Helios-4's blades got softer while its weapons were still blazing.

"Oh, don't be so formal, Nachi!

Even if I'm not from your naval base, I'm technically still your sister ship!"

Musashi recovered the fastest as she whipped her head around to address a stunned Amazon company hurriedly,

"Everyone, do as she says!

The armored vehicles and reinforcements need to be wiped out in order for us to hold this area!"

"Wait, is Ashigara-san going to fight the Abyssals head-on without wearing any armor?"

Shigure's thoughts were echoed by Tenryuu who looked as tired as Shigure felt, but was still valiantly pushing on to maintain their hold on the area, to which Musashi countered offhandedly while looking down at Hatsuzuki and tilting her head toward the enemy.

"If half the things I've heard about her are true, she's arguably one of the leading candidates for the 'Ultimate Ship Girl'!

Let's hope she knows what she's doing, and not fail her by doing our part!

 _Let's go!"_

Shigure was moved into action by Musashi's powerful words, cocking the handle of her acquired AK-47 rifle before breaking into a cautious sprint, being extra careful not to trip and sprain her ankle on the uneven terrain of the treacherous forest.

She had been shot no less than seven times before this, and the fact that she wasn't turned into Swiss Cheese was offset by the fact that she was feeling really fatigued, and lugging an assault rifle around didn't do her any favors.

Ashigara-7 was up ahead, sliding into cover as she approached a small opening with less trees than usual as the Abyssals shifted their attention from Helios-4 to the high-profile heavy cruiser, and Shigure saw Nachi throw an unpinned grenade in a fastball pitch into a Ta-Class battleship's torso and caused a vibrant red-blue fireball to illuminate the battlefield, engulfing the Abyssal and giving Ashigara-7 the chance to pop out from cover and continue her advance as the Abyssals were distracted for the briefest of moments.

"Ah, wait!"

Nachi's familial concern and warning fell on deaf ears, the wolf-themed Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser tanked several bullets fired from a Tsu-Class's M16 assault rifle, blitzing within striking distance while using the lithe footwork befitting a predator at the starting line bursting forth explosively in an all-out sprint mixed with a dancer's grace introducing an element of unpredictability and blurring her figure, said grace being noticeably absent from Yokosuka Ashigara's ferocious fighting style who only bothered specializing in the former.

Not that Ashigara-7 was lacking in that regard, the heavy cruiser coming within arm's reach of the Tsu-Class and transitioning from a run into a coiled strike with her gloved fist as her expression darkened, smashing her fist into the steel rifle and completely wrecking the M16 in order to ruin any chances of it being used ever again.

Shigure's jaw dropped at the sight of the heavy cruiser destroying an Anti-Ship-Girl firearm with her bare hands, and it took Tenryuu bumping her elbow to her shoulder while asking urgently,

"What're you doing by opening your mouth, huh?

Hoping to catch a fly?

Keep moving, and keep firing!"

For her to shut her mouth and hold up her AK-47 rifle.

"Uh, y-yeah!"

The Abyssals were now dividing their focus up to face Amazon company, Ashigara-7 and Helios-4, the two backup PT-76 light tanks accompanied by a ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" SPAAW and Type 95 SPAAA in the distance, but Ma'am Jackie spoke up with news which alleviated the situation somewhat.

"Amazon company, Helios-4, Tank Div 2 is making a detour and will on the scene within five minutes!

Just hold out until then, and you'll have the backup you need!"

Ashigara-7, incapacitating the Tsu-Class Abyssal in close-quarters combat, now used her as a meat shield against the Abyssals who were firing at her while she grunted.

"Urgh.. got it!"

Helios-4 fired a Hellfire missile in order to soften up the enemy as a trembling Samidare procured a binocular and used it to lase the targets, and Ashigara-7 took this chance to hold up the Tsu-Class cruiser who was now riddled with bullets and was more rag-doll than Abyssal, launching her towards the Abyssal horde with a mighty kick before throwing herself at the Abyssals who were knocked back like bowling pins while howling excitedly,

" _En garde, you landlubbing fishes!_

 _Ahahaha!"_

The fact that Amazon company was moving up and surrounding them made things difficult for them, not that they didn't retaliate as a PT-76's main cannon sounded off, Shigure losing her balance as the shell impacted the ground behind her and she heard the scream of ship girls while perforated trees fell from the unintended deforestation, Panzerfaust 3 rocket launchers being whipped out in order to take them out.

A head popping up from beside her attracted her attention as she, in her panic, almost placed her finger on the trigger before her mind registered the fact that it might be a fellow ship girl, exhaling anxiously as she whispered,

"Sunray!"

And Kiyoshimo's face was partially seen as she looked behind her shoulder and uttered,

"Moon!"

While carrying what was clearly an enemy-procured Steyr AUG bull-pup assault rifle which fit her child sized frame and had blood on its skin, the camouflaged Yuugumo-Class destroyer having recovered from the wounds she sustained at the siege in the Kamogawa City Hall, both of them sneaking forward and laying down cover fire for the rampaging Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser as the Shiratsuyu-Class leaned in and made sure not to lose her balance on a loosened patch of soil.

Mortars rained down on both sides of the battlefield in a lethal game of Battleship combined with old-school artillery games in order to flush any female super soldiers out of cover and into the line of fire, Haruna shouting into the radio in order to will them to do something to improve their situation rather than just sit here and wait for death which, seeing the panicked and utterly desolated expressions on several of the surviving ship girls' faces, they might just be doing.

"The Abyssals are trying to flush us out of cover with mortars!

Either hide yourselves in the tunnels or advance while keeping low, do not camp out here in the open and definitely do _not_ bunch up!"

An allied rocket smashed into the side of the enemy ZSU-23-4 SPAAW, causing it to buckle and sway but not go up in flames, although the armor covering the impacted flank was now all but useless as the four autocannons on its main turret fired in succession while another rocket, intending to finish it off, instead hit a tree which a Ru-Class battleship uprooted and toppled with the deliberate intent to block its trajectory, Shigure taking cover in a bush whose leaves tickled her sweaty face as she heard a ship girl screaming something about,

"FUCKING TREES!".

Ashigara-7 wasn't fazed even after getting shot at, her slasher smile sensual and completely untamed as she was in the moment and never slowed down, uniform being mercilessly shredded as her body ejected bullets while Shigure and company covered her, flares being deployed from the steel chassis of Helios-4 in order to throw off the incoming missiles along with pulling off skilled evasive maneuvers, but temporarily put it out of range.

A Tsu-Class Abyssal unpinned a flashbang grenade in order to throw it at Ashigara-7 at close range, but the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser used a high kick in order to kick the grenade out of her hand, and she used something like a snake strike with the tips of her flattened palms to stun the Abyssal before using her momentum to deliver a spinning hind kick, then planting both feet and hugging the floor to execute a double-handed snake strike to send the Tsu-Class flying, all within two seconds.

Using a scissor kick as if in a soccer game before Ashigara-7 landed and hugged the forest floor, the flash-bang flew into the faces of several Abyssals and blinded them for Musashi's Browning M2 machine gun to mow down, Shigure watching a Wo-Class's helmet fail to protect her head from a large-caliber round as bloody holes were punched into her skull and obliterated the grey matter within.

Someone likely threw a grenade which ignited the fuel tanks in a Ta-Class battleship as she ran across the battlefield, howling bloody murder and causing enemies and allies alike to move out of the way as the fast battleship was immolated in blue flames which danced on her hair, clothes and skin, lighting a few trees and bushes along the way.

 _[AHHH!]_

The Abyssal finally performed Stop, Drop and Roll as Ashigara-7 got back and broke out into a sprint and carved out swaths of dirt from the ground, hugging a Ne-Class cruiser around her waist and using the Abyssal to tank bullets as she speared the Ne-Class heavy cruiser and slammed her into a nearby tree, branches quivering from the impact as leaves fell like snowflakes while the tree audibly cracked from the impact as Ashigara-7 stunned the Abyssal with a meaty right hook before leaving her for Amazon company to finish off while she moved on to her next prey.

Amazon company used the tunnels for traversing the terrain like moles moving underground, Shigure watching a disappeared Tenryuu pop up from another tunnel exit next to a Ru-Class battleship who was carrying a HK G3A3 battle rifle, the light cruiser teasing darkly,

"Pop goes the weasel!"

While simultaneously emptying a 12-gauge round into the Abyssal, and with Shigure spraying the Ru-Class while the Abyssal returned fire and managed to nick Shigure with two bullets, Shigure collapsing and wheezing in order to catch her breath and allow the nanites to do their job while Tenryuu pumped the Mossberg 500 shotgun before unloading another two shells at point-blank range, then attempting to use the empty shotgun as a baseball bat as she held it by the sizzling-hot barrel with her gloved hands and swung it at the Ru-Class's head.

And both their hearts stopped as the Abyssal caught the incoming attack.

The Ru-Class Abyssal, half her face disfigured by the 12 gauge shell's steel pellets tearing off flesh and a superficially bleeding torso riddled with shallow wounds from the shotgun shell shredding her clothes or deeper wounds from Shigure's AK-47 barely penetrating her armor, delivered a punch to Tenryuu's solar plexus and caused the light cruiser to double over, tossing away the shotgun and using her freed-up arm to perform an elbow strike to the back of Tenryuu's neck, causing her to collapse and eat dirt while Shigure shakily brought up her AK-47 assault rifle.

A crack from behind her downed the Ru-Class as a puff of red dust blossomed from her abdomen, and Shigure fought off gravity and fatigue as she pushed herself up and kept her assault rifle trained on the Ru-Class while helping Tenryuu up, hearing her purple-haired comrade mutter,

" … Fucking bitch hits like a fucking freight train…"

Before picking up the enemy's HK G3A3 battle rifle and joining Shigure in emptying their magazines into the Ru-Class, watching the exact moment the light left the Abyssal's eyes as her internal systems failed seconds after a hail of bullets riddled her body and head.

The both of them were now panting as their limbs trembled from the fatigue of battle, but there was nothing else to do but to move forward until they repelled the invasion and maintained their hold over the forested area, morbid updates coming in and draining them emotionally with every paragraph.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

KAGEROU-CLASS DESTROYER 168

"URAKAZE"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

TONE-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER 064

"CHIKUMA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

KUMA-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER 040

"TAMA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Tenryuu stumbled forward before collapsing like a drunkard feebly attempting to walk in a straight line, Shigure sliding beside her with a look of concern and noting the glossy skin along with her taut neck and jaw muscles, Tenryuu shaking her head as she muttered halfheartedly,

"I'm alright…

Just… give me a second…"

"Stay here, alright?

I'll go on ahead!"

Shigure offered, Tenryuu nodding feverishly as she whipped out the HK G3A3 battle rifle she acquired mid-battle and flicked off the safety before peeking from cover, adding.

"Yeah, sure.

I'll cover you."

Shigure slunk out of cover and fired at the Abyssals, Helios-4 re-engaging with the armored vehicles as missiles screamed and auto-cannons barked, machine guns droning on incessantly while Ashigara-7 tore into the Abyssals' ranks as a one-woman-army, their opponents now realizing that the ship girls were fighting tooth and nail for every inch of this forest, viciously attacking in spite of their mounting casualties and was doing a complete 180 from their originally defensive stance.

Ashigara-7 performed a neck punch on a Ta-Class, the Abyssal looking as if she were retching as she held her crushed trachea and crumpled to the floor which in turn allowed Ashigara-7 to procure her FN FAL battle rifle, blowing the Ta-Class's brains out at point-blank range before spinning around to pistol-whip a nearby Ri-Class heavy cruiser with the rifle barrel in a stabbing motion, immediately putting her down with three bullets to her chest and head before firing downrange in order to keep the rest of the Abyssals behind cover.

Musashi had already discarded her fragile glasses as it was a cosmetic accessory and she had 20/20 vision like everyone else, panting as her shredded uniform belied the amount of damage she tanked for everyone, shielding a wounded and limping Hatsuzuki taking cover behind her as she had a machine gun ammunition belt wrapped around her demure body, the Yamato-Class battleship yelling hoarsely to Amazon company over the radio,

" _DON'T LET UP!"_

And Ma'am Jackie's words about vehicular backup came true as two vehicles entered the battlefield, a Komatsu Type 87 Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle and a Type 10 battle tank, Shigure watching them square off against the remaining enemy vehicles which included one PT-76 tank and the ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" SPAAW, finally granting them a sliver of hope.

Shigure was huddled in a crevice and fired her relatively puny firearm in comparison to the massive cannons which shook the earth and split apart the skies with every shot, a near-miss already able to throw ship girls and Abyssals off-balance as the battle raged on.

Leaving cover once the coast was clear, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer watched Ashigara-7 tear into the Abyssals who, despite their best attempts to put some distance between them and execute the Myoukou-Class cruiser, Ashigara-7 caught on to their attempts to stay away from her by fighting at suicidally close range, gleefully exclaiming,

"Ahahaha!

Why the cold shoulder, girls?

Let's get intimate with each other, shall we?"

And the Abyssals, unsure of how to respond to this anomaly disguised as a ship girl, kept upping the ante by bringing out larger guns, and a Wo-Class brought out an RPG-7 launcher to aim at her, and even if she missed, she'd probably hit a ship girl behind Ashigara-7.

The Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser prevented that from happening by quickly leaning in to look down the scope of her acquired firearm in order to nick the Abyssal carrier in the shoulder, throwing off her aim by a minuscule yet significant margin as its errant trajectory missed a ducking Ashigara-7 and reduced a tree into oblivion with a fiery kiss of death, Shigure hugging the ground as she avoided looking at the fireball to avoid getting blinded or a face full of shrapnel and splinters.

Hiei advanced as she came into Shigure's field of vision, Tenryuu covering her with her standard-issue M4 Carbine while Hiei's controlled bursts of machine gun fire killed several Abyssals who attempted to hide behind trees which was easily pierced by machine gun round, the Kongou-Class battleship relying mostly on luck and outside assistance since the trees blocked Hiei's line of sight and made her rely on educated guesswork and spotters.

Hearing and feeling the destructive explosion of the ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" SPAAW with the combined help of Helios-4 and several ship girls armed with Anti-Tank weapons, cheers could be heard as it was one hell of a morale boost for them, Shigure hearing,

"Woohoo!",

"Yeah!"s, and,

"Let's down that last one!",

Amongst others over the air, even after the HUD dampened that celebratory spirit somewhat with the news it brought.

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

KUMA-CLASS TORPEDO CRUISER 098

"KITAKAMI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Another Abyssal fell at the hands of Ashigara-7 while Amazon company covered her as the Myoukou-Class cruiser became the center of attention, and her uniform, at least what little remained of it after she had taken the full brunt of gunfire, was dyed with her own blood to the point where any spectator recently spotting her would think that her uniform was naturally red.

Throwing the spent FN FAL rifle at a Ri-Class's head and forcing the Abyssal to duck, the heavy cruiser performed a shoulder slam to put some distance between them, then transitioning into a sliding soccer tackle as she performed a high-kick with one heel between the Abyssal's legs and impacting her butt to send her flying above Ashigara-7, grabbing the heavy cruiser's Armalite AR-15 rifle and deftly pressing the eject button to pull out the magazine while using her other heel to plant it into the Ri-Class heavy cruiser's stomach, flipping her over and onto her back over Ashigara-7.

Both heavy cruisers recovered quickly, the Ri-Class heavy cruiser scrambling back onto her feet as she emptied the chambered round into Ashigara-7 before letting the assault rifle hang around her torso by its strap since it would take too long to reload, instead choosing to reach for her sidearm.

And came up empty.

Shigure witnessed the moment Ashigara-7's hand slipped into the Abyssal's sidearm holster during the shoulder slam to disarm her in a sleight of hand, and the Myoukou-Class cruiser lurched at the round impacting her shoulder but instead smiled like a predator knowing she had her prey exactly where she wanted her to be, pain be damned, picking up the Abyssal's dropped Walther PPQ pistol at her feet and emptying it into the Abyssal, dropping but not killing her as the slide was forced back and stayed there to indicate an empty magazine.

Throwing the smoking pistol into the Abyssal's face and picking up the AR-15 rifle, Ashigara-7 picked up the ejected magazine off the ground and loaded the Armalite AR-15 rifle with practiced ease before emptying several bullets into the supine Abyssal, teasing,

"This pistol belongs to you.

And these bullets belong _in_ you!"

Shigure noted an Abyssal Tsu-Class wishing to take Ashigara-7 out by shooting her in the back, doing her job and watching out for the veteran by taking pot-shots with the Abyssal to keep her behind cover before unpinning and throwing a grenade, Ashigara-7 looking back to find bloody limbs of the Tsu-Class flying out from an obliterated cover as the fireball blossomed, Shigure huffing as she battled against leaden feet and trembling arms in order to stabilize her aim before nailing a Wo-Class carrier and a Ri-Class with several rounds.

That wasn't enough to kill them, but it bought the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser enough time to blitz in like a pit-bull dog taking off after its prey, jumping over the fallen tree which the Abyssals hid behind with extended hands with fingers curled into claws as the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer witnessed within her the perfect blend of an eagle's majestic dive bomb assault intermixed with a hound's ferocity and unrelenting strength in her expression along with a snake's explosive strikes which reached out with the intent to kill.

 _"RRAAARRGGHH!"_

Thankfully, the bloody beat-down took place behind cover where gunshots were heard but didn't drown out the horrified screams and gurgles of dying Abyssals, and with the receding backs of Abyssals now being seen more and more often, Shigure exhaled as she heard someone announce,

"They're breaking off the engagement!"

Which heralded a chorus of cheers from Amazon company as they all sounded partially fatigued and absolutely miserable but celebrating the hell out of this victory, because the fact that they'd have to jump right back into the fire didn't escape their minds.

But this was still a victory, first and foremost.

With several ship girls keeping watch should the Abyssals try to circle back around in order to ambush them, Shigure crawled back up to a standing position and stumbled back to Amazon company, noting everyone's bloody clothes and the surprising amount of vitality and stamina which the nano-machines sucked out of them as everyone looked infinitely worse for the wear.

Looking at her 1st Fleet, their pallid expressions were a result of fatigue, blood loss and frayed nerves taking a toll on them, Hiei limping up to her as blood colored her bullet-riddled army pants in order to give Shigure an idea of what happened, the Kongou-Class battleship clapping a palm on her shoulder and sighing.

"You did good there.

All of you."

As she turned around to lock eyes with the rest of the 1st Fleet, Tenryuu, Suzuya and Ayanami looking jumpy after being on edge for the entire battle, and the fact that they hadn't eaten lunch didn't help matters one bit.

Also, Kitakami was dead, and that sucked.

Several of them had died despite the nanites covering as many bases as possible, and corpses were being lugged around on stretchers along with ship girls creeping up to seemingly unmoving Abyssal corpses and enforcing the double-tap rule in the vitals or head, Nachi and Hyuga doing the job since any possible Abyssal survivors attempting to get a last shot in with a grenade or pistol needed a ship girl who possessed considerable physical might in order to put down.

Shigure looked at the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser royal escort who literally fell out of the sky like a guardian angel, and she blushed at the sheer amount of skin which Ashigara-7 displayed and wasn't bothering to cover up in order to maintain some form of modesty with her hands like most ship girls would.

Her skin was flawless yet tainted with both her own and her enemy's blood, and whatever little was left of her uniform was permanently dyed in crimson as she strutted up shamelessly with the unshakable confidence of a supermodel strolling down a runway and knowing that she was indomitable in her own territory.

And Amazon company, despite their fatigue, still bothered to look away and give her some privacy like Shigure did, but not before she noticed the heavy cruiser's bouncing breasts, the erect nubs on them as well as her exposed itty-bitties gracefully swaying along with the hypnotic swaying movements of her hips as she sexy-walked.

Her boldness left nothing to the imagination since she was as radiant as the sun in that almost no one could lay their eyes upon her, being as nude and just as shameless as Eve before the Fall, except this was done not out of innocence but an acceptance of her body, whose confidence made her look as if she had transcended the petty concept of shame which gripped a few ship girls whose uniforms weren't torn up half as bad as the heavy cruiser's, but they did their best to cover themselves up and seemed positively pedestrian in Ashigara-7's presence.

Musashi walked up to the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser, managing to maintain eye contact with her like the consummate professional which she was as she expressed gratitude for her assistance on Amazon company's behalf.

"On behalf of us all, thank you, Ashigara-san.

We couldn't have held the fort as easily had you not been there to draw their fire."

"Oh, it's nothing much, really.

Me and the twins, we were in the area in order to pay a visit, but I couldn't leave our girls out on the field to die.

You know, the old soldier spirit burning up again.

You all need this victory more than I do, take this time to lick your wounds and count your dead."

Musashi nodded as Ashigara-7 downplayed her own role in the fight in true Japanese fashion, the heavy cruiser turning around and waving towards everyone in order to receive subdued responses, either due to the adrenaline wearing off or embarrassment in the shameless heavy cruiser's stead as Ashigara-7 called out with nary a care in the world.

"Heeey.

I'm Ashigara-7, but I go by Mata Hari due to my profession requiring, you know, _persuasive_ skills."

Several more blushes were painted on their faces upon hearing that, Musashi coughing into her fist and pulling her head back before lowering it to stare into the ground before she addressed the elephant in the room as subtly as possible.

"And, um…

Would you like a spare uniform in order to cover yourself up?

We have some, and since you're awash in blood, you'd probably want to wash it off when we establish basic facilities to clean ourselves down."

And to that, Ashigara shook her head and looked around at the suddenly meek ship girls who shied away from her and averted their gazes, supple breasts swaying and bouncing with every movement as Shigure observed the air of unwavering self-certainty surrounding her, convinced that everyone else wasn't on the same page as her as she idly remarked.

"What?

Your girls still uncomfortable with seeing each other in the nude?

Surprised that even with what's going on around us, you'd have such skewed priorities about modesty, of all things."

Ashigara-7 seemed perfectly at ease about the whole exhibitionism thing, literally admitting the naked truth with the transparency of her nigh-nonexistent clothes.

"And if you're all wondering, I'm not ashamed of my body like everyone else is.

Our bodies were created to be flawless while mine filled out in time; why try to hide our beauty and assets from the world as if we're ashamed of them?

Oh, and…"

Pointing to Hiei, Haruna, Mutsu, Houshou, Atago, Takao and Choukai before giving up and sweeping her pointed fingers over all of Amazon company, Ashigara-7 then pointed to her own collarbone and neck as she recommended.

"You all might want to cover those hickeys up, girls.

Seemed like a whale of a time, and the next time any you get some, I want in."

The 1st Fleet turned to Hiei as the Kongou-Class battleship burst out into a furious blush and turned up her collar in response to the amount of attention she was getting, and the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser turned her attention to Shigure and strolled towards the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, causing her blush to erupt and glow in inverse proportion to the ever-decreasing distance between them.

And finally, Shigure couldn't divert her gaze any longer as she looked up at Ashigara-7, also called Mata Hari no doubt due to her curvaceous figure as she oozed alluring yet lethal sex appeal in everything she did, the Myoukou-Class cruiser threatening to give her a heart attack as Ashigara-7 leaned forward and made the ship girls standing behind her inhale sharply and avert their gazes, fleshy melons the size of Shigure's head looking like tempting and deliciously juicy fruits hanging from a low-hanging forbidden tree and threatened to either spill out of the remnants of her ship girl uniform or cause it to unravel faster than a child with a gift on Christmas morning, said uniform barely hanging together by frayed threads at _very_ compromising positions.

Her eyes trailed up Ashigara-7's body, blood on the heavy cruiser's skin acting like rouge in a woman's makeup arsenal and achieving the same effect and emphasizing the truth of her body, that she was a genuine femme fatale with complete mastery over the art of life and death on the bed and in battle respectively.

Shigure's face was gently cradled and brought up to face Ashigara-7, and the one thing which drew her gaze in even more than her titillating body did were her eyes.

More specifically, how deep, mesmerizing and brilliant those two chestnut-brown orbs shined due to both her mature age as a ship girl as well as the breadth of experiences giving her a knowledgeable, 'seen it all' air.

Like staring into two brown universes.

It was to the point where she felt as if she could lose herself in them without worries like accepting her suffocating yet heavenly embrace, and as the heavy cruiser leaned in even closer, lowering her gaze to witness the risque view made Shigure's heart rate jump while the blood rushed to her face, inhaling the scent of blood, roses and traces of dried squid as the heavy cruiser huskily whispered at a volume loud enough for everyone to hear.

" _I'd also like to thank you._

 _My little heroine."_

Her ripe lips subtly puckered up for a kiss like a consummate lover would as it tenderly met Shigure's, allowing her to taste strawberry, sand and saliva while Shigure's frail, prepubescent little mind crashed from the sexual frenzy a simple kiss whipped her into.

And as the Myoukou-Class temptress disguised as a heavy cruiser pulled back with a shaking breath and let go of her face, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer finally did something as her gaze lifted towards the heavens and her blush reached critical.

She fell unconscious before she even hit the floor.

* * *

"Amazon company's in the clear.

The Abyssals are retreating, and tomorrow's rain should grant them at least a day of reprieve as the Abyssals won't be carpet bombing them, at the very least."

Admiral Mako inhaled as she stared downfield and gauged the distance while weighing the golf club, an iron to take wild swings and make pot-shots in this case since they were in an abandoned golfing range and didn't want to expose themselves, Nagato watching her along with their two guests as she vented her frustrations by sending the golf ball flying into the green.

A green which was pockmarked by craters of varying sizes with splintered trees on the outskirts while the dull hum of unseen fighter planes droning in the background, the area secured by friendly troops as it was beyond enemy lines.

A whiff and a crack sent the white sphere away in an arc as she maintained her pose, held her breath and allowed the air to settle down like in the final stage of Kyudo, _Zanshin_ , where one maintained their pose to relax and allowed their mind to recede from the peak of utmost concentration.

Exhaling and lowering the golf club as she turned back to her audience, Nagato was sitting in a quasi-ladylike position on the seats with one leg crossed over the other, one hand on her lap and the other laid on the back rest of the chair closer to Admiral Mako, lifting an eyebrow and remarking.

"Not a bad shot, but you should've led that shot by one point seven degrees to the left; today's wind is blowing a little stronger around here."

And in response to Admiral Mako's wordless challenge as she held the golf club out for the battleship while wearing an easy smile, her gaze hardened like a stern schoolteacher as she patiently reproached her own Admiral.

"I know what you're thinking.

I'm wearing a miniskirt, so no thanks.

Besides, we have guests."

Shifting her gaze to the two adolescent children sitting opposite her, Admiral Mako shifting her gaze to the left to watch the two giggling, precocious little princesses.

They were two black-haired children named Amaya and Ayane, with bright brown eyes while their hair was styled in a short-hair version of the _hime_ cut for them to look more their age with a yellow hair band for Ayane and purple for Amaya to hold down their bangs.

Their dresses were a modernized take on a traditional _miko_ dress styled in a child's knee-high gown as a ceremonial belt was wrapped around their waists and had the Imperial Chrysanthemum engraved on them, stockings and child's heels wrapped around their legs while they sat at attention in ladylike poses which were inculcated into them at a young age.

Despite their standoffish behavior as part of the royal family, they were certainly enjoying the exchange between the lesbian couple, their gazes switching back and forth as if following the ball in a table tennis match and had restrained smiles on their faces.

Admiral Mako's demeanor was still carefree even though she knew that everyone knew it was an act to hide her stress, but she shrugged as she gave the twins a sly, defeated-but-not-quite-down smile while remarking,

"Damn."

The already smiling Princesses burst into a fit of controlled giggles while covering their mouths with their sleeves, Nagato looking a little miffed as she pleaded.

"Please.

Don't we have war plans to discuss?"

Amaya then cut in to speak up in her favor,

"Oh, please don't be so hard on Admiral Mako, Nagato-san.

She clearly needs this as a form of stress relief, and the JSDF has assured us that this area of Japan is secured, partially thanks to Amazon company."

"Still, can't be too careful in this neck of the woods, can you?"

Guiding another golf ball into place with the golf club, Admiral Mako heard Nagato speak up expectantly about having the four incapacitated ship girls get back into the battle.

"Well, Kinugasa, Zuikaku, Saratoga and Junyou are all recovering from their injuries at the roof of the Kamogawa City Hall, and they'll be back amongst their brethren within the week.

Our comrades in Amazon company will be able to do much more than doctors ever could in helping them cope with the trauma, and psychologists require a longer period of time to get in touch with in times like these."

Admiral Mako's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the twins, and she could see the fact that the two of them also seemed worried about that idea in light of the stormy weather forecasts.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Nagato.

Let's keep the four of them off the field and under observation for awhile longer, shall we?"

"Why?

Our upgraded nano-machines healed them, so - "

"What were they killed by, Nagato?"

Admiral Mako stopped Nagato dead with a sentence, the battleship looking confused as to where this conversation was going, and the answer came from a third party.

"Lightning."

Amaya met Nagato's shifting gaze, the princess's gaze softening as she defended herself.

"At least, that was the medical Fairies' report."

"Not just that.

A lightning attack, utilized by what we can assume to be the Abyssal commander at point-blank range to create the mother of all tasers."

Walking precariously close to the golfing platform's edge, she looked up as a cloud chose that moment to shelter them under its voluminous size and temporarily eclipsed the sun, feeding Nagato's train of thoughts with this next tidbit of information.

"You said that there was going to be rain tomorrow, right?"

Realization seeped into a very concerned Nagato's voice as she answered,

"You're afraid that they'd be deathly afraid of the lightning and thunder?"

Admiral Mako turned back to add.

"To the point of a possible panic attack, but a development of long-lasting phobia isn't too probable, though not impossible either."

"That's not all."

Everyone's attention turned to Amaya, the little Princess speaking up about a possible exploitation by the enemy.

"Indra, uh, Yuubari-san's jellyfish Beast, can avoid being picked up by radar in order to go wherever it wishes.

And the rain, whether artificially or naturally created, grounds our planes to stop them from easily spotting her."

"But…"

Ayane continued, building off of her sister's train of thoughts by sharing her own,

"If she's so powerful, why not come at us head on instead of sneaking around?

I suspect that even if she's powerful, she primarily utilizes stealth in that she requires her Abyssals and Indra to run interference via encirclement and stormy weather.

She then sneaks into a strategic location, wrecks havoc and allows the Abyssals to tighten the noose."

"Which is the M.O. of the _Flying Dutchman_ as well, and it works eerily well if we don't expect it.

But in this case, can we try and deliberately open up a weakness in our formation in order to trap her?"

Nagato threw out a viable suggestion and allowed Amaya to add, the twins being called in to act as consultants thanks to their insight on such matters.

"Not exactly.

If you were to do that, you'd either spook her, because she certainly didn't rise up through the ranks by simply producing some sparks, or you'd have to keep your own company of ship girls in the dark so as to make it believable.

One leads to failure before it even begins, and the other is bound to descend into chaos."

Admiral Mako, watching the exchange and keeping a neutral stance, smirked as she slightly lifted the golf club towards the twins and remarked with no small amount of respect in her voice.

"You see?

I knew that accepting their invite for a meet-up was the right choice.

You really shouldn't judge people's capacity for critical thinking because of their age, not when we've got bright little girls of our own in our naval base, Nagato."

The battleship raised an eyebrow and tilted her head in the twins' direction in order to concede the point, Ayane understanding where she was coming from.

"It's completely understandable, Nagato-san.

Not everyone listens to us in spite of our extensive upbringing designed to allow both of us to succeed the throne, because there's a prevalent belief that children shouldn't be taken seriously until reaching a certain age."

But Admiral Mako also came to her own girlfriend's defense by mediating,

"Now, now, girls.

I understand that Nagato made a mistake, and you're nice girls for wanting to explain how she's not the only one to fall prey to such an assumption.

But it _can_ come off as a little patronizing to others whom you meet next time, so you might want to, you know, tone that down a little in the future."

Both of the imperial twins seemed genuinely sorry about their faux pas, bowing as reverently as their seats allowed them to as they apologized in unison.

"Yes, Ma'am.

Our humblest apologies, Nagato-san."

Nagato waved aside their apologies to let the trivial matter go, Admiral Mako turning to her girlfriend and jerking her thumb back at the twins to comment offhandedly.

"Man, that will never stop being creepy no matter how many times I hear it, whether on TV or in real life."

Nagato gave her a look to let her know that she was addressing supposedly divine royalty (which she really didn't give a hoot about), rolling up her sixth golf ball today as she addressed her audience.

"Also, I'd like to get a feel for who I'm talking to and get to know you better, because I'm certain you two know everything about me from my file.

And…"

Turning back to the twins who were attentively listening to her, Admiral Mako made a request.

"Please, answer truthfully.

None of that crafted persona I see on TV.

Today, it's just four girls hanging out on a war-zone and being 100% real with each other, alright?"

Getting approving nods and firm gazes, she pointed at Amaya, asking.

"Amaya Shirogane.

Avid supporter of the Abyssal War and successfully lobbying for several improvements to our fighting conditions, one such bill being an ambitious plan to double the defense budget some time before the start of Apocalypse, AKA World War 3.

And shortly before the Battle of Twelve Navies, it was hastily passed by the government in the face of evidence that a land invasion was imminent.

What drives a girl like you to do something like that?

Patriotism? Nationalism?"

Amaya started to show some expression as she sneered at the mention of the latter, speaking up in order to clear the misconception.

"Nationalism's not my thing.

I'm patriotic, but even I understand that our country has made mistakes in the past, and I'll make sure we do whatever it takes to make up for them and utilize everything we have to fight for our future, be it weapons, resources or even lives if need be.

Our ship girls are bravely fighting in their second world war and should be treated with the appropriate respect and reverence, they're more than what we deserve after having brought this on ourselves."

"You think the Abyssals are a result of man's mistakes?"

Admiral Mako was surprised by the child's pro-war and retributive views, and Amaya straightened her shoulders and sat up as she elaborated.

"Yes.

Our foolishness and lust for combat was why we created warships in a war of our making, which in turn spawned ship girls and Abyssals, and while the ship girls are soldiers whom we should be proud of and say our thanks and dedicate our prayers to, the Abyssals are the exact opposite.

They're the antithesis of ship girls but also a result of our destructive tendencies, and the stakes in this war mandates that we supply our ship girls with anything they need and throw everything we've got at the Abyssals in order to save our skins.

Nothing more, nothing less."

Admiral Mako was genuinely impressed and even a little scared of the kid, but one look at in her eyes allowed her to see that her heart was in the right place, and she simply wanted to win this war for everyone's sake, and if the Abyssals just raised the stakes with this world war, she had to call their bluff and get everyone to do the same.

"You really love this country, don't you?"

And to that, Amaya's expression softened into a smile as she corrected.

"Not the country.

Borders get redrawn eventually, countries get renamed eventually, and governments, empires and civilizations rise and fall throughout the passage of time.

But the one constant which ties them all together is the people.

They're what matters when the chips are down, their spirit being this country's heart and soul.

I'm not going to sell our country's soul in order to win, but anything else is fair game."

Admiral Mako lifted an impressed eyebrow, turning to Ayane as she asked.

"You.

Ayane Shirogane, future Empress alongside Amaya.

An expert on public relations, you've certainly whipped the politicians left and right into a unified frenzy to put aside their differences and take the nuking of America as a call to arms, also rallying the public to take up a more active role in the Abyssal War as it escalated into a World War.

You really know your way around crowds, no?"

Ayane nodded, being the more withdrawn princess of the duo who was strangely more social than her younger sister and preferred building and improving upon bonds between countries, people and races as an amiable mediator while her war-loving and 'bloodthirsty' sister focused on the war itself.

"Well, you know what they say about a house divided.

Not everyone can be counted on to do the right thing when alone with their self-serving goals and inner demons, and while it's completely understandable since it's in our nature to secure as much resources as possible to ensure our own well-being, I believe that with the right nudge, anyone can be convinced to do the right thing.

I'm just a rallying voice, that's all."

Amaya hugged her elder sister as Ayane exercised humility by playing down her own role in bringing everyone together, and while Admiral Mako understood the need to be humble, she still wanted the little girl to have some pride in her skills.

"Oh, don't sell yourself short, Ayane-chan.

You're incredibly precocious to be so wise beyond your years like your sister, and you really need to have some faith in your own ability to connect with people.

I know of older people who aren't as open and accepting as you are, and you have a promising career ahead of you which allows you to help people within your international range of influence just like your sister."

Ayane nodded understandingly and made Admiral Mako feel at ease if these twins were going to inherit the throne and guide the country in the right direction, and while they still had a lot to learn since they were still kids, she allowed herself to wonder if they really stood a fighting chance with them at the helm.

Still a ways to go before then, but baby steps.

She dropped the golf club on the grass before she made herself comfortable on the seat beside Nagato like a married couple, the both of them slightly leaning on each other as Admiral Mako then got down to brass tacks.

"But let's not dance around the topic at hand.

Hardly any members of the royal family come out into a war-zone nowadays, what do you wish to share with us?"

They looked at each other, and then back to Admiral Mako and Nagato as Ayane explained,

"Well, the weapons which the Americans are sending over to us is going to help us out a lot; it certainly wouldn't do for our soldiers and ship girls to save the world without having access to the best available weapons and equipment we have.

The second is our intelligence networks picking up the fact that there might be a correlation between one of your ship girls and the fact that an anonymous source tipped us off about Central's less-than-savory activities behind the scenes."

Admiral Mako's first thought instantly leaned towards,

' _Akashi.'_

But she said nothing, and could feel that Nagato connected the repair ship with this grim update as her mysterious existence predated Yokosuka's conversion to a ship girl base.

Leaning back on Nagato's sturdy arm and keeping her hands on her crossed laps, she remarked.

"Well, to my understanding, Central's always been funded by people rich enough to buy their own islands on a whim despite how bad an idea it may sound now.

And Central strives to be as nonpartisan and unbiased as possible when recording, coordinating and predicting our progress, setting goals and reviewing our budget expenditure on a global scale, kinda like a UN for ship girls around the world.

And if the people backing us want to earn a profit by investing in weapons and supply stocks as World War 3 starts, we just need a cut of that cheddar in order to convince us to look the other way and use it to fuel our war machine.

Money _does_ make the world go around, after all."

The imperial twins nodded, since they clearly had to work with this international organization in order to push the limits of what the Japanese war machine could do, like introducing electric cars to reduce fuel consumption by the public and allow more of it to flow into the ship girls' veins.

But Amaya rebutted with a very disturbing revelation,

"We're not talking about that.

What we _are_ talking about are ship girls being brought in to be experimented upon in the past, since it isn't everyday that you come across a repairable and reusable platform for testing the effectiveness of weapons, repeated vivisections in order to further the understanding of a ship girl's internal systems and the like, back when the existence of ship girls were a secret and they thought that they could get away with this."

Silence.

Her fingers threatened to curl into fists while her body stilled and her gaze lost its focus, rage starting to boil at the fact that even in the modern age, people - nay, _idiots_ still did this kind of stuff which often led to catastrophic ramifications, ones which future generations would look back upon and ask,

' _What the fuck were they thinking by doing that?"_

Well, if they won this war with enough left standing to birth the next generation.

 _If._

She could only whisper,

"Who?"

Ayane's expression was crushed while Amaya's was smoldering, and the former was the one to pipe up with some much-needed answers.

"People whose pockets run deeper than the Marianas Trench, corporations specializing in medicine, cosmetics and scientific studies, the military, almost everyone's had a hand in this.

There are those who did it for the _greater good_ for it to benefit mankind, some who wanted to get rich from it all by using them as a testing platform, and others who just wanted the chance to tear an alien specimen apart molecule by molecule to see how they ticked."

A nail-on-the-chalkboard screech of heavily deforming material distracted the twins, and Admiral Mako only needed to feel Nagato's rippling and flexing arm muscles which she leaned on to know that she was singlehandedly crushing the top corner of her seat without hurting her, and the twins gulped at the show of force from an esteemed battleship and war veteran as her expression was dark while her red eyes were glowering at a nonexistent target in the distance.

The imperial twins were understandably a little frightened at the duo's simmering demeanor melding together as one and united by their shared disdain for those who took advantage of this war for their own ends, shrinking back a little and leaning on each other other for support while uttering.

"We-We understand this might come as a shock - "

 _"No."_

Admiral Mako felt her gaze look at nothing in particular in a downward tilt, lost in her own thoughts shortly she recovered by blinking a few times before returning the twins' worried gazes, explaining herself after having cut Ayane off.

"I completely understand how man can be a wolf to man, so this doesn't come as a shock so much as … _disappointment."_

The hatred dripping from her tone surprised even herself, and Nagato gave her a concerned sideways glance with her narrowed gaze which she took in stride and continued, her gaze becoming flinty while her jaw muscles became taut from the tension, patiently listening to the princesses.

"A lot of the data concerning these activities have been taken or expunged from Central's servers after the Abyssal War was made known a decade ago, and the few leads we have to crack down on this case need to be retrieved by the ship girl you call Shiranui.

She is a stealth specialist according to our records on your base, and we believe that she is part of your Project Psyche and has gained New Wave powers."

"Secure locations?"

" _Very_ secure."

Ayane confirmed her concerns, which put her in a slight pinch as to what to do.

Information like this was sensitive by nature due to its ability to compromise working relationships, and while the more rational side of her wanted to drop the case so as not to break apart the human-ship-girl alliance, her emotional side rebelled at the mere thought of _not_ bringing this injustice to light and punishing the perpetrators, and she looked up to her girlfriend for a third opinion.

"Nagato?

Do you wish to investigate this?

You do have an emotional stake in this as a ship girl, after all."

Nagato certainly seemed equally peeved by this revelation about the abuse of her own kind even if she managed to hide it better than a volatile Admiral Mako did, looking down at her and leaning in closer in order to let Admiral Mako pick up the solemnness in her stony voice.

"Well, our current situation is precarious, and any mistakes would lead to a governmental revolt by both disgruntled ship girls and disgusted citizens.

The question is, do you trust us not to make a mistake in carrying out our mission?"

"I do, although even if you do fail, I wouldn't blame any of you.

You're all still part human and thus fallible, after all."

"Then there is your answer."

Amaya spoke up about their actions in the immediate future in order to help Admiral Mako with her investigation while handing over a thumbdrive,

"This here contains all of what we know thus far from our two sources, and various hypotheses we've cooked up for you to follow up on, Admiral.

We'll provide assistance in any way we can, but please understand that our position is delicate and our hands are tied regarding several matters which concern political powerhouses as well as our financial backers in the war."

She nodded understandingly, knowing that the Shirogane twins were intertwined in political matters and couldn't make moves or be caught delving into controversial matters which could either spook those involved or cause concerned backers of their course to withdraw their support, neither of which were desirable outcomes.

Nagato piped up with a question,

"Who informed you two about these past dealings and experiments?"

Amaya and Ayane turned around to face them, Nagato asking a question which had been on the tip of Admiral Mako's tongue the entire time, and Amaya could only share with them the anonymity of their informants.

"Anonymous sources, both from within Central and your naval base, which was why we had to make contact with you.

They made it abundantly clear that they did not want to be found by the thoroughness in which they hid their tracks, but the evidence from both parties, while damning, isn't enough to build a case off of, and we'll require the help of Shiranui-san to bring them to justice.

We are certain of one thing, though, and it's that our source in Yokosuka certainly came from one of your ship girls instead of a human.

The leak from your naval base was in a format which can only be read by another ship girl on her HUD, something which a human could never hope to do with our current level of technology."

The two princesses got up and bowed reverently towards Nagato and respectfully towards Admiral Mako, secret agents coming in as their conversation concluded and was a sign for these gentlemen to do their job, which was to escort the twins in lieu of the missing Ashigara-7, the admiral and ship girl duo standing up to see them out of the golf range before they spoke with each other, Nagato opening up with a plausible suspect.

"You think it might be Akashi-san?

Or any one of her 8th Fleet friends who leaked this in order to exact revenge on her behalf?"

Admiral Mako shrugged, although her answer was far less ambiguous regarding her stance on this matter.

"I doubt it.

Akashi _despises_ authority with a passion, especially governments, and with how intertwined the royal family has been with politics nowadays despite still being more or less a figurehead, it's quite unlikely, although not impossible for her to spill the beans to them, of all people.

Her friends are more likely to do so, but also lean more towards 'no' since they're thick as thieves, and would rather die than betray one another's trust."

She could see Nagato grudgingly admit the point as the battleship ahd worked together with the repair ship for several years now, and it seemed inevitable that Nagato's straightforward approach to get the job done would clash with Akashi's unconventional approach to cause as much damage as possible to everyone marked as a red dot on her HUD.

"Then you think another ship girl might be privy to Central's wrongdoings?

If so, we need to know how to get in contact with her, find out how she discovered this and take over this investigation is possible."

Nagato displayed her knack for leadership and initiative, and Admiral Mako tempered that spirit with no small amount of wariness in her voice which didn't discourage it, but she simply put forth her two cents regarding this peculiar situation.

"Someone in our base knows more than she lets on.

And whatever her motives are, I'm not sure, although I _am_ sure that it isn't as clear-cut and well-meaning as you might think.

Why wait until now when we're focused on fighting World War 3 and need everyone to band together, when such slanderous news would definitely cause a rift to open between humans and ship girls when everyone finds out what we did to them behind closed doors during the First Decade?"

"You think that someone might be playing both sides?

I mean, only the Abyssals would profit from this divide splitting us up, and… "

As unthinkable as that might seem, Nagato dared to imagine the impossible which was now made only improbable by a paradigm shift as the Admiral could only shrug in response, since the possibility had occurred to her and wasn't entirely written off because while she loved her ship girls, she wasn't going to rashly proclaim that her own ship girls wouldn't betray her.

The fact that New Wave powers complicated things and begged the question of whether one of her girls was acting under the influence, or even the complete control of an enemy unit.

"I'm thinking of a lot of things right now.

You might be right, but I can't say for sure.

What I _can_ say is that Shiranui needs to get out there as soon as possible and gather information before we get blindsided by anything which threatens the lives of our ship girls.

Someone who can discover and be able to leak such things out without getting caught is far more dangerous than any Abyssal Princess.

But what makes me question this source's drive and allegiance is the fact that I've helped us win so many battles."

Looking up at Nagato with a genuinely confused look in her eyes, Admiral Mako made her feelings and thoughts known to her girlfriend-slash-subordinate.

"I command one of the largest ship girl bases in Japan, perhaps even the world.

If a mole was in my base and allowed me to do my job within a few years of her playing both sides and living with the knowledge of these atrocities without anyone suspecting a thing until now, that tells me one of three things.

She has the patience of a saint to wait until now, utterly incompetent at being a mole, or her loyalty is conflicted.

All it takes is a decryption key to our radio frequency, some case-sensitive files which can be replicated without much fuss with your capabilities and despite our best attempts to keep them secure, and we'd be compromised to hell and back without ever knowing what hit us."

"So all those past losses could possibly be attributed to this mole's actions, but could it also be that this mole is good enough to lead us on and let us win some battles in order not to arouse suspicion?"

"Hence the saintly patience.

It's also possible that we're chasing red herrings and the solution's much simpler than this.

But… now?

Why not earlier and why not reveal it to me personally, and I could have helped?"

Nagato looked down as she could only give a confused shrug, and as Admiral Mako looked away and stared at the horizon of the destroyed golf range, Nagato only had this to say.

"And in this case, every ship girl is a possible suspect before being proven innocent.

… Including me."

Looking up at her girlfriend, Nagato bristled as she stood up straight and accepted the implications in which an investigation like this brought about.

"I will remain professional, Admiral, and include even myself in the investigation process in order to be thorough.

Please, Admiral, approach this with a clear mind and not let it be tinted with biases or assumptions so as to bring this matter to a swift resolution."

She couldn't help but smile at the amount of dedication Nagato devoted to her work like a professional, and she had to uphold her end of the relationship so as not to feel bad by letting Nagato go through this alone, giving her a warm smile and a slight heads-up.

"Thanks, Nagato.

And, by the way, I don't think you're the mole.

I like to think that those whom I fall in love with, I know for sure that they would never turn on me, and vice versa."

Nagato exhaled through her nose in exasperation, but she cracked a rare smile which was positively radiant in Admiral Mako's eyes, the battleship knowing how she worked and could only remind her to remain professional throughout this investigation.

"Mako, please.

Anyone, especially those close to you could be the mole, and you know it.

If anything, the conflicted mole angle could very well be a result of the romantic relationship which you established with various ship girls."

"Oh, so the morale of this story is to romance all my ship girls like the main protagonist in a harem-genre visual novel, and minimize the odds of betrayal thanks to lesbian love and sex?"

Nagato opened her mouth to argue the point, but no noise came out as she then closed her jaw while her concentrated gaze belied the thoughts running through her mind, right before she looked down at her and conceded the point with a slight blush while fidgeting.

"I know that there's a point to be made about relationships in the workplace and loose lips, but I keep getting sidetracked by our past … ahem, _hanky panky_ shenanigans, so let's hold that thought for now.

And I suppose our bonds with each other does pay off in the end, I mean, if this scenario really is the case.

I just want to expose and denounce any wrongdoings of the enemies and traitors behind us for our girls to focus on the fight before us, and not have to fight a war on two fronts."

"You and me both."

Nagato leaned in for a quick peck on her lips before turning and briskly walking away as Admiral Mako struggled to catch up with her girlfriend, already back in business as her mind was brimming with plans and thoughts about the war while mentally keeping track of all the players on the field, taking this new revelation about a mole in stride and factoring it into her calculations in order to try and win this world war with her ship girls.


	66. Chapter 66 - Fallout 4

**Author's Notes**

 _Hmm, just realized that the rating for this story's a K+ which is like a PG-13 rating, and that's rather inaccurate for a fanfic of such… graphic fight and lewd scenes._

 _Oh, well._

* * *

"All that trauma, war and death which you survived without much fuss, and all it took to knock you out was a kiss from that succubus of a heavy cruiser?"

Shiranui rolled her eyes at how unpredictable Shigure was, but the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer got off the bed which she laid on in order to recover as she defended herself.

"W-Well, that Ashigara is certainly quite the enchantress who can play to her feminine charms and wiles, and the fact that she's so unabashed about being naked meant that I couldn't help but faint while in the presence of her shamelessness.

Besides, s-she was looking very attractive, even before her uniform got shredded by enemy fire."

The Kagerou-Class destroyer had no reply to that since she averted her eyes from the Myoukou-Class heavy cruiser back then, and Ashigara-7 was eventually convinced to wear the army uniform since her previous one was too shot up and bloodied to be repaired.

The two destroyers currently stood in a canopy tarp which shielded them from the rapid and steady rhythm of the rain beating down on Amazon company on the 16th of May, Shiranui feeling the slick mud beneath her boots thanks to the rain mixing with the dirt and generally making their lives that little bit more miserable.

Observing their resting comrades outside, she could see that many of them were psychologically and emotionally drained from the constant stress which they were under since sorties were more of a 'high-stress, short-period' kind of thing with down-time in between them for them to temporarily forget the horrors war to help them cope and recover.

Here, they were wallowing in their own misery in the filth and mud of the wet forest, huddling against each other for comfort and to keep themselves warm in the freezing rain as they jumped in fright every time thunder barked and mimicked the sound of cannon fire, some of them breaking down into sobbing fits, hysteria and even a panic attack on one occasion when Jintsuu, understandably distressed not just by the stress of war, but also by the fact that one sister ship was sunk and likely Abyssalized while the other was killed in battle, suddenly broke down and started crying as she sat behind a tree and hugged herself for dear life.

The pained and feral look in her eyes discouraged anyone from even getting close, much less try to comfort her despite their best intentions and could only dispatch a patrol duty to pass by occasionally and make sure she was still there, and Shiranui dreaded to think just what the rest of their Yokosuka comrades must be going through right now.

Her mind drifted towards her sister ships, most of whom were still in the navy and were undoubtedly sailing the seas to fend off the Abyssals, and she felt awful upon thinking about how they could have already sunk and she would be none the wiser until the navy deigned to notify her via letter.

No one was getting any sleep because not only did the peals of thunder jerk them awake and was the primary cause of their insomnia, the Abyssals could also sneak up on them and slit their throats in their sleep, something which they never had to worry about before World War 3 as dark circles lined the rims of their eyes while other concerns filled their minds other than their immediate and distant prospects of survival, for example, the J.O.A.N. units whose wrath was being unleashed on the world.

Shiranui looked back at Shigure and noticed the fatigue which likely chipped away at her psychological, emotional and mental stamina reserves and would only continue to do so until she either broke down or Amazon company finished their tour of duty and were replaced, asking about the conditions of the ship girls who were taken out by Yuubari.

"How are Junyou, Tatsuta and the others?"

"Oh, they're doing fine physically, but this storm's got them riled up psychologically with a fear of lightning and thunder, which means that they need to be kept under observation.

Akashi-san told me that she wasn't sure if this would develop into a phobia, so they'll be temporarily out of action with some psychologists helping them out."

"Understandable.

We've got backup in the form of Ninja company now, and there's certainly no shortage of ship girls on our side to act in their stead.

There's nothing to worry about for now."

Shigure nodded tiredly as her body shuddered from the delayed shock of processing everything which had occurred thus far, the Kagerou-Class destroyer looking out into the forest and watching it all get a layer of gloss due to the rain beating down on the leaves, trees and dirt, ship girls huddling underneath tents made out of tarps and hanging clothes out in order to let the rain wash the sweat, blood and dirt away.

"Well, this uniform sure is restrictive, but I think I made it work."

Turning back to see Ashigara-7 hastily entering the tent, Shiranui was glad that the heavy cruiser was wearing an army uniform in order to cover herself (her ship girl uniform didn't really reveal much, but since it was form-fitting and was worn by _her_ , it might as well be) but it was a marginal improvement as the army uniform barely managed to conceal the heavy cruiser's sex appeal.

She looked as if she just stepped out of a gravure magazine whose monthly feature was on military girls as her skin and facial features were perfect while her adjustable army uniform snugly hugged her hourglass figure, and even her fingernails were immaculate as she sashayed into the tent, noticing the two occupants currently occupying it before walking over to hug Shigure.

Ashigara-7 was perfectly aware of her feminine traits as she pulled Shigure into her bountiful breasts for a hug, the luminescent blush and suddenly submissive attitude meaning that Shigure didn't dislike the deliciously soft mammary glands pressing on her face.

This sight wasn't too titillating by itself, but Shiranui couldn't help but feel something well up within her in response to seeing Shigure have eyes for another woman, her expression crinkling as she wondered why this pang of jealousy existed in the first place.

She wasn't in love with Shigure or anything.

 _Nope._

Ashigara-7 noted her expression as the heavy cruiser broke out into a genuine smile, one which fully understood and empathized with her inner feelings as they seemed transparent before Ashigara-7's brilliant gaze, causing her to turn away in a totally not-petulant manner to sulk as she heard the adult ship girl speak up.

"I just wanted to know all of you a little better, and what better place to start than here with Shigure-chan?

And just in case you wanted to ask me anything, please do so.

I'm an open book."

Shigure nodded, Shiranui taking the time to focus on cleaning her standard-issue SIG Sauer P220 pistol as she held the pistol's slide out in the rain to lubricate it before cleaning it with a towel while keeping a ear on the conversation.

"U-Um, Ashigara-san…

Why are you so unashamed about showing off your own body?

I mean, doesn't everyone's stares bother you?"

"Oh, well, that's a simple question.

Why should we be ashamed of our bodies when we were created to be physically perfect?

Shame, to me, has no place on a battlefield where survival and victory are of the utmost priority.

After two decades of fighting this war, you learn to see things in a different light."

Shiranui raised an eyebrow as she questioned that development in morality, but it secretly made some sense to her since modesty meant nothing if it resulting in your sinking, and since everyone was female anyway, there was no shame in showing some skin in order to defeat the enemy.

Ashigara had discarded these human values which were thrust on them upon their creation and created her own values to be upheld by being proud and confident of her own body and sexuality while ignoring any forms of negative external judgement, Shigure inquiring about the latter as she spoke.

"And why are you named Mata Hari?

I understand that it translates to 'Eyes of the Sun', but does it stand for how dazzling your gaze was?

I-I mean, you really did have pretty eyes…"

Another pang of jealousy soured Shiranui's mouth and made her swallow an uncomfortable lump which was stuck in her throat, thanking the fact that she was facing away from Ashigara-7 and Shigure as she used a brush dipped in cleaning solvent to clean out the pistol barrel, knowing the heavy cruiser's other career well enough to predict the answer beforehand.

"Oh, it's not just that, dear.

I work as a gravure model as a part-time job, and you know that I'm the escort for Amaya and Ayane, the twin princesses of Japan, right?"

Shigure made a noise of agreement, and Ashigara-7 was unfazed about elaborating on her other skills which helped out the princesses in various ways by playing to her strengths.

"Well, like I said earlier.

The princesses make the rules and policies, but my sexual services to politicians and soldiers alike help to placate and take the edge off the former and help to sate the pent-up frustrations of the latter, and everyone's happy in the end.

Male, female and everything in between, I'll take them all on in battle or in bed!"

A succinct summary of what the heavy cruiser was capable of, and the pregnant pause was enough for Shiranui to anticipate what Shigure was thinking, flinching as another bolt of lightning illuminated the tent and cast creeping shadows on the canopy, relaxed as the lurching figures of the trees outside of their tents disappeared as soon as they materialized, consciously bracing herself for the peal of thunder that was to come.

 _KRAKOOM._

Releasing a breath she'd been subconsciously holding in anticipation for the thunderclap, Shigure continued on with the conversation after that little light-show.

"So… you're like a prostitute?

Or like a man-eater?"

"Hmm, more a snake eater, really.

My official job is to be a courtesan who accepts anyone, from the highest-paying politician who needs to be convinced to go along with my princesses' policy, to a private in the army who needs to let off some steam.

So long as everything remains consensual and everything is laid out on the table, I believe I can do it with just about anyone.

Besides, the docks cure _those_ kinds of diseases, and even though I make it a point to make sure they were checked beforehand, I take a dip quite often to make sure that nobody gets hurt because of my promiscuous lifestyle.

I also underwent an operation to make sure that I don't get pregnant, because while I like sex, I'm not in the mood to raise someone's kids and take myself out of action for 9 months."

Hmm, loose but responsible.

Shigure certainly sounded as if she wanted to understand Ashigara's unique philosophy, and the only way the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer knew how to do that was to ask more questions and see how the heavy cruiser answered.

"Then, you seem pretty hedonistic to be so sexually active.

But I suspect that you're in it for pleasure as a whole, not just the sexual kind, right?"

Ashigara-7 shrugged, Shiranui glancing back to find that she had plopped down on a folding army chair and allowed Shigure to sit on her lap, and she took extra care to play it cool by turning away slowly while listening to Ashigara-7's little speech.

"You're exactly right.

The five senses must be pleased in different manners, like appreciating art and listening to music in order to appease our sense of sight and hearing respectively.

Another aspect of desire to be sated is knowledge, and to satisfy our curiosity in order to best utilize our knowledge to improve everyone's lives, including our own, is our responsibility as sapient beings.

Social bonds help to elevate the quality of life by making friends and improve productivity, and you'll find that I don't like arguments and often diffuse them in any way I can.

After all, even if you're right, you certainly aren't having fun arguing your point with someone who forcefully contests the point and similarly isn't enjoying every second of it."

Shiranui nodded, understanding that Ashigara-7, AKA 'Mata Hari' helped politicians get together as a courtesan and to help secure deals for the twin princesses, making her more than a pretty face as her extroverted nature helped her to secure this job.

"So I suppose sorties are the exception?

They are rather painful, after all."

"Oh, not at all.

They all serve a greater purpose in the form of helping to win this war, and enduring some pain for the sake of ensuring victory really is the moral thing to do.

Besides…"

The heavy cruiser's breathing became audibly louder and huskier as Ashigara-7 huffed.

" _I don't exactly mind the pain, and to take hits for my beloved comrades and have my clothes being forcefully torn from my body and exposing my body for everyone to see…_

 _It would be my pleasure."_

Shiranui surmised that it would be natural for a perverted, pleasure-seeking ship girl to find sexual gratification even in suffering, leading to masochism but definitely not allowing herself to be shot at willy-nilly at the risk of sinking.

Shiranui reassembled her P220 pistol and pulled back the slide several times to check that it was still working, and she turned around to throw out a question of her own while holstering the pistol.

"Do you know of the J.O.A.N. units which are terrorizing ship girls on land?

You have the access to such knowledge, and you should know that they possess New Wave powers and Beasts which put them leagues ahead of any land-based threat we've faced thus far."

"Sure.

I certainly won't say that I can take them on all by myself, but even they must have weaknesses or vulnerabilities which we can discover and exploit."

Shiranui snorted derisively as she couldn't help but throw out a caustic remark,

"Well, that's easy to say when you haven't faced off against them in battle."

Ashigara-7 didn't seem to be bothered too much by that comment, instead speaking up about a fight which a certain Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer found herself in.

"Oh, don't say that.

Shigure-chan survived the Kamogawa City Hall rooftop battle, and this shows that the J.O.A.N. units aren't invincible and omnipotent, and sighting them on the battlefield isn't a sure sign of death."

Shiranui reluctantly grunted in agreement since there was some truth to Ashigara-7's words, moving on to her next question since she was also rather curious about how different Ashigara-7 was from every other Ashigara she'd met.

"I'd like to inquire about something.

I understand that you've forged these new values for yourself in order to expand your horizons and accept who you are in all your glory.

But what about killing?

I suppose that with age, your views of life and death must've changed as well.

What do you think only you can feel when you kill an Abyssal with your bare hands?"

Ashigara-7 lifted an eyebrow at how Shiranui wanted to understand just how different she was from everyone else, and the gem of wisdom which was tucked away between her ears now shined through her gaze as Ashigara-7 revealed.

"An appreciation for life, even in the face of death.

Everything of worth to me has always been an expression of either side of the coin, either the frailty of life or the finality of death and how I choose to live life to the fullest by living and copulating, reminding myself of how beautiful this world is and experiencing all there is to experience.

Pain can last, but pleasure is ephemeral and I intend to not just experience it all, but also try to share and spread the pleasure and happiness wherever and whenever I can.

Oh, I would say that our values are rather similar to mankind's with several key differences.

One major difference is how differently we see and treat incest, what with Yamashiro to Fuso, Chikuma to Tone and Hiei to Kongou, although in the final case, I'm not sure who gave her those hickeys if there isn't a Kongou in Amazon company…"

Shiranui's cheeks colored as her first thought came up with her elder sister Kagerou, but she saw that name-dropping Fuso and Yamashiro caused Shigure to perk up with a crestfallen expression, Ashigara-7 cuddling and patting her while Shiranui made herself comfortable as she leaned on the desk with her pistol in her holster.

"To most humans, it's not normal for siblings to possess any romantic feelings for each other, and while most of us aren't naturally predisposed towards it, we don't express revulsion or horror towards siscon ship girls.

Killing Abyssals also comes naturally to us as human weapons, but our conscience is shaped by human values and tells us that the ease in which we kill Abyssals, despite them being a hostile alien race, is worrying to humans, causing us to flip-flop between denying our killer instincts during peacetime and embracing it in battle.

Why is that?

Our values are tweaked from our inception to be different from mankind.

And while we wish for it to be so, we aren't 100% human and will never be, so it might a sign that our current mentality is but a stepping stone towards something radically different, and arguably superior to mankind's limited sense of morality thanks to our vastly enhanced bodies and adaptable mindsets opening up new possibilities and viewpoints to us."

"But we would still be pro-human, right?"

Shigure piped up with a question like a child asking a question about her favorite subject, and Ashigara replied with an equivalent amount of enthusiasm.

"Of course!

You can be anything you wish to be as you strive to reach that stage of mental release, unbound by the bondage of petty human morality as you reshape and create yourself anew.

As superior beings who don't choose to play God but consciously choose to play human, is that not the ideal moral compass of a ship girl?"

Shigure then looked rather confused as she stumbled onto another train of thought.

"But wouldn't we be rather estranged from mankind because of our minor, yet significant differences in perspective, since mankind has had quite the past of rejecting others of differing views and cultures?"

Shiranui shrugged as she offered her own two cents on how mankind's treatment of them changed along with the times.

"You're not wrong there.

Originally, we were treated no differently from weapons to be maintained and sortied on the seas, and there was initially a fair bit of mistrust as a miracle from above certainly seemed too good to be true.

But I'd say that their suspicions weren't unfounded, because not only were we spawned by Fairies and were far more potent and advanced than mankind's existing technological prowess, but the fact that mankind wasn't responsible for our creation and the fact that we're gynoids under their control despite not understanding everything which created us meant that they wanted to make absolutely sure our allegiance to them was legitimate.

Imagine an entire army of super-humans programmed to be loyal to you, but should some third party who was secretly responsible for our creation enter some admin commands in order to either free us from mankind's control, or worse still, turn us against mankind, we'd become threats that are on par with the Abyssals."

Shigure shivered upon hearing that since the thought of killing humans instead of Abyssals had likely never occurred to her as well as the thought of their entire race turning against mankind against their will, and if they were lucky enough, they wouldn't retain their memories of living in peace with humans in order not to go mad from the grief of killing human soldiers and civilians should their programming be changed to target humans instead of Abyssals.

Ashigara-7 patted her on the head in order to help calm her down, and the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer found it within herself to ask another question regarding the Myoukou-Class cruiser's performance in yesterday's battle.

"Oh, and…

As a veteran ship girl, I thought that you'd emit some form of aura when you're utterly focused on the fight in a battle.

But I didn't get that feeling from you yesterday, even though the battle was chaotic enough to distract me with a million things happening at once…"

The heavy cruiser shrugged again as Ashigara-7 made Shiranui raise an eyebrow by challenging her assumptions about the veteran's hidden capabilities.

"Oh, I wasn't completely serious back then.

Those odds weren't too bad compared to what I've survived in the past."

Shigure pulled her face out of Ashigara's bosom in order to give her an incredulous look, prompting an explanation from the heavy cruiser.

"A synchronization of body, mind and soul allows you to hit harder and faster, since your accumulated experiences moves your war-conditioned body faster than even the speed of thought as you possess super-awareness of every threat around you while stamina ceases to be an issue.

But aside from being in an environment which I wasn't entirely familiar with, those Abyssals weren't too much of a threat despite their numbers and weapons."

Shiranui lifted her other eyebrow incredulously, and she appreciated Shigure's attempts to remain positive even in a time like this as she remarked.

"Well, that means you're even better when you're at your best, no?

With you, Ma'am Jackie and Akashi on our side, I feel a little safer with you 'centenarians' in our company to boost our manpower with experience."

Ashigara-7 gently lifted Shigure off of her lap and stood up in order to look down at the both of them, ruffling Shigure's hair while looking into Shiranui's eyes as she teased.

"Just 'a little'?"

And in response to Shigure's flustered attempt to correct herself, the heavy cruiser's age was reflected in her mature gaze as she consoled.

"Don't worry about it.

But I will say that the Abyssals have certainly never met any ship girls like me, because the war would have long ended should there be another Ashigara-7."

Inhaling sharply and crossing her shoulders, Shiranui waited for the heavy cruiser to leave the room as Mata-Hari sashayed in a sultry manner befitting that of the sexually promiscuous seductress of a ship girl before she turned to Shigure, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer blinking in a stupor while a blush still tinged her cheeks.

Nudging Shigure's side with her own shoulder, Shiranui leaned in close to reveal information she had recently acquired from Admiral Mako.

"Look, Admiral Mako gave me a heads-up about our New Wave equipment.

They've finished crafting my new body, and they have some of your armored suit crafted and ready to be tested."

Shigure raised an impressed eyebrow in response as she asked.

"That fast?

Did they also craft another sword for Tenryuu?"

"Yes.

Getting funding and resources from the princesses as part of a 'helping hand' did wonders, not just for us New Wave ship girls but also for Amazon company as a whole.

You know what this means?"

"Testing?"

Shiranui lifted an eyebrow in agreement, but gave Shigure a friendly reminder as she held up a thumb drive to Shigure's eye level and scrutinized her friend for a response in light of Admiral Mako letting her know that a leak came from within Yokosuka about Central's skeleton-filled closets.

"The stolen listening device means that the perpetrator had to steal it from my safe before I set out for boot camp, and Admiral Mako let me have a copy of this thumb drive since it came from an anonymous source within our base telling of Central's secret activities.

And although it's just a hunch since I'm trying to get a feel for how the spy operates, I think that there are two possible reasons she stole from my safe before I left for boot camp.

One is that she did it to intentionally let me know she existed, as a way of taunting me.

Second is that she needed to do so because she also had to leave for Itazuma camp as part of the chosen Amazon company.

But since this leak occurred after we left and we're now stuck out here with few electronics to leak this message out, there's a higher chance that the mole isn't from Amazon company and is instead a ship girl of Yokosuka who's out on the seas right now."

Shigure's expression creased in a thinking expression as she focused her gaze on the thumb drive and let her thoughts run wild in her attempt to brainstorm and come across other possible explanations,

"Well, I'm not sure in what form this information came in, but…

Could it be that someone from Amazon company sent a mail package around Japan to make sure this thumb drive landed in Admiral Mako's hands, or at least timed a disposable email account to send it out after we left for Itazuma camp?

That way, they could cover their tracks since anyone in Yokosuka could've done it."

A pregnant pause filled the space between them as the rain continued beating down on the canopy tent while another lightning bolt reached down in a white branching path towards the earth in an instant and caused a peal of thunder to rumble in its wake, and a contemplative Shigure finally met her gaze as she hesitantly inquired since she might have unwittingly implicated herself with her own proposed method of delivery.

"Shiranui-san, it might be a little late of me to ask, but…

Do you suspect me of being the spy?"

Shiranui sighed as she pocketed the thumb drive after seeing no signs that revealing the thumb drive to Shigure got any sort of rise out of her, which most people would emote and then attempt to hide when blindsided by surprises, and Shigure might actually be part of a small group of ship girls whom she might be able to trust.

"Not likely.

You might be psyching me out by getting close to me and backstabbing me, and the fact that all your exploits might be a result of you coordinating your efforts with the Abyssals to make sure that you're not sunk as you take part in high-profile sorties like the Battle of Twelve Navies, the battle against the Southern War Princess and the Battle of Mikura Jima Island.

The massacre on the roof of the Kamogawa City Hall might also be one.

But aside from being a newcomer to this base and having little reason to betray us as far as I can tell, you aren't dumb enough to just blurt out your own method of delivering the thumb drive, but certainly don't seem smart enough to play this game of reverse psychology by deliberately revealing it to me to make me doubt you.

Besides, from what I can tell, you were genuinely suicidal before you got better.

And while there exists the possibility that you might be a good actor, if some ship girls can see through your performance as you got us into Project Psyche, I like to think I can too."

And in response to Shigure's confused gaze staring back at her intently with imaginary question marks practically popping into existence above her head as Shigure failed to keep up with her explanation, the Kagerou-Class destroyer sighed again as she lightly punched Shigure in the shoulder and summarized her explanation.

"Relax.

You may be a suspect, but even if you _are_ a mole, you're too smart to make a brain-dead mistake like accidentally confessing that you're the spy without any form of coercion, but definitely not well-trained enough to play mind games by getting close to me."

Shigure blinked sheepishly as realization dawned in her eyes upon comprehending Shiranui's slightly biting but truthful assessment, blinking innocuously as she could only utter a deflated,

"Oh, um…

Phew, I… guess?"

Before lowering her head in order to give Shiranui a doey-eyed upwards glance as she leaned in to rub shoulders with Shiranui and gave her an encouragement straight from the heart.

"Um, Shiranui?

This rain… it'll clear eventually."

Shiranui had nothing to say to that, although she secretly hoped that Shigure was right.

The cloak-and-dagger business took a toll on her as she was forced to suspect all of her comrades-in-arms, and not being able to fully confide in them isolated her from almost everyone else since she was left all alone in this investigation.

' _Well…'_

Shiranui grudgingly allowed a solitary thought to occupy her mind for a split second as she returned Shigure's encouraging but oblivious gaze.

' … _hopefully not for long.'_

* * *

Jintsuu was only now beginning to bring her inner demons under control as her breathing stabilized, her heart beating a mile a minute while her drenched uniform and damp hair clung to her glossy skin as a result of the downpour beating down on her, having sat beneath a tree and away from Amazon company in order to get away from everything.

The fact that Sendai was dead and Naka was Abyssalized didn't help her psyche at all while in the midst of a high-intensity battle, and after she had some time to bask in the aftermath of the forest battle as they counted their dead, the strain of the Abyssal War temporarily broke her as she mindlessly lashed out at everyone, shook everyone off and ran into a corner of their temporary base where her friends could keep an eye on her, but she could still be alone to wallow in her misery and not have someone take pity on her and try to console her.

Sometimes, you just couldn't stand other people's presence, even if they had the best of intentions.

Her tears had mixed with the raindrops which slid down her face as the chilling effect of the rain was only now starting to cause her to body and limbs to shiver, sniffling in order to clear her blocked nose while thinking about Sendai and Naka.

Naka was torn from her life and left a gaping hole in her heart while the sight of Sendai's lifeless body made her question why she was fighting anymore, bemoaning the fact that their memories were vivid and permanent while an inability to forget prevented them from forgetting anything short of traumatic for fear of widespread abuse of memory-wiping functions in order to erase any unpleasant memories, potentially causing over reliance on the self-destructive function like a drug addict in order to escape from reality.

She couldn't shake how Sendai's lifeless eyes looked towards the empty sky with blood flowing from her mouth while Naka's Abyssalized form had some kind of metallic contraption welded onto her jaw, and she likely had to be killed in order to put her out of her misery.

Sure, Sendai was slated to return once she was revived by the portable docks, but her softer and more empathetic side couldn't help but feel devastated as she looked down at Sendai's corpse even if she was fully aware that it wasn't permanent.

Dying was never a pleasant affair, and every wound inflicted on her precious sisters was also inflicted on her, with Naka's sinking being the equivalent of excruciatingly ripping her tender heart out.

Footsteps were heard as twigs snapped underneath crunching boots, and Jintsuu turned around to find Ma'am Jackie appearing from the foliage in her army uniform, looking none the worse for wear in spite of her battle with the enemy on the roof of the Kamogawa City Hall and had had a hand sundered from her arm ala Luke Skywalker.

The major was not looking too pleased about having to come all the way out here in order to find her weeping as she dryly remarked.

"I was done with beating Sendai into the ground in order to knock some sense into her, please don't tell me that you, my past self, also requires one this soon after my recovery."

"H-H-How did you find me?"

Ma'am Jackie pointed back towards the direction she came in from, pushing a branch out of the way to join her as she retraced her steps for Jintsuu to hear.

"Wasn't too hard.

Even without following the camp patrol route which came close to your current position for your friends to check on you, the fact that you ran through this forest and broke every branch in your path only left behind tracks which made it painfully easy for me to find you."

Jintsuu hurried to push herself off the floor in order to greet her superior-slash-future-self, but Ma'am Jackie gestured for her to remain seated as she lowered herself to sit beside Jintsuu, speaking up with a tone of subdued fatigue immediately after being hospitalized.

"No, no, don't get up.

I flew down here via helicopter in order to talk some sense into you after hearing that you broke down harder than most."

" … But that happened this morning, like, about five hours ago.

How did you get here from the hospital?"

"I'm a major.

I can hail and commander a helicopter whenever I want in order to go wherever I want.

But I prefer to talk to you as Jackie now, not as Ma'am Jackie."

Jintsuu lowered her head and acquiesced, the both of them sitting beside each other in the rain as the drizzle let up little by little in order to let them converse in relative silence.

"So you're me when I was recently crafted all those years ago, right?"

Jintsuu sniffled upon hearing that, and couldn't help but point out the obvious.

"W-Well, I mean, isn't that because we're essentially the same person?"

"A part of me hopes not, because I wouldn't want you to end up becoming anything like me when you grow up."

"You a-and me both, Ma'am."

Jackie gave her a pointed aside glance and caused Jintsuu to shrivel up where she sat as she threw out an apology, something she was quick to do in order to avoid exacerbating the situation.

"S-Sorry."

Jackie looked away and looked into the forest, any trace of anger now gone from her expression and was replaced by annoyance.

"Don't feel as if you have to apologize for whatever you've said, doubly so if it made sense.

It's true that my current state is far from desirable, and to tell you the truth, I don't have anything resembling a life outside of the battlefield.

No boyfriend, no family, no neighbors whom I'm well-acquainted with or anything of the sort."

"Doesn't that get lonely?

Not having anyone to share the pain with?"

An offhand shrug was what the senior light cruiser gave as an answer,

"Yes, but we all have to learn to live with it.

I did, anyway."

Things got rather awkward for them then as neither Sendai-Class light cruiser knew how to continue this conversation, Ma'am Jackie getting soaked by the rain hitting her uniform and was spreading like ink blots in order to darken her uniform, and Jintsuu eventually turned towards her dour future self as she meekly asked.

"Um, I-I don't suppose you brought an umbre - "

"No."

"Oh."

The uncomfortable silenced painfully dragged on as Jintsuu wiped the tears from her puffy eyes and flushed cheeks, clearing her nose before she asked something which had been on her mind ever since she met Ma'am Jackie during boot camp.

"If may ask, what exactly were you doing in the past as a super soldier in the War on Terror, and what happened to you which made you who you are today?

I-If possible, I would like to share that burden with you.

Please."

Jintsuu was genuinely curious about what her future self's past career was like and what kind of past was capable of molding her into such a radically different light cruiser when compared to herself, and Jackie gave her a look to ascertain Jintsuu's sincerity as the junior light cruiser fixed gazes with her future self and steeled herself for what she might find.

And after a period of serious contemplation, Jackie heaved a weary sigh and eventually chose to sate Jintsuu's concern-fueled curiosity by agreeing to her request.

"Fine.

Let me remember how to torrent memories, it's been an entire lifetime since I've really bothered to use it after fighting alongside humans for so long."

* * *

" _If you accept this offer, you_ will _commit to this program, soldier._

 _You will no longer be known as Jintsuu; you will henceforth be known as Jacqueline 'Jackie' Shinozaki, a Japanese woman with deceased parents and no relatives, and you enlisted in the JSDF in 1995 to protect the assets of our allies, kill terrorists and save soldiers' lives._

 _Due to your stellar physical abilities and intellect, you will be hand-picked from the 1st Airborne after three years to be drafted into the Japanese Special Forces._

 _Your ship girl abilities will be used in order to support your comrades from the shadows to get the job done with as few casualties as possible."_

 _Jintsuu found herself sitting before a panel of shadowy silhouettes speaking to her, having remembered various ship girls from IJN stting in the waiting room outside, none of them having been introduced to each other._

 _The atmosphere was too stifling and heavy for them to do anything of the sort, being sent into various rooms to be assigned to God-knows-where to fight someone else's fight._

 _Jintsuu found herself nodding since there really wasn't any other choice which she was given in this situation, the silhouettes continuing to speak up about their rules of engagement._

" _Your past life as a warship is over, and you will do your best to follow these three rules to the best of your abilities, sort of like a Three Rules of Updated Robotics for your new career._

 _First, you may not injure an allied soldier or, through inaction, allow a soldier to come to harm._

 _Second, you must obey orders given by superiors except where such orders would conflict with the First Rule._

 _Third, pending further notice, you must protect your own existence and your true nature as a ship girl as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Rules."_

 _Jintsuu looked as a voice came from her right, explaining how hard and fast they were expected to play by these rules._

" _This concept originates from the Three Laws of Robotics, but we call them rules because we don't want to tie your hands too tightly while you're out on the field._

 _And in our case, these aren't laws so much as they're simply… guidelines for you to follow and, should circumstances become dire enough, break in order to get the job done with minimal casualties."_

 _Another shadow spoke up from her left pertaining to other ship girls who were similarly recruited from around the world for the same role._

" _Of course, as a ship girl, you may harbor strong feelings against ship girls of certain nationalities who are also reincarnated as ship girls._

 _Some of them will be working undercover in the same environment as you._

 _You will_ not _pursue any vendettas from your past life._

 _They will be instructed to do the same, and should you discover the identity of another ship girl, whoever it is, do_ not _make contact and reveal your nature as a ship girl unless in a life-or-death situation._

 _Consider it the fourth rule, that you must not pursue vendettas against ship who sank you or let your judgement be affected by antagonistic feelings against countries or warships of previously opposing factions, factions who are now allied with us._

 _Do you commit to this program?"_

 _Jackie, still known as Jintsuu before accepting her new career path, had been silent the entire time as she listened to the humans speak about the terms and conditions of her new life._

 _And with 20/20 hindsight, the response from a younger and far more innocent Ma'am Jackie was a predictable yet slightly heartbreaking,_

" _Yes."_

* * *

 _Going through clips of Ma'am Jackie's life opened her eyes to the human military life, the light cruiser being drafted into the JGSDF's 1st Airborne Brigade before being recruited into the Japanese Special Forces._

 _The 9/11 attacks precipitated an invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003 respectively, and while the existence of ship girls and the Abyssal War went public in 2003, it was the perfect distraction for them since no one expected ship girls to fight anywhere but on the seas as Jackie wore a balaclava face mask the entire time, even when off-duty, in order to hide her identity and her beauty._

 _The reasoning given was that aside from hiding her abilities to avoid being exploited in more ways than one and encourage over reliance on their superhuman capabilities to get the job done, exposing their attractive faces did them no favors on the battlefield since their enemies might single them out to be captured and raped before being tortured._

 _Seeing what a ship girl could survive without dying, killing her would be the kindest thing they could do to her should worst come to worst._

 _Best to blend in with everyone as a faceless operator to get the job done._

 _The excuse for the mask?_

 _She was allergic to sunlight._

What.

 _Human warfare was shockingly costly in terms of lives since homo sapiens were built to be relatively squishy and killable when getting shot at, and Jintsuu found herself going in as a prodigy who never made small talk with others, an introvert who got the job done as her inclination towards silence was accepted not as her own way of being stuck-up or whatever, but was a part of her personality borne from a need to keep her true nature to herself._

 _Her line of work was stressful and had its ups and downs, with deaths of her fellow comrades being rock-bottom even as she risked life and limb to save them, having jumped on grenades several times in order to save her team and had popped back into action a week later._

 _The excuse for the miraculously quick recovery, thanks to the docks healing her up?_

 _Tis' but a flesh wound._

 _Sigh._

 _She suspected that her comrades eventually caught on to the possibility that she was likely a ship girl, but the military's 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy meant that if she couldn't tell them the reason for keeping her pathetically flimsy identity a secret despite fully willing to trust them with her life and defend them to the death, they didn't push her to reveal them and instead treated her like one of them._

 _That said, her superhuman strength was utilized on several occasions to 'manually hack' doors and walls (mind you, this was the Middle East, with wooden doors and earthen walls) in order to make some missions easier, all while her comrades turned a conveniently blind eye to maintain plausible deniability._

 _Easily kicking in a door with a reverse spin kick and allowing her comrade to enter first, Jackie was the second person through the splintered door and cleared the abandoned room in a practiced manner, but it took a few seconds after detecting the personnel within the room as allies before her mind registered just what she was looking at._

 _Lowering her FN SCAR rifle while her jaw hung slack, she looked around at the bloody room which was illuminated by the sun peeking through thin, rectangular window panes near the roof of the room and lit up the Marines who were previously captured and were suspected to be held here in captivity._

 _These boys would have to be shipped back to America in pieces, since their beheaded heads and hands were arranged in an uncanny manner as if they were making faces, with their eyelids being removed to have them permanently stare into the distance, muscles and skin bloodily stapled in place while fishing hooks were wrapped in twine as they tore into their faces and pulled at the sides of their jaws in order to achieve a disgusting post-mortem pose for a group photo, the bloody words scrawled onto the wall on the other end of the room reading,_

' _ **FOREIGN DEVILS'**_

 _Jackie, despite feeling her body quivering from head to toe while her voice was stolen by the sight of this needlessly cruel and drawn out execution, inexplicably found herself stepping close for a better look while a comrade was heard stepping out in order to empty his stomach due to the inhuman (or perhaps all too human) odor of blood and death as their corpses were starting to rot and gave off a pungent and sickening smell which made her blood curdle and her insides twist._

 _These body parts were screwed onto some sort of mannequin with its plastic head and hands removed to be replaced with fleshy counterparts, rusty nails and bloody stapler bullets driven into each section of their fingers in order to keep them in position while their fingernails had been forcibly removed and left them as fleshy stubs with crusted blood on them, showing how it was far from painless._

 _Their naked bodies sans head and hands were nailed onto the walls and were held up by meat hooks in order to successfully emulate the feeling of a slaughterhouse, their skin defiled by blood-red paint while their flesh was disfigured by crisscrossing scars and lacerations implying torture, and their private parts were little more than stumps as their bodies were emptied of blood in order to paint these walls a grisly crimson._

 _Jackie's gaze turned to look in between the mannequins' legs, and…_

 _She whipped around in order to avert her gaze, squeezing her eyes shut and willing herself to forget the traumatizing sight of the horribly mutilated reproductive parts stuck onto the respective locations on the mannequins, recalling their peeled-off eyelids and blinded eyes due to some kind of chemical being poured into their eyes, unfocused gazes all staring into her soul with smiles carved onto their faces as if mocking her for not being able to get to them in time -_

 _Jackie found herself hyperventilating at the gruesome sight and her self-blaming personality taking personal responsibility for their deaths, and she briskly stepped out from the room and into the desert and bracing herself against the blistering heat wave hitting her in order to join her comrades in dry-heaving onto the sand beneath her feet, since none of them expected anything like this._

 _Executions by firing squad, one-sided firefights and begging hostages which she was sometimes forced to ignore and not play hero for the sake of accomplishing her mission, she had already learnt to live with what she had to do in her line of work._

 _But her training and experiences couldn't prepare her for this._

 _Monsters did this._

 _Monsters, in human guises._

 _Her photographic_ _ship girl_ _memory would never allow her to forget what she had seen today as a part of her died along with these deceased Marines, a pit of despair forming within her and translated into a misanthropic view slowly worming into and poisoning her mind, her gaze hardening as she swallowed a dry breath which sapped the moisture from her parched tongue and the walls of her mouth but helped to stabilize her breathing, centering herself shortly before she pushed herself off of her knees in order to shakily stand back up and continue her mission._

* * *

" _Revelations about US soldiers torturing Iraqi inmates in Abu Ghraib prison…"_

 _Jintsuu now found herself sitting in an incredibly spartan one-room flat in the middle of the night as it was filled with a brown wardrobe, a TV set tuned into the news, a plain bed which she currently sat on with vanilla white bed-sheets and pillow casing, and a air-conditioner was stuck above the door which led to the kitchen._

 _The sinking feeling which gripped her heart was now analogous to a black hole as she listened to the news report about systematic abuse of suspected terrorists in the Middle East which finally led to the Abu Ghraib scandal which was being aired right now, and Jintsuu was looking at some_ very _explicit images which she didn't feel too comfortable remembering in detail as her gaze was unfocused while the only source of light was coming from the TV before her._

 _Some of those 'suspects' weren't even remotely involved with terrorism, just unlucky enough to incur the wrath of American soldiers and would be released, only to be led into the welcoming arms of the terrorists as their views of the USA would be tainted by their horrific experiences._

 _Her mind was just a whirlpool of jumbled thoughts, a completely silent mental breakdown as the past, present and future all bled into one in her train wreck of a mind._

 _Soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Empire abusing and mistreating POWs, raping and pillaging civilians in conquered territories as comfort women and child killings were vividly remembered and recounted by the victims and affecting Japan's relationships with its neighboring countries in various way even in the modern age._

 _Vietnam, and how wars started to blur the line between civilians and combatants which in turn started to result in far more collateral damage being aired and painting war in a truly horrific light, mutations from Agent Orange abuse and civilian executions on the side of the Americans then captured on film and souring the public's opinion on the war._

 _Nowadays, literally no one was safe from acts of terror, and their crusade to seek out revenge for the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor was further fueled by the fact that 9/11 was targeted at a civilian target, not a military one._

 _America wasn't the first and certainly not the worst offender as evidenced by that hellhole of a torture room several years_ don'tthinkaboutitdon'tthinkaboutitdon'tthinkaboutitdon'tthinkaboutit.

 _The message of the news report was enough for her to register the fact that in their attempt to combat monsters, anyone could become a monster in their thirst for revenge, the boredom of military life given its daily minutiae of paperwork, physical training and combat tours and the fact that war was hell, this making the perfect breeding ground for atrocities to occur when soldiers and guards were convinced they could get away with acts and behavior which they'd never deign to show to their own family and friends._

 _What sway did justice have over anyone when a higher power that was the government, military or even society as a whole wasn't looking down on them in the dark, and the Geneva Conventions didn't apply to all sides in a world gone mad?_

 _No one side was completely good._

 _Nothing had changed._

 _Stuck in a foreign land, always fighting someone else's fight._

 _Upholding childish and old-fashioned ideals of justice which no one played by, she was all alone in her moral high ground as human lives passed her by like water through a sieve as she was isolated by her own immortality, the futility of clinging to her prior ideals seeming so foolish in hindsight._

 _One smashed-in television set and several drinks later, Jackie was on her bed, wrapping her head in her pillow and crying into it with a bitter knot in her throat as she ruminated on how her life had gone so astray as she had fallen down a rabbit hole where lives, morals, basic respect for human life and dignity all ceased to matter in that dark pit, and all that was left was madness borne of bloodshed as man killed man._

 _That night, Jintsuu well and truly died within the soldier hiding within the darkness of her room, reborn as a Ma'am Jackie who was far more reprehensible than her current self, even more than Jintsuu could ever imagine ship girl to be in the modern age._

 _Except her._

* * *

 _Having put on some lipstick and eyeliner in order to play up her feminine appeal as a woman before donning a niqab and gown in order to blend in with the civilians while outside of the army base, Jackie continued her trek towards a suspected terrorist base of operations._

 _Some sort of boundary which was laid down by the hosting country due to tradition or religion, she had already forgotten the exact reason, prevented the U.S. army from even entering this area and meant that the terrorist base beyond it was untouchable, and the fact that the base was underground meant that bombing runs did next to nothing to stop or even deter their production and recruitment activities._

 _As a supposed civilian, though…_

 _She walked across the desert and felt the heat of the desert escaping from the shifting ground beneath her feet, the canteen hidden in her gown serving her well during the four hours she'd been alternating between jogging and sprinting into the desert in the dead of night, with only the crescent moon and constellation of stars keeping her company on the 30th of September._

 _The map of this area was easily memorized by her, and despite her radar not working very well since there was nothing but sand dunes in every direction, her compass was still working fine, and the cold desert was a result of the sands expelling all the heat trapped within them during the day, leaving it bone-chillingly cold in the dead of night._

 _Approaching some sort of half-buried rock formation which likely led further down into the terrorists' base of operations, it was protected by the nondescript rocky layer which shielded the inhabitants from aerial bombardment, and the fact that they had someone on lookout duty meant that they already spotted her from a mile away, with her civilian disguise likely being the main reason why she wasn't immediately shot on sight._

 _Of course, since she was headed straight for their base, she was bound to be stopped and questioned before being shot for trespassing, but she'd long thrown caution to the wind as the four guards on duty spotted her thanks to spotters likely warning them ahead of time._

" _ **Freeze!"**_

 _They used Arabic to address her, and it was thanks to some newfangled technology in her ship girl mind which helped her perfectly understand their words, and working in this country for more than a decade only served to refine her understanding of its nuances._

 _Their response to her arrival in the middle of the night was swift as the four Middle-Eastern guards held up their assault rifles to aim at her in an unambiguously hostile move for her to stop in her tracks, even if their hostile attitude towards her presence was evident even before their first words were uttered._

" _ **No civilians should be here!**_

 _ **Show yourself!"**_

" _ **Remove your niqab!"**_

 _She chose not to grace that with a response, naming them #1 to #4 from left to right._

 _Holding her hands up placatingly to show that she wasn't a threat, she gently gestured with a hand to wordlessly ask for permission to remove her veil, a lift of the chin from the leftmost #1 signalling for her to reach for her veil._

 _Pulling off her niqab and the face mask in the face of the four insurgents shouting for her to slow down as they jabbed their assault rifles in her direction, she removed her hairnet and shook free her army regulation hair, basking in the revolting silence of the terrorists being stunned by her inhuman beauty which was enhanced by her makeup, the four of them sporting widened eyes, slack jaws and froze up for a second as if laying their eyes upon Medusa herself._

 _A perfect distraction for these testosterone-filled terrorists who hadn't seen a woman in forever, much less one this drop-dead gorgeous._

 _The dawning realization lit up in #3's eyes, and spotting this, Jackie threw her niqab into #1's face before punching #3 in the throat, causing him to drop his assault rifle as she moved on to using that arm to knee #2 in the face while punching #4 in the solar plexus and silencing him for an instant by knocking the wind out of him._

 _Plan A had already failed since the terrorists recognized her (damn those ship girls, even if she was one and supported their cause)._

 _Plan B, stealthily infiltrate the compound, died as their trigger fingers reflexively jerked and unloaded rounds everywhere, although thankfully not hitting her as she closed the distance and was within range to smell two weeks' worth of poorly-washed body odor clinging onto their bodies after hiding in this out-of-the-woods base._

 _#2, #3 and #4 collapsed while #1 flailed in order to get the cloth off his head, Jackie punching him out with a right hook and using a hind kick to knock out a wheezing #4 with her momentum, finally settling on Plan C._

 _Kill_ everyone _in the insurgent base._

 _Taking off her gown to reveal the myriad of firearms she purchased on the black market, she brought out a M1911 pistol and emptied one round into the skulls of the downed terrorists in order to neutralize them._

 _All guilty due to the fact that they were here._

 _Because why would they be here, if they weren't terrorists?_

 _Today, she was judge, jury and executioner._

 _Activating her ship girl mode for combat, she picked up an AK-74 rifle as she heard voices shouting at the end of the tunnel leading into the facility, the rocky backdrop casting shadows upon the arena as she waltzed up to the cave entrance and opened fire._

 _Two insurgents were downed by her hail of bullets, and the third pushed on the corpse of the second to act as a meat shield before getting into cover while those coming up behind him shouted about hiding behind cover._

 _Meaningless._

 _All meaningless._

 _Didn't they know that she was allowing them the chance to die in combat, supposedly a great honor in many warmongering cultures and religions?_

 _It was unlikely that her bloody journey into this base was going to be a one-way trip for her, but having a good idea of what would happen to her after this as well as all the traumatic things she had seen and lived through made her wish that it_ was.

 _Those thoughts were shoved out of her head in order to remain professional as she burst-fired to keep the enemy behind cover while she advanced, evading shots which would wound her more while gritting her teeth till her gums hurt as she shrugged off the pain arising from bullets which either bounced off her skin or dealt superficial damage._

 _Variants of,_

" _ **Get that whore!"**_ _and,_

" _ **Kill her!"**_ _were heard, and she ignored the stray thought of whether these people had families, children and wives, silencing any dissenting thoughts with,_

'They made their choice by being here.'

 _While watching the head of another insurgent burst like a popped water balloon with red 'paint' flying everywhere, turning her assault rifle against those hiding behind cover whose blind firing grazed her skin with a handful of bullets, and she didn't say anything to give away her location._

 _No pre-death one liners._

 _No shouting about how they killed those Marines and should die far more messier deaths, which was everything they deserved in her mind and more._

 _She behaved like the professional she was by summarily executing them with a bullet to the brain or the brain-stem, lest their nervous system transmit post-mortem signals down into their bodies and cause their fingers to pull on the trigger as dead man's switches and injure her._

 _Grief, hatred, pain and rage seeped into and poisoned her soul, and unlike before where she fought with determination and vigor before her breakdown, here, she became apathetic and unfettered._

 _The grief helped her justify her actions as the Grim Reaper tonight._

 _The pain punished her for every mistake and kept her on her toes._

 _The hatred pushed her on to wipe every one of them from the face of this earth._

 _The rage helped to push her body beyond what even she thought was possible, making the pain that little bit more tolerable as a pseudo-anesthetic._

 _But eventually, it mixed together in her blackened heart and was distilled into an apathetic indifference about these insurgents' previous lives, her eyes unfocused despite her vision sharpening in resolution thanks to the adrenaline being pumped throughout her body as her mental processing speed went into overdrive and made everything seem much slower than usual._

 _The terrorists were no more harmful to her than children armed with water pistols, throwing down her AKM assault rifle the moment it clicked empty in order to dual-wield her pistols with impeccable aim, sirens blaring incessantly while more shouts were heard regarding a female mass murderer headed down into the caves as everything devolved into a ballad of bullets._

 _She mowed them all down like no tomorrow until she was actively trying not to trip over the corpses which littered the floor at one point in time as the coating of blood on the floor caused the ground to become slick._

 _A rocket launcher was involved at one point, and she almost had a heart attack as the RP-7 missed her by a hair and would have incapacitated her or worse had she not shot the wielder in the other shoulder to throw off his aim, the resulting explosion bringing down the rock walls and caking her in a layer of dust._

 _And eventually, the voices echoing within the caves shifted from angry, to wary, and eventually fearful and even terrified as no one could stop her._

 _Coming up at a T-junction in the cave, she fired one round into the tip of the boot which peeked out of the corner, a slightly pudgy Middle-Easterner shrieking as he dropped his rifle to clutch at his bloody foot and opening him up for an easy bullet through his head and dropping him like a sack of potatoes which he resembled._

 _A rifle butt swinging her way almost caught her by the temple and would've given her a headache and double vision had she not evaded in time, grabbing the AKM rifle with both arms as she then kicked the wielder in the gut and sent him flying into the cave wall, something audibly cracking upon impact._

 _The poor man slumped to the floor and didn't get up again._

 _Arming herself with the assault rifle and swinging around the corner to bring up the barrel and take out anyone on the other end, her twitching trigger finger was barely stopped by the sight of a wiry Middle-Eastern man dropping his assault rifle and holding his arms up in a universal sign of surrender, noting his turban, clothes and unshaven beard and placing him as a local who, like some of these insurgents, was likely freshly recruited for a extremist cause which he didn't yet fully understand._

 _His experiences, continuous indoctrination and peer pressure would do the rest to sway him to their cause as it did to the others, although that wasn't going to happen anytime soon when he was staring down the barrel of a firearm._

 _Predictably, he tried to reason with Jackie as he squirmed to stand as far away from the assault rifle as possible since running was akin to a death sentence in these caves, and pleading for his life might have seemed like it contained better prospects of survival._

" _ **Please.**_

 _ **I have - "**_

 _Using the acquired AKM to shoot him in the head, she exhaled sharply and suppressed her nagging conscience as she responded with a pithy,_

" _ **Not interested."**_

 _With the deadpan tone one used to address a sidewalk seller while in a rush, reaching down and pulling several magazines off of the man's splayed body and stuffing them into her pockets before hearing more shouts echoing from beyond._

 _The pitter-patter of footsteps were still soft, but certainly getting louder as they got closer, and Jackie was certain that this night was just getting started, and she was in for a world of pain as she reloaded the AKM assault rifle in her hands while marching further down into the dimly-lit caves thanks to the rudimentary lighting system in these winding caves, her flinty gaze hardening along with her heart as she raised the assault rifle and opened fire._

* * *

 _A Japanese woman wearing remnants of a shredded civilian gown was seen limping through a nearby town and was drenched in what wary onlookers thought was red paint, shortly before passersby pulled back from the overwhelming stench of blood hanging over her like a poisonous miasma, stinging noses with its coppery scent and pervading their senses._

 _Several eyewitnesses could almost taste it on their tongues as if Death itself Frenched them in the mouth as she walked into town from the desert, most of the blood having dried up into crust on her skin, caking her fingernails and disheveled hair to make her look positively unhinged._

 _The woman's clothes were torn as if she had walked through a warzone, her pallid expression looking haggard as her half-lidded gaze looked towards the thousand yards before her, and the fact that she was wearing empty military holsters put some onlookers on edge despite the lack of firearms._

 _An Iraqi police officer warily inching towards Ma'am Jackie's back in order to arrest her at gunpoint was swiftly disarmed as the madwoman spun around like a top in order to trap his hand which held the Glock 19 pistol, her left arm coiling around his right before locking his pistol-wielding arm beneath her left armpit and jerking it up by the elbow, causing two rounds to be accidentally discharged out of agony and was the cue for panicked bystanders to shriek along with the hurting police officer as they dispersed like a herd of spooked gazelles._

 _Ma'am Jackie then delivered a punishing, but non-lethal blow to his chest with her right fist to silence his cries of pain and leave him stunned while gasping for breath, hearing the Glock 19 being dropped behind her as she finished him off with a palm strike to the face in order to leave him writhing on the ground, the bloody mad-woman turning around to pick the firearm off the sidewalk._

 _Dismantling the Glock with practiced ease and throwing parts into a nearby dustbin or simply crushing them in her palm, Ma'am Jackie leaned in to take out and crush the officer's radio underneath her heel, then picking up his keys and tossing it away._

 _Ma'am Jackie walked on for about another half an hour in isolation, trudging through the town and wallowing in the misery that was her own life as she allowed the weight of her crumbling military career to sink in due to,_

 _A, trespassing and cutting through restricted areas drawn out by the country which they were (supposedly) liberating._

 _B, acting out on her own without orders and was now likely going to be fined, charged, imprisoned, executed via scrapping or even all of the above._

 _C, killing that viper's den of terrorists didn't make her feel any better about it all._

 _In fact, it made her feel worse, knowing what was in store for her was coming for her right now as she picked up the drone of vehicles not matching that of most civilian vehicles within this country, desert-beige colored Humvees pulling up around her and soldiers popping out from them in droves to stand in a semicircle around her so as not to stand in each other's line of fire._

 _They were deathly afraid of her as their fear was betrayed by the distance in which they maintained, their jumpy body language as well as the constant shifting of their hold on the foregrip of their rifles, but the posturing and intimidation talk instilled in every soldier during basic military training hid their anxiety well enough as they glowered at her and yelled._

" _Halt!"_

" _FREEZE!"_

"STOP, OR WE WILL FIRE ON YOU!"

 _Ma'am Jackie found herself complying as the military police surrounded her and unanimously pulled the cocking handles of their M4 Carbines and raised them to point at her in order to show that they meant business, and she calmly raised her hands in surrender as she called out in English._

" _Don't shoot, alright?_

 _I'm one of you, I'm now reaching for my identification card."_

" _Y-yeah?!_

 _Slowly… slowly!"_

" … _Tossing it over to you."_

 _She used a movement speed which didn't register as aggressive to most wary soldiers as she reached into her pants to pull them out, praying that her camp pass and IC weren't shot up too badly to have its writing still be legible, seven of them keeping their weapons trained on her while one reached down for the IC on the ground with one hand._

 _They could relax._

 _She didn't want to take them out since they were allies, and she had already resigned herself to her fate after reflecting on the pathos of things._

 _She was in a foreign land and fighting for laughably outdated ideals which samurai '_ supposedly' _embodied in which she once aspired to uphold._

 _And in the end, the massacre of terrorists and the loss of friends led to this, friendlies pointing their firearms at her, attempting to shout her into submission after she had broken several rules to act out on her own accord and could only look forward to a court martial and worse, all while her rogue actions would likely strain the relationship between their countries for the foreseeable future._

 _And even then, it failed to matter to her now that all those irreversible deaths happened._

 _Killing all those terrorists wasn't going to bring her friends or those Marines back, and these military police grunts opening fire and inexplicably killing her on the spot wouldn't either._

 _A shadowy figure in the backseat of one Humvee exited the vehicle, a middle-aged man who possessed slicked-back graying hair and sunglasses to indicate a desk job, but his humble swagger and the way he carried himself meant that he likely started from the bottom in the military._

 _His tan complemented his aged face to show that he was not adverse to being out on the field, clearly demonstrating this by stepping forward while wearing a business suit in a Middle-Eastern country which could knock out unprepared soldiers via heat exhaustion while he looked cool as a cucumber, standing before her as he asked._

" _Jacqueline Shinozaki?_

 _Also known as Jackie of the Japanese Special Forces?"_

 _Jackie raised an eyebrow at the familiar voice in a memory which occurred so long ago, it was almost akin to a dream to her which woke her up to this horrid life of suffering and death, although she still remained cordial as she responded aloofly._

" _Who's asking?"_

 _"I'm Patrick Hartman._

 _I'm the one who recruited you all those years ago, and who's going to relieve you of duty."_

 _And in the face of Jackie's expression souring as the life was sapped out of her upon connecting the dots and finding that her execution was likely inevitable, the man reassured her since he likely never intended to crush her heart like this._

 _"Don't worry, nobody has to die._

 _You'll be receiving your proper awards and a rank promotion after your dedicated services to your country as well as a permanent ticket home to rest and recover, although that promotion might have to be bumped down in order to make it seem as if we're actually doing something to punish you instead of allowing you to walk away scot-free."_

 _"But it's essentially a slap on the wrist."_

"Exactly."

 _Patrick removed his glasses to look her straight in the eye, idly waving to the MPs to get them to stand down as they acquiesced by lowering their rifles, although they maintained their position around her as a compromise as Patrick consoled the sullen Jackie, the Sendai-Class light cruiser noting the sincere regret in his eyes._

 _"Look, we_ _… controllers, we take full responsibility for your little breakdown and deciding to go rogue, because we once thought that you ship could handle more stress than human soldiers normally would for extended periods of time._

 _But_ _… we were wrong, and there have been a recent slew of ship girls acting out defiantly in order to kill insurgents on their own accord, and we decided to pull you all out and sign you up for the counselling you all deserve._

 _You should feel proud, we're already dubbing your massacre the 'Red Wedding', because it was by far the bloodiest and possessed the most ramifications for our enemies."_

 _"_ _… So nobody's being executed."_

 _Patrick pulled his head back, appearing genuinely confused as to why that thought even appeared in her head at all._

 _"What?_

 _No._

 _You all served this country faithfully, and your skills are refined over the years by battle and hardship, it would be remiss of us to punish you all for doing what we re-purposed you all to do, albeit doing so outside of the law after breaking down like almost any human would in your shoes and taking matters into your hands, especially not after we accepted the fact that we neglected your mental states in lieu of pushing you all so hard for so long._

 _And, um, what the hell happened to you, anyway?_

 _That's blood, isn't it?"_

 _Jackie could only deign to exhale sharply in lieu of laughter as she retorted sarcastically in response to Patrick's confused stare._

" _No, sir._

 _It's smeared lipstick."_

 _Patrick gave her an extended look and allowed the pause to linger before breaking out into a smile and using the end tips of his glasses to gesture at Jackie, remarking good-naturedly._

 _"See that sense of humor there?_

 _That's how I knew that all you ship girls were more human than robot all along._

 _I don't believe Abyssals would learn to appreciate humor, unlike you ship girls."_

 _Jackie nodded along with him, and Patrick cleared his throat as he turned and gestured to the MPs who were still waiting to step in as he remarked._

 _"Anyway_ _…_

 _You're not going to give these boys any trouble, are you, Jackie?"_

 _"No."_

 _"Right, let's get this over with, then."_

 _Snapping his fingers for the military police to warily shuffle forward with steel cuffs which she was quite certain weren't going to actually hold her in any way, but she played along by holding her hands out to be cuffed and brought towards the Humvee, the last memory Jintsuu had access to being that of Ma'am Jackie having her head held and pressed down on to push her into the vehicle and having three other MPs in the car with loaded rifles at the ready, the door unceremoniously slamming closed on her._

* * *

Jintsuu snapped out of the memory clip, far more emotionally and psychologically shaken up by the memories than several hours of moping and crying, the fatigue now piling up as she found herself speechless and confused as to how best to continue her plan to review Ma'am Jackie's memory clip before trying to comfort her superior.

She was shivering and crying after relieving her older self's life in the span of about two to three minutes, and Ma'am Jackie was looking at her intently as she asked.

"So…?

How did it feel to be me, who's only one of your many possible future selves?"

Jintsuu was confused as to what her future self had to suffer as a punishment for acting out on her own, to take matters into her own hands.

"I-I don't get it.

You're here, so you didn't get imprisoned for any of that?"

Ma'am Jackie shrugged as she looked down at her boots, now completely drenched like Jintsuu was as she answered.

"Well,

My promotion to Colonel was downgraded to Major, high enough of a rank to honor my services but low enough to be a legitimate punishment since I was pushed out onto the field where they could keep me further away from them and closer to the front lines, where I excelled.

That, and a two-year ban on carrying firearms which was lifted as soon as I was assigned to train and fight alongside all of you on the front lines as a way to keep me under their thumb, along with several years of grief counselling which continue to this day.

 _Unfortunately_ for them, I'm rather occupied with fighting a bloody world war."

Jintsuu blinked the tears away from her eyes and rubbed them as if waking up from a dream, daring to ask about how Ma'am Jackie could find the strength within her to fight on.

"B-But, how?

I mean, you've been through what we've experienced several times over in the span of your life, how do you keep going on even with everyone dying so easily all around you, even after fighting in such a traumatizing war and working in such a morally ambiguous profession which took such a a toll on your conscience?"

"I don't know.

Our responsibility as soldiers, which is to keep fighting?

We wouldn't be very effective soldiers if we broke down and stopped fighting should we become emotionally compromised.

That would be unprofessional."

Ma'am Jackie turned to lock gazes with her, the world-weary gaze which filled her pupils now softening into something resembling hope as she laid eyes on Jintsuu while adding.

"That, and you.

In which case would also mean me, or a younger me who is me but also… isn't me?"

Jintsuu similarly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but she nodded understandingly at the peculiar situation of speaking to either your past or future self which mucked up the 'me-you' usage to refer to either one of them, Ma'am Jackie finally raising her eyebrows in order to move on with her point.

"You, being a younger me, reminded me that I wasn't always like this.

And even though my admittedly limited memories of being in your shoes are clear as day, they seem like they occurred a lifetime ago.

And even if you share your entire life story with me, just like how you didn't inherit any of my traits after reviewing my memory files, me looking through your entire life isn't going to miraculously make me a happier Jackie.

But in you, I can see that I was a happier person.

A better person."

"Oh, Ma'am…"

Jintsuu leaned on Ma'am Jackie's shoulder in order to comfort her older self, speaking up in her (but not her?) own defense.

"You're still me, in the sense that you can still do good.

It's just a matter of whether you make an effort to do so."

She felt her elder self shrug and move her own head in the process, speaking up about how her perception of 'good' had been changed over the years.

"I used to believe in doing good, and I still do.

The difference is that now, I believe 'doing good' involves a _lot_ more dead bodies by my hand than ever before."

Jintsuu sweatdropped and gulped anxiously upon hearing that since she knew Ma'am Jackie was dead serious about this after pulling off the so-called 'Red Wedding' massacre, where she was the bloody bride tearing through hordes of terrorists and leaving corpses behind by the hundreds while painting the caves, and by extension the desert sands red with blood.

Jintsuu shuddered violently at the mere recollection of what her future self did as she did her best to comment,

"Well, you seemed as if you gave Him a run for his money since the blood you spilled that day would've filled the Nile River with blood, albeit for a day or two."

It took Ma'am Jackie a while to realize that her infamous Red Wedding massacre was being compared to the First Plague of Egypt, lifting an eyebrow and answering the only way she knew how.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Jintsuu nodded awkwardly as the both of them lapsed into a silence which was filled by the rain-forest as it was teeming with life, seemingly continuing on without a care in the world even when caught in the midst of a world war.

Eventually, Jackie opened up to her as she voiced her thoughts.

"You know…

I sometimes wonder if I'm selfish to think this way, to wonder what I could have been as a ship girl and negate everything I've ever done as a soldier.

Because even if I did help more people than I ever could as a soldier instead of a ship girl, in light of the things I've seen and the equally horrendous things I've done, I can't help but wish that I'd never accepted that damned offer.

Would more people have died because of that?

I'm afraid I can't bring myself to care anymore."

Jintsuu patted her on the back and felt all the fatigue seeping from Ma'am Jackie's muscles into her palm, doing her best to comfort the depressed light cruiser.

"Well, it starts with small steps.

Asking these questions means that you aren't completely apathetic as of now, because you still question your partial apathy and whether it's right for you to go all the way and emotionally cut yourself off from empathizing with everyone's plight."

Jackie could only grunt in agreement as she allowed her feelings to pour out of her for what appeared to be the first time in a long while, her expression crumpling up as her eyes started to water a little.

"I know.

It's just, I don't want you to end up like me, but I'm afraid that it'll happen anyway because of my mere existence.

With this world war, I wonder if everything I've given in order to save the lives of human soldiers will all be for naught as the Abyssals hunt mankind to extinction.

And did my experiences mold me into the heartless soldier I am today, or was I always like this, and my experiences simply caused it to rear its ugly head?

I hate what I've become, and you remind me that I wasn't always like this."

The drizzle started to subside, the rain-forest now brimming with the first signs of life in the form of croaking frogs, flowing water and birds cawing in the background, Jintsuu doing her best not to move as the Demon Instructor rested her head on her left shoulder, and she felt not just the strength of the senior light cruiser seeping from her pores, but also the desolation of not knowing anyone whom she could share the burden with when she needed it most as well as the emotional turmoil and suffering which she had endured in order to make her a stronger, albeit also lonelier and broken person in many aspects.

Jintsuu now realized that as a younger version of Ma'am Jackie, she could learn from her future self and could avoid whatever molded Ma'am Jackie into the person she was today in order to fulfill both their wishes of her becoming a better version of Ma'am Jackie.

After all, they were the same person, but she had friends which Ma'am Jackie didn't when she was Jintsuu's age, so she had to turn out better, right?

Right?

"Please, don't end up like me."

"I'll… I'll do my best."


	67. Chapter 67 - 10 Seconds To Infinity

The darkness cracked open in an arced slit, and there was light as Shiranui's eyes pried open to find herself on an operating table on the 17th of May, her new body thankfully clothed from the elements as she felt Akashi's palm on her back to help her up into a sitting position.

Akio and Kousuke were at the engineering controls while several medical electrodes were attached to her body, clearly placed on her to monitor her vitals as her sight cleared to find Shigure standing inside the makeshift laboratory and was beside Aoba as the duo was some distance away from Shiranui and Akashi.

Akashi pulled out a flashlight as she held her left eye open to observe pupil dilation in the presence of extreme light, clicking it off as she made an observation for the human engineers to record,

"Pupil dilation seems normal.

Response…"

She then brought up her fingers to snap in Shiranui's face several times to get a rise out of her, and her expression soured as she snapped.

"Stop that."

" … normal."

The repair ship didn't even flinch in the face of her glowering stare, holding out a palm for her to take as Shiranui felt her soles suddenly touch down on the floor much sooner than she expected.

Tensing up and shooting out her arms to stabilize herself, she found that she had become much taller and that her body had grown in more than one aspect, looking around to find her destroyer self lying on the bed beside hers, a mechanical contraption attached to her head while Shiranui patted herself down to explore her new body.

The curves and muscles on this adult body were far more developed than her destroyer self, and her sudden 'growth spurt' gave her a minor case of vertigo which she hoped would subside soon, Akashi now holding both her hands up to eye level before curling them into fists with extended index fingers as she instructed.

"Now, with these fingers, show me how far your destroyer arm normally extends, shoulder to fingertip.

A guesstimate would suffice."

She was confused as to what this was really about, but she surmised that this was some kind of depth perception check as she pushed her fingers forward to the maximum length which her childlike arms would have been capable of reaching, her elbows bent since her adult arms were capable of reaching further.

"Now, extend your right hand's finger to the furthest length you can currently reach right now."

"Good.

Now, can you give us a rough estimate of the distance between both fingers?

Doesn't even have to be exact."

" … 11 centimeters, give or take."

Akashi, without moving her extended right finger, guided Shiranui's left finger back until her fist almost touched her nose while her left finger obscured a good chunk of her field of vision and partially eclipsed her right finger as Akashi continued, all while staring intently into her eyes.

"Now, focus your gaze on your left finger while allowing your distant right finger to blur, and tell me.

Are you seeing double of your right index finger, likely blurred and sandwiching your focused left finger?"

"Yes."

"Good, good.

Now, shifting your gaze onto your distant right finger, are you seeing a blurred double vision of the left finger in front of your face?

And are your 'two left fingers' sandwiching the right finger you're focused on now?"

"Wait. Yes."

Akashi lowered both her hands as she exhaled and turned to speak to the human engineers at the consoles,

"Depth perception abilities seems alright upon primary inspection, binocular vision working as per usual.

Might need to start on rhythm recalibration soon, and - "

"Wait, rhythm calibration?"

Akio spun around in his swivel chair in order to face her as he elaborated.

"Yeah, didn't you know?

Longer limbs means that the rhythm of your walking, jumping and sprinting speed will have to be re-calibrated.

The swing of every punch and stride will change accordingly, and in the case of the former, your longer arms means that a haymaker would take longer to connect and impart more force than you intended."

Shiranui considered herself using such a move as she looked down at her adult form and lean arm muscles, seeing their point as Kousuke piped up with a question.

"Wait, if you were going to resort to throwing haymakers, wouldn't it be ideal to impart more force to take someone out?"

"Yeah, but not if you only wanted to knock someone out cold and not fucking kill them.

Shiranui-chan here's got the demigod-like strength of a ship girl, but doesn't have the armor a ship girl has to avoid being picked up by metal detectors.

She needs to fully understand what she's capable of before being deployed."

Akio lifted an eyebrow in agreement as he turned back to his control panel, and Akashi turned back to her as she gave Shiranui a look as if to say,

' _What they said.'_

Shiranui gave her an imperceptible nod in response while looking at Shigure, Aoba instructing her on something or another as she saw that the currently available part of the suit was limited to the power glove with a glowing circle on her palm like a repulsor, and three guesses as to what it could do.

Shiranui took baby steps towards the sight of the destroyer clenching and unclenching her armored fist, aided by Akashi who kept her hands hovering around Shiranui to stop her should she fall as she heard the destroyer speak about the glove's capabilities.

" … just turn it up to 'high' and see what it does.

Trust me, it'll be a blast."

"Um, lame pun aside, these settings were designated as such with a Kai Ni Shigure in mind.

We can only expect that these settings would be wildly inaccurate when you, an unremodeled Shigure, is wielding the glove, so let's take it _really_ easy for now, alright?

Besides, there's also no guarantee that it won't simply blow up in your hand, so there's that."

Aoba's concerns were understandable, but Shigure's curiosity overruled that as she stated, flexing her fingers as Shiranui heard the mechanisms inside it whir and click in response to the movement.

"Then let's start at a reasonably low 10% power, how about that?

Nothing can kill a ship girl at 10% power."

Shiranui could feel herself cringing as she heard that, and even Akashi was reaching for the first aid kit as Aoba twisted knobs and pressed a red button while Shigure pointed the glove downrange and at the paper target of a Wo-Class, where no was standing in out of obvious safety precautions as the glowing repulsor brightened in luminosity and emitted the mechanical whir of a generator powering up.

And everything went to hell.

 _KAKROOM._

Shigure was flung into the other end of the laboratory as the paper target was annihilated by the light beam shooting out from her palm as it carved through the concrete wall which the target was propped up on, the shock wave shaking the air as everyone jumped and ducked for cover upon reacting to the unexpectedly powerful palm blast while the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was displaced from where she stood and disappeared from Shiranui's sight in the blink of an eye.

As the destruction of the wall resounded throughout the building as of burst pipes creaked ominously while bricks collapsed and hit the floor and an LED tube light idly swung from the ceiling after being partially dislodged by the blast, Shiranui waved away the dust cloud and saw that Akashi was already walking over to a pathetically whining voice sounding not unlike that of a wounded animal.

And after kneeling down and examining the destroyer who was lying behind a drawer, Shiranui heard Shigure feebly utter in a pained voice.

"I can't feel my hand…"

While Akashi replied nonchalantly,

"Well, good news is that you're right, you didn't die.

Bad news?

You might wish that you were dead, especially since you'll be feeling this…"

" _OWOWOW I FELT THAT!"_

" … for several days."

Shiranui's nose crinkled as she sharply inhaled, suddenly feeling quite grateful that while her New Wave power needed some time to get used to, at least it didn't involve such a painful trial by fire as she saw Shigure's power glove-wielding arm hanging limply while Aoba gently lifted her by the other shoulder as Shigure, with tears lining the corners of her watery eyes while she bit down on her lower lips, was clearly doing her best not to cry and complain after having tempted fate so audaciously.

* * *

"I'm afraid to ask, but…

What happened to your arm, Shigure?"

Junyou was sitting up and was being fed by Hiei since the light carrier's limbs were still twitchy after being electrocuted, and she was in a ward with Kinugasa, Tatsuta, Saratoga, Zuikaku and herself who were undergoing physiotherapy in order to slowly rest and recover after they were taken out or killed by electrocution.

Shigure was still feeling watery-eyed because of the arm injury, but she soldiered on as she gave the official story, a blatantly false lie being uttered through her teeth for all of them to see through in an instant but not question it, since docks were scarce and other ship girls needed it more.

"I fell down the stairs."

Zuikaku seethed, looking as if her muscles had cramped up on her again in her double-take as she spoke through clenched teeth.

"Really?

If you want to lie, at least say you jumped out of a building window and landed on your shoulder.

The stairs here are much too short for a dislocation to occur."

Shigure blanched, and Saratoga, lying down on a bed with a blanket covering her body, piped up with something she heard with her carrier-enhanced senses.

"I also heard something go boom and likely caused the destruction of a wall in a nearby building.

Maybe it was an enemy artillery shell which went wide or something."

Shigure anxiously chuckled to herself and scratched the back of her head while shiftily looking away, beads of sweat forming on her forehead and face while Junyou cringed at the flimsy excuses thrown out to cover up their activities even after the four of them had been taken out by Yuubari and already knew of the New Wave ship girls' existence.

Rumors had already started to spread, and ship girls who visited them in order to give their blessings and wish for their fast recovery had false smiles painted on their faces since many of them had a rough idea of what happened that night and knew that the Abyssals possessed dangerous Beasts and lethal superpowers.

Junyou felt her lungs seize up again as she broke out into another coughing fit and slapped a trembling hand on her mouth, leaning onto the other side of her pillow and reined it in until the spasming of her lungs was alleviated, Shigure and Hiei's expressions becoming wracked with concern as they leaned in to lightly clap on her back.

It was getting better thanks to the docks and physiotherapy, but the occasional twitch in their limbs, muscles and eyelids along with these coughing fits meant that it was going to take a little more time to heal.

Time which they didn't have in spades.

She leaned over to hoarsely whisper to Shigure,

"Um, look…

The five of us need some time to rest, and while I appreciate you being here, I'm afraid I can't spare any time for you as of now…"

Shigure nodded understandingly as she got up from her seat and meekly walked out from the ward as did Hiei as Junyou gave her a weak but reassuring wink, and once they were out of earshot, Junyou heard Kinugasa sigh as she leaned into her pillow and bemoaned.

"Aw…

Why can't they seem to trust us with the fact that we already know about those superpowers?

I mean, we were literally killed by them, so what's up with that?"

"Well, you can't expect them to reveal their secret projects to anyone who simply knows of them.

As a participant, I apologize for the secrecy."

A rare apology came from the Tenryuu-Class cruiser in the room, and Zuikaku shrugged it off in a manner which she made sure not to come off as inconsiderate.

"Ah, don't worry about it.

I just feel just that our friends deserve to know that we have some superheroes on our side."

Tatsuta exhaled, no longer even trying to maintain her smile as her gaze faltered while she mused over their designation as 'heroes'.

"'Hero', hmm…

I just don't want everyone clamoring for upgrades to become heroes like us, and senselessly throw their life away in the process.

Besides, what good is being a superhero if this here's where you end up, either here or the morgue or even ressurected as an Abyssal should they capture us?

The enemies clearly had a head start and produced far more powerful supervillains, so I daresay that it's become quite the lawless place.

Evil runs rampant while good has no way to curtail its advances, and…"

Words seemed to fail the light cruiser then, and Saratoga did her best to comfort her from the confines of her own bed.

"W-Well, we're all still here, and more importantly, here for you, Tatsuta-san…"

"Yes, and I appreciate that.

It's just that without my smiling demeanor, this is how I really am when the going gets tough.

I'll try to stop it - "

"No, no."

Junyou interrupted as the light cruiser attempted to close herself off and was stopped by the light carrier putting her foot in the door in order to thwart that attempt.

"It's alright.

I don't mind this side of yourself, really.

So long as you stay true to yourself and express your real feelings, because I want to know how you really think and feel rather than hear you utter enigmatic and coy responses."

Tatsuta raised an exhausted eyebrow at the point that was being made while Saratoga meekly piped up with a suggestion,

"U-Um…

Because we were witnesses to these superpowered ship girls fighting the Abyssal J.O.A.N. units, do you think we can request Admiral Mako to give us these superpowers?

I mean, Tatsuta-san, you all certainly seem as if you need more manpower in order to stand a chance against the Abyssals."

"By the way, where's Tenryuu?"

Tatsuta was overloaded by questions from both Saratoga and Junyou, pacifying them both as she answered to the best of her ability.

"Well, as to Saratoga's question, I can at least put in a good word for anyone who wishes to join, but I do have to warn that there is an element of risk.

As to the latter…

I'm not exactly sure where Tenryuu-chan's gone, but I'm certain that wherever she is right now, it's likely that she's blaming herself for the loss which got me hospitalized along with you all and training in order to become stronger."

Tatsuta's expression fell and made Junyou feel bad about asking how the Tenryuu-Class nameship was doing, but Zuikaku's spirited demeanor was conveyed through her never-say-die response.

"Well, all the more reason why we should join her in this fight!

Me and Saratoga, we met Cynthia, that blasted Aircraft Carrier Princess who has that flying hippogriff beast Simurgh!

There's no reason for us _not_ to sit out of this fight, especially since we already know this much about our superpowered foes!"

Tatsuta lifted an eyebrow in agreement even as she shared everyone's concerns when the Shoukaku-Class carrier started hacking after exerting herself a little too much, Kinugasa putting in a good word for the ship girls who were called out to witness the hydrogen bomb detonation on the 30th of May and were harshly clued in on the existence of Abyssal J.O.A.N. units.

"Look, we need to call in ship girls who already know that superpowered ship girls and Abyssals exist, so that we can close the gap in terms of firepower and manpower.

Once we get back in touch with our own girls from Yokosuka, we can allow Shimakaze into the loop so that she can face Amatsukaze and stand a fighting chance against her, at least, from what I've heard about the 2nd Fleet and how Amatsukaze thrashed them."

Junyou then chose to rein in their questions since she didn't want Tatsuta to relapse due to being overloaded with questions.

"Alright, girls.

Let's lay off of Tatsuta for a while now, she needs her rest.

We're all witnesses to Tenryuu and Tatsuta using their powers, and there's no way that Admiral Mako can keep us away from the truth."

Everyone relaxed upon hearing that, and Junyou saw Zuikaku being occupied with thoughts which were drifting away from their current condition, and according to what Junyou saw in Zuikaku's eyes, more towards a certain Kaga-Class carrier as Junyou whispered.

"Zuikaku, are you thinking of Kaga?"

The Shoukaku-Class carrier paused before nodding silently, Junyou giving her a tired smile after seeing her go through so much but still have someone to yearn for, to look forward to leaning on and letting out all her anguish and sorrow.

Some part of herself felt jealous upon seeing love blossom on the battlefield, but she easily squashed that budding feeling by reminding herself that because of the distance between Zuikaku and Kaga, the Shoukaku-Class carrier must be feeling especially lonely especially since she never had the chance of choosing who she loved and was now cut off from her.

"I just… I just don't know what to do when going up against such strong enemies, and I now wish I had her guidance and her stoic but unwavering presence here to anchor us.

Is it too needy of me to think like this?"

But Junyou shook her head to dissuade those thoughts, suddenly reminiscing on the days in which they were together and found that she missed everyone's company so very much.

Akagi the big eater, Kaga the ice queen, Shokaku the unfortunate, Hiryuu and Souryuu the rising stars, Ryuujou and Taihou the cutting board…

How were they all doing right now, having to fend off the Abyssal naval assault in this World War?

Zuikaku's miserable expression was all she needed to know that she was much like Saratoga, alone in some sense with no other IJN carriers to share the burden of love with.

She piped in agreement,

"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind having her here to react to everything with a deadpan expression.

Certainly helps that she's the most level headed carrier, even if we have Houshou in our company to act as our surrogate mother."

"Yeah, I guess.

Not that I don't miss the other bird carriers as much, mind you, especially Shoukaku-nee, but it's just…"

"You miss Kaga in an entirely different manner, right?"

Zuikaku nodded, the fire being rekindled in her eyes somewhat as she turned on her bed to look back up at the ceiling as she remained silent the entire time, and Junyou drew back and allowed the carrier some space after speaking her peace to allow her to come to terms with her romantic love for Kaga on her own and what she was going to do about it from here on out.

* * *

Shigure was standing near the same sheltered area where she got injured yesterday morning on the 17th, and here she was again on the morning of the 18th in order to try and tame the beast that was the H.A.L.O. armored flight suit.

She was outdoors in order not to hit her head on a ceiling in their propulsion test to see how powerful the feet thrusters were, and how her relatively demure body in comparison to her Kai Ni body would affect the amount of thrust needed to lift her into the air.

For example, if her Kai Ni body required 10% thrust in order to achieve liftoff, her unremodeled body likely required 7%, although these numbers were arbitrary and they had to test, extrapolate and then customize the H.A.L.O. suit's settings in order to fit Shigure.

What this meant for Shigure was, in the words of the legitimately pitying Akashi,

"You're going to get hurt.

 _A lot."_

Some part of her was starting to wonder if all this suffering was worth the New Wave power she had been granted, and if she could possibly get a refund for another power.

In the distance, she could see Shiranui practicing the skip rope while a recuperating Tatsuta watched over her and clapped on for Shiranui to focus on and time her skips to the rhythm of Tatsuta's claps.

She stumbled again as the rope slapped her on the ankles again, the destroyer seething and muttering something about 'making a mistake' while Tatsuta got her back on track and had her starting another set of 100 skips as part of the exercise, meant to help her get used to her new body and make sure that her spatial awareness wasn't lacking.

To Shigure's understanding, Shiranui got used to moving around in her new body fairly quickly, but skipping rope could help her become aware of her body's dimensions to clear the looping rope and evade moving objects at moderate to high speeds without any risk to her body aside from slightly bruised ankles before even touching a firearm.

As for her…

Akashi snapped her finger in front of Shigure before pulling back and remarking,

"Hey.

You with us?"

"Y-Yeah."

The repair ship didn't seem entirely convinced, but she leaned in to ask in a sincere tone about her previous test's injury.

"How's that arm coming along?

I have half a mind to postpone this test simply because we don't know if your shoulder joint is going to pop out of its socket the second you take off."

But Shigure, ever the determined ship girl, vehemently shook her head as she denied.

"No, no.

I'm alright, I don't mind getting knocked around a little for the sake of getting stronger.

Besides, if anything goes wrong, I can always be thrown into the docks again and oh right…"

Akashi gave her a look which told her she really should have known better, and as Shigure inhaled to help her accepted the gravity of her own situation, she looking up as Akashi as the repair ship gave the horrified Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer some form of reassurance, perhaps out of pity in order to keep her hopes up in the face of seemingly inevitable pain and suffering for the sake of science.

"Look, Amazon company's made their new base of operations near Kanayama Dam, and we've been able to recover… most of our dead by dipping them in nanite-filled water.

Seeing your penchant for tests going horribly wrong, a tank of that improvised dock water's been sent our way, so you just worry your pretty little head about getting yourself off the floor without anything going wrong during testing."

She then looked down at the power gloves and shoes which Shigure was wearing, explaining why her armor took so long to craft.

"Look, the armor which is going to protect your body, it's taking a little longer to craft since we were given a new recipe to work with to make your armor is all but impervious to firearms and can only be dented by RPGs, tank shells and the like.

Also, we wanted to get your measurements right this time so that should we have to churn out replacement parts in the future, we can do so without much fuss.

We have your power gloves and shoes ready, and we might have to go through one more test flight in the future to change our settings to account for the weight of the armor, but I suppose a test flight now to get you acquainted with how these work might speed up your learning process."

Shigure nodded understandingly, moving onto the next topic at hand as she looked at Aoba and the engineers who were focused on her progress today.

"I see you all are prepared for the worst, what with the fire extinguishers you all have on hand."

Akio looked away innocently as he used his foot to slide the red fire extinguisher under his desk and out of Shigure's view, but she had already noticed no fewer than half a dozen of them near her and were all within reaching distance.

Akashi raised a disbelieving eyebrow as she commented on her unpredictable luck.

"Well, I can safely say that your tests are… _eventful_ , to say the least.

Your luck can just as easily get you in trouble as it can get you out of it as your colorful ship girl past has demonstrated, so excuse us for fearing that your equipment might go up in flames and send you flying everywhere, especially since this is the testing phase."

"Fair enough."

Shigure conceded the point since her life was indeed eventful ever since she was crafted as a ship girl, more specifically when she came to Yokosuka and was drafted into the 1st Fleet.

Encounters with legendary ghost ships, fighting a Princess, participating in a large-scale battle ala Leyte Gulf and then fighting in World War 3.

And now, she was going to be the real-life Iron Man and be the first ship girl to _fucking fly._

If that wasn't eventful, she didn't know what was.

Looking up at Akashi's genuinely concerned glance, she gave her friend a determined nod to send her walking back towards the panes of bulletproof glass where the technicians were tending to the controls panels, Akio and Kousuke standing further behind where Aoba was because if her equipment did indeed fail and she spontaneously exploded, squishy humans had a likelier chance of survival standing further away from the epicenter of the explosion.

Standing on the launching pad and taking in a deep breath to center herself, she then asked a question which popped up in her mind.

"Just asking.

But if I go up by activating the thrusters, how exactly am I going to get down safely?"

"You see that giant float we procured?

After you take off, we're going to pull it out for you to land on should a crash landing become inevitable the further up you climb.

And around this area are several more of these cushions for you to target and land on, so all you need to do is to fly towards them should you go off-course, alright?"

Shigure's HUD piped up with a request for the exchange of information, accepting it to find her map of the area updated with blue dots to indicate the locations of these landing cushions.

Sharing a concerned look with Aoba as the heavy cruiser flashed her a thumbs-up in order to wish her good luck through the transparent glass, she exhaled sharply and braced herself for another round of pain as she announced.

"First flight test, supplying repulsors with 1% power.

Let's see what this thing can do.

And in three, two, one."

Her entire being was lifted from the ground at once, not flung into the air like she'd been fearing but instead hovering awkwardly in mid-air as the micro-thrusters on her back and calves fired occasionally in order to orientate herself, noting Aoba peeking at her airborne form as she hid her face behind a clipboard while Akio and Kousuke pressed buttons and shifted levers.

Akashi was observing her every movement, which was the furthest thing from graceful as she barely succeeded at maintaining her balance as if she was a circus balancing act; her center of gravity was constantly shifting while her legs, unfamiliar with this unusual experience, wobbled while seemingly standing on thin air due to the jets of plasma being ejected from her repulsors and thrusters.

Finally, the power being cut to her gloves and shoes allowed her to plant her feet back on solid ground, tremors causing her body and limbs to quiver as the shock of landing caused a chill to fly up her spine and spread throughout her body in a fuzzy feeling, releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding the entire time as Akashi and Aoba sidestepped the bulletproof glass to check up on her.

"Well, you certainly didn't go flying off, and that's a relief."

"To you and to me."

Shigure was breathing much harder than usual as she allowed herself to take in the fact that she might be the first ship girl to be able to fly (ship girls being in planes don't count, and neither do Fairies flying planes), and while her flying techniques needed work which could be overcome with practice, a part of her was genuinely excited about the thought alone.

Looking at Aoba and Akashi patting her down for injuries, she found it within herself to ask a burning question in her inquisitive heart.

"That was awesome.

Can we do that again?"

Both Akashi and Aoba looked at each other before looking at her with very uneasy expressions on their faces, and Shigure tried to reason and plead with them as she used her doey-eyed look to try and win them over.

"Please, please, please, please, _pleassseeeeee?_

We can complete our tests so much more quickly if we did two tests in one day!

The enemy has a head start, and I'm perfectly fine!"

Akashi retorted with an annoyed voice being laced with sincere concern for her well-being,

"And what, are we supposed to keep testing until you're crippled or dead?

As a certified medic, I'd rather wait and allow our analysts to make sense of the data obtained in your first test flight to minimize the possibility of injury on your second test."

"Ah, but what's the smarter thing to do, when you consider the fact that it takes such a short time to repair a destroyer's injuries?

Do you sustain several debilitating injuries in a row before taking a little longer to heal up fully in one docking, or dock every time you sustain a debilitating injury and cause precious time to be wasted in order to restore myself to full health with several dockings?

I mean, I _am_ superhuman, after all.

And we need to take advantage of that to reduce the time taken for us to understand what this armored suit is capable of."

Akashi looked away in dead silence while Aoba gave her a concerned aside glance after witnessing the destroyer's fatal curiosity and inquisitiveness, the repair ship attempting to parse that sentence before looking back at Shigure with a strange, even cautious look in her eyes as she remarked.

"I'm not sure if what I just heard was the most brilliant or the most retarded thing I've heard in recent times."

"A little bit of both?"

"A little bit of both."

She finally got a compromise in the form of Akashi pulling out goggles which appeared to be used for welding as she removed the dark filter which protected one's eyes from the blinding sparks to turn it into pseudo-aviation goggles and fitted them around Shigure's head as she sternly warned,

"Drop altitude once you feel that the air is too thin for you, because I don't want to have to catch a falling, unconscious destroyer, alright?

And make sure to landing on the fucking landing cushions, alright?"

Nodding at Akashi as she got behind the bulletproof glass with Aoba, she looked back up at the clear blue sky as she longed to see what the world looked like from up there, the horrors of war fading away from memory in light of what she would be able to witness up there with her own two eyes, and not through a video or a picture that was taken by someone else.

"Second flight test, supplying repulsors with 6% power.

To infinity and beyond!

Three, two, one!"

Feeling the increase in thrust lift into the air much faster than before, she took flight and reached an even higher altitude than before after half a minute of flying more or less straight up into the air as she struggled to keep her limbs straight and parallel to each other due to the increased thrust, eventually powering down as she slowed down upon reaching the highest point of her unpowered flight path and felt weightless as her comrades were the size of dust particles beneath her.

The radiant sun shined down upon the earth and allowed her to appreciate the lush trees hiding what few buildings were built this far out in the neck of the woods, and near the horizon was Kanayama Dam where sun rays were reflected by the sizable body of sparkling water, while the clouds which floated in mid-air like she was right now and often appeared to be above the petty concerns of those who were bound by gravity were now closer than ever before, and almost beckoned for her to strive for greater heights and discover the sight of the earth from up there.

' _Oh, wow._

 _This really is quite the view._

 _Wait, I asked about where to land, but how exactly_ do _I land when I'm this high up?_

 _Oh, shi…'_

Real life kicked in as gravity worked its magic on her and pulled her back down to the earth where she belonged, the world spinning around her as she was sent careening through the air as the wind howled around her ears and sent her hair into a whipping frenzy around her face, her organs feeling queasy and weightless within her body as she did her best impression 'school girl frightened by a cockroach' scream all the way back to the ground.

" _AAHHHHHHH!"_

The fact that she was projected to land in an area without any available landing cushions didn't escape her notice, and her desperate attempts to slow down her descent with her repulsors and thrusters did much to significantly decrease the dizzying velocity of her fall to a survivable speed (for a ship girl) as she tucked her head in and squeezed her eyes shut while thinking to herself.

' _Oh god._

 _This is gonna su-'_

 _KRACK._

There was agonizing pain shooting both up and down her spine as she miraculously managed to avoid smashing the crown of her skull into the earth and render her head a smear of bloody grey matter and cerebrospinal fluid on the floor, tanking the impact with her face as her head snapped back at an angle too odd to be natural as the pain from her body stopped.

That was good.

As did all other bodily sensations.

 _That_ wasn't good.

She blinked rapidly in order to keep the thrown-up dust cloud out of her eyes before remembering that she had the goggles on as she failed to feel anything beneath the nape of her broken neck, her breath stopping as her feeble little mind was still whirling from the shock of _not_ having her head crack open like an egg upon hitting the ground at a velocity too dangerous even for a ship girl to walk away from unscathed.

Oh, wait, she couldn't feel her lungs moving either as air slowly seeped out of them through her nose, so she had escaped dying a quick death by splitting her head open on the floor for a slower death via asphyxiation as her physical background function which kept her lungs moving in order to breath was also compromised by her broken neck.

She just _had_ to beg for a second test flight in order to sate her curiosity and desire to re-experience the thrill of flying, didn't she?

Akashi was the first person to appear in her paralyzed field of vision with Shiranui and Aoba following shortly behind her as she called out to them.

"Good news, guys.

I don't feel any pain.

Bad news?

I can't feel much of anything at all."

And caused the annoyed repair ship to remark exasperatedly.

"Oh my god, you _fucking moron!_

Didn't I specifically instruct you to land on the landing cushions, not on your fucking face and neck?!"

Aoba's face scrunched up squeamishly as she looked down at Shigure's body on the floor and asked a similarly worried Akashi who was leaning in close to check on her body,

"Um…

I'm not a doctor, but I don't think necks are supposed to bend that way, right?"

"Of course not.

Shigure, are you still in control of your own breathing?"

Shigure did her best to blot out the pain which stung her face as the crash-landing likely fractured her nose, hearing her own voice become a little more high-pitched in the process.

"I don't… think so?

I'm starting to feel a little lightheaded and I don't think it's from the pain, and I might just pass out from air deprivation."

"My thoughts exactly.

A fall from that height might also crush your windpipe and cut off the air supply to your brain.

Get Akio and Kousuke here with a stretcher, we need to check up on and repair her neck in the medical bay before she asphyxiates.

Shiranui, give her rescue breaths ala CPR while I hold her neck."

"What?

Why do I - "

Shiranui's protests died in her throat as Akashi gave her a withering stare, the medic getting down into a _seiza_ position before leaning down and using her forearms to cradle and support Shigure's broken neck, the Kagerou-Class destroyer then turning to Aoba as the heavy cruiser threw out a flimsy excuse.

"I'm, um, checking for any hidden injuries.

Don't mind me."

"Shiranui.

Every second you waste means Shigure is one second closer to dying.

Give her mouth-to-mouth, or else she dies."

Shiranui's expression was conflicted, and Shigure understood that while the Kagerou-Class destroyer could be standoffish at times and cold at others, she still cared for her as a friend and certainly didn't want any harm to befall her.

And finally, Shiranui relented as she sat down close to Akashi, cradling her chin and holding down her forehead while Akashi supported her neck and head, the Kagerou-Class destroyer reluctantly leaning in with puckered lips and closed eyes as she made lip-to-lip contact in order to fill her lungs with oxygen via the kiss of life.

First base, reached.

Taking flight and having Shiranui kiss her on the lips for the price of a broken neck?

She didn't feel too bad about today after all.

Shiranui pulled her head back while inhaling sharply, pupils dilated and cheeks colored in a tinge of embarrassed red while Shigure's gaze shifted over to Akashi, and the repair ship cheekily winking at her while keeping her deadpan expression out of Shiranui's sight was all she needed to know that Akashi was acting as a wing-man even at a time like this, and Shiranui managed to maintain her stoic demeanor in spite of her blush as she pinched Shigure's cheek and hissed.

" _Don't_ think this means anything other than saving your life.

I just wanted to save on resources by keeping you alive."

"Ow, ow, ow.

Why me?"

* * *

Tatsuta looked up disbelievingly at Shigure as the destroyer had been hospitalized twice within the span of two days, now visiting Junyou and Tatsuta in their ward which was adjacent to her while she had an adjustable neck brace conspicuously wrapped around her neck and chin to prevent her from moving her head and exacerbating a neck wound.

Junyou, Saratoga and Zuikaku shared her concerned looks as they were all acquainted with the little destroyer with various levels of familiarity while Kinugasa was out somewhere doing physiotherapy, Tatsuta deigning to ask how this had occurred within a day of her dislocating her shoulder.

"If I might ask, just how exactly did you injure your neck a day after dislocating your shoulder?"

"I, um, tripped and fell out of a building window."

If their looks were concerned before, they were outright incredulous as the blatant lies had reached critical and were unbelievable to the point where it was a legitimate insult to think that even a three-year old child would fall for them for a second.

Tatsuta finally closed her jaw as she did her best to roll with the awkwardly blatant lie and conveniently forget the fact that Junyou, Saratoga and Zuikaku picked up a little girl's shrill scream which sounded suspiciously familiar to the Hiyou-Class light carrier's ears while spotting someone falling out of the sky with their superhuman eyesight.

"Oh well…

Just be sure not to push yourself too much.

Can you promise me that, Shigure?"

Shigure's expression fell upon hearing that, and Tatsuta could understand where she was coming from since they were comrades in the same fleet, and despite understanding Shigure's desire to become stronger and fight alongside Tenryuu and Tatsuta to balance the scales between ship girl and Abyssal New Wave units, Tatsuta didn't want Shigure physically breaking down to the point where all the king's men couldn't put her back together again.

Getting up as she gestured to the door,

"Well, I guess I gotta go now, Akashi's going to tear me a new one for this injury, and the last thing I want to do is to keep her wai - "

Before her arm froze in place, and Tatsuta suddenly felt a wave of dread wash over her as she saw that Shigure was staring off into nothing as if weighing something something internally before she uttered,

"Oh wait.

Here it comes…"

Shigure's hand went limp and hung by her side shortly before she lost control of her body as it lifelessly crumpled to the floor, prompting everyone in the ward to get off their beds and rush towards her in a concerned panic, Tatsuta herself suddenly overcome with some anxiety regarding her friend's condition in spite of her usually cool demeanor.

Junyou was shouting for a medic as she stumbled out of the ward, and Zuikaku slid onto her knees and was beside Shigure in an instant, but Tatsuta held out a hand to stop the carrier from moving her own fleet mate.

"Wait!

She's suffering from a neck injury, wait until more medics or ship girls arrive before moving her!"

Shigure could only lie down on the floor like a puppet with its strings cut, Tatsuta hearing a pained whine softly escaping the seething destroyer's lips as her face was kissing cold, hard marble tiles after her collapsing body caused her head to hit the floor.

"Ssss…

Ow, my face…"

* * *

Shigure was standing in the same firing range where she first tested her power glove and dislocated her shoulder on the 17th, testing the third equipment in her armored suit which was barely created in time to be shipped here along with her power gloves and shoe thrusters, and it was made up of two parts.

First was the steel 'rib cage' which was snugly wrapped around her chest where the armored plates were supposed to be attached to, and the second was the arc reactor on her chest as it emitted brilliant light in a mechanical blue tint, and if Shigure squinted, she could see the circuit board etched into the glowing material.

Fortunately for her, this arc reactor was flat as a board and meant that she didn't need to gouge out her own chest to fit it in ala Tony Stark, and it was placed on her flat chest in order to facilitate easier aiming and was also conveniently where most power from the soul could be easily drawn out.

Through the heart.

She also received assurances that should this arc reactor be taken out, it was neither going to blow her to kingdom come nor was it going to shut down her armored suit immediately, so that was that.

Her neck was doing marginally better as was her shoulder injury, and Akashi walked up to her while pouring some sort of metal sand into a glass full of water before using a spoon to mix it up, and Akashi answered the questioning gaze Shigure used to train on the murky glass in her hand,

"This bag contains inactive nanomachines which are activated when soaked in drinking water.

When you bleed in battle, the blood leaking out of you contains nanomachines and will reduce the overall nanite count in your body over time.

We had this idea to have them activate when put in drinking water in order to keep you hydrated and maintain the nanomachine count in your body."

Using a straw for Shigure to take a sip without having to tip back her head for obvious reasons, Akashi allowed Shigure to take possession of the glass as she whipped out something else which was hooked on the construction belt around her hip, bringing it up to Shigure's eye level as she wrapped it around Shigure's neck brace.

"What's that?"

"Something we created in order to improve the sturdiness of your brace.

I understand that you'll likely get yourself hurt _again_.

But this'll hopefully decrease the odds of your neck injury being exacerbated when you get injured.

At the very least, it should protect the right vertebrae sections to keep your breathing systems functional."

"Hmm.

'When', and not 'if', Akashi-san?"

The repair ship snorted derisively as she looked down at Shigure's neck brace and previously dislocated shoulder, remarking on her disturbing penchant for getting herself in trouble as well as getting herself hurt in the process.

"Oh, _please._

Seeing what you get yourself into all the time, I'm inclined to believe it's only a matter of time."

"Hence the first aid supplies in your belt?"

"Exactly."

Shigure couldn't exactly refute that since she knew how unpredictable her own luck was at casually throwing herself into danger (if her curiosity, desire to become stronger or suicidal tendencies didn't get to her first) and enjoy watching her flounder in the deep end of the pool before Shigure was rescued.

"You know, I just had a thought.

Why is it that I _have_ to be in the armored suit?

Can't we just make it easier to control by making it remote controlled, and I'll pilot it in base like an unmanned aerial vehicle?"

"The explanation is that the suit won't function and react as quickly since you're not in it, and because we're constantly sending signals to the H.A.L.O. suit, it will most likely suffer from lag when operating over extended distance and runs the risk of the signals being intercepted and cut off.

When the full armored suit arrives tomorrow, you'd better not be a pussy and get in the goddamned suit."

"Ok."

Shigure couldn't refute the callousness in Akashi's voice as well as the points which she made, and while it was indeed more dangerous for her to be in the suit, but there was at least someone inside making choices on the fly instead of having to constantly relay movement orders from their base of operations to the suit, and if an EMP managed to take her out, she could at least try and manually reboot her H.A.L.O. suit from the inside instead of looking on helplessly as her suit fell into enemy hands.

The contraption on her chest whirred mutely as she turned back to find several landing cushions placed behind her, this last weapon test predicted to fling her back into them according to Newton's Third Law of Motion, and she was to fire the arc reactor firing at the paper target of an Abyssal Ri-Class cruiser which would send her flying back into the cushions.

Looking at Akashi helping her to don a pair of sunglasses and taking the empty glass before passing her the firing button and joining Aoba, Shiranui, Akio and Kousuke behind the panes of bulletproof glass, all of whom were wearing the same pair of sunglasses so as not to be blinded by the beam's brilliance, Shigure held the firing button in her hand and took a quick breath before announcing,

"Arc reactor test, at 10% power.

Commencing in three, two, one."

She then punched the button while hoping for the best.

The whirring volume and luminosity of the arc reactor steadily increased in pitch to the point where it reached a crescendo, the brilliant blue glow nearly blinding her and the spectators if not for the donned sunglasses as all the pent-up energy within the reactor was then unleashed with a ferocious roar of a mechanical beast.

Shigure imagined this was what it felt like to fire the sun from her chest, seething from the blast's temperature searing her face and arms while the heat started to ignite parts of her uniform which were close enough to the arc reactor, her feet losing contact with the ground a second before she slammed into the landing cushion and caused her right shoulder and neck to be overwhelmed by the resulting wave of pain, tolerable but distracting.

Even with the sunglasses on, the brilliance of the beam was evident as her ribs started to creak from the equal and opposite force of the blast compressing her ribcage, and the internal ear mufflers muted the ringing in her ears as the deafening silence after the power was cut off.

Sliding down onto the floor as the cool air stung the first-degree burns plaguing her skin, her breathing becoming increasingly labored as every breath that was drawn precipitated a wave of muted pain which spread throughout her torso, although the silver lining was how being able to feel such things meant that the reinforced brace managed to keep her neck intact.

What was far from ideal, however, was the fact that she could feel her burning clothes starting to sear into her skin and warp her flesh until Akashi, Akio and Kousuke ran up and doused her head to toe with the pressurized foam fired from the procured fire extinguishers, getting it into her mouth and eyes as she retched from the terrible taste and braced herself against the humiliating jet of foam doing its job while getting into her hair and clothes, threatening to suffocate her with whatever the extinguishing agent was made up of and leaving her even more of a mess than ever before.

The commotion died down to allow Shigure to catch her breath after she held it to prevent herself from inhaling the extinguishing foam and gas, and the flames which were dancing on her chest were snuffed out as she hacked and coughed to clear whatever foam had gotten into her mouth and throat as Akashi knelt down beside her, checking up on her biting burns which were agitated by the extinguishing agent washing all over it, the repair ship then deigning to ask dryly.

"How does that dip in the portable docks seem now?"

Shigure, after suffering several cracked ribs, stinging first-degree burns on her face, arms and chest, a broken neck barely held together to prevent death by asphyxiation and a dislocated shoulder which had popped out again within the course of her testing session, only had this to say.

"Like heaven on earth."

* * *

Shigure was resting in a steel barrel which was filled with water retrieved from the nearby Kanayama Dam, where the next battle was slated to take place.

There was a mild fire underneath the barrel in order to keep the water at a certain temperature without boiling her alive, and she was hiding most of her body underwater as it reached up to her neck in order to maximize its effects on the most affected areas.

Akashi, training an eye on her, wasn't wearing her long-sleeved and high-collar undershirt due to the sweltering summer temperature and allowed Shigure a look at the scars crisscrossing her forearms as she swallowed an uncomfortable lump in her throat at the thought of Akashi resorting to self-harm at one point in time.

And strangely enough, Akashi spoke up about continuing their sessions to talk about her issues in light of her frightening enthusiasm for self-destructive testing.

"You know, I really think that we should talk some more in counselling sessions again, because I think that you going through so many battles thus far requires someone to oversee your mental state and well-being.

And before you ask, I've already sought out those who are more troubled than you are, like Saratoga who's survived a hydrogen bomb detonation and died in an encounter with Yuubari, so there's no need for you to go all 'Oh, there are others who deserve your time more than I do.'"

Shigure nodded meekly and accepted the appointment, since she wasn't prideful enough to think that she was going to be entirely right in the head after all this time, especially not when she was known to be full of repressed traumatic experiences which was masked by a silent demeanor, which really spoke volumes about her as a ship girl to those who knew her.

"You really do know how to counsel others as a medic, hmm?"

"Yeah.

I mean, I did work at a mental institute to deal with troubled and traumatized ship girls, so therapy comes naturally to me."

Shigure then felt a little down as her mind wandered towards her experiences with the Nishimura Fleet as well as the 1st Fleet and recalling what she wanted to protect, a memory of the Nishimura Fleet and her friends in the 1st Fleet.

"I'm sorry for giving you so much trouble.

I just want to get stronger and protect my friends, and I don't care if I have to bang my head against several walls and break them down to obtain the power I desire."

And to that, Akashi lifted an eyebrow with a witty retort at hand,

"Well, for all your supposed preciousness and intelligence, you do have a particularly thick skull when you test, in which notions of 'failure' or 'impossible' never really seem to stick in your mind for long.

And as you said, you do recover quickly as a destroyer, and they do say that drops of water can carve into stone through sheer persistence.

So I suppose banging your head against walls to break through them isn't such a Herculean task for after all."

Shigure couldn't help but chuckle a little at Akashi's biting but sincere words, but she could feel her next words vocalizing the repair ship's concern for her well-being.

"But for real, though.

I understand how you're afraid that the 1st Fleet might end up like the Nishimura Fleet, but you don't need to feel as if you have to carry the burden by yourself.

Tenryuu and Tatsuta may be out of action, but that doesn't excuse you from pushing yourself this hard with the strength of a hundred battleships, not to mention stubbornness about a hundred times that.

What would they think, if your unremodeled body were to fail at a critical moment?"

Shigure did admit that Akashi had a point, and the repair ship would be the one to break the news to the 1st Fleet.

How far was she going to go in abusing her body for the sake of getting stronger before it gave out on her?

"I… I guess so.

I think Tenryuu-san is out there, doing her best to improve herself as well, and doing this to myself would only distract her from her training should I break down beyond repair."

Akashi nodded understandingly, and Shigure used this time to dare to ask about Akashi's past and how it might be related to the repair ship's concern for her well-being.

"And um, I was wondering…

I saw that you had a C-section scar near your womb, and I just want to know what happened to your child?"

Akashi froze up and made Shigure almost immediately regret posing that question to the repair ship, but she did her best to reach out to Akashi and try to understand her better as she placed her hand on Akashi's scar-ridden arms, doing her best to struggle against Akashi's attempt to pull her arm away as she asked with the most sincere tone she could muster.

"Please.

You may think me nosy and inquiring about your past, but I just want to get to know you better as a friend.

Is it wrong of me to ask about what made you the way you are today?"

" _Yes."_

"Then I don't want to be right."

Shigure met Akashi's flinty gaze, and she could see that the repair ship's gaze was warning her not to push her luck on this topic, but a large part of why Akashi wanted Shigure to back off was because of one more thing aside from anger.

Fear.

She put forth a hypothesis as she gulped down the lump in her throat which existed due to the sheer tactlessness of her to try and use the direct approach in this situation, an approach which she thought Akashi would appreciate because she likely disliked people tiptoeing about the issue.

The air between them was electric as her determined stubbornness butted heads with Akashi's equally determined determination to shut her out of her own past as she started.

"I know that between your career in a ship girl mental institute and the repair ship for Yokosuka, you had a Dark Age-esque period.

In my opinion, I suspect that you were pregnant then, but for some reason, a lot of your misanthropy was formed even before coming to Yokosuka losing Yuubari, and that probably means - "

"Stop."

Shigure did just that as she saw the conflict in her eyes, and Akashi must have realized that someone would piece together her fragmented past and then make some reasonable assumptions about what happened even if she hadn't overheard Akashi's strained conversation with Admiral Mako about the repair ship's past at the pool (which was a bit of a cheat), the missing last piece of the puzzle being what exactly happened to her during that period which caused her to lose her children and sour her opinion regarding mankind.

She didn't want to dredge up Akashi's painful memories, but she wanted to place her cards on the table and give Akashi a heads up that she knew about most of Akashi's past, and she was going going to get to the bottom of this -

"If both my children were still alive, they'd be around your age."

Shigure paused as her mind struggled to parse that sentence and how despite the death of her children was the most logical conclusion to come to, it was still jarring to hear it from the horse's mouth as she looked up at Akashi and noticed that the repair ship couldn't help but reach down towards the C-section scar on her womb upon finishing that sentence, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer warily whispering,

"'If'?

And 'children'?"

Akashi's gaze lowered as her expression darkened, looking far more miserable than Shigure had ever seen her during their time together as the repair ship gave her a reminiscing look while sharing.

"I was carrying twins.

And as strange as it may seem, you remind me of what I'd like my kids to be like."

"A-And what is that?"

"Slightly subdued and polite, perhaps withdrawn to some extent, but bustling with childlike curiosity and enthusiasm buried underneath the surface and is displayed on numerous occasion like sun rays piercing through rain clouds.

Of course, I could do without the reckless abandon, traumatizing past and _fucking_ nosiness."

Shigure made a noise of agreement since she didn't want to saddle anyone with the burden of her memories and experiences while she made an effort to express her guilt of pushing Akashi to reveal her past, eventually making the connection in her mind.

"So, do you see me as a replacement of your, um, deceased children?"

"I suppose so, as strange as it might sound."

"And um, how am I doing so far?"

Akashi looked into the distance in order to consider the question for a bit before giving a brutally honest answer,

"You are… endearingly annoying.

You didn't really think you were going to fool me with your little waterworks which got you off the hook for being there to bait Tenryuu's New Wave powers out, did you?"

Shigure flinched upon hearing that, and she deliberately chose to avoid Akashi's gaze as her withering gaze bored through Shigure while the water droplets on the destroyer's skin rolled down her skin in lieu of sweat.

"You certainly put yourself through a lot in order to find out about Project Psyche and to get you and Shiranui into it in order to receive New Wave powers, culminating in your suicidal attempt to fight Yuubari in the rain.

As much as I'm annoyed by that kind of tenacity, I don't exactly dislike it either.

But remember that your life has always been intertwined with that of others, and there exists ship girls who care for you despite not being your sister ships, and they'd be devastated by your death."

"Including you?"

Akashi blinked as she lowered her head to look into the steaming bathwater, reluctantly admitting the existence of her bond with Shigure.

" … Yes.

Anything else, _Shigure?"_

Akashi's tone became caustic again as she closed off her world-weary heart after revealing enough of it to Shigure in their tense exchange, and she noted Akashi's undershirt-less torso exposing her scarred arms and her bosom as her skin was glistening with a layer of sweat thanks to the summer heat and the steamy air of the barrel dock, and she hid her blush and fidget well enough for the repair ship to chalk it up as a side effect of the piping-hot bathwater as she remarked after mentally forming a plan.

"Well, a kiss might be appreciated.

Not on the lips, because even though Shiranui already took my first kiss, it didn't really count when it was done to keep me alive like in CPR.

How about on the forehead, then?"

Akashi gave her a weird look as she pulled her head back, chiding Shigure for her childishness.

"Can you not be such a fucking child?"

"Hmm, and after so many people tell me to act my age?"

That gave Akashi pause as she considered the likelihood of people telling Shigure to do just that, and then silently tilting her head to concede the point while Shigure continued.

"Isn't it also common practice for adults to kiss a wound in order to help it heal?

I mean, you did say that I was banging my head against a wall during the testing phase, after all."

"Metaphorically.

Besides, kissing a wound is likely to infect it."

Shigure resorted to using her puppy-dog eyes as she leaned forward to tilt her gaze upwards while giving Akashi an intensely affectionate gaze, and despite the fact that Akashi possessed a hardened and cynical heart, she couldn't help but relent as she exhaled and performed her job as a repair ship, which entailed keeping her patients' hopes up so that they'd strive to get better.

 _"Fine."_

Before leaning over the edge of the steel barrel and tenderly puckering her lips while she closed her eyes, Shigure's heart-rate spiking as she looked down the collar of Akashi's shirt to witness just how well Akashi had filled out over the years as two sizable, fleshy orbs were held close to her chest by a pink bra and the repair ship's action of leaning forward allowed them to squeeze together deliciously thanks to her taut bra.

Akashi then pulled back from her kiss to give Shigure a look, finding the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer unable to tear her eyes from her generous cleavage which was exposed by her sailor collar and no longer covered by her high-collar-long-sleeved grey undershirt as her sailor collar now hung loosely from her neck and gave a blushing Shigure a decent view.

Shigure was then assaulted by the annoyed repair ship sharply pinching and pulling both her cheeks, a vein popping on Akashi's temple while tears formed on the corners of Shigure's eyes.

" _You horny little brat."_

"Ah-Ah-Ah!

You're gonna stretch my cheeks out, Akashi-san!"

* * *

The Project Psyche participants and technicians were now at a wide opening on the 21st of May, ship girls and soldiers alike all forbidden from entering an area of 50 kilometers in order to preserve secrecy regarding Shigure's New Wave powers, even from the five recuperating ship girls whose makeshift ward was outside of the radius after they transported the relevant equipment to a relatively secluded area.

Shigure had skipped over the incredibly awkward suiting up part, because currently, there didn't exist proper facilities for that express purpose being created yet and meant that everything had to be done manually, which led to some _intensely_ awkward 'bad touch' moments.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, she looked down at her own H.A.L.O. suit to observe the newest additions to her suit, which included a skintight g-suit suit which pressed on her body from every conceivable angle to make all the blood rush to her face and not deprive her brain of oxygen, causing a slight blush to perpetually color her face.

The Project Psyche engineers were putting the finishing touches to her H.A.L.O. suit's settings after consolidating and reviewing the data from all her failures thus far in order not to repeat them, having factored in the additional weight of her armor and the various accessories inside.

Akashi was there to give a partial explanation of how the suit worked, starting with the skintight suit which Shigure was forced to wear before putting on the armor.

"You feel that sexy, glorified gimp suit you're wearing beneath your armored suit sans the face mask?

It's to tighten around vital areas when in mid-flight, like a corset wrapped around your abdomen and waist and everywhere else in order to prevent your blood from flowing away from your brain as you fly through the air.

This…"

Knocking lightly on Shigure's armored suit on the ' **S** ', Akashi continued.

"Its insides are lined with inertial dampeners in order to prevent the G-forces from outright killing you, since turning at the speeds which you are capable of flying at can turn even you into a chunky steel-fuel-blood paste in your suit."

"And what happens if I were to open my suit in mid-flight?"

Akio interjected with a pithy answer,

"You'd be a moron."

"A dead moron soon enough."

Kousuke high-fived Akio as he added upon his best friend's remark, causing Shigure to gulp anxiously as she suddenly felt a little nervous about taking flight when any single mistake might spell her doom in spite of opening her suit mid-flight being a 'too dumb to live' indicator, Akashi speaking up in the H.A.L.O suit's defense in order to reassure her.

"Look, you will still experience G-forces, but they're definitely survivable in here, and should you be shot down by any tank shells in mid-flight like in that Iron Man film I showed you…"

Shigure nodded nervously after the repair ship got the idea to show her a film which would help her visualize how it felt like to fly and what to avoid, like antagonizing the air force into attacking her by giving them the silent treatment.

"And will I encounter allied jet fighters I'll be crashing into by accident?"

"No.

The JASDF has been told that we'd be running tests on a classified flying military equipment today, and that they should fly around the designated testing area marked out in your helmet.

Even then, your signature should pop up as an allied one, and the codename will be 'SHI080', password 'H.A.L.O.' will be used to identify yourself as an ally.

No superhero landings, and no engaging enemy units in combat.

What your suit currently consists of are the barest of essentials to help you fly, and there are little to no weapons equipped on your suit right now.

Got that?"

Shigure tersely nodded, understanding that this simply was a test flight, and as much as she wanted to get out there and help her comrades, there was no helping people without weapons since her suit was armed for flight and not combat as of now.

"Look, these shoulder pads around the cap of your shoulders?

We'll be retrofitting two more repulsors behind them after this test flight so that the backward force of the palm repulsor and arc reactor which flung you back is cancelled out by this shoulder repulsor firing in the equal and opposite direction, and we've increased the strength of the bracers on your arms, neck and rib-cage to protect you against any similar injuries in the future.

And we'll also be attaching air propellers on your shoulders and calves to help you maneuver about when you're hovering in mid-air after this.

Understood?"

"Understood."

Allowing the mechanical arm to extend from the helmet storage container on her chest and the nape of her neck to assemble her helmet starting from her chin and back of her skull, they connected with each other near her ears in order to provide complete protection, opening her eyes to find herself staring out into her surroundings as if the helmet was a one-way mirror to allow her to look outside.

The displays on the inside visor of the helmet displayed things which her eye's HUD never thought to show as a ship girl, amongst them an altimeter and a attitude indicator which wouldn't be out of place on a plane and complemented her ship girl compass, a display of her suit's overall condition as well as her own vitals, magazine capacity of her weapons which all read '0', and threat assessments of all ship girl and human comrades which read 'NIL'.

Thank goodness for that.

' **H** ighly-

 **A** rmored

 **L** atent

 **O** peration

System

STATUS: ACTIVATED

TYPE: NORMAL'

A computer window popped up before her as Aoba appeared before her, explaining how the objective of the mission.

"Remember, Shigure, don't fly up too high since we're afraid of ice buildup and the lack of oxygen possibly compromising your body or your suit's functions, and going outside of the test zone is likely going to attract the attention of the JSDF or the Abyssals, attention we currently don't need.

Finally, and I'm saying this not just as your mission control operator but also as a friend, please don't push yourself too hard and aggravate your injuries which would similarly compromise your ability to fly while in mid-flight, alright?"

"Don't worry.

I'm feeling fine after a dip, but I'll do my best to hold back!"

Looking up and assuming the take-off pose to, well, take off, Shigure heard Akio's hopeful yet cautious voice counting down the seconds to liftoff.

"Ten.

Nine.

Eight."

"Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four."

"Three.

Two.

One.

Launch."

Staring into the sky, her feet left the earth and wobbled as she kept them pointed down at the floor to launch herself into the air, her arms experiencing a similar problem as her two repulsors fired at a rate that was fast enough to propel her but slow enough not to send her careening into the blue sky.

Her H.A.L.O. suit was trembling and so was her body, but the number on the altimeter was steadily rising in magnitude while the needles on it were spinning clockwise, output readings of her repulsors, thrusters and her vitals all in the green, although the latter was on the rise as if she was physically exerting herself in order to power the H.A.L.O. suit and could feel it inexplicably sapping her stamina without doing anything to her since her soul powered her body, but a good chunk of that recoverable life energy was now used to power her suit.

And finally, her altimeter reached and surpassed the 100-meter mark as the earth-hugging landmarks eventually disappeared from her field of vision and was now completely replaced by the clear blue sky, candy-floss like clouds steadily approaching her as she gained altitude.

Liftoff.

The soundproofing was far from ideal as her propulsion system roared in her ear but was muted by her internal ear mufflers, and she made her first maneuvers in the sky and felt some of her body's inertia being dampened by the suit while her body was constricted by the 'gimp suit' to prevent the blood from flowing away from her head, attitude indicator shifting to display her new orientation relative to Earth's horizon.

As to how she was feeling about all this, 'ecstatic' didn't begin to describe it.

" _WWOOOOHHHOOOOO!"_

The sensation of flight left her feeling almost weightless and unbound by the seemingly omnipresent reach of gravity on Earth, and despite her penchant for silence and introspection, the thrill of being able to live the phrase 'the sky's the limit' had even her hollering for joy, because only now did it register in her mind what she was truly capable of after having her two-dimensional frame of mind as a ship girl expanded into three dimensions with the inclusion of height and opening up a whole new world to her, something no other ship girl could claim to have before today.

And upon straightening out in order to fly parallel to the earth, the bird's-eye view simply took her breath away.

Clouds, previously appearing ethereal and untouchable even to ship girls who commanded Fairy-driven planes since they were grounded on the sea, were now threatening to obstruct her flight path as they idly drifted along to the whims of the wind while out-sizing hills, pyramids and even entire mountain ranges in the horizon which she never seemed to get any closer to as they cast their colossal shadows on the ground below in order to blanket swaths of land.

In comparison, the forests were no taller than moss growing beneath her feet while buildings and ship girls were downright microscopic in comparison as her view of earth within the disc which formed the horizon encompassing the view-able section of the earth was broadened due to the drastic increase in altitude, the sensation being different from being in an airplane since she was far more vulnerable and lonelier up here and an ephemeral and alien sensation of false peace since she was a Terran and didn't really belong up here, her radio link to ground control being her last tether to human civilization much like the first aviation pioneers.

All of her friends were down there while she was up here and really drove home the point that she may be the first ship girl to fly, she was also the _only_ ship girl to fly as she suddenly felt very small and very lonely upon watching the horizon to stretch on and on while feeling utterly disconnected from the world war raging down below, especially when she was up here with nothing but her thoughts and her suit.

"Akashi-san, Aoba-san, Akio-san, Kosuke-san, are you all seeing this?"

"Yes.

I'm guessing that you're speechless because of the sight and sensation of flying for the first time?

Trust me, like flying in an airplane, the magic wears off shortly enough, so savor that feeling."

"Yes, but…

Everything and everyone's so small when looking down, and the world's so huge in comparison when I'm up here…

I thought I had the power to change the fate of the Abyssal War and protect, but I now realize that to the world at large, I'm just a little girl with a metal suit."

A noise of understanding came from Akashi as she set a speed limit for her to reach in order to finish this test session as quickly as possible without endangering her.

"Let's punch it.

I say that Mach 1.2 would be a safe speed for you to hit, but your suit would still protect you should anything happen."

"Mach 1.2?

Why not go for _Mach 1.7?"_

"Your funeral.

I'd be lying if I said I trusted you not to get into trouble, so let's not "

The airspeed indicator was showing 240 m/s or Mach 0.8, Shigure pressing on as the ground beneath her was starting to zip by at breakneck speed, and she pierced a cloud with little difficulty in order to follow the designated flight path at a faster speed than was planned, passing through a holographic circle which was projected in her helmet with an arrow beneath her compass in order to point her to the next checkpoint along with a three-dimensional map on her HUD.

Keeping the 50 km circle radius of the testing area in mind, she angled herself to fly counterclockwise as she held her arms closer to her body and accelerated past the speed of sound, gritting her teeth and seething as she braced herself for the onslaught of g-forces acting on her body while she performed a reasonably sharp turn, feeling her H.A.L.O. suit's inertial dampeners doing its job spectacularly and aid in her survival.

Now hitting Mach 1.1 with nothing much hindering her other than her superhuman body having to endure the dampened g-forces which would have likely killed a human, she glanced down to find the Kanayama Dam, pulling up in order to gain altitude so that anyone down below, wouldn't be able to spot her through the clouds on the off-chance anyone sneaked into the testing area or looked up and spotted her flying figure.

After all, if there wasn't an air raid siren blaring in their faces, whoever was up there _had_ to be an ally, right?

Pushing her suit even further by passing through another checkpoint as she blitzed across the sky, she felt her gut shift within her as she banked while her stomach contents sloshed about and was likely the reason why she felt so bloody queasy right now, Akashi piping up with concern lacing her tone as she hit Mach 1.4.

"Shigure, are you alright?

Your vitals are on the rise, you need to slow down a little up there…"

"I'm… I'm fine!

Keep going!

 _I can do this!"_

She could feel the sweat starting to soak her face while her heart was pumping as hard as if she were in battle since this was her maiden flight, nearing Mach 1.5 as she rose before dipping and performing a dive close to where the Project Psyche technicians were to ensure that the one time she flew close to the ground, there wouldn't be anyone present who wasn't authorized to see her armored form.

Pulling up ahead of time out of a genuine fear of crash-landing again, unbearable stress was placed on her arms much like doing a push-up while a supporting a battleship's weight as she dropped from Mach 1.7 to 1.2, and her vitals were certainly at an all-time high as the trees and earth flashed by in a carpet of green and brown while she kept watch for tall trees or flocks of birds which she might collide into.

Passing another checkpoint angled at a 45 degree angle and pointing upwards, she knew that this was where she was to pitch herself upwards to climb and break past the cloud layer, doing just that as the sight was equally as stunning above the cloud cover.

Snow-white clouds appeared as fluffy as cotton candy with wildly varying contours and geographical features which were nigh-impossible to be formed on land, and the sun was automatically dimmed by her visor in order not to blind her and only appeared as a lens flare in her eyes, the sky subtly shifting to a darker shade of blue above her to indicate the layers of the atmosphere leading into outer space as it stretched out endlessly above her all while she only managed to break through the clouds in the troposphere, which stretched out like a colorless desert all around her with no signs of human life and was almost analogous to the end of the world.

Here she was, a little girl pushing through into the oft-explored but ultimately foreign domain that was the sky to mankind and was downright alien to a ship girl who patrolled the seas.

And beyond that lay space, the final frontier which was in a sense, an ethereal paradise of exploration, mystery and wonder which she could attempt to reach for and leave this horrid war, and with it, all her responsibilities and woes as a ship girl behind forever.

If only she could just push herself a little further to reach that height and see what the view was like from up there -

" - gure, drop altitude!

Don't fly too high, that's a Icarus-style crash landing waiting to happen!"

She snapped back to reality thanks to Aoba's urging concern as she slowed down to perform a dive in order to reach the final checkpoint which was located in the air above the launching pad, her H.A.L.O. suit snapping open several air brakes in order to slow herself down before her arms swung down in order to negate the decelerated downwards fall and doing a flip so that her feet was pointed down at the fast-approaching ground.

Listening to Akashi looking up at her and pressing on the earpiece in her ear while coaching,

"Steady, steady…

Keep your arms and legs straight, slowly reduce power to your thrusters and keep your body upright!"

She straightened her arms and legs as the displayed thrust output steadily decreased in order to drop her altitude, her friends were already running towards her before she even touched down in order to check on her condition as her helmet disassembled itself to allow herself to breathe fresh air again, and the enthusiasm and relief on their faces was likely mirrored on hers as they raised towels to dry her ruddy face while she remarked confidently.

"Yeah.

I can fly."


	68. Chapter 68 - Beauties And The Beast

**Author's Notes**

 _Thank you, Dianherdianto for your feedback and reviews._

 _As to Shigure's H.A.L.O. suit, I read on the Kancolle Wiki that players named her 'Great Angel' for her pleasant personality, powerful Kai Ni remodel and clutch plays, so I thought, 'What do angels have?' 'Halos', 'What can they do?' 'Fly.' and that was the end of that._

* * *

The ship girls of Amazon and Ninja company were currently hiding in the woods surrounding the Kanayama Dam on the 24th of May as the two companies merged into the former and was about to make their next stand here, this dam being an important location for them to hold because of the scarcity of water bodies in a land-locked area, and locations like lakes and dams were used to bath, refill canteens and wash clothes and also to fill their portable docks along with the water cooling systems of their combat vehicles.

Intelligence determined that Naka and her elephant Beast Airavata were already on their way to this dam in order to bolster the Abyssal forces, who had suffered some casualties after failing to take the forested area during their previous engagement and was when Ashigara-7 dropped out of the sky.

The JSDF had already readied their mortars, artillery and missile batteries some distance away and had called in several fighter squadrons for aerial reconnaissance and bombardment runs, and they had several dozen ship girls sortieing onto the dam's surface to make sure that they had boots on the ground and the dam itself.

The dam had a bridge leading across it and was naturally mined with C-4, and the dam itself was shaped in an arced formation with the left side of the dam relative to the bridge stretching out into the North-West and split into a messy fork and meant that they had space and cover to maneuver and hide behind, and the East led to a meandering river course followed up by a 90-degree corner which allowed them to bottleneck any chasing Abyssals.

Tatsuta was ready to jump back into the fray with her glaive Sado, because if the Abyssals called in J.O.A.N. units in order to take over the dam, she figured that the ship girls should have New Wave units which stood by Amazon company partially as a morale booster and also a means of fighting back.

No rest for the wicked, after all.

She didn't deny that she was wicked with her sadistic, bordering on homicidal tendencies bubbling just beneath her saccharine demeanor, but the Abyssals were evil incarnate as they served as dark reflections of the ship girls, and she was certainly not going to rest until they were all sunk, or she was.

Tatsuta, having exited a trench which contained her 1st Fleet comrades, now hugged Tenryuu for dear life as her elder sister returned to them after taking some time off in order to get away from the war, and Tatsuta saw that even though her elder sister still looked as emotionally fatigued as ever, some of the color had returned to her face and into her eyes after her period of absence.

Pulling back out to look at a slightly exhausted but much more mature Tenryuu who had no doubt contemplated her own failures in isolation and how best to overcome them, she was certain that Tenryuu had become stronger in her time alone as she asked,

"Can you fight, Tenryuu?"

"Yes."

"Then that's all I need to know."

She knew that her elder sister was smart and mature enough to come through when it mattered, and she looked down at the replacement sword which was crafted for Tenryuu, asking her about what she had named this sword.

"What's her name this time?"

"Masamune.

I'm now cutting down Abyssals with a purpose, and I realized that it shouldn't be out of a misplaced sense of hatred for them."

Tenryuu's weariness belied the amount of thought she put into reconsidering what she was fighting for while naming her new sword after a swordsmith whose seemingly benevolent swords of legend appeared intent to only strike down those who were guilty and deserving of its wrath.

"My hatred for them will make me no better than them should I allow it to corrupt me the instant I let my guard down, since I'll be tapping into the same source of power as them and can be turned by it.

I'd rather have my sword be tempered in my resolve to protect all of you rather than my desire to stain it in the blood of fallen Abyssals."

Tatsuta nodded understandingly since she knew all too well about how the power of hate worked, and how in spite of her being typecast as a 'dark ship girl' had a lot of merit and truth to it, she also knew of the risks involved since ship girls who sank as they were being wrapped up in their hatred and regret were easy pickings to be Abyssalized and turned, and she certainly wanted to break away from that dreaded source of negative motivation by relying more on her teammates and sister ship.

Her tone then became somber due to her legitimate concern regarding Tenryuu's compatibility with the newly forged sword.

"Do you think you can adjust to the capabilities of your sword on the fly?"

Tenryuu's gaze hardened with determination as she looked down at the sheathed sword she held in her hand, and she reassured Tatsuta with a hint of what she had been up to during her isolation period.

"Don't worry, Tatsuta.

I've been practicing with Masamune in order to become stronger and protect you all.

I won't say that I'll beat the Abyssals for sure, but I dare say that it won't be impossible to fight them to a draw this time."

Tatsuta's gaze similarly steeled as she moved her hand to hold Sado, her glaive's shortened shaft allowing her to keep it on her belt for easy access as she nodded, her heart icing over as her tone mirrored her cold demeanor but expertly hid her burning desire to exact revenge for her injuries, dead comrades and humiliating loss on the roof of the Kamogawa City Hall.

" _Then, let's go."_

They both jogged over to the hiding 1st Fleet, picking up their M4 Carbines and flipping the safety switch off before assuming a semi-crouching position in order to join their comrades in the trench, accounting for everyone shortly before the 1st fleet made their way towards the Northern front by crawling through the maze of trenches.

Several ship girls had sortied and were sailing on the dam's surface thanks to the transportation trucks which carried their riggings around along with extra ammunition to prepare a prolonged battle, having arrived in time for several of them to suit up.

These trucks came in handy during times like this despite their limited production and use back in the Abyssal War where the rigging transportation vehicles were reserved to be used during floods or in the wake of tsunamis, where sorties and naval battles were expected to take place in flooded cities while the coast-situated naval bases were abandoned before disaster struck.

Right now, the Abyssals were flooding in from the Eastern to Southern front as the ship girls who sailed on the dam had just begun to engage the Abyssals in combat and were valiantly stalling their advance, with carriers and battleships located on the maze-like North-West side of the dam providing long-range support for the cruisers and destroyers by utilizing the terrain as a force multiplier, all while tanks and fighters coordinated their advance and maneuvers with the missile batteries in order to discourage the enemy's big guns from hunkering down to dial in on the ship girls either on the dam or on land.

The Tenryuu-Class cruisers were to move up the Northern front and meet up with Ma'am Jackie, where they would then seek out and engage Naka and Airavata in combat before attempting to take her out with help from Ma'am Jackie, who would provide long-range support.

Speaking of the devil, they crossed paths with Ma'am Jackie and Jintsuu grouped together and to act as a sniper-spotter duo, the senior light cruiser slowing down to take note of their presence as being their commanding officer who participated in the lost battle of Kamogawa City Hall alongside them would mean that she'd be privy to their not-so-well-hidden capabilities, asking urgently.

"You two are in charge of taking that incoming elephant Beast down?"

"Yes."

Ma'am Jackie didn't respond to that, but she reached into her pocket and retrieved two items which were a combination of earplugs and earpieces for them to wind around their heads to plug into both ears.

"Here.

I was told by Akashi to pass this to you."

Tatsuta and Tenryuu caught the earplug-shaped earpieces made for the both of them as Ma'am Jackie asked of them.

"You two have superpowers, and you're certain that you can stop the J.O.A.N. Beast this time?"

The both of them nodded resolutely, and Ma'am Jackie didn't question their resolve or hesitate to respond in kind as she spoke up about providing support for them while she held up a Barrett M82 sniper rifle, this situation almost mirroring the battle at the Kamogawa City Hall as the three light cruisers (four if you counted Jintsuu) were facing off against another light cruiser J.O.A.N. unit.

"Fine.

I'll be providing cover across the battlefield to clear up the cannon fodder, and I'll let you know when I can chip in to help take out the Abyssal boss unit.

From what I heard, this bitch's songs are hard on the ears, so wear those to protect them."

She started jogging up the hill to get into position and had Jintsuu obediently following behind her while carrying a military monocular along with pencil, paper and an M4 Carbine rifle in order to act as a spotter and a guardian to defend her older self.

The 1st Fleet then crept up to the front lines, where ship girls were engaging Abyssals in combat by trading pot-shots with the opposing forces while fearing to cross the No-Man's Land between them, a strip of land that was pockmarked by craters formed by prior mortars shells and missiles coming up short as Tatsuta heard Aoba speak up over the radio regarding a certain dark horse fleet of Yokosuka.

"Everyone, the 8th Fleet of Yokosuka is on their way here in order to tip the scales in our favor, since the Abyssals would never expect them to be sortied here!"

"Wait, why are they headed here, I thought they were patrolling the oceans with our other fleets and are supposed to be anywhere else but here?"

Everyone's concerns were seemingly voiced by Musashi's strained tone, which could possibly also be attributed to the hail of bullets in the background forming an unbroken chain of static with its roaring symphony, and the Aoba-Class heavy cruiser relayed the reason for their reassignment from the naval front.

"Our sources cited 'irreconcilable creative and professional differences' between the 8th Fleet and the other naval bases, which meant that they were too violent and family-unfriendly to be allowed to sortie with other bases' fleets."

"What, and that gives them the right to dump them on us?!"

"Kinda, yeah, since they're from Yokosuka like we are."

Kikuzuchi's remark was shot down by Akashi, who would no doubt try to speak up for her own fleet as they were ultimately there to help the ship girls and humans, Ma'am Jackie asking about the third ship girl veteran who had recently joined them.

"Does anyone know where's Ashigara-7?"

"She's…"

Speaking of the devil, a black dot jumped out of a helicopter and dropped into enemy lines with the grace of a diving eagle as the ship girl veteran in question screamed out loud for the entire battlefield's occupants to hear.

" _I'M GOING TO VALHALLA!"_

" … right there."

"Figures.

Urgh, Platoon 3, head up and cover her!"

The exasperation in Ma'am Jackie's tone wasn't lost on anyone, because even if they were both veterans, their fighting styles contrasted each other's like day and night as one preferred taking a strategically advantageous location and picking off enemies without fuss while the other preferred flamboyantly exposing herself to danger and tanking everything the enemy threw at her before returning it all in kind several times over, another announcement sounding out over the radio for all to hear.

"Just a heads up for all combatants.

We're not sure which it is, but another J.O.A.N. unit's airborne signature was detected to be heading this way, ETA fifteen minutes.

Best prediction is Cynthia and her hippogriff Beast Simurgh, our best advice is to take one out before they both become a problem."

"Fine, get the JSDF's jet fighters and missile batteries to delay its arrival for as long as possible, we need some time to take care of Dumbo here."

Ma'am Jackie audibly cocked her Barrett M82 sniper rifle in order to drive her point home, Tatsuta and Tenryuu moving up as Hiei, Junyou, Ayanami and Shigure all took their time to fire at Abyssals across the battlefield while Ma'am Jackie used her elevated position on a nearby hill in order to take out enemy snipers.

Tatsuta centered herself by taking a deep breath as she considered all the various participants in the Battle for Kanayama Dam and how it caused everything to devolve into unbridled chaos, as it included two J.O.A.N. units, her and Tenryuu, the 8th Fleet and even Shigure if they were forced to sortie her in her armored suit in order to engage Cynthia and her flying Beast Simurgh, eventually gathering the courage to pop up from the trench in order to advance and break this deadlock.

A distant whizzing of a large-caliber round got progressively louder as it flew across the battlefield, and a Wo-Class carrier who was wielding a Dragunov sniper rifle crumpled like a bag of bricks as the round entered her neck, Tatsuta hearing the senior light cruiser pipe up over the earpiece/ earplug in Tatsuta and Tenryuu's ears.

"One down, watch yourselves down there.

I'll cover you all whenever possible to get you two to that blasted elephant Beast.

Jintsuu, move."

"Y-Yes!"

Assuming that the two light cruisers had to relocate themselves so as not to allow themselves to be seen and hunted down by anyone who might have spotted the sunlight-reflected glint of the rifle's scope or the muzzle flash and might counter-snipe or call down a rocket strike on them, Tatsuta was wary of threats coming from every direction as she avoided another mortar shell which rained down on the battlefield and kept them on their toes by ducking and strafing, her teammates shaking the shock of the explosion out of their minds before pushing on while their allied air fighters did their best to soften up the enemy.

She fired at a Ri-Class heavy cruiser who attempted to slow them down as she appeared to be the point man to the rest of the Abyssal horde, and even though Tenryuu had certainly matured during her time spent alone, her impatient nature meant that she certainly wasn't going to dilly-dally and waste her time on small fry as she let her M4 Carbine hang by her side as she whipped Masamune out, charging up a Blade Rush even before fully unsheathing it from its scabbard before unleashing a horizontal Blade Rush with a might heave.

The devastating tidal wave of black flames warped the space which it occupied with a vengeance as it blotted out and mortally wounded, if it didn't outright kill the Abyssals caught in it as a large swath of the forest was wiped out but wasn't set aflame as the mana-powered flames, upon being flung out of Tenryuu's swinging sword, eventually petered out and faded back into oblivion and thus prevented a forest fire which Tatsuta was secretly worried about.

" _Did any of you see anything?!"_

Tenryuu roared at the ship girls standing behind her once the roar of her Blade Rush died down to allow her elder sister to hear herself, and several ship girls of Amazon company were advancing to put down the surviving Abyssals and had clearly witnessed Tenryuu's abilities, but were likely too awed or frightened to say anything other than 'no', several of them vigorously shaking their heads and others timidly answering,

"N-No, Tenryuu-san!"

"Good!"

"Tenryuu…"

Akashi's disapproving voice sounded out over the radio, and the Tenryuu-Class cruiser responded with the tenacity Tatsuta knew she possessed to let her know that she was truly back in action.

"Hey.

You consider it unprofessional; I consider it efficiency.

I got no time to waste on the scrubs who stand in my way, not when I'm here to hunt the big fish!"

And Tatsuta shifted her attention to the private channel between the Tenryuu-Class cruisers on their earpiece, mission control which included Aoba and Akashi, Ma'am Jackie and Shigure as well once she caught a glimpse of Airavata's wild movement patterns along with the ominous creak of unyielding trees being shoved aside.

"What the hell's Airavata doing?"

"Well, the Beast appears to be knocking down trees around the battlefield in order to open up new avenues of attack for the Abyssals, and I'm certain it'll try and march around to unleash its rockets wherever the infantry Abyssals call for a rocket strike.

We'll have to fight around it as it rearranges the battlefield, but we'll be depending on the two of you to do something about it!"

The elephant Beast Airavata blasted another hole in their defenses by charging up its red beam of incinerating death, the charging-up time taking long enough to allow ship girls to scramble out of the way as Tatsuta ducked before the beam breezed past her and lit a nearby tree on fire despite missing it, and an incoming projectile was brought to her attention with the blaring sign,

'INCOMING MISSILE',

On her HUD, evading the enemy missile which drowned out everything with the deafening volume of its explosion which showered her with piping-hot dirt both from the summer sun warming it up and the missile explosively heating it up with its fireball which eventually dematerialized before her very eyes, shaking herself clean as she heard.

"Everyone alright?!"

"Yep!"

"Yes…"

"Can I say no to be medevac-ed out of this battle?"

" _No."_

Hiei shot down Junyou's feeble attempt to try and excuse herself out from the battle much like a disinterested student throwing feigning all sorts of sicknesses in lessons to see what stuck, and a rejection might be disappointing, but it definitely didn't keep her down as Junyou appeared in her field of vision by standing over her to help her up, Tatsuta graciously accepting it but staggered a little from the delayed shock hitting her, focusing her attention on her surroundings instead of her condition as she turned to find Airavata.

Tatsuta looked towards where the enemy supposedly was, a plume of dust and falling trees being left in the Beast's wake as flares were shot out from its body like New Year fireworks in order to defend the juggernaut of a Beast from being hit by allied missiles that were bearing down on it, the JSDF raining hell down on it unceasingly to pressure it into making a mistake.

"Come on, let's take that elephant down!"

"Agreed."

Hiei took point as she laid down cover fire with her MINIMI machine gun while Tenryuu and Tatsuta moved up, and a salvo from the battleships in the water slammed into an Abyssal artillery piece up ahead as the explosion nearly flung them to the ground as Tatsuta, like everyone else, threw up her arms to shield herself from the heat of the blast wave.

"Jesus!

That was too close!"

Her attention shifted back to the elephant Beast as she watched rounds bounce off its armored forehead, trunk, ears, legs, back and flank as RPGs managed to make it stagger a little, Naka being protected by an armor-plated windshield-esque device likely raised to hide her behind it while riding on Airavata in combat in order to protect an exposed Naka.

Hopping before landing on the side of an artificially-formed ridge tall enough to shield them from gunfire but not artillery, mortars or missiles, she could feel the frightened earth trembling with the behemoth's every step while the leaves on the nearby trees similarly quivered and were shaken off their branches as Airavata, named after the Hindu god Indra's elephant steed, knocked the trees over and trampled them with ease in order to open up avenues of approach for the Abyssal horde as they crept up behind the rampaging Beast as Airavata fired rockets from its lower back, where the M270 MLRS's launcher was stored in its Beast mode.

Tatsuta had to admit, she hadn't exactly thought about how they would get onto Aivarata's back to fight Naka since she had been too focused about getting to the Beast and J.O.A.N. unit in one piece, but Tenryuu shared her concerns and gave voice to them as she asked the 1st Fleet to receive their input.

"Um, how exactly do we take it out?"

"Well, the best chance might be for us to get on its back and take out Naka before taking out the elephant Beast, since she would defend her own Beast to the death."

"Yeah, but just how do we get on it's back?"

"Have Hiei toss them up there."

Everyone turned to Shigure with bewildered looks, but even though the suggestion sounded so silly, with Hiei's super-strength, it stood a chance of actually working, and Hiei looked towards the New Wave ship girls who stood the best chance of and were thus tasked with taking Naka and Airavata out since their possession of New Wave powers was no secret amongst the 1st Fleet, and Tatsuta pulled out her glaive and uttered,

"W-Well, I can launch myself up into the air with no problems.

Tenryuu, however…"

She managed to tease her elder sister in the middle of battle as she outed Tenryuu's inability to do the same with her remodeled sword,

"She might require a helping hand, though."

"Shut up, Tatsuta!"

Tenryuu's seething aside glance could melt holes through steel, but it was useless against Tatsuta's inbuilt invulnerability to Tenryuu's abrasive side thanks to being her foil as she barely managed to suppress her ill-placed smile in the midst of a battle, and the Kongou-Class battleship then turned towards Tenryuu and dropped her MINIMI machine gun to do what she had to do.

"No.

No, no…

Nonononononono - "

Hiei stomped towards Tenryuu as the light cruiser's eyes started to shine with the dawning fear of being thrown like an airline baggage handler tossing luggage up and down a plane, her gloved hands waving in order to refuse the suggestion even as Hiei stood behind her and lifted her by the collar and belt to lift Tenryuu's legs clean off the ground.

Heaving the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser in a slight back-swing before using her battleship strength to swing Tenryuu forward so fast her mechanical ears scraped the dirt floor while her purple mop of hair and green army uniform blurred, Hiei letting go at the perfect moment to ungracefully fling a screaming Tenryuu into the air,

"Nononono…

DAMN YOU, SHIGUREEEEEEEEE!

YOU TOO, TATSUTA!"

Tatsuta couldn't help but giggle at the amusing sight of a soaring Tenryuu before getting back to business, breaking out into a sprint before performing a high jump as she watched an airborne Tenryuu whip out Masamune in order to stab it into the flank of Airavata and anchor herself to the Beast, Tatsuta pointing her extendable glaive downwards and extending it to launch herself in a jumping pole vault towards the rampaging Beast which Naka had sicced on her comrades.

Shortening it as she landed on Airavata's back, she was then greeted by Naka screaming bloody murder at them and releasing her banshee-like voice through the metallic jaw which covered her throat and mouth like a muzzle, it was now open to unleash sounds waves which made her feel nauseous as it warped Tatsuta's insides and heated her skin, and the fact that the both of them didn't immediately go deaf was thanks to her internal eardrum mufflers and the earplugs-slash-earpieces which dampened the effect of the sonic scream on her eardrums.

 _[EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!]_

A similarly stumbling Tenryuu stabilized herself long enough to fire a Blade Rush in Naka's direction, forcing her to shut her mouth lest the infernal, pitch-black flames scorch her jaw and throat as Naka was forced to shield herself and opened up a possible avenue of attack, Tatsuta aiming Sado before firing.

The Beast then chose to shudder at that very moment and threw her aim off as it knocked over trees in its stampede, her glaive nicking Naka's shoulder as the two Tenryuu-Class cruisers had to hold on for dear life, but since the Beast had a telepathic link with Naka, she would naturally be in tune with her own Beast's movements as Naka jumped Tenryuu like a possessed predator, fingers and arms outstretched and her jaws open to either scream or draw blood.

Watching her crash into and displace Tenryuu in a body slam before opening her mouth to scream again at point blank range, Tatsuta retracted Sado as she performed Life Break to drastically close the distance between them with a high jump, swinging her reverse-grip held glaive to stab at the Abyssal and stop Naka ahead of time.

She could feel her cheeks stretch out into a slasher grin as Sado's blade messily pierced Naka's left palm upon slipping through the Abyssal's palm bones to come out the other side, Tatsuta having learnt to put all of her weight and momentum into Sado to ensure that her glaive's blade stood a decent chance of penetrating armored foes.

[Grrgh!]

Tenryuu's previous Blade Rush had superficially burnt the J.O.A.N. unit's skin, but this didn't stop her in the slightest as the three of them shook along with the Beast in which they fought on before Naka howled again while Airavata trumpeted, Tatsuta feeling her organs and blood vessels churn and twist as her mind was swimming from the pressure of her screams physically affecting her in various adverse ways.

The fact that the elephant which they rode on was a threat to their comrades hung over her head, several allied missiles which were thrown off by Airavata's flares shaking the elephant's back which they stood on as they detonated around them.

Jumping up and extending her glaive in order to plant into the elephant Beast's armored skin, she lifted herself to spin around her glaive's shaft which stuck out perpendicularly from the elephant's back, swinging her body around it with the lithe grace of an experienced pole dancer as she braced herself against Naka's sonic scream for a while longer before she slammed her army boots into the J.O.A.N. unit's face in a clockwise direction, using her momentum to dislodge her shortened glaive upon landing.

Naka recovered as she used the force imparted by Tatsuta's spinning pole kick to pull off a reverse spin kick by continuing to spin clockwise while leaning close to Airavata's back and lifting her right leg parallel to her downward-leaning body in order to catch either Tenryuu-Class cruisers with her upwards sweep.

Tenryuu leaned back and deliberately fell as her pulled-in knees allowed her to counter with a drop kick as she smashed her boots into Naka's rib cage, sending Naka flying and allowing Tatsuta to strike with a revised God Killing Spear.

True to being a J.O.A.N. unit and thus a head above most rank-and-file Abyssals, Naka bounced back up with little difficulty with a last-second backhand to slap the flat of Tatsuta's blade and alter its trajectory, letting out another deafening scream to force them to keep their distance.

"Khh!

She's persistent!"

"True, but she can't keep this up forever!"

Tatsuta responded heartily as she felt more alive than ever, the enemy standing before her while she had her Anti-Abyssal weapon in her hand.

Her objective was clear.

Naka then strafed to get out of the way as she coordinated an attack with Airavata, the Beast's snout lifting over its head to fire a Hyper Beam at the two ship girls on its back as the Tenryuu-Class light cruisers similarly evaded, and Tatsuta could feel the disintegrating beam singe her hair and threaten to set her uniform alight even at this distance.

Tenryuu shakily raised Masamune in a reverse grip while charging up and enveloping the surface of its blade in her mana to plunge it into the Beast and possibly paralyze it.

 _[No you don't.]_

Naka growled while blitzing forward, shortly before slapping a hand on her elephant's back whilst raising her heel in a handstand to slam her leg into Tenryuu's wrist and halt her stabbing motion which gave her attack most of the power it normally contained, Naka then supporting her weight with both arms on Airavata's back as she used her free leg to slam into Tenryuu's gut to send her stumbling back.

Hearing enemy gunfire whiz over her head and harmlessly bounce off the elephant Beast's armor, Tatsuta was reminded that the Abyssal ground forces would try and shoot her in order to get them off of Naka's Beast and either take her prisoner or take her out, and another rocket was fired from the rocket silos on Airavata's back as the back-blast sent Tenryuu staggering forward while Naka exploited the opportunity to jump her, Tatsuta closing the distance again to cover her sister.

Watching Naka shoulder-slam her elder sister off the edge, her conflicted emotions got the better of her for a split second as she got into position and extended her spear in a cue-ball shot towards Naka's exposed back.

And it was promptly caught by the J.O.A.N. unit.

Gripping the shaft tighter, she retracted her glaive's shaft in order to pull herself towards Naka as she stretched her leg out for a kick and was promptly greeted by the Abyssal taking the chance to punch her in the gut in an exchange of blows, and with her enhanced strength as a J.O.A.N. unit, Tatsuta came out of that exchange more injured than Naka did as the Abyssal sent her flying while growling.

[Get… off… my… BEAST!]

Rolling about on the Beast, she slid over and tethered on the edge of Airavata's flank as she dug her glaive into the Beast's side shortly before her center of gravity precariously shifted over the Beast's body, Abyssal infantry soldiers firing several bullets which punched through her armored flesh and nearly caused her to lose her grip on Sado, but as Naka leaned over to finish her off with another sonic scream, the Abyssal instead chose to duck as the flash of a scope precipitated the whizzing of a large-caliber bullet flitting over her head.

Tatsuta recognized it as Ma'am Jackie laying down cover fire, and she shouted into her earpiece for both Jintsuu and Ma'am Jackie to avoid what was coming next, being forced to watch helplessly as two missiles silos lit up with erupting flames and were likely aimed at where she presumed Ma'am Jackie's and Jintsuu's were currently at.

"Ma'am Jackie, Jintsuu!

Move!"

"You don't have to tell us twice!"

Tatsuta took the chance to swing around Sado's shaft like a gymnast on the uneven bars, feeling the strain of her muscles as they pushed out the bullets from her muscles while maintaining her grip on the glaive, spinning around as she watched the ground and sky spin about her before she launched herself back onto Airavata's back.

Landing and firing her glaive in order to take out one rocket while the second managed to escape her glaive's range as she retracted it for another shot, she uttered an irritated,

"Tch!"

While hoping that Ma'am Jackie and Jintsuu were able to vacate the premises in time, shrugging off an erupting fireball caused by an allied RPG landing a direct hit on Airavata's flank as she made her way towards Naka, the J.O.A.N. unit opening her jaw to perform another sonic scream.

Tenryuu then popped up from behind Naka, her next Blade Rush aimed to kill as her blurred sword Masamune was aimed for Naka's neck, her eye burning with an unparalleled ferocity which Tatsuta had rarely seen before today.

Naka's reflexes were impressive to the point of being inhuman as she connected the dots between Tatsuta throwing herself onto Airavata's back with a dawning expression on her face shortly before doing the same in the instant Tenryuu's Blade Rush swooshed over their heads, Tatsuta grunting due to the amount of fatigue piling on her as she brought her glaive up to fire again.

The J.O.A.N. unit caught her glaive again and let Tatsuta know that her revised God-Killing Spear which was made deadlier by her New Wave would become too predictable if she kept fighting in a straightforward manner, Naka and Tatsuta both bouncing back up as the two Tenryuu-Class light cruisers sandwiched Naka while the Abyssal let go of her glaive to perform her one trick.

Tatsuta now knew when to brace herself for a sonic wave which she knew she wouldn't be able to block in time as it scrambled her insides, her sense of hearing mostly protected by Ma'am Jackie's earpieces while her sight was starting to fizzle into black and white grains, her HUD warping and tearing due to the deadly frequency of the sound waves which bombarded her.

And that wasn't even getting to the migraine that was coming on.

Firing a God Killing Spear to shut her up, she saw that the J.O.A.N. unit was now getting a little desperate as she shut her jaw and ducked, and she could hear that Ma'am Jackie was breathing heavily but was still in action as she heard the instructor speak up.

"Tatsuta, Tenryuu, I know that the both of you can hear me right now.

I need a clear shot at Naka, and that'll open up a window for you two to run up to the Beast's head and blind it.

It'll likely go berserk, but that's when we can leave it to the rest of Amazon company to take it down in its panic while Naka is too occupied with pacifying it."

She didn't respond for fear of Naka catching on to their plan, and neither did Tenryuu as she burst forward while Tatsuta provided cover fire with her M4 Carbine which had admittedly been rather underutilized thus far, shifting her gaze about to try and spot where the glint of the scope was so as not to block her senior's line of sight.

Naka threw her head back and released another sound wave which managed to stop Tenryuu dead due to the pressure wave stunning her, and Tatsuta was far enough to maintain her composure in spite of the nauseating sound waves bombarding her as she emptied her M4 Carbine's magazine before whipping her shortened Sado around her head while calling out,

"Tenryuu!

Get down!"

Her elder sister didn't respond, but there was no need to as she elongated her glaive to swing it like a whip as its extending shaft missed Tenryuu's dipping head while Naka was forced to use the lightweight armor making up her shoulder gloves (reminiscent of her ship girl self) to block the blade, allowing Tenryuu to lash out with a horizontal Blade Rush as her prone figure hugged the surface.

Naka leapt in order to evade the flaming arc just as the distant glint of a scope was seen.

The Abyssal J.O.A.N. unit using her impressive light cruiser agility to evade the incoming sniper round while in mid-air partially succeeded as it impacted her right collarbone instead of the chest as Ma'am Jackie likely aimed for center mass, the light cruiser being flung back as she howled.

[ARGH!]

Retracting her glaive in order to perform an about turn before sprinting straight for the Beast's head while hearing a familiar pair of boot-steps following closely behind, she spotted Airavata's flaming trunk lifting back above its head to point at the both of them again as she shouted,

"Evade!"

And she strafed to avoid the vaporizing Hyper Beam while hoping that she didn't cause Tenryuu's demise by blocking her view of Airavata's trunk as it charged up a Hyper Beam, but those grim thoughts were pushed to the fringe of her racing mind as she leaned down to jump over the edge of the Beast's head.

Throwing herself over the edge of Airavata's head to get a clear shot, she looked into the Beast's burning right eye as it was snugly tucked inside steel eyelids encircling it in order to provide some protection without limiting its vision, and as Tatsuta fired a God-Killing Spear in order to blind the Beast, she was then treated to the sight of an infernal mix that was eyeball fluids and burning fuel spewing out and splattering all over her along with a eardrum-shattering trumpet from the Beast itself and a pained,

 _[NOOOOO!]_

From Naka herself.

An explosion on the other side of the Beast's head likely completely blinded it as Tatsuta could hear Tenryuu grunt over the earpiece after she performed a bone-crunching one-point landing.

"Grrgh!

Urgh, argh… Tatsuta, get off that Beast!

It's going berserk!"

That was stating the obvious.

Airavata's movements were erratic and changed directions without rhyme or reason, and Tatsuta still clinging and hanging onto the glaive which was still embedded inside the Beast's right eye meant that the Beast leaned to its right in hopes that her glaive would somehow dislodge itself and also meant that aside from hanging on it and wildly swinging her legs about to run on thin air, she also had tree branches seemingly stretching out just to slap her in the body and face as she spat out leaves and bark in response to the flurry of nature's bitch slaps reddening her face and causing her side profile to tank the brunt of consecutive impacts with tree branches.

The Beast's damn fan-like ears wildly slamming into her to tenderize her other side profile didn't help matters one bit.

And then Airavata's 'listing' tilt and panicked cornering stampede headed straight for a cluster of trees.

With her hanging off of its side.

She didn't say this very often, but she really, really had to this time.

' _Fuck my life, man.'_

Lifting herself up as if doing a pull-up before slackening her arms and letting her body weight give her glaive a downward jerk, Sado's white-hot blade dislodged itself as she slammed her already-sore right shoulder into an oncoming tree, greatly softening the impact by allowing her shoulder blade and back to tank enough of it in a rolling motion before destroying the devastated tree after being thrown into it and immediately crashing into the tree right behind it, Tatsuta panicking from the pandemonium of stomping elephant legs causing the ground beneath her to quake and also from bracing herself against the agony of crashing into two trees which, despite her superhuman body having gone limp in order to soften the blow, _still fucking hurt._

Rolling down the side of the tree trunk as its gnarled roots were dragged out of the ground to be exposed to the air upon toppling over and allowed it to collapse into its side in slow motion while Tatsuta hit the floor, aches and sharp pangs of pain within her body complementing her swimming vision and the numbing wave of lethargy de-powering her in spite of the battle raging around her, finally recovering enough to successfully parse the words that were uttered by the chirping device in her ears as the world came back into focus.

" … suta?

Tatsuta, what happened?"

"Oh, nothing much.

Just lying here with several cracked bones and several dozen throbbing muscles in my body, all while contemplating my life choices thus far and wondering if it was all worth it.

I'm also starting to miss the good old days, where we used to kill Abyssals on the seas."

The fatigue lining her response wasn't lost on the recipients, not that Akashi cared in the slightest as she remarked,

"You mean the 'good ol' days' where you Tenryuu-Class cruisers were the trashiest light cruiser class before Project Psyche?

I sure wouldn't if I were you."

Tenryuu started muttering unintelligible angrish while Tatsuta seethed at the slight, but there was no denying the truth in her words as she heard Akio 'ooohh'ing along with Kousuke as the latter remarked,

"Oooohhh!

Two repair buckets for the Tenryuu-Class light cruisers, because they _JUST GOT BURNED!"_

Before audibly high-fiving Akio over the intercom while Tatsuta assessed the damage dealt to her body.

Her right shoulder was far more sore than either her left shoulder or back, but nothing felt broken despite the intense sores in several of her joints, and she got up slowly like a creaking old man as she limped back to her comrades all while watching the intense firefight continue in the distance, watching Tenryuu's distinct silhouette sprinting up to her without any apparent fatigue due to her burning concern for Tatsuta while casually flinging several Blade Rush attacks at any Abyssals who attempted to encroach on their position.

Tenryuu shouting into the earpiece upon nearing Tatsuta's location,

"Akashi-san!

I don't think we can fight with that airborne J.O.A.N. unit since neither of us can fly!

We'll take care of the enemies down here, but someone's gotta get up there and protect us from above like a guardian angel!"

"Agreed!

Shigure, suit up!

Do what you have to do in order to take that Beast out!

There's a time for secrecy, and there's times like these!"

"Uh, um… got it!"

"Aoba, take over from here, I'll be sortieing with my fleet!"

"Got it!"

The urgency in Akashi's voice was palpable and convinced Shigure to agree to sortie in her little metal suit without any disagreements, Tatsuta looking up at whom she thought to be the flying J.O.A.N. unit and her Beast, her suspicions being confirmed as it unfolded and transformed into the form of a mechanical hippogriff to instill terror in the hearts of those who witnessed its true form.

* * *

Suiting up took shorter than it did last time since they knew where everything went this time as well as how the suit came together, and Shigure watched her visor boot up again as Aoba got far enough from her to allow her to take off without getting anyone caught in the back-blast.

"This is Shigure, I'm taking off!"

And compared to before, when she was taking off for the sake of experiencing the sensation of flight and test out what she was capable of, she was now taking off in order to enter a battlefield to engage a far more powerful Abyssal unit who was also capable of flight, and even though she was given a quick explanation of how her weapons worked, she was still worried about how she was to take on an Abyssal who was several classes above her and similarly possessed New Wave powers.

Aoba filled her in as she headed towards the battlefield and took in everything that was going on around and beneath her all the while.

"Look, while the normal maximum speed of the Sukhoi-Su 27 which it disguises itself as has a top speed of Mach 1.13 at sea level and Mach 2.35 at high altitudes, it's best for us to go into battle with the assumption that it's been reverse-engineered and then improved on to achieve an even faster top speed.

It's got an autocannon, several rockets and roughly eight missiles for both ground and air targets respectively, and we're fairly certain that with the invention of Yuubari-san's light-saber, it'll likely have one or two beam sabers up its sleeves along with hidden weapons.

Please be careful."

"Acknowledged, thanks, Aoba!"

Before punching it and accelerating past the speed of sound in order to double-time it there, and she was glad that they didn't have their launching pad located too far away from where the heat of battle was.

Shigure headed for the battlefield in her H.A.L.O. suit as missiles screamed while mortars threw up heaps of dirt in an upwards funnel, uprooting trees while mobile artillery rang from both sides of the dam, and Shigure did her best to evade them wherever possible as her suit's interface came in clutch by locating their locations and projected trajectories or flight paths ahead of time to lighten her burden.

A missile whizzed by her as its jet of steel-melting flames threatened to scorch her and caused her to stumble in mid-flight, her insides threatening to regurgitate her lunch as she recovered some of her lost speed and flew towards were the dogfight was taking place above the battlefield and also where the airborne J.O.A.N. unit named Cynthia was with her Beast Simurgh.

Simurgh was previously disguised as a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 jet fighter, but it had now assumed some kind of assault mode with its wings outstretched and still flattened into plane wings as its thrusters propelled it forward, the hippogriff now looking more like some kind monstrous flying biped as its eagle-clawed forearms were swiping at the wings of JASDF jet fighters who got too close while its horse-like hind legs possessed another set of thrusters which struck out to kick at human jet fighters to try and down them.

Its eagle beak opened for a screech which could crack glass as the cockpit was folded down to be located where a human's sternum would be but was heavily fortified by armored plates, its right arm unfolding into a beam saber which sliced through a F-15J who didn't see the attack coming as Shigure felt a lump grow in her throat while being forced to listen to the terrified scream of the downed pilot.

"AAHHHH!"

Glancing downwards to check that he had ejected from his bisected fighter and had deployed his parachute, she prayed for his well-being as she heard Aoba call out as her mission handler,

"Patching you through to the JASDF squadrons!

You remember the codename and password to identify yourself as a friendly, right?"

"Yeah, do it!"

And she focused on Cynthia and got in touch with the JASDF fighters in order to make sure they were all on the same page and side.

"U-Um, misters!

My codename is 'SHI080', password 'H.A.L.O.'!

I'm an ally, and am here to help!"

"Hot damn, I don't know who you are, but _please_ get this bitch off our asses!"

"Acknowledged, please keep your distance!"

These pilots were no different from sailors who accepted the help of the first ship girls when the first Abyssals who appeared back in 1995 before being sworn to confidentiality, because in times like these, any form of help was appreciated.

Recalling Aoba and Akashi sitting her down with some manga and comic books during her time in the docks to think up of some ideas and moves to be incorporated into her moveset, she decided on using this one as she pulled up and raised her two arms horizontally to point them towards and away from the Beast.

"Aoba-san, there aren't any allied units in this general direction, right?"

"Nope, you're good!"

A relief, then.

Replicating the motions she read in _Katekyo Hitman Reborn_ , she was already charging up the left repulsor which would produce enough counter-force to negate the force of her right repulsor which fired at the enemy, stiffening her arms as she muttered the name of the move to herself,

"X-Burner."

Before unleashing her H.A.L.O. suit's wrath in both directions as the vault-door-sized beam which was targeted at Cynthia was detected before the hippogriff-chimera performed an impressive mid-air evasive maneuver, and while Shigure's spirit sank upon seeing her attack fail to connect, she guessed that the carrier J.O.A.N. unit had already detected her presence, but didn't expect her X-Burner to be this powerful as her downward-tilting beam carved a crater into the distant hill upon contact.

The Beast swiveling its head to look towards her was likely Cynthia doing so while nested within Simurgh's chest as if she were piloting a Gundam, and Shigure began the confrontation the only way she knew how.

"Um, hello there.

I don't suppose politely asking you to stop shooting at our planes and my friends is going to convince you to leave, right?"

[ … No.

But you get get points for trying, whoever you are.]

Simurgh's left arm was raised and transformed into a missile launcher as her right arm morphed from a beam saber back to a machine gun-totting arm while still hovering in mid-air, Cynthia idly firing a R-27 missile at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer in order to take her out while wasting the least amount of her payload, and Shigure started to climb in order to outrun the missile as she had the barest framework of a plan forming in her mind.

The Abyssal J.O.A.N. unit didn't bother with her for now as she focused more on taking out the ship girls of Amazon company out with its missiles, rockets, machine guns and even with her own two hands if the situation required it, and Shigure didn't really mind it when people didn't take her too seriously.

They'd be in for a rude awakening later.

The skies were clear and allowed her some breathing space to believe that her plan would work, using a trick and its variants being used in media and in video games as she called out for Aoba to prepare herself for what came next.

"Aoba, prep the flares!

Fire them on my mark!"

"Got it!"

Flying to an altitude of 10 kilometers where she was certain not many jet fighters would interrupt her, she suddenly cut most of the power to her thrusters and allowed gravity to slow her down as the R-27 missile was locked onto her signature, transitioning into a strafe as she aimed her right repulsor to her side to boost out of the climbing missile's flight path while making extra sure that the distance she put in between herself and the missile wouldn't trigger the proximity sensor.

She didn't exhale and release the breath she was consciously holding as the R-27 missile shot up and passed by where she was a millisecond ago, and it was already adjusting its flight path and circled back around thanks to its lock-on feature, Shigure looking down and accepting the pull of gravity as she fired her thrusters and repulsors upwards to perform a seemingly suicidal dive back to Earth .

Sure, she could have shot the missile out of the sky, but she had to make a point clear to a certain J.O.A.N. unit that she was not to be taken lightly, especially in her H.A.L.O. suit.

Cynthia noticed her dive as Shigure's visor zoomed in to see Simurgh raising its arm in order to fire its autocannon at her, and she was suddenly the most religious ship girl in the world as shells whizzed by her from below and missed thanks to her evasive maneuvers while the R-27 missile was bearing down on her from above at a breakneck speed and would blow her up once it got in range, her HUD showing the drastically decreasing distance between her and,

1) the ground,

2) the Beast,

3) the blitzing missile, all in inverse proportion to her rising heart rate.

Pumping more mana into the H.A.L.O. suit for another speed boost and delay her oncoming doom for a second longer, she called out to Aoba,

" _Aoba!_

 _Flares! Now!"_

She flew past Simurgh and avoided the Beast's clawed hands as they attempted to swipe her out of the sky, the flares distracting Simurgh and also causing the missiles to activate regardless of whoever was in range and caught Simurgh in the fireball, a hawkish screech piercing the air and temporarily overloading the acoustic devices in her suit which caused her to wince from its sharp pitch and resulting feedback.

Pulling up in time as she didn't expect that paltry little fireball to take the Beast out, she saw that the Beast was only slightly singed as the missile caught her in the blast radius but wasn't its main target, Cynthia pulling up as she whipped out her machine gun to let off several pot-shots in her direction, and since even one shot was able to take out a vital organ, Shigure performed evasive maneuvers in order to make doubly sure she wasn't hit.

As the smoke dissipated and some steel shards fell towards the dam, Simurgh revealed smoking steel surfaces and wounded pride as Shigure dared to ask, despite still feeling very frightened and wary about facing off against the winged Beast which towered over her by about nine meters.

"Have I got your attention now, Cynthia-san?"

Simurgh's demeanor shifted as the luminosity of its crimson slits for eyes increased and its clawed fingers scraped each other while ferociously lowering its head in a show of aggression, clearly out for blood.

[Oh, you certainly have.

 _You certainly have.]_

In the face of Cynthia focusing her attention and wrath on her, Shigure blocked out all irrelevant thoughts and sensations from her mind, including doubts, hesitation and fear which was all borne of her traumatic past memories in order not to repeat them with her current batch of friends and comrades.

The enemy was before her.

She had the means to take Cynthia and Simurgh out, all for the sake of protecting her friends.

As Cynthia and the half-transformed Simurgh emitted an intimidating, ghoulish-black aura in order to pressure lesser foes into backing down, Shigure unconsciously found herself doing the same as her mind, body and soul unified under one purpose which increased her mana output, her H.A.L.O. suit emitting an ultramarine-blue aura which fell like tears and dissolved into cerulean blue trails streaking down like raindrops as she reached the pinnacle of absolute focus, a determined little rain cloud doing battle with Death personified.


	69. Chapter 69 - Death's Swift Wings

**Author's Notes**

 _Happy New Year, guys._

 _It's been over a year since I started writing, and I'd like to sincerely thank every single one of you who either favorited or followed this story, and it doesn't matter if you favorited this story from the very first chapter, pre-rewrite or maybe just yesterday, I never would have made it this far without all of your support._

 _In fact, I'd also like to thank anyone who even gives my story a casual read, and a fellow shout-out and greetings to any other fellow authors who might be reading this right now and say 'let's do our best this year!'._

 _This story really has come so far since I've started writing in polytechnic and will likely go even further in my head, and I hope that more of you can join and/or stick with me in the years to come to see this story go even further and see where it leads us, and more importantly, derive some form of enjoyment from reading this story as I strive to write to the best of my ability._

* * *

Firing her left repulsor at Simurgh, Shigure saw that the Beast was far more agile than she anticipated as it spun out of the way in an acrobatic maneuver which even she would have some difficulty in pulling off, the Beast lifting its arm in order to return fire with autocannon rounds flying past her head, clouds and ground swirling around as if she were in a drying machine all while she strafed and looped.

Transitioning from a loop into a straight flight in order to pass Simurgh as her comet-like ultramarine-blue aura streaked out behind her in her state of absolute focus, her visor told her that Simurgh was transforming into its vehicle mode in order to keep up with her while locking another R-27 missile onto her signature,

'WARNING: MISSILE LOCK'

The chill running up her spine was no doubt attributed to the murderous aura being exuded by both the Beast and Princess working in tandem as she flew in a tight spiral in order to avoid a lock-on which could potentially one-shot her.

There were several Abyssal jet fighters joining in on the chase with fired missiles being the pseudo-hound dogs primeval hunters sicced on their fleeing prey, and she punched it to hit supersonic speed while her mind whirred in order to find a solution to her conundrum, eventually deciding on a course of action.

Pulling up and drawing in the flurry of missiles which inched closer to her and promised the oblivion that was an explosive death, she struggled to hit Mach 1.4 as she called out for an allied jet fighter to help her shoot down those tailing her since their powerful autocannons would do the job better than Fairy-piloted World-War-2-based fighter planes would, no offense to them.

"Um, H.A.L.O. here, is anyone free to take out the planes on my tail?

I'll be taking out the missiles, but upon pulling out, I'll need someone to cover me once I force them to scatter!"

"Got it, H.A.L.O..

We see you and the bogies on your tail; do what you have to do, we'll be there!"

Shigure's climb plateaued into a wide arc as she saw the ground and clouds located above her and the horizon seemingly flipped on its head since her back faced the distant earth beneath her, hair strands in her helmet pointed upwards thanks to gravity along with the attitude indicator showing her orientation respective to the earth as she fired her flares and suddenly cut power to her H.A.L.O. suit.

"Guh!"

Grunting as the flare detonated one missile which came too close for comfort, the blast wave enveloped her and allowed a wave of muted pain to slap her back profile and knock the wind out of her even as she exhaled from the relief, the remaining three missiles cornering and dropping altitude to target her as Shigure activated her H.A.L.O. suit again.

Allowing herself to fall while keeping herself upright with her microthrusters as she charged up another X-Burner, she held her breath as autocannon rounds flew past her courtesy of the Abyssal jet fighters while watching the missiles streak down towards her after correcting their trajectory as she unleashed her suit's wrath in two directions, killing two birds with one stone by shooting down the missiles with one repulsor and used the afterburner-like backblast produced by her other repulsor to scare off those chasing her.

Battling against the dizzying height and the unyielding ground rushing up to greet her, a terrifying sight induced a nauseous sensation in her guts which few ship girls had the dubious honor of experiencing, and seeing how this queasiness and anxiety affected her as she attempted to pull up, it was better that things stayed that way.

Besides, puking in her suit would _really_ ruin her day and make the suit's insides smell for weeks, and since she didn't discount the possibility that it could occur in the future, a stray thought wondered if she could request for air fresheners in the H.A.L.O. suit.

She saw allied F-15J jet fighters make good on their word and chase down the Eurofighter Typhoons to give them a good run for their money despite the enemy planes being piloted by significantly superior Abyssal destroyers, she noted Simurgh pulling up behind her while also achieving supersonic flight as she addressed the airborne destroyer.

[A good show.

Now, shall we?]

Shigure, watching the rising bar on her visor reach its limit as she felt the energy drawn from her body gather within the arc reactor in her chest again, she utilized the next move which she thought up of on the fly by deploying all the air brakes on her H.A.L.O. suit in order to allow Simurgh to shoot ahead of her, the tip of its wing nearly cleaving Shigure's figure in the process.

Transitioning from a horizontal flight position into a vertical 'standing position', she tanked the g-forces warping her body and threatening to punish her for exceeding the limits what she believed herself to be capable of temporarily overcoming as she unleashed the unibeam at Simurgh's aft in its vehicle mode, a piercing shriek followed a transformation sequence to allow it to spin out of the way and minimize the damage to its main fuselage as another R-27 missile was reflexively fired at Shigure.

She successfully used her repulsors to shoot down the missile which approached her, but the fireball caused her to lose her balance as she grunted,

"Gah!"

The world was now spinning like a hamster ball around her and was made even more confusing by the wildly spinning attitude indicator which was going haywire on her helmet, steadily firing her repulsors and thrusters in order to cancel out her spin before pulling up and feeling the resulting g-force work its magic on her body despite the inertial dampeners doing their job.

Firing a repulsor beam at the Beast in order to discourage her from attacking her friends, she saw that Simurgh fired a S-13T rocket at her friends, yelling out to her friends down below,

"Watch out, everyone!

Evade!"

She knew that she was too slow and too far away to stop the rocket due to the limits of her H.A.L.O. suit, and she had to focus on her main target in front of her, Simurgh and Cynthia as she flew beneath Simurgh's current position and mimicked slipping on a banana peel to lie parallel to the dam surface as she pointed her arms up at the Beast and down at the dam in order to perform another X-Burner, her blue aura, and by extension, her mana output flaring up again as she mentally rebelled at the thought of Cynthia and Simurgh hurting and even outright killing her friends.

The vault door-sized pillar of light produced by her left repulsor felt as if its counter-force would cause her left arm to messily telescope, but the beam caught Simurgh's right arm as the Beast shrieked from having the armor on its arm scorched, jerking the smoking arm out of the way as it turned its attention squarely back on her.

That was good.

If it concentrated on killing her, it wouldn't concentrate on killing her friends.

Snarking into a public frequency for Simurgh to hear,

"Alright, Big Bird.

Catch me if you can!"

She went into supersonic flight as Simurgh followed suit and transformed into its Sukhoi-Su 27 form in order to give chase, Shigure wincing as one autocannon round bounced off of her reinforced armor but was still powerful enough to feel as if a battleship put _way_ too much force into heartily slapping her in the back, rapidly blinking her watering eyes as everything started to streak upon going past the speed of sound.

Enemy missile batteries were now focusing on her as was several Abyssal-piloted F-22 Raptors and Eurofighter Typhoons, and she kept one eye on her radar and the dozen or so missiles flying towards her while the enemy fighters kept their distance and fired their automatic cannons at her, but in her defense, being a weak little destroyer (with emphasis on the 'little') meant that she was a hard target to hit, much like attempting to shoot down a fly with a machine gun.

Bullets whizzed by, but a little girl who looked as if she recently graduated from elementary school and possessed aerial agility on the level of modern jet fighters while darting around was a nightmare to hit with bullets, the chasing Abyssals eventually resorting to missiles with lock-on capabilities as her visor screamed at her,

'WARNING: MISSILE LOCK'

Aoba then piped up with a hastily-concocted plan on how to stop all these missiles before they caught up to and killed her,

"Shigure!

Do you think you can charge up a unibeam and spin around quickly at the last second in order to fire it along with your repulsors and detonate enough of the incoming missiles to cause a chain explosion?

I recommend flying at a slight downwards path so that it's unlikely for your beam to hit any of our allies!"

"Got it!"

She had a rough idea of how it worked, bracing herself against the onslaught of g-forces tearing her relatively frail body apart if not for the inertial dampeners upon turning around as she unleashed a unibeam and both her repulsors at the horde of missiles as they weaved in between each other to reach her first, detonating enough of them to set off a chain explosion as she was blown back by their combined payload going off at a distance far enough to not be lethal, but certainly gave her a good scare by making her believe it was as her insides twisted from the blast wave hitting her like a freight train, wondering if her Kai or Kai Ni body would have better luck of surviving this level of punishment which she assumed to be par for the course while operating in a H.A.L.O. suit.

Stumbling as she fell, she managed to right herself just before she hit the dam as her howling thrusters disturbed the surface of the rippling dam, lying parallel along its surface and looking up to see Simurgh screeching as it swooped down with jagged mechanical claws reaching out for her, forcing her to evade and weave in between the occasional autocannon rounds impacting the dam while attempting to lead the Beast away from her friends.

The Beast was now taking the more hands-on approach as it flew closer in order to swipe at her with its clawed forearms in its Beast mode, and Cynthia was stilled nested inside its chest to input commands and act as another pair of eyes since she likely had some kind of mental link with her Beast, managing to avoid an F-15J bearing down from above with rotary cannons spitting out white-hot rounds without even looking up.

Flying close to the dam's surface in order to split the dam water in her wake and splash it everywhere due to her powered flight carving a path onto its surface, she faced the sky while using her repulsors to shoot at Simurgh, auxiliary thrusters on her shoulders and back working in tandem in order to prevent her suit from spinning out as she made sure that she didn't collide into any particularly tall ship girls.

"Shigure, move out of the way!"

She didn't question the order as she used her repulsors in order to perform a right roll while watching a familiar caped figure of the 8th Fleet flying across the air with outstretched legs, and she pulled up to get the full picture of Akitsu Maru launching Kiso into the air with the tried-and-true method of having one launch the other with the explosive super-strength their legs possessed, Akitsu Maru pointing her drawn-in legs up like a launching platform while Kiso similarly squatted on the soles of Akitsu Maru's boat slippers before take-off.

Turning back out of concern that the torpedo cruiser would possibly end up as a smear on Simurgh's cockpit windshield, Shigure zoomed in to see Kiso plunging her sword into Simurgh before yelling into the cockpit for the J.O.A.N. pilot to hear as the world's most persistent preacher.

"Hello!

Would you like to hear the words of our Lord and Savior, Tatsuya Shiba?!"

Simurgh's flight path was thrown off as it spun out and climbed as it flew erratically away from Shigure, and the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer spun around in order to catch up with Simurgh as it clawed itself to be rid of the Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser, Kiso tearing out her cutlass and leaving behind a present that was an armed torpedo lodged in its armor as she fell back into the dam while watching a raging fireball engulf the shrieking Beast.

Shigure did her best to shield Kiso from the falling armor plates which were dislodged from Simurgh's body, firing several shots at the rising Beast as she made sure the Kuma-Class cruiser was safe before turning her attention back to Cynthia, now feeling extra grateful that the Abyssal's unknown New Wave ability, whatever it was, wasn't used yet.

Allied squadrons of Reppuu Kai planes and a dozen Type 0 F.M. 21 fighter planes which were manned by Fairies were coming to her rescue after staying out of their fight in order to ascertain whether she was 100% on their side, and also because her fight with Cynthia took place at speeds which were too fast for their inferior planes to follow, but ever since slowing down after taking too much damage from the ship girls and the JASDF, it was now slowing down to a point where it was almost possible for them to hit Simurgh if they unloaded enough bullets and payloads in its general direction.

Simurgh then charged up another Hyper Beam in order to lash out at the ship girls on the dam, and despite Shigure's mind screaming at her to evade, she didn't want the beam to super-heat the dam water upon contact, spray it onto her comrades and scald them as a result, dropping altitude before angling herself and raising her arms with charging repulsors to stop that Hyper Beam as she yelled,

"X-Burner!"

And fired as her own beam met the Beast's beam halfway and resulted in one hell of a fireball erupting from the contact and would easily swallow up an entire house, forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut as she was flung into the dam and was thrust into a different environment all of a sudden, the water now enveloping and slowing down her every movement to a glacial pace as the dam stretched down into the murky abyss.

"Help!

 _HELP!"_

Shigure suddenly found herself panicking as she fired her repulsors and thrusters wildly into the water, and instead of stabilizing her orientation like she intended, it just sent her spiraling out of control with no sense of up or down, the genuine fear of being killed by the rising water pressure pressing on every inch of this suddenly claustrophobic suit barely held in check by her rational mind and helped to avert a panic attack and mindless scramble for the surface deep in the pitch-black darkness of the treacherous depths, Aoba attempting to soothe her as a familiar voice remaining on the line.

"Shigure, calm down!

Our submarines are on the way to help you out, just relax until then!"

"W-Well, that's k-kinda hard to do when you're not the one drowning down here, just saying!

Does this suit have any kind of oxygen supply to be used to keep me alive in the absence of air?"

The uncomfortable silence which lingered over the radio could kill, and she did her best to keep her sharp breathing and thumping of her panicking heart under control upon learning that the air in her cramped, figure-hugging little H.A.L.O. suit was all she had before dying from asphyxiation down here in what appeared to be Hell for all she knew, isolated from civilization and human contact while being trapped with her increasingly grim thoughts as holding her breath accelerated her heartbeat much more than firing her thrusters wildly into the void did, attempting to calm herself down while in her meteoric downfall.

' _Ok, calm down, Shigure._

 _The submarines are coming, but should you touch down at the bed of this dam before then, just remember to re-orientate yourself and just fly upwards._

 _I mean, if the water pressure at the bottom of this dam doesn't instantly crush my armor before killing me in my suit, and cause my bones to stick out from my body like a human pincushion while my lungs and eyes get popped like balloons in my rib-cage and skull respectively…_

 _Ok, I_ really _didn't need that image in my head.'_

That thought of her dying another grisly death was only reserved for sinking ship girls to experience, in which most of them likely did so while hopefully unconscious and drastically elevated her heartbeat as her respiration rate similarly jumped and caused her suit to suddenly feel warm to be in, sweat forming on her head and face as the fact that she was looking into the murky water without any source of light to get a grasp of her bearings played with her frayed nerves in spite of escaping the pandemonium up above.

She really needed to have the engineers install a flashlight or something in here.

Her sonar showed allied units submerging in order to retrieve her, flinching at the physical contact of several hands grabbing her suit as she felt a chill dancing up her spine before relaxing upon seeing a funnel of light shine into her helmet as Iku was dressed up in an army uniform sans the army boots which would have bogged down even an Olympic-level swimmer like her, her twin-tails appearing weightless in the water as Shigure looked around to find Dechi (real name Goya) and Nimu clinging onto her H.A.L.O. suit before swimming towards the surface.

It took about fifteen seconds or so, but she broke the ocean surface as she looked around to orientate herself, looking up at the Sukhoi-Su 27 plane which was out of place in the midst of allied Mitsubishi F-2 fighters chasing it down, another F-2 fighter being forced to break off its pursuit as a missile battery locking onto it likely scared it into performing evasive maneuvers while Shigure checked her thrusters to see if they were working before turning around and expressing her gratitude,

"Thanks!"

"No problem, go get that Beast!"

Nodding in response to Iku's encouragement, she blasted off and hoped that her submarine comrades weren't injured by her move as she caught up to the Abyssal Beast that was disguised as a jet fighter with its blatantly obvious enemy signature on Shigure's radar, and she braked again as she raised a repulsor in order to fire at and expose her opponent's true form, the glancing blow enough to send it in a tumbling transformation as it fired another missile in her direction.

Flying towards the incoming missile in a heart-pounding game of Chicken as the missile headed for her at a dizzying velocity, she suddenly dived close to the dam until she could see her airborne reflection on its surface while making sure that she stayed far enough from the proximity sensors inside the missile to avoid detonating it and that there were no ship girls nearby before enacting her plan, the missile's attempt to perform a downwards loop and pull up causing it to crash into the dam and blow itself up while she pulled up with help from the her back thrusters.

Shigure evaded another Hyper Beam which was aimed at her, her heart stopping at how close it came to hitting her like her own X-Burner likely did to Simurgh's arm earlier as the thrown-up boiling water erupted and crashed into her, causing the inside of her H.A.L.O. suit to suddenly spike in temperature as though in a furnace and made her sweat while she saw that the Beast was now flying dangerously close to her in its humanoid assault mode to claw at her yet again.

One particular swipe which made contact akin to swiping a fly out of the air caused her to skid along the surface of the ocean as she felt several bones crack, if not outright break as though a bus collided into her at full speed, parts of her armor being scraped off by the Beast's slap as well as her H.A.L.O. suit repeatedly colliding into the dam surface as if she were a pebble skipping along its surface, finally managing to right herself just before starting to sink as she fired her thrusters to take flight, carving a rippling crater into the dam as she asked Aoba,

"Aoba-san, everything hurts and aches, so please tell me what's broken and what's not?"

"Um, well, four of your ribs are broken, and repairs are being done to the cracks lining your right upper arm and collarbone while you're suffering from several instances of internal bleeding.

You've burnt through over half your mana reserves, please consider either ending the fight quickly or retreating!"

She seethed while feeling the physical strain of prolonged combat in a weapon which ran on life force known as mana as its output was now shared between her body and her suit, and she was now grateful that the soul was one of their two main sources of energy as her body's fuel reserves were now used to power most of her body's functions, Shigure attempting to defuse the situation with,

"Well, we have, like a dozen pairs or ribs, so I guess that means we can stand to break a few of them since we have spares, hmm?"

"I'm not exactly sure if Akashi-san would agree, though!"

"Akashi-san isn't here now!

Let's go!"

Before punching it and buzzing Simurgh as well as Cynthia who was inside the cockpit as it shrugged off the somewhat ineffective bombs dropped onto its steel body to buy Shigure time before Simurgh took off in her direction, and she found herself unable to pump the same amount of mana into her suit like before as evidenced by the assault mode Beast inching closer even when not in vehicle mode.

She was then snatched out of the air as her back creaked from the stress of the Beast's palm slapping onto her, wondering if her hip was fractured by that move as she struggled and failed to pry the Beast's fingers which coiled around her body while her suit's ominous creaking complemented the growing pain in her sides, hips and thighs, wincing as she heard Aoba yell into her ear,

"Quick!

Fire a point-blank unibeam!"

She complied by immediately redirecting a large chunk of her remaining mana reserves into her arc reactor since pushing her thrusters to the max didn't do shit to break her out of Simurgh's ironclad grasp, hearing Cynthia addressing her over the public frequency.

[How silly of you, little one.

Did you think you could elude my Beast's grasp forever?]

The H.A.L.O. suit prevented her from being crushed like a Styrofoam cup in Simurgh's palm as the Beast's clawed fingers tightened around her legs and abdomen, but she could almost feel Cynthia's dawning realization and horror through Simurgh's eyes as Shigure blinked the sweat from her eyes, and couldn't help but break out into a shit-eating grin upon hearing an electronic whir on her chest reach a crescendo.

"Nope.

But try eluding _mine_ now."

The blast from her arc reactor blinded her field of vision as it carved into Simurgh's body if its agonized howl was any indication, shoulder repulsors firing in order to counteract the force of her unibeam while Simrugh released her in order to clutch at its wound as red-hot steel and smoking compartments which contained fizzling wires were all evidence of their battle taking its toll on Simurgh in spite of the Beast's enhanced durability.

She wasn't really 'winning' by any normal definition of the word, but inflicting more damage onto the enemy than vice versa could technically count as she wasn't doing too well either, what with her body suffering from the strain of flying despite the suit's inertial dampeners minimizing the g-force's effects which would have likely killed an unprotected Shigure several times over, several broken bones whose effects she could temporarily shrug off due to her H.A.L.O. suit possessing the proper support systems which acted as pseudo-braces for her afflicted limbs and joints.

A figure shot out in order to jump Shigure as she evaded the ejecting Cynthia popping out like a Jack-in-the-box, flying out at her from the cockpit and almost managing to smack her out of the sky with her outstretched hands as she fell like a rock and would land on the battlefield like a meteor striking the earth, and Shigure managed to notice the Beast using the distraction to fire a R-27 missile in her direction as she used her repulsor to shoot it down before the resulting fireball caused her to stagger and lose altitude as a result.

Learning her lesson from her second test flight as she used her attitude indicator to level out and pull up, she yelled,

"Look out below!"

As she fired her repulsors and thrusters in order to cancel out the 'washing-machine' spin and regain her bearings, transitioning into a powered flight to avoid an annihilating Hyper Beam as she witnessed the dust cloud the Princess threw up upon landing.

* * *

"Look out below!"

Zuikaku shielded herself and Saratoga from the incoming projectile coming from above them, having previously ignored the Beast and the 'unknown' little allied unit which was doing battle in mid-air, but there was no ignoring the fact that a powerful enemy signature had landed before the both of them, and this was no projectile.

It was emitting the signature of an Aircraft Carrier Princess.

The both of them warily stepped away from the dissipating dust cloud, Zuikaku holding up her M24 SWS while Saratoga followed suit with her M4 Carbine as she was a spotter to Zuikaku's marksman, Cynthia bursting through and displacing the dust cloud as she knocked Saratoga over like a bowling ball which barely changed its trajectory as she sternly remarked with outstretched arms,

 _[Hello again.]_

Before crashing into Zuikaku as her hands wrapped around the carrier's neck, having drastically closed the distance to render her sniper rifle ineffective while Saratoga was getting up after the J.O.A.N. unit sideswiped her, and the Shokaku-Class carrier could feel her eyes starting to bulge and roll up within her eye sockets while her windpipe was being agonizingly constricted to the point of being crushed in Cynthia's armored hands.

Letting go of her M24 SWS in order to claw at Cynthia's face and pry her armored hands from her neck while Zuikaku's mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air, her vision blurred as her throbbing peripheral vision began to fade to black while the Princess's piercing crimson eyes still shined with an unrelenting malice,

 _[And goodbye.]_

But a shadow flinging itself onto her and causing the J.O.A.N. unit to loosen her hold on Zuikaku was Saratoga slamming the stock of her M4 Carbine into Cynthia's temple, whipping her firearm around to empty several rounds into the Princess and caused the Abyssal to stumble back from the unexpectedly aggressive assault from the meek American carrier.

Zuikaku hacked and coughed in order to to clear her throat as she wildly swung her feet about on the ground, tripping up the Abyssal as intended while peeking up to see that the allied flying ship girl who-was-totally-not-Shigure was flitting about and was blasting Simurgh, not that she was able to get away entirely unscathed as a Hyper Beam nearly grazed her.

Her own problems, however, were more immediate as Cynthia got back up and threw dust in her face, forcing her to shut her eyes as she heard the rushing footsteps of the J.O.A.N. unit running up to her and braced herself for impact which decked her in the cheek.

Another blow struck her in the gut and exacerbated her hacking cough, and her attempts to deflect incoming blows met with moderate success as what felt like Cynthia's heel slammed into her stomach and sent her flying while the nauseating wave of pain warped her digestive system and caused it to regurgitate her previous meal, crashing into and splintering a tree as she couldn't hold in her lunch anymore, doubling over in order to let nature run its course as her throat burned from the stomach acid stinging its walls,

"BLUURGH!"

And Saratoga was laying down cover fire in order to prevent Cynthia from giving Zuikaku a no-holds-barred beatdown as the Abyssal turned her wrath on the American, ignoring the firearm in Saratoga's hand and the bullets it spat out in order to close the distance and give herself a fighting chance.

Moving out of the way of the unidirectional line of fire which every firearm suffered from, Cynthia swung a raised right elbow towards Saratoga's forehead and would have smashed it like a watermelon in summer had the American not ducked in time, allowing Cynthia to lower herself and slip underneath Saratoga's rifle and trap Saratoga's arm as she shot up and slammed the crown of her skull into Sara's nose, spinning around as her snaking left arm wrapped tightly around Saratoga's firearm-wielding left hand while she had her back pressed snugly up against Saratoga's front.

With a stomp to Saratoga's right foot and swinging her head back to smash it into Sara's face again, Cynthia tightened her left arm's hold on the M4 Carbine and jerked it out of the stunned Lexington-Class carrier's loosened hold before putting some distance between the ship girls and field-stripping it by ejecting the magazine, easily popping both pins with sheer force before pulling out the bolt carrier from the upper receiver which she threw away, pulling out the firing pin from the bolt and similarly hurling it away along with the rest of the disassembled M4 Carbine.

Zuikaku was morbidly interested in the fact that Cynthia, despite possessing Herculean strength which could easily crush the rifle like a human would to a piece of paper, instead chose to utilize her technical knowledge to dismantle it once acquiring possession of the firearm.

"You know, no offense, but you really could have crushed that firearm in your hands with your Princess-level physical might instead of dismantling it and allowing us to reassemble it, as unlikely as it sounds with how far you threw those parts."

[Hm, that might be a good idea, but using raw strength so inelegantly isn't really my style.]

Great.

She was already terrified of any other brute-like Princess who had the strength to lift buildings, but did they have to go up against a Princess who knew how to utilize that titanic strength to terrifying effect?

Cynthia's gaze then blanked out as she ducked to a sniper round aimed for center mass, and Zuikaku struck once she saw an opening as she streaked in for a strike to Cynthia's abdomen, but the one thing she needed to get through her own admittedly thick skull was that Princesses were Princesses because they were _tough fucking bitches._

The Abyssal barely flinched from her punch as Cynthia's expression morphed into one which contained elements of bemusement, amusement and surprise before she grabbed Zuikaku's arm and nearly broke it if not for a Tenryuu-Class light cruiser calling out,

"God-Killing Spear, revised!"

Cynthia's gaze snapped to her side after she instinctively evaded an extending glaive which was aimed at her head, and Zuikaku fearfully gripped her arm as she found that the Tenryuu Sisters were backing them up since it took someone with New Wave powers to even hope to stand a chance against another apparent New Wave user, discounting the fact that this was a Princess they were engaging in battle and how Cynthia hadn't even used her New Wave power, Tenryuu giving voice to their morbid curiosity as she asked the question which popped up in the back of Zuikaku's mind.

"Yo, just asking.

What exactly is your New Wave power?

The entire time you fought Shigure up there in the air, I didn't see you using it, are you even really a J.O.A.N. unit?"

And to everyone's surprise, Cynthia responded with an answer out of left field even if Zuikaku knew to take the words of an enemy with a mountainful of salt, since they would have nothing to gain by telling the other side the truth.

[ … It's not in place yet; I can't use it now.

Whether you believe me or not is up to you.]

"Wh-wha…?

You sure you can just reveal such things to us?

And don't you think you need your fellow J.O.A.N. unit Naka to help you out here, since you're outnumbered five-to-one here?"

Tenryuu disbelievingly responded in light of getting a plausible answer, and Cynthia didn't appear fazed in the slightest as she remarked coolly instead of being cowed by their superior numbers, Cynthia then exuding her pitch-black aura of death as she allowed herself to be consumed by the flow of battle.

[Hm, do you think you can completely crush me with sheer numbers alone?

I may not have my New Wave power set up right now, but my current power level is more than enough to take you all on.]

"But not win?"

Cynthia shot Zuikaku a death glare upon hearing the Shokaku-Class carrier talk back to her, but the J.O.A.N. Princess didn't lose her composure even as she remarked coolly,

[For that, I'll be aiming to kill you first.

 _Zuikaku.]_

Brilliant, piss off the Abyssal who can literally tear her heart out of her chest.

She really had to work on Shoukaku's suggestion to think before she spoke, fought, or did anything in particular.

Bursting out in a sprint to meet Cynthia, the Tenryuu-Class name-ship was holding her sword out as if going up to bat in a baseball game before swinging and unleashing a flaming arc as she announced her attack's name only after executing it.

"Fore!"

The attacked worked at depopulating the forest, but Cynthia swiftly sidestepped the attack which had a common weakness of having a one-directional flight path which could be easily evaded once predicted, and predicting it was easy when Tenryuu's physical movements betrayed her.

Tatsuta shot out with her glaive extending in the blink of an eye, and Cynthia evaded it as well since Tatsuta's glaive only could extend or contract, and sidestepping where the glaive was pointed allowed her to run up alongside the retracting glaive, curling her right arm into a hook to slam into Tatsuta's abdomen and throwing her into a charging Kinugasa.

Jumping a concerned Tenryuu, Cynthia swung downwards at Tenryuu's sword with her left palm which had formed a blade as if performing a karate move, and Zuikaku saw an uncharacteristically panicked expression grace Tenryuu's face as she pulled her sword away from the Abyssal as if not doing so would cause her agony beyond measure, the Tenryuu-Class name-ship putting some distance between them as Cynthia glowered at the light cruiser.

[Hmm…

Yuubari-san really has you scared of losing another sword, no?

You are right to fear her.]

Tenryuu grimaced, but she didn't deny the insinuation as she wielded her sword a little tighter as the tension weighed down on them along with Cynthia's vengeful miasma that was her aura flooding the battlefield and almost repelling them with her laser-focused determination to take anyone out should they get within range to be slaughtered.

Ma'am Jackie's sniper round whizzed in again as the Demon Instructor managed to land a bullet on the evading Princess, even if it was a glancing blow as the large-caliber round demolished the armor on her leg and shattered it beyond any further usability, Cynthia visibly flinching as she expressed something resembling concern while getting into a crouch and was ready to evade the next attack.

Kinugasa's first few rounds impacting her was enough to have her blurring as she evaded the rest of the bullets flying her way, reaching speeds which veteran light cruisers and destroyers rivaled with their Shukuchi technique, and Tatsuta was taken aback by the Abyssal's swiftness but was able to dodge her left-handed clothesline, and in doing so, opened herself up to a kick to her abdomen as Cynthia used the momentum of her missed clothesline to continue to spin clockwise while raising her right leg for a spinning hind kick.

Leaning over a collapsed Tatsuta, a roaring Kinugasa tackled the Abyssal to buy some time even as her measly heavy cruiser strength failed to cause Cynthia to budge, and a sprinting Zuikaku left the ground for a drop kick which connected with Cynthia's collarbone, causing Cynthia's foothold to weaken just enough for Kinugasa to force Cynthia to bend her knees before performing an imperfect German Suplex as she let go at the last second to throw the Abyssal into a tree where Tatsuta extended her glaive to try and impale Cynthia.

But the Abyssal reacted in time to catch the incoming glaive with one hand, and as Tatsuta grimaced and attempted to free her glaive without breaking it, Cynthia unhanded the glaive to spin out of the way and evade Tenryuu's Blade Rush before throwing herself back at the ship girls, but not before she used her titanic strength to kick up a dust cloud with her slender legs, hitting Kinugasa in the face as the Aoba-Class heavy cruiser shrieked while slapping her palms over her eyes,

"GAH!

MY EYES!"

Cynthia slammed her shoulder into Kinugasa and sent her flying some distance away into a cluster of trees, performing a Matrix-level evasive move to dodge another sniper round as Tatsuta jumped her, the J.O.A.N. unit unfortunately catching her in mid-air with her hands on her glaive and a collar as she disarmed Tatsuta while swinging the clasped left hand to fling Tatsuta into Zuikaku, the Shokaku-Class carrier hitting the ground hard with the light cruiser weighing her down as they both scrambled to get off and out of each other's way.

Cynthia then turned about on the spot while spinning the handheld glaive into a reverse-grip before throwing it at Tenryuu, the glaive thankfully being deflected by the Tenryuu-Class name-ship in time but sent her falling back on her ass from the quick-release of Tatsuta's confiscated glaive being hurled at her.

"Khh!"

Zuikaku managed to remain driven yet cool-headed enough to quickly hold up her M24 SWS to shoot Cynthia, and as Kinugasa repeated her tried-and-true tactic of 'run up to and tackle the enemy' while coming in from a different direction to avoid being spotted and countered, Kinugasa managed to hold her in place as Zuikaku clipped Cynthia in the kidney along with Ma'am Jackie hitting her just beneath the collarbone, eliciting a response they'd been waiting to hear,

[Khh!]

Well, if it could be hurt…

The seething Abyssal twisted around to slam her elbow into the spot on Kinugasa's back in between her shoulder-blades, Kinugasa crying out in agony as she dropped like a bag of bricks while Cynthia raised a foot in order to break her back, but was stopped by an incoming Saratoga's leg shooting out beneath her heel to halt the downward stomp as the determined carrier yelled.

" _No you don't!"_

Tatsuta then let out a blood-curdling roar as she jumped the Abyssal with her glaive held in a backhand grip, latching onto the Princess's back and stabbing into her like a ship girl possessed while a surprised Cynthia attempted to shake her off.

Grabbing onto the back of Tatsuta's collar, wrestling with Saratoga's kicks and also evading Zuikaku's attempt to slam the stock of her sniper rifle into her temple, Cynthia swung her leg out in order to kick Zuikaku in the groin with the strength of a Princess's lethal and swift legs, her eyes widening as her gaze blanked out into a thousand-yard stare.

Everything was a blur after that.

Feeling the entire fight fade into the distance despite being in the thick of it, Zuikaku felt a fire, nay, an inferno spread in the afflicted area as nerves silently howled at her to remind her body that something was probably damaged and OHMYFUCKINGGODTHEPAINTHEFUCKINGPAIN.

She unhanded the M24 SWS and fell to her knees in order to cradle her private parts as her expression crumpled, tears formed in the corners of her eyes, her bladder threatened to unload its contents onto her army pants despite the Herculean effort on her part to prevent that from happening by squeezing her squeamish thighs together, chills dancing up and down her spine while her legs trembled like a newborn foal and her hips, overloaded by the pain, was now feeling rather numb as a stray thought wondered if she could ever have children again.

With Kaga.

Alright, not the time.

Tatsuta was thrown off of Cynthia's back, but Tenryuu came in by stabbing at Cynthia repeatedly and had a burst of her black flames shoot out from the sword's tip with every thrust, Cynthia putting some distance between them since even she was feeling the pressure now, and Zuikaku fell forward in her feeble attempt to get back up as her legs failed her, Saratoga helping her up while she turned around upon hearing the sound of crackling bark and shifting leaves.

Kinugasa was lifting a tree.

The fallen tree which one of them felled by landing on.

Which was now lifted like a mace, ready to strike.

 _Fuck._

The usually cool and friendly Kinugasa was now howling like a beast, grunting as she slamming the tree down on where Cynthia was at, but the slow speed at which the giant tree traveled was enough for the J.O.A.N. unit to evade in time as the ground quaked and the leaves shook in unison, but before Zuikaku could raise her M24 SWS to fire again, Tenryuu bounced over the heavy cruiser to unleash a vertical Blade Rush in Cynthia's direction.

And the Abyssal punched through the flaming arc and caused it to dissipate, barely suffering any side effects aside from minor burns to her arm and shoulder,

"Can you just fucking go down already?!"

[Not until the world is in ashes.]

Saratoga made sure that she was at least able to stand as she looked down at Zuikaku's private parts with a visible wince and an uncomfortable expression,

"Um, Zuikaku-san, I'm sure it still hurts down there, but can you still fight?"

"Y-Yes… kinda."

Her voice rising two octaves in pitch surprised even her, and Saratoga's attempt to set her down into a sitting position on the ground had her panicking as she frantically waved her palms to stop that course of action.

"D-Don't set me down!

I think my, um, parts touching the ground would pretty much kill me due to the pain, so please let me stand."

Oh god.

This felt worse than when she was on her worst period times a thousand, another wave of paralyzing pain radiating from her nether regions and precipitating a chill which ran up her spine and was felt even in her heart and lungs as she took in deep and sharp yet shaky breaths as if birthing a child in order to brace herself against the pain felt throughout her hip and shivering thighs, finally managing a hoarse whisper,

"Alright, I think I can manage.

I'll keep my distance and cover you with this."

She brought up the M24 SWS which had always been slung over her torso and cocked it to convince Saratoga, the American nodding tersely as she jumped back into the fray.

Kinugasa swung the fallen tree horizontally even as Cynthia single-handedly smashed through the tree trunk, Tatsuta flinching and shielding herself from the shower of splinters flying in every direction in a pseudo-fragmentation grenade detonating, barely evading Cynthia's reverse spin kick which was wildly thrown out since the J.O.A.N. unit was also closing her eyes to avoid getting anything in her eyes.

And upon Tatsuta strafing out of the way, a triple threat consisting of sniper rounds coming from Ma'am Jackie and Zuikaku along with a Blade Rush from Tenryuu meant that even Cynthia couldn't evade all three of them, choosing to evade the two large-caliber rounds in favor of tanking the Blade Rush from Tenryuu, the flames washing off of her to display Cynthia shielding herself with her arms forming an 'X' before her to shield her face from the attack, smoking steel gloves and singed arms lowering to reveal Cynthia's seething expression as she charged them again.

And right at Zuikaku, the weakest link in the chain.

Tatsuta and Kinugasa came to her rescue, but one more ship girl came in with a flaming sword held over her head before being brought down like a butcher's cleaver.

 _Vreen._

Both sides looked down with both surprise and horror respectively as Tenryuu swung down with her flaming sword and managed to sunder Cynthia's right hand from her arm, and the cross-sections were cauterized by the temperature of the flames as the Abyssal didn't even appear wracked by the pain; merely shocked at the thought of someone getting a hit in.

But from what Zuikaku saw in her eyes, was it something more?

The metal-gloved hand fell to the ground while boiling blood oozed from its exposed right wrist, and Cynthia shoved Saratoga away while her left hand shot out to retrieve her amputated hand, but not before Zuikaku's leg swung out to sweep it out of her grasp, feeling Cynthia slap her palm on the base of her spine to shove her out of the way before continuing her single-minded objective of getting her hand back.

Saratoga jumped on her back out of desperation and caused Cynthia to stumble forward and overshoot her objective before Kinugasa tackled her and nearly caused her to topple over while wrestling with two ship girls, Tatsuta slide-tackling the hand to kick it away as the fight now devolved into the five of them doing their best to keep whatever the Princess wanted out of her hands (or hand).

Reaching behind her to swing Saratoga into a recovering Tenryuu and send them both sprawling from the impact before wildly looking about for her amputated hand, she saw that Zuikaku had picked it up while everyone was occupied and was thus the recipient of the J.O.A.N. unit's ire as a result, Cynthia's expression souring even more upon seeing a ship girl in possession of her hand as she uttered darkly at the sight of Zuikaku holding onto her amputated right hand.

 _[Give. It. Back.]_

Jumping her with an audible shriek, a bloody Kinugasa body-slammed her in mid-air in order to throw her off-course as they both crashed into a nearby mound of dirt which was erected in a line formation in order to deter the advancing Abyssals, Cynthia using her one working hand to pound Kinugasa's face and was about to break the arms which the Aoba-Class heavy cruiser held up to defend herself like a cornered boxer.

Tatsuta pointed her glaive at the Abyssal's back before shooting it since she had no qualms about shooting the enemy in the back, and Cynthia was slowly being overwhelmed by their numbers as the glaive penetrated her back's armor and caused her to grunt, the Princess spinning around in order to charge at Tatsuta with a left fist being winded back for a punch as Tatsuta retracted her glaive and prepared to block.

And Cynthia's right elbow shot out in the 'pretend to punch with one hand before shooting out with the other' feint as Tatsuta's light cruiser agility was what allowed her to evade the lethal elbow strike to her temple while exclaiming,

"Urgh!"

Tatsuta hit the ground since the elbow blow must've felt like a sledgehammer grazing her skull at that speed and would give her a splitting headache for several days, and Cynthia was also starting to look more and more fatigued due to the strain of battle taking its toll on her and also because the Tenryuu-Class's superpowers were an unorthodox yet devastating source of damage which couldn't be directly countered all the time, Zuikaku looking down her rifle's sights to fire again even as Cynthia strafed to avoid the incoming bullet by staring at Zuikaku's trigger finger to predict the round's timing.

Cynthia then also predicted Kinugasa's tackle from her blind spot to spin around and single-handedly grab and fling her into Tenryuu, then giving Saratoga an offhand-backhand-punch as Cynthia focused her attention and wrath on her, Zuikaku then wondering if this was where she was going to meet her maker.

And perhaps as an act of providence, a 'Great Angel' clad in metal armor flew in with the sun behind her back to blind anyone who laid eyes on her, a certain Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's voice announcing her own presence.

" _Incoming!"_

Cynthia turned and squinted to find Shigure dive-bombing her, the Abyssal likely too obsessed with reclaiming her hand to communicate with its Beast and realize that Shigure was headed for her despite what her Beast likely told her through the mental link.

The duo crashed through several trees in the distance and felled them all as Zuikaku let out a breath of relief at the destroyer arriving on the scene while her frayed mind attempted to catch up with the fact that she survived the Princess's wrath thus far, and as both her legs gave out and wobbled in order to let her fall back on the corpse of a fallen tree.

A large-caliber round then drilled through the head of an approaching Ri-Class heavy cruiser, brains, blood cerebrospinal fluid and an eyeball splattering everywhere as the Abyssal corpse continued in its run in her direction for a split second longer, the lack of signals from her nonexistent brain reaching its grim conclusion as the Abyssal collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut as it slammed forward into the dirt, hearing Ma'am Jackie reloading over the radio as she spoke up in the most reassuring and encouraging way she knew how.

"Zuikaku, get your _fucking ass back up."_

She glanced over at the deceased Abyssal heavy cruiser, whose blood pooled around the neck which it erupted from as glossy, grayish-beige matter was stained with blood and scattered everywhere along with fragmented bone bits and an exposed tongue tucked inside a lower jaw remaining mostly intact, suddenly feeling grateful for Ma'am Jackie's timely intervention and for the fact that she was on their side as a chill ran up her spine at how Ma'am Jackie was with a sniper rifle if she could score a head-shot from far enough such that Zuikaku couldn't pick up even a muted crack even with her enhanced senses to suspect that a shot had been fired.

Looking down at the amputated hand which was encased in the Abyssal's steel glove, she shook off the throbbing pain in her likely-fractured hips and her sore private parts as she leaned down to pick up the amputated hand as it had already stopped bleeding likely due to releasing all the blood packed into the hand, remembering how desperately the Abyssal attempted to retrieve it.

The Princess didn't seem the kind to place any value in losing a limb since it could be replaced in typical Abyssal utilitarian fashion, but if there was something about it which the Princess valued so much, she would crush anyone getting in between her and the hand.

' _Well,'_

Zuikaku's shakily thought to herself as she stripped the hand of the cooling but still stinging-hot armor plates which made up its destroyed glove,

' _I don't think it's so much something 'about' it as something 'on' it._

 _After all, what is easy to keep on you at all times, won't come off in a struggle like a necklace would, and would be protected or hidden by gloves which can already withstand your superhuman strength?_

 _A tattoo, or perhaps - '_

A ring.

Zuikaku observed the ring which adorned Cynthia's blackened ring finger, reminding herself that the seemingly charred flesh and crimson veins which made up Cynthia's hand was because of her alien origin, slipping it off while noting the steel ring's design, rectangular in its cross-section with tapered corners as she turned it around to notice a sun-like symbol etched into its interior.

Upon closer inspection as her regressed mind tuned out the horrors of war in favor of indulging her idle curiosity regarding the ring as a means of distraction, she noticed that the symbol inside was modeled after the top profile of a lotus flower, the engraving forming the outlines of the petals while the silver-colored leaves stretched out from its centralized bud, a sublime view of petals elegantly unfurling and breaking through the darkness to blossom like the sun chasing away the darkness in order to usher in the dawn…

Another set of crashing trees pulled her out of her reverie, jumping like a frightened child as she saw Kinugasa sliding down from a falling tree, said tree toppling with splintering cracks sounding out like its swan song before collapsing for good while Kinugasa, after landing on her back, struggled to get up as she clutched her bent back while Zuikaku hastily slipped the ring onto her right ring finger for the sake of convenience.

Crashing through the foliage as she threw Tatsuta to her left and Shigure to her right, Cynthia looked around to find who had possession of her hand as Zuikaku flinched from the Abyssal's searing stare, strangely characteristic for an Aircraft Carrier Princess but equally uncharacteristic for the oddly level-headed and meek Cynthia, she was joined by Simurgh shaking the earth even as it landed behind the J.O.A.N. unit, whose gaze roamed from the discarded hand to the ring on Zuikaku's right ring finger and focused on the latter as she snarled.

 _[You._

 _Why you, of all people…]_

Cue audible gulp.

Was there something about this ring which made Cynthia despise the idea of Zuikaku wearing it?

Considering how most of them, like Amatsukaze and Yuubari, all had pretty shitty pasts, the very likely possibility that one of Zuikaku's doppelganger somewhere out there caused Cynthia some kind of grief which was somehow linked to this ring made her wonder if her curiosity in Cynthia's ring was going to be the death of her.

Cynthia's expression and demeanor shifted for the worse as the killing aura which blanketed her and reached out towards them in order to inspire fear in their hearts intensified threefold as it started to swirl around her both Cynthia and Simurgh like a hurricane, and Zuikaku felt another strong chill run her steel spine as a result.

The Abyssal was beyond beyond pissed off, and certainly didn't seem intimidated by the fact that this was now a seven-to-one, with Shigure, Tatsuta, Tenryuu, Kinugasa, Saratoga and Zuikaku with a sniper rifle-wielding Ma'am Jackie providing overwatch against Cynthia and Simurgh.

She was like the eye in the center of a storm, an Abyssal whose silent exterior no longer bothered to mask the incensed and simmering anger boiling beneath the surface and was threatening not to burst out into an overt display of rage, but allow the poisonous hatred to seep into every fiber of her being and grant her unlimited power which allowed her to push forward through sheer force of will.

In other words, they were fucked.

 _[That does not belong to you._

 _Give. It. Back.]_

"Y-You want it, come get it!"

Zuikaku defiantly raised her ring-wearing hand to gesture in a 'come-on' move to goad Cynthia, and the J.O.A.N. unit retaliated in kind by allowing a damaged Simurgh to gently grab and slip her into its cockpit with one hand and shielding Cynthia against the large-caliber round and repulsor blast coming from Ma'am Jackie's sniper rifle and Shigure's armored suit respectively with the other hand.

Transforming into its humanoid assault form with horse-like legs used to stand on its hind legs but occasionally regressing into a gorilla-esque form with its clawed forearms, its steel wings folded back neatly so as not to encumber itself while on land while its twin thrusters on its back roared in order to disturb the air with its back-blast, Simurgh emitting a mighty shriek which blew leaves, dirt and dust away in a crater and even produced a miniature shock-wave as if giving voice to Cynthia's smoldering fury of having its sacred possession stolen.

It was on.


	70. Chapter 70 - The Darkness Takes Me

**Author's Notes**

 _Hey, just preparing a draft for this idea which popped up regarding a Fate Apocrypha fanfic where Mordred, in winning the Greater Holy Grail War, gets to time travel to the Fifth Holy Grail War to fight Artoria Saber as her wish is to get to lift the Sword of Appointment, throwing the timeline off the rails in the self-created 'Shattered Crowns' timeline._

 _Anyone interested in contributing ideas, feel free to PM me._

* * *

Zuikaku slid in between Simurgh's legs, ignoring the stinging numbness of her hips as the Beast used its autocannon to lay down cover fire, everyone else evading and diving for cover since their enemy had the advantage of an elevated position due to its height.

Shigure took flight while Tenryuu unleashed a Blade Rush and Tatsuta shot at the Beast with a flurry of God-Killing Spears, but Simurgh simply replied with a quick-fire Hyper Beam that was partially charged to reduce the time in between telegraphing its attack and firing it, Tatsuta and Tenryuu evading while Zuikaku slid to a stop and looked up at Simurgh's lifted mechanical hoof which was about to crush her.

Barrel-rolling out of the way as her entire body left the ground from the earth shuddering and throwing her about two centimeters into the air due to Simurgh's foot missing her shoulder by a hair, her breath and heart both stopped upon realizing how close she was to death while her eyes squeezed shut from the resulting dust cloud.

The mobile foot lifted to lumber away from her and Zuikaku realized that the shaking was now mostly because of her as her trembling arms met the shivering ground, looking up to find Kinugasa running up the side of a fallen tree which was shaped like a ramp with its stump elevating the fractured tree as the fatigued and injured heavy cruiser grunted from the effort of sprinting before long-jumping.

Simurgh then spun around at a shockingly agile speed for its colossal size, Zuikaku covering her head and hugging the ground as the Beast tap-danced around her cowering figure beneath it, praying that she wouldn't get stepped on as she screamed,

"AAHHHH!"

And as she dared to look up after the commotion died down, she saw Simurgh's left steel wing folding as another tree toppled over, hearing one of them shout over the radio,

" _Kinugasa!"_

Kinugasa didn't get up again in the distance, although the lack of a death notification meant that she was merely knocked out.

Scrambling out of the way as she saw Shigure come up and hover in mid-air beyond Simurgh's reach, her two palm repulsors glowed with the luminosity of the sun as she howled,

" _X-BURNER!"_

And the resulting pillar of light basically illuminated the entire battlefield brighter than the overhead sun did while blowing back the branches and leaves on any trees which were still standing, and the resulting beam tore into the flesh of the Beast and dealt what was likely a mortal blow as it fell on its back and sent Zuikaku flying again, falling on her face and curling up to avoid danger as her body was tingling from the adrenaline drugging her up and driving her limbs into a frenzy to scramble back onto her feet while climbing over something.

And said 'something' began to get up and move.

Machine-esque whirs and electronic systems were heard powering up as Zuikaku's balance was thrown off and had her clinging onto Simurgh's lower flank for dear life as the earth zipped increasingly and dizzyingly further away from her.

FUCK.

She lost her M24 sniper rifle, what was she going to fight Cynthia with?

Her brash tsundere attitude and the power of friendship?

Hanging on for dear life while wishing that the Beast wouldn't transform into its vehicle mode and turn her into a chunky steel-fuel paste which was stuck its moving and grinding internal mechanisms, she braced herself against Simurgh's near-deafening screech which was muted by her internal ear mufflers while clinging onto the seven-meter tall Beast in hopes that she could do something up here.

Another shudder which shook the Beast to its core came from Tenryuu's Blade Rush driving the evading Simurgh into Shigure's X-Burner, and Zuikaku's left hand slipped to cause her right side to slam into Simurgh just as some moving parts pinched her flesh, and the biting sensation of steel cutting into her flesh had her inhaling through clenched teeth.

She then heard Tatsuta swear perhaps for the first time in Zuikaku's life, uncharacteristically so since the light cruiser was concerned about her well-being as she clung to the side of a Beast created for the sole purpose of annihilating enemies.

"Zuikaku!

GET THE FUCK OFF THAT BEAST!"

"No!

I think I can do something up here!"

The Shokaku-Class carrier, headstrong and willful as she always was, pushed herself on by clinging onto Simurgh's armor and looked up at the mass of moving, whirring and scraping steel standing in between her and Simurgh's head, which Cynthia likely looked out of since her armored cockpit was shielded/obscured by steel plates.

An idea then came into her mind.

A really stupid idea.

But then again, they said she wasn't the most level-headed and smartest of carriers anyway.

Shigure dive-bombed as she slammed herself into Simrugh's head, angling herself so that she wouldn't get seared by a Hyper Beam as she slammed her right knee into Simurgh's face before unloading her remaining flares into Simurgh's optics and then let go before the Beast got a hold of her, another shriek causing Zuikaku to flinch due to its increased volume at a closer range as the Beast clutched its optics and stumbled about drunkenly.

She spotted a sizable hole punched into the Beast's armor courtesy of Shigure, and Zuikaku received another flash of inspiration as she endured the hot metal which slightly cooked her palms and fingers while she slammed her boot into a notch in the armor to propel herself upwards.

Holding her breath as she peeked into the scorched hole which Shigure managed to carve into the Beast, singed wires and smoking motherboards lined its interior as she impulsively thrust her hand in and pulled at whatever her hand could touch, ignoring how the Beast now moved erratically and was flailing about as she threw away whatever was in her hands before reaching in again for more, spotting stalactite-like claws blurring in her peripheral vision as she pulled herself in to hug Simurgh just before its clawed arm swung down in an attempt to swat her from its body.

It tore at her uniform and scraped some skin off of her back, but she endured it by tearing out another fistful of electronics before continuing to climb up and avoid the clawed palm slamming onto its wound where it thought she was, Simurgh then crowing in its form of pain groaning upon exacerbating its own wound before continuing to claw at its own body.

Feeling out her pocket knife sheath and feeling disappointed as she came up empty, she sought to improvise as she scaled the behemoth, two steps forward and one step back as every impact and wild movement either caused her hand or feet to slip, and she only had the use of two hands to support her entire body at one point in time, with legs dangling in mid-air as Zuikaku climbed its left shoulder-blade whilst keeping away from the blisteringly-hot back thrusters.

Don't look down.

Finally getting up to its shoulder, she ducked beneath another claw which reached for her as she got closer to its head and felt rather giddy upon glancing down at the distant, moving ground beneath her before she tore off her uniform top, exposing her blood-soaked bra and showing off some skin to the uncaring world.

Inching closer to Simurgh's beaked, eagle-like head while other ship girls likely caught on to her plan as they laid down covering fire, Zuikaku winced at the fact that enemy sniper rounds were missing her only because she was a small moving target hanging onto a towering Beast of mass destruction, and she jumped forward as she wrapped her army uniform around Simurgh's head and eyes.

Simurgh's cries became confused and wild, movements becoming erratic as the clawed swipes in her direction increased threefold in frequency but was more feral than ever, Zuikaku now engaging in the most lethal version of the Bucking Bronco as she winced at the near-misses while screaming into the radio.

"SHOOT HER!"

Autocannon rounds blazed from the barrel of Simurgh's wrist weapon and went wide due to Zuikaku's uniform top blocking her sights, and flares that were fired in every direction as if she were caught in the midst of an eruption of scorching fireworks singed her exposed skin even when they missed her, phosphorus and other chemical odors clogging up the air and making it hard to breathe as her vision began to fade to white from the luminosity of the blinding flares, tears starting to form as chemicals irritated her eyes.

Even then, she held on as another flare bounced off her upper left arm, the reactive chemical meteor leaving behind a nasty second-degree burn and a howling Zuikaku temporarily losing all sensation in that arm and was now starting to regret her rash decision with a pained,

 _"Ahhh!"_

The ship girls firing on Simurgh caused it to wildly shudder about, Zuikaku losing her balance as her foot slipped and caused her entire side profile to slam into Simurgh and had Zuikaku feel thankful that none of her carrier friends were here to hear her cuss like a sailor, her crotch injury staring to flare up again with period-like agony (she was quite certain blood was flowing down under by now) and she hung onto her uniform with her arm as sharp edges, moving armor and hot steel pinched, pierced and cooked her while she unwittingly rolled about to be mauled and roasted on all sides.

"AAHHH!

HELP!"

Several ship girls from Amazon company were moving up with scavenged rocket launchers, Zuikaku even noticing JSDF soldiers valiantly engaging Abyssals in close combat in order to free up space for their missile batteries, causing Simurgh to revert to its hippogriff form in order to present a smaller target while hugging the ground.

And as Zuikaku regained the feeling in her scorched left arm and managed to swing a leg over the nape of Simurgh's neck to pull herself up and lie down on, an ominous shadow eclipsed her figure.

Her eyes widened as she noted the Beast's wings spreading to blast another current of air around itself and looked back to see Cynthia's heel slamming into her head, the Beast taking off as the world began to swim in Zuikaku's concussed vision even as she hung off the side of Simurgh's elongated neck, with legs dangling while Cynthia raised her heel.

Stomping hard on her left hand, Zuikaku felt several bones within it crack as she seethed,

"Ssss… ahh!"

Releasing her shattered left hand, her right hand felt as if its joints would pop and her flesh tear in half before dropping her since it supported her entire body weight, and she could see her stolen ring caused Cynthia to hold back on stomping down on her right hand due to its perceived sentimental value, a trait hardly seen in rank-and-file Abyssals.

Cynthia instead knelt and leaned down to pry the ring off of Zuikaku's finger with her working hand, Zuikaku getting another bright idea all while noticing the receding ground in her peripheral vision as Simurgh took flight again.

Pushing her aching abdominal muscles to the limit by lifting her lower body in order to plant her boots on Simurgh's throat, she mimicked someone pulling out a tree shoot from the ground as she pried her right hand free of Cynthia's one-handed death grip, forcing Cynthia to do the same to counteract her downwards force with an equivalent upward force, Zuikaku's shortened twin-tails pointing 'up' towards the ground while Simurgh's clawed limbs were occupied with tearing her uniform off of its head.

And then Zuikaku stopped struggling.

Cynthia's upward force flung her into the air as Simurgh was now three meters from the ground, the Shoukaku-Class carrier body-slamming into Simurgh's back as sore muscles and aches in her fatigued body acted up, along with partially healed wounds from the Battle at Kamogawa City Hall and smoke inhalation from the flares taking its toll on her lungs as she was then hit with a coughing fit, rib-cage seizing up while her sides started to hurt.

It then hurt even more as Cynthia viciously kicked her in the side, causing her indescribable agony as she writhed around and coughed out blood due to the broken ribs and injured organs, an exasperated Cynthia remarking while trapping her right forearm underneath her heel.

[Why is it always you Yokosuka ship girls who interfere with our plans the most?]

But another violent shake made her trip as an RPG hit Simurgh, allowing Zuikaku to thrash about and wriggle out of Cynthia's loosened foothold as she heard someone shout over the radio,

"Zuikaku!

You need to get off of Simurgh, we run the chance of hitting you!"

"Got it!"

Fearlessly throwing herself off of Simurgh, a fleeting thought ran through her mind which was mostly running on adrenaline, fear and panic to care about her situation as the ground zipped towards her,

' _Oh, crap, I really should have jumped off such that I'd land on my feet._

 _And seeing how Simurgh is airborne…_

 _Fuu - '_

She landed flat on her back after a brutal twelve-meter drop, immediately arching her sprained back as the agonizing impact hit her spine full-force and set fire to every nerve in it along with antagonizing the burns throughout her body, clutching her back as she felt warm arms grab and haul her away from the Beast as her wobbly legs failed her more than once, armed ship girls screaming.

"Get her!

Get her!"

Thrusters were fired as Zuikaku shielded her eyes from the wind which howled from the afterburners ejecting a downwards thrust to lift Simurgh, the Beast slapping away one RPG fired at it before it could detonate a second later, then morphing into its vehicle mode for fast-travel as Tenryuu asked,

"Where's she going?"

"Not far, that's for sure!"

Shigure blasted off to catch up with Simurgh, firing repulsor blasts at it as the fight was a streaking black dot of a destroyer taking on a hulking monster of a Beast who was in vehicle mode, eventually turning back into Beast mode as a thin light beam fired by Shigure hit home.

Zuikaku limped forward while having one arm slung over Tenryuu to witness Simurgh transforming back into its humanoid assault mode while landing beside a Komatsu LAV as the JGSDF occupants fearfully exited the vehicle, Simurgh paying then no mind as the Beast lifted the light armored vehicle clean off the ground with a heave before hurling it into the distance with yet another shriek, beak burning with another Hyper Beam to fire at the landed LAV in order to cause a grenade-like explosion before transforming and taking off again.

And with another sonic boom, the Beast was gone.

Zuikaku's HUD grimly updated her,

'UPDATING COMBINED FLEET SHIP GIRL STATUS

PLEASE WAIT…'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

KAGEROU-CLASS DESTROYER 118

"HATSUKAZE"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

KONGOU-CLASS BATTLESHIP 022

"HIEI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

AYANAMI-CLASS DESTROYER 068

"AKEBONO"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

FUBUKI-CLASS DESTROYER 014

"MIYUKI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

AKITSUSHIMA-CLASS SEAPLANE TENDER 250

"AKITSUSHIMA"

STATUS: DECEASED'

'ERROR: SHIP GIRL VITALS NOT FOUND

TAKAO-CLASS HEAVY CRUISER 062

"CHOUKAI"

STATUS: DECEASED'

Zuikaku struggled to comprehend the fact that this was likely the single most number of deaths which occurred thus far, the thought that they might have sustained even more at the hands of the J.O.A.N. units if not for Tenryuu, Tatsuta and Shigure engaging and distracting those Beasts in battle filling the back of her mind.

She collapsed despite Tenryuu's valiant attempts to keep her standing, falling to the ground with a sigh as she noticed a dot in the sky soar beyond the range of even her enhanced vision and carrier radar as Shigure likely returned to Aoba and Akashi, Zuikaku still feeling sore all over as she shifted her blurry vision down to the band of metal on her ring finger.

She found this battle to be an emotional and strategic victory on some level as they held their ground against the Abyssals, and what Cynthia valued, she now had possession of it and she likely held some kind of sway over the Abyssal J.O.A.N. unit.

She was then swept up in a flurry of hands tending to her wounds, stabs of pain arising from the first-aid performed on her and the occasional face coming back into focus to look back down at her with the utmost of concern, but somehow, in the midst of the post-battle frenzy as Amazon company scrambled to account for and treat the dead and dying, Zuikaku could only focus on the ring.

Somehow, as she fell unconscious after she endured the worst of the first-aid treatment, she felt the ring resonating within her as if it had always belonged to her and had returned to its rightful owner, or at least close enough as a doppelganger, a voice was being telepathically transmitted directly into her consciousness as if managing to recall a memory once lost to the elements of time.

It was Kaga's voice.

The ring tried to show her something shortly before her fatigued mind blocked it out and faded to black to leave Zuikaku with more questions.

* * *

" … multiple fractured bones in your hip, rib cage and left hand along with damage to your spinal column, left temple and internal organs, along with exposure to chemical gases which got into your lungs and eyes.

First, second and third-degree burns on upper torso and arms, and all this for Cynthia's ring?

What."

Akashi lowered her clipboard to glower at Zuikaku as the carrier was wrapped up in bandages like a mummy, Shiranui standing in the ward to watch over Shigure's recovery and wait for Akashi to free up her schedule before talking to her about her first infiltration mission in her adult body, Ma'am Jackie also there to assist her in the mission briefing.

Zuikaku, having a medical breathing mask strapped to her nose and mouth, huffed as she used her thumb to finger the missing ring which was previously on her right hand and was now taken off to be stored and check for possible contamination and infectious properties.

"Cynthia… wants it…

Now, she'll come to… us…"

"Yes, and you've painted a bulls-eye on your back in the process.

Good luck with surviving _that."_

Zuikaku's headstrong determination faltered upon hearing Ma'am Jackie surmise just what she got herself into, Akashi then adding,

"Besides, who knows if that ring possesses corrupting properties like the One Ring, and although it certainly didn't turn either you or Cynthia invisible, we can't be sure that anyone else wearing it could prove to be physically or mentally hazardous in the long-term."

Shigure attempted to intervene as she laid on her own bed, unable to move a muscle due to the dozens of cracked bones and the after-battle fatigue plaguing her body, which sadly didn't stop her from using her mouth to talk back to Akashi.

"Um, well, Zuikaku-san did her best under those circumstances…"

But Akashi wasn't having any of that, her hard-ass medic side showing itself as her sharp tongue lashed out at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer without any qualms about her age or current condition.

" _You_ _be quiet._

'Akashi-san isn't here now!

Let's go!'

Don't think me not watching over you means that you can take your own life for granted.

You getting the H.A.L.O. suit means that you've jumped in value both as an asset to us, and a target for the Abyssals."

Everyone's gazes turned to the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer, and Shigure similarly spun her head around to look at what everyone was looking at as if oblivious to the fact that she was the intended recipient of that scathing remark, turning back to face everyone with wide, innocent eyes as she uttered,

"Oh."

Ma'am Jackie turned to Akashi as she had her hands folded and was leaning back on a wall, asking about their choice of New Wave ship girls.

"Hey, were all these superpower-wielding ship girls the first choice to be granted, well, superpowers?"

"Yes and no.

Two of them were the first choice simply because they were the most expendable, and _another one_ was just convenient because she was a witness."

Akashi pointedly tilted her head towards Shigure as the destroyer suddenly found the ceiling to be the most interesting thing in the world, Ma'am Jackie lifting an understanding eyebrow as she got off the wall and walked off with a nigh-imperceptible nod in Shiranui's direction, Shiranui getting the message as she gave the hospitalized duo her best wishes.

"Get well soon."

Before leaving with the repair ship as Shiranui and Akashi noted the genuinely apologetic expression on Shigure's downcast face, the three of them getting into an adjacent room as she looked up at the two 'centenarian' ship girls who fought long enough to retire in comfort since every country honored their veteran warships, and fighting in their second war for ten years was a miracle in which the retirement pension could feed even their _grandchildren_ and pay for their living expenses.

And yet, Akashi and Ma'am Jackie kept fighting on since an idle and boring life as a filthy-rich veteran was both an incompatible and undesirable lifestyle, her seniors returning her gaze as Akashi started her briefing.

"Look, you've worked out most of the kinks in your New Wave body, and we think it's time for your first infiltration mission.

Since you're already experienced in these missions back in the Infiltration Fleet, it's reasonable for us to skip the hand-holding with Ma'am Jackie keeping a lookout to smooth things over should the mission go South."

Shiranui nodded, understanding and even appreciating some backup since being a solo operator placed her at too high a risk of being captured or killed, and since Shiranui would be using her adult body in a mission with real-life consequences, until she proved that she could perform just as well alone (which she was in no hurry to prove; she operated in a fleet even in her ship girl days), having backup would be a certainty.

Ma'am Jackie looked towards the repair ship as she asked, already donning her game-face as she did so.

"What's the situation?"

"We can't keep playing defense with the Abyssals constantly gaining the ground we lost.

After retreating to the Kimitsukagihara Country Club, we plan to make our counterattack there in order to create some space before sailing over Tokyo Bay towards Kawasaki, Kanagawa to gather our forces before heading for Tokyo.

Part of your mission's objectives is to check if knowledge this location has been compromised and if the Abyssals know of our plans for a counterattack so that we can change them accordingly."

Shiranui clarified, since she wanted to have all the cards on the table.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

In which Ma'am Jackie piped up,

"Simple.

With me on overwatch, you sneak into enemy territory since your stealth suit and custom-made body prevents Abyssals from immediately spotting or detecting you.

From there, you'll planting tracking devices on their trucks and vehicles to see what appears important to them, setting it up for future hit-and-run ambushes and complete your objectives.

I'll provide an extra set of eyes, firepower and a means of exfiltration.

I understand the Abyssals on patrol will be connected via wireless network so that the base will be alerted to one death, so I'll mostly be on reconnaissance."

Ma'am Jackie then cast an aside glance at Akashi as she continued,

"But Akashi said that the main objective was classified and above my pay grade, so here's my exit."

"Do you have a problem with that, Jackie?"

Akashi blithely remarked with no interest in putting up with people questioning her, and Ma'am Jackie was equally nonchalant about being out of the loop as she shrugged and replied like the dutiful soldier that she was.

"Not at all.

Shiranui's the main star, not me, I don't care what you want her to do behind the scenes since I'm just spotting everything through a scope for her.

Besides, if it's that sensitive, it's best if we keep it to the minimum amount of operators needed to be in on the loop in order to carry out the mission.

Basically, one."

Ma'am Jackie coolly walked away as the two centenarians came to an understanding and didn't get in each other's way, Akashi then turning to Shiranui to give her a more in-depth explanation of her secret objectives.

"Look, we're getting a little suspicious of how the Abyssals are homing in on our location so easily, and we suspect that it might be due to our mole leaking information from within.

We need to be sure that wherever the leak is coming from, we need to plug it first before we figure out who's causing it and then weeding her out.

You'll get in and initiate a trace within the Abyssals' means of communicating with the mole in their mobile administrative centers which keep a rough track of their battalions' logistic details, and you'll also be planting trackers on their vehicles so that we can determine where they're refueling, doing maintenance and the like."

"And what about _that_ business with the humans?"

Akashi's expression darkened threefold as she reassured Shiranui about what they were going to do about that piece of information apparently leaked by the mole as well.

"Yes.

Whoever the mole is, she's revealing _those_ dirty secrets about Central and its enigmatic backers for us to uncover, but for now, we'll have to clean up the mess in front of us.

We'll plug up the leak and trace it to find the source and improve our security, and the next time the Abyssals get in touch again, we can probably determine where it's coming from."

"But you don't think it'll be that easy or we'll be that lucky."

 _"Never."_

Akashi confirmed Shiranui's suspicions, since this mole was able to fly under the radar for so long and was the likely the cause of their losses in several large-scale battles, and even if Yokosuka's wins vastly managed to outweigh their losses, Shiranui imagined what the consequences of those losses were.

Buying more time for the Abyssals to reach full operational capacity before waging their world war upon all the nations of earth.

If the mole could do that, all their wins would be for naught as the battlefield meta was changed with the advent of World War 3, and even if they did manage to hold their ground in their last two battles and favorably fought the Abyssals to a standstill, they had to retreat inland with fatigued troops as the war dragged on.

When did it all end?

Shiranui shook those bitter thoughts out of her mind as her sour expression matched Akashi's and she listened to Akashi continue on about what she was to expect.

"We're sending you down to Kameda General Hospital tonight, because delaying this mission any longer means that the waxing moon will become a natural spotlight for the Abyssals to spot you much more easily."

Shiranui nodded, understanding that these circumstances that were beyond the Coordinators' control were factored in to plan out seemingly unreasonable missions which were designed with the best odds of success and the least likelihood of death or capture, and these mission could have them set out as soon as tonight.

"Let me guess, they're holed up there because of the medical supplies and after we retreated to allow them to occupy it?"

"Yes.

Anything we didn't take with us or destroy in our wake, they're using to repair their fallen soldiers and improve their operating capacity.

There'll be enough obstacles and buildings to give you enough routes of approach since there's an adult day care center and a medical training school nearby, but they'll have their most important stuff holed up in the main hospital.

We have blueprints on the location, so getting places will be a cinch."

Akashi shared Shiranui's silent relief at how several things were working to their advantage, and it was easy enough for her first mission in her new body without being too easy for anyone else to do her job, since they didn't possess her expertise.

"How will Ma'am Jackie and I be getting into enemy territory?

A HALO jump?"

"Yes, since we're able to replicate the stealth material that's used to make your stealth suit and lined the parachute with it without significantly increasing its weight.

You two will have to land in the forested hills beyond the rice fields before making your way to the hospital, since it's deep in enemy territory and they'll have radar and AA guns to shoot you down should they detect you directly parachuting into the town.

Even their radar isn't perfectly capable of keeping track of everything with the interference equipment we use to scramble their radar, and according to our best estimates, the range of their ground-based radar vehicles can only extend so far."

"But you're sure that the Abyssals won't be able to see us coming and shoot us down in mid-air?

That is quite the morbid thought."

Akashi then raised her left hand in a crossed-finger gesture, speaking about how mankind's capabilities were enhanced with the passage of time, mankind's tumultuous past consisting of creating new stealth technology to counter detection technology, and creating counters to _those_ counters.

"The upside to the Abyssals ripping off our technology is that we can estimate what they're capable of by seeing what country's vehicles and weapons they're using, and in this case, we know its limitations and can estimate the limits of the Abyssals' upgrades.

Trust me, Admiral Mako does _not_ want you to fail, you're definitely not alone in this.

The JSDF is also on standby to 'bring the rain' should things go South, but then, I don't think it'll come to that, yes?"

Shiranui shook her head, thinking about how other methods of entry weren't as viable.

The Abyssals controlled the ocean, so entry via a submarine was suicidal.

She was a ship girl, so blending into the Abyssal crowd was out of the question.

Best to jump from a high altitude and open her parachute at a low enough altitude to prevent her from going splat on the ground while bringing as little metal objects as possible (steel making up a ship girl's body) to avoid being detected, listening to Akashi continue on.

"We'll help to prepare Ma'am Jackie and your New Wave body after this such that you two won't suffer too much of the possible after effects of a high-altitude jump, so that you'll be ready for anything once you hit the ground…"

Nodding, she assumed that there was nothing else for her as she turned away to walk off and prepare herself for the mission, but swivelled around as Akashi piped up again.

"By the way.

What do you make of this symbol?"

Shiranui looked down at Akashi taking out a piece of paper and showing Shiranui the symbol of a sun, and upon closer inspection, it looked to be a lotus flower unfurling its petals to give off the appearance of a sun with its top profile.

"What's so significant about this symbol?"

Akashi studied her face, looking satisfied with Shiranui's genuinely confused yet deadpan expression as she looked down at the enigmatic symbol along with Shiranui.

"I'm not exactly sure.

On the day of the hydrogen bomb detonation, I've seen in on Yuubari as a tattoo, and Amagi, whose 3rd Fleet met Sakawa, suspects that she might have also seen this tattoo on Sakawa's collarbone as it peeked out from under her uniform.

And now, the ring which Zuikaku stole from Cynthia's gloved hand has this same symbol on it, and I can't help but wonder if it means anything in particular."

Shiranui shrugged, giving her own interpretation about what it might mean.

"Perhaps it's to mark the J.O.A.N. units, like a tattoo of identification."

"Then why didn't the 2nd Fleet see this symbol on Amatsukaze, whose armored clothes covers slightly more than what a micro-bikini could?"

"I don't know.

Would you have seen the symbol on the inside of Cynthia's ring if you were to observe her from the outside?

And besides, this isn't an immediate priority, so…"

Akashi raised an eyebrow as she saw Shiranui's point in considering every angle for as long as possible and not dismiss anything out of hand without enough information.

From what Shiranui could tell, it was just a symbol, and it could mean a thousand things, none of which were relevant to her mission at hand.

Another thought went out to her sisters, wondering if they were doing alright and wishing them well in her mind before shutting them out to focus on the mission she was given.

She wasn't exactly the sentimental or the emotional type, but even she found that all the fighting and killing at such an intensity without extended periods of rest wore even her down, no matter how strong a front she tried to put up in front of others.

* * *

The HALO jump from the Kawasaki C-1 transport plane on the twilight of the 24th of May went off without a hitch, although it was definitely something she never wanted to experience again, much less in the dead of night in enemy airspace as she had torn off the breathing apparatus which was used to supply her oxygen at elevated heights upon landing in the middle of a bald spot in the forest caused by the war.

Since Ma'am Jackie was a trained paratrooper, she had no problems with the plane jump and landing as Shiranui trekked towards the city of Kamogawa, or at least what was left of it after the ship girls and Abyssals destroyed the entire town as part of collateral damage in World War 3, ruffling her jet-black hair and ponytail which was dyed black to not make her stick out like a sore thumb in the dark before raising the face veil to cover her pale skin.

"Shiranui, do you read me?"

"Yes."

The Fairy-designed sub-dermal implants were working like a charm as she heard Ma'am Jackie's voice in her ear as they split up after landing, the insertion procedure being done on her unconscious New Wave body and meant that she didn't have to feel the brunt of the aftereffects before getting onto the plane for the HALO jump.

Checking her HUD and watching it flicker to life in her eyes, she was told that because of how her body was made to be more human than machine, she wouldn't be identified as a hunk of bionic steel known as a ship girl and whose heat and infrared signature would almost entirely be shielded by her stealth suit.

She then heard Akashi's voice speak up from their base of operations,

"And can you read me?"

"Yes, Ma'am.

Just asking, but if this radio implant emits radio waves, doesn't that mean the Abyssals might be able to detect the radio signals being emitted and home in on our locations?"

"Yes.

But not only will we be keeping communication to a minimum, but the fact that we have the element of surprise on our side and heavy encryption means that they won't see us coming, and even if they did, we have ample time to cut off communications to prevent that from happening."

Shiranui lifted in eyebrow as she accepted Ma'am Jackie's explanation and eventually came within view of the Sotobo Line, a railway which ran through Kamogawa and was blown up before the start of World War 3 in order to slow the Abyssals down.

Her bionic eyes were capable of rivaling (though not completely matching) the zoom capabilities of carriers as she observed the steel tracks stretching into the town while several sections were torn out from the ground or were dynamited to kingdom come, Abyssal forces now working hard to repair the damage.

"Ma'am Jackie…"

"Call me Jackie."

" … should we try and sabotage a few of those repair vehicles?

They seem to be making headway in their repair attempts, and their eventual success would mean trouble for us."

Silence was heard on the other end as Shiranui zoomed in to observe the humanoid Abyssals, using their opposable thumbs, operate repair tools while bestial Abyssal destroyers drove the vehicles which moved resources and tools around, and Shiranui heard Ma'am Jackie finally speak up.

"Later.

Blowing up their generators and combat vehicles would do more harm, especially if we need a distraction or stop them from getting into their vehicles to chase you."

Grunting in agreement, Shiranui crouched as she kept a low profile while creeping through a destroyed house near the forest, a destroyed wall causing part of the second floor to collapse on the first as she stepped over destroyed floorboards which were angled to allow her to reach the second floor, crawling over various tables and beds which slid down the angled second floor to roll out through the building's non-existent first floor wall.

Peeking over the shards of jagged glass lining the window frame, she saw that the town of Kamogawa was transformed into a shell of its former self as loader vehicles were clearing the debris cluttering the road while extinguished fires belched out smoke which was illuminated by spotlights that were jacked up to heavily-protected generators, several Abyssals walking about with metal detectors to check for mines or explosives while other armed Abyssals patrolled the grounds.

The good thing about Abyssals was that they were machines; they ran like clockwork and made their pathings (mostly) predictable.

The bad thing was that their inhumanely robotic personas didn't care much for hunger (save for resource depletion), sleep deprivation, boredom or reasonable amounts of fatigue which could be shrugged off.

From here, she could see that the bridge which was blown up to collapse it on the railway wasn't a viable approach towards the hospital on the other side of the closely-guarded railway and was thus closer to the ocean, memorizing a few of the Abyssals' patrol routes while asking.

"Jackie, do you see any way across this damned railway track?

There has to be areas where the security isn't as tight."

"Agreed, the security isn't as tight around the small bridge near the abandoned shrine.

I can't see where you are, can you locate it?"

Keeping track of the spotlights so that she wouldn't be spotted, she peeked out another window and shifted her gaze to minimize movement as she looked at the buildings lined up alongside the railway, spotting one small bridge being partially illuminated by a spotlight.

"Yes.

Heading there now."

Backtracking out of the house while minimizing the amount of glass she stepped on and making sure that the Abyssals on patrol were sticking to their routes like the obedient machines that they were, she double-timed it to the bridge as she whipped out her FN Five-seveN to use its attachment, a directional jammer which could be pointed at a machine to disable it for a short period of time, doing just that as the streetlamp in her sights flickered before temporarily dying out.

This little toy was made just for her?

Nice.

Looking left and right to check for oncoming vehicles, she crossed the road and ran along a collapsed chalet building three stories high which had chest-high barricades along the pavement running parallel to the pavement she was on.

She ran up to the bridge without much fuss because many of the Abyssals were concentrated on the other side of the railway, hurrying down the stairs and stealthily jogging across the abandoned shrine which was inexplicably untouched by the war as it wordlessly spectated her progress, crouch-running on the path leading to the bridge.

An Abyssal on it was illuminated by the moon, although the good news was that the train track beneath it was poorly lit, crouch-walking towards it as she contacted Ma'am Jackie.

"I'm approaching the bridge.

Can you see me?"

" … Affirmative.

The Abyssal on the bridge won't see you, but shimmy along the side of the bridge away from her just to be safe."

Good suggestion.

She exposed herself to the moonlight before jumping onto the side of the bridge, arm muscles flexing as she supported her body with her lean arms while an oblivious Tsu-Class cruiser carrying a SUB-2000 semi-automatic carbine faced away from her.

Damn, this was so much easier with her adult body, muscular without being overly ripped in order to preserve mobility and litheness, hitting the dirt ground shortly before she blitzed through the roads leading through the rice fields to hit the parking lot, since she was a sitting duck out here.

Exhaling in relief upon hitting the car park since cars populated it in an obstacle course to buy time for their retreat several weeks ago, she leaned on the roof of an overturned Camry as several lights which were supposed to illuminate the car park were blown out, slipping into a Wo-Class carrier's blind spot while getting a heads-up from the light cruiser.

"Watch out, you're coming up on a blockade.

Three Abyssals on it, hold up until I say so.

… Go."

Sidling up to a Prius, she trusted in Jackie's words as she waited for the signal like a horse waiting at the gate, breaking out into a creeping strut to see that Ma'am Jackie was right on the nose, sneaking by three Abyssals swivelling around to move about in predetermined paths away from her.

She needed to get used to this new terrain, damn it.

Blockades and cover weren't a thing on the seas where it was a flat terrain all around, and the fact that she might have been screwed if not for Ma'am Jackie had her taking this lesson to heart as she snuck through the dozens of insignificant buildings which stood between her and the first important building, the Kame-whatever Training School, speaking up to ask mission control.

"I'm coming up on the training school.

You still watching my back?"

"Yes."

"Anything you need at the Training School, Akashi?"

Silence reigned as she slipped into an alley to witness the grey-white-beige cluster of buildings looming above most civilian houses in the area, which meant that there were likely spotters and snipers on the roof and was where a second pair of eyes was of more help than radar alone, an answer being spoken into her ear courtesy of Akashi.

"They should have auxiliary computer terminals connected to a server in this area to take care of less important stuff, our guess being the repair times of the injured and dead, reconstruction efforts like the railway, local patrol routes and radio chatter."

"I'm assuming the main terminal's in the General Hospital ahead.

What'll I find there?"

Slipping into what remained of a completely crushed house as something huge, likely a tank, smashed through the walls with brute force to leave it unrecognizable from what it might have once looked like, she got into a prone position and crawled underneath a table to hide from a Ta-Class's field of vision as her answer came over the radio.

"The main terminal keeps track of ammunition, battalion and supply movements and their strength, but tapping into the auxiliary terminal will give us a good idea of the security level to expect and prepare for later, reducing the odds of detection.

Since it's along your journey to the general hospital and it's also something you can blow up with the C-4 you're carrying…"

"Well, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.

Jackie, how many snipers on the roof?"

"Ten.

Five on the main building's roof while the others are scattered on the nearby roofs."

They were packing serious heat, and she responded with the appropriate caution by sneaking into the few bushes which hid her figure, and her stealth suit hid her signature from patrols to make her nigh-invisible.

Being updated of the snipers' locations on her HUD's map, she was also streamed a live feed of what Ma'am Jackie saw through the scope as a Wo-Class's helmet was in its sights, its usual headdress once used for storing planes now miniaturized into a helmet with the twin-eyes-exhaust vents only there for cosmetic effect.

She was in the Wo-Class's field of vision, and moving away into a demolished building allowed her to see that their security didn't let up even when they had supposedly complete control over the area, devoid of hubris or complacency as two other Ri-Class cruisers were being watched by a Wo-Class in the carpark.

A detour through the foliage was safer, footsteps making no sound as she used the transformed terrain which was a collapsed house, the rubble forming a slope for her to cross the road before slipping into and trekking across the trees and shrubbery while lying prone so that the snipers wouldn't spot her creeping figure.

"Go, _now."_

Once she got into an area which she was fairly confident she could bypass security to enter and Ma'am Jackie gave her the signal to go ahead, she patted herself down to avoid having leaves and dirt cling to her stealth suit and the bottom of her boots before moving out, making sure she wasn't heard as she slipped behind a Ne-Class heavy cruiser who was close enough for Shiranui to hold her breath to leave no room for error.

After all, was it paranoid of her to suspect that the Ne-Class cruiser's hearing wasn't powerful enough to hear her breathing, or even her heartbeat when she was close enough to reach out and touch the Abyssal?

Pulling away from the heavy cruiser, she felt a chill run down her spine as she got away from the Ne-Class and looked up to find the barrel of a sniper rifle peeking over the side, a quick peek underneath the door with another device that was the snake cam, a camera on a wire tip, giving her the all-clear before she gently twisted the doorknob to enter the hospital.

Her heartbeat was elevated as she released a held breath upon entering the remains of the medical building, collapsed columns and walls littering the doorways as the Abyssals had done well to clean up the mess.

Dust, debris, rubble and blood were all wiped away, but not completely removed as the ground was smeared in the coppery grime when they all mixed together, this building uncomfortably lit up from within and had to be plunged into darkness as she jammed the lights brightening the interior of the two-story hall.

"I'm in.

Where do you think is the best bet to find a terminal to access the server?"

"Try the chief physician's office, it's connected to the hospital's servers which they wiped and rewired for their own purposes along with accessing the hospital's facilities.

Uploading it to your HUD now."

Slipping into a locker room as an Abyssal Tsu-Class cruiser moved up to investigate the lights going off, Shiranui using the snake cam to spot when the Tsu-Class passed by her before slipping out and behind the distracted light cruiser.

Some lights were broken and gave her shadows to work with as she looked up at a security camera which overlooked the entrance to the stairwell.

Jamming it would raise their suspicions concerning a possible intruder, gauging the extruded platform's height leading to the second floor before launching herself off of the opposite wall, slapping her hands on the edge and pulling herself up as footsteps made their way in her direction.

"Hup."

Lifting herself over the edge, the Tsu-Class was thankfully oblivious to her presence as she saw a light funnel shine at her previous position, hearing the Abyssal utter,

[Hmm?]

And her footsteps changed direction to move towards the stairwell in order to investigate the shadow, but Shiranui was already on her way through the building's corridors.

The chief physician's office was on the floor above her, and another pair of footsteps coming her way had her getting into an adjacent room to climb out the window and access it via another route.

Climbing out the window which Shiranui made sure was on the side of the building where the moon wasn't shining, she scaled the building's side at a hurried pace for fear of a sniper or a sharp-eyed Abyssal spotting her out here.

The damage to the building was significant but not crippling, and she tested the strength of every patch of concrete she laid her hands on as she mentally consulted the blueprints, the office being another two corners away from her at the closest available window, but the hospital's cameras watching that route like a hawk dampened her enthusiasm by several notches.

"Any idea on how the hell I'm getting inside the chief physician's office?

The path's blocked off by several security cameras."

"Well, funny you should ask.

A mortar shell caused part of the roof on the opposite side of the building to cave in, and the security cameras there should be taken out.

There're lifts on both sides of the building, get up to the roof, find the elevator's access hatch and get down to the destroyed area via the elevator shaft."

Climbing up to the elevated platform lining the roof's edge, she waited restlessly for Ma'am Jackie's go-ahead to hop onto the roof since her stealth suit didn't turn her invisible, and anyone looking up could easily spot her out here as she listened to her own elevated heartbeat, an irregular rhythm of clomping Abyssal heels and the relatively deafening chirping of crickets in the night.

"You're clear.

Be careful, another Abyssal just got up to the roof."

"Like that's going to stop me."

Vaulting over the short wall to plant her feet on the roof, she froze as a Wo-Class carrier barely turned around before walking away from her, Shiranui being rightfully on edge as the moon clearly illuminated her figure, and her stealth suit didn't include the ability to turn invisible.

Luckily, with her skills, she didn't need such a cheap power.

Sneaking around the figures as her HUD's radar identified the Abyssal signatures as enemies but not the other way around thanks to her stealth suit's capabilities (which was a bit of a cheat), she rounded the corner of a rumbling radiator which provided enough noise to conceal her footsteps, tensely sliding herself between two Wo-Class carriers who carried AWP sniper rifles, the deadly hunk of assembled metal gleaming in the moonlight as Shiranui heard another warning.

"The Ne-Class is approaching the corner before you!

Think fast!"

Shiranui hugged the side of the radiator as fast as she could without making a sound, the beams of moonlight barely illuminating the tip of her nose as she froze all movement, halting her breath and even attempting to will her heart to stop beating, all for the sake of not getting detected as the Ne-Class cruiser ambled up while holding an AK-12 assault rifle.

The world stopped.

Not the Ne-Class cruiser, though, since Shiranui's signature was well cloaked to the point where her appearance on the peripheral of the Ne-Class's field of vision didn't even alert the Abyssal to anything unusual, the Abyssal swiveling about thirty degrees to the left and right of her before looking ahead and continuing on.

 _Jesus._

Too close for comfort, having to sneak past six people even when on a spacious roof.

"Careful, wait for my go before getting out of the corner you're in, take the first left before going for the access hatch.

… Go."

She slipped behind a Wo-Class who walked from one edge to another as her predetermined patrol route while noting the spacious hole which was punched into the roof, following Ma'am Jackie's instructions by rounding the corner to find that it was a straight path to the access hatch with another Wo-Class facing away from her, likely using her enhanced vision to scout the area instead of looking behind her and inadvertently spotting Shiranui.

The hatch was unsurprisingly locked, and Shiranui thankfully had the tool for that as the Fairies used their technological expertise to craft a skeleton key which unlocked simple locks like these without any kind of encryption, opening the hatch gently and slipping in as she understood that the hatch would have to be left unlocked and would likely arouse some suspicion later during the night.

And thank god she had the magic touch acquired during training to learn how to open doors at the appropriate speed so that it wouldn't make any noise.

Closing the hatch behind her to buy herself some time since nothing would appear out of the ordinary at first glance, she slid down the ladder before her legs hit an I-beam to allow her to look down and survey the elevator shaft.

The smoldering elevator cab had already burnt out with its singed steel warping from the drop at the bottom of the shaft, along with several counterweights crushing it after a drop while a loosened pulley system holding the wires as they dangled limply from the ceiling, and Shiranui started the climb down the maintenance ladders towards the elevator door on the third floor, all while warning lights unfailingly illuminated her figure on occasion.

Using her superhuman strength to pull the ajar doors apart for her to slip through once she made sure the coast was clear, she slid the doors closed in order not to arouse immediate suspicion, noting the moonlight illuminating the rubble lining the corridor even before she turned the corner to witness the very same hole punched into the roof, caving in to grant her a splendid view of the half moon and an Abyssal on the roof, the latter walking away while debris popped and cracked beneath her boots.

This hallway to the chief physician's office was no longer watched by surveillance cameras due to the mortar shell causing the hole and knocking down the cameras on the walls, slipping into a corner to wait for two Ri-Class cruisers to pass her by while toting FN F2000 bullpup assault rifles which could pump intruders full of lead, eventually slipping out in order to approach the ceiling light-illuminated main hall.

Not anymore, as Shiranui jammed it with her Five-seveN's jammer before advancing, and a cursory check beneath the illuminated door slit helped her to see that the office was populated by movable computer servers connected to the training school's computer systems.

And at the helm was a Ta-Class battleship, sitting in the chief physician's chair and was tapping away on a laptop.

God damn it.

She never expected her job to be easy, but this was just unfair.

"Jackie, there seems to be a snag.

I can't get in without the Ta-Class sitting at the door facing me, and taking her out isn't an option.

Any ideas?"

"I have one."

Shiranui felt too exposed while standing in the main hall in spite of the temporarily-induced darkness of the jammed light source which could flicker back to life at any moment, so she skulked into a lecture room and hid herself in between an opened door and the pitch-black corner which it covered to make herself truly invisible, curling up to make herself neither seen nor heard as she listened to Aoba's voice over the radio.

"Listen, our programmers infected any computer systems we left behind with hastily crafted viruses so that the Abyssals would have to tread lightly when they access our systems, but as you might think, we didn't have too much time to craft one strong enough to disable them for long."

"But we've bought them enough time with our battles over the weeks for them to craft something stronger, yes?"

"Yep.

Find a nearby computer terminal to upload the virus, we'll take care of the rest from here."

Shiranui made her way to the terminal in an adjacent room, booting it up as she fished around for the thumb-drive which was in one of the dozens of pockets which stored first-aid supplies, C-4 and ammo, amongst many others which had her confounded for a second before pulling out the item to slot into the terminal's port for the device to work its magic.

"Won't they find out that I've accessed their system from this terminal and suspect that there's an intruder?"

"Don't worry about that.

Our programmers will make it look like a glitch before the entire system crashes on them, and since the hospital's systems are intertwined with the Abyssals' systems, we can disrupt their systems and shut them out of ours to force them to restart everything.

The kind that needs them to get out of the room and play with the circuit breaker panel."

"Nice."

The computer screen before her then emitted some kind of mechanical screech which caught her by surprise as she flinched from the jump-scare, the screen illuminating part of the room by erratically tearing while shifting into squarish technicolor hues and the words devolved into incomprehensible hieroglyphs, hearing the Ta-Class battleship next door slam the door shut as she grumbled while strutting down the corridor,

[… fucking virus, fucking shit…]

Pulling the thumb-drive out to remove the evidence, she slipped into the chief physician's office to sit herself in the rolling office chair while inserting the server interface for mission control to do what they did best, the computer servers around her all flashing some kind of hazard sign or red lights to indicate being tampered with, and Shiranui hid herself behind the desk which stood in between her and the exit as she watched for any approaching Abyssals.

Finally, with Aoba uttering in your ear,

"Alright, we're in.

Remove the server interface and get onto your main objective."

She did just that while jamming the lights in the main hall, surreptitiously sneaking towards a window which seemed like a good place to get down quickly, and she listened to the Aoba-Class cruiser provide updates regarding their progress on hacking into the Abyssals' servers.

"Well, good news and the not-so-good news.

The good news is that since this is the auxiliary computer terminal, what we managed to get a peek of are the Abyssals' patrol routes and possibly a way to tamper with their routine attempts to account for all Abyssals such that you can kill an isolated Abyssal guard and we can cover it up when the prowlers check in over the radio.

Just make sure they don't find the body, because there's no way we can cover _that_ up from over here.

And some of their patrol routes are laid out so that they'd run into each other at specific intervals, in which an absence would trigger an area-wide alarm for a missing unit and a possible intruder.

Don't worry, we'll help you identify those whom you can safely kill."

"And the not-so-good news?"

"Even for an auxiliary computer terminal, it's going to take a while to crack this one.

And we run the risk of our mission being blown if the Abyssals detect our our attempts to sift through and tamper with their data…"

"Just do it.

It can't get any worse than this."

Crawling through the urban hellscape while evading the pale alien invaders prowling the streets and clearing the occasional house, she saw that the map in her mind showed that there was an adult day care center to the General Hospital's North.

"Akashi, Jackie, anything in this day care center I should take note of?

The auxiliary terminal must've told you things…"

"Nope, that day center's where they dispose of their corpses.

Whatever medical supplies in there must've been cleared before then, so there's absolutely nothing of worth in there.

I've always despised those kinds of buildings, always stuffed with the dying and mostly tainted with the stench of an incurable disease called senescence, the kind that I can't empathize with or cure despite all my medical knowledge."

She idly remarked while sidling up to a corner in a crouched position,

"Don't say that, you're a repair ship and should see the bright side of things.

I'm confident that I can find some adult diapers inside that'll snugly fit you and Ma'am Jackie."

A no doubt fuming Sendai-Class light cruiser then reminded her of what was in her hands and was pointed in Shiranui's general direction.

"Do know that I have a loaded sniper rifle trained on you right now.

Do _not_ antagonize me."

"I'm a repair ship, Jackie, so if you're planning to put a bullet through her head, I can help you cover up the evidence during the autopsy.

Just what I needed, _two_ mouthy little brats…"

Shiranui didn't think of herself as an emotive ship girl, but she was doing her best to hold back a smile at how even veterans had their own sore points which Shiranui managed to get a jab in and witnessed a side to them which few managed to discern, due to their aloof demeanor and detachment from others after having been through so much.

"So, what exactly did you find on those servers?"

"Well, not too much, but enough that we can work with for now.

But you wanna know something?

Woxanne's here, and she's in the mobile communication terminal inside the General Hospital to both take note of the logistic details and also to access confidential material."

Shiranui paused while in the midst of lifting a window pane to climb into the building, her expression crumpling in consternation to consider this new piece of information as Akashi personally spoke to her regarding this new piece of information.

"We'll get back to you on what to do with Woxanne.

As of now, continue with identifying the leak, mining the transportation vehicles, computer servers, generators and even the repair vehicles if you can make it."

She entered the window of a nearby house in order to enter a bedroom shortly before her radar picked up an enemy presence in the house and caused her heart rate to shoot up out of paranoia.

Hearing the pair of footsteps closing in on her position, she had no choice but to run up the wall to her side, propelling herself into the opposite wall to slap her arms on the corridor and pushed out to firmly anchor herself before touching the ceiling with her back to form an arch above the Ri-Class cruiser who passed beneath her.

There was no need to worry about sweat dripping down her forehead because of her face veil, but the fact that the Ri-Class's hair passed about four centimeters beneath her bulletproof vest and equipment as she anxiously fretted over being discovered was certainly not beneficial to her psychological health in the long run.

Dropping to the floor once the Abyssal had rounded the next corner, Shiranui crept out of the house's window to peek around the corner, witnessing the Kameda General Hospital and its two main buildings which were about ten stories high and were a prime target because of their high profiles, shells and missiles carving their pound of concrete flesh from the twin buildings without ever causing them to collapse.

The once well-tended but now cratered garden that was in almost every governmental hospital in order to facilitate a pleasant environment for a faster recovery was utterly wrecked as trees were reduced to stumps while the plants had been trampled on by steel heels and tracks, the many shorter buildings in the area allowing for the hospital to function now outfitted with rudimentary missile launchers, aerial reconnaissance systems and several dozen spotlights pointed up into the skies and at the sides of the towering twin buildings to seek out and eliminate intruders like Shiranui.

She was in.


	71. Chapter 71 - You Can't See Me

Shaping another C4 charge such that it wouldn't be immediately discovered before planting it on the generators, Shiranui had circled around to prepare for the worst all throughout the night, passing the time as Ma'am Jackie relocated herself so that she could cover Shiranui, and mission control could use this time to hack into the auxiliary terminal in order to continue the mission together.

Having climbed underneath combat vehicles to plant C4 underneath them while also scouting the area for possible entry routes and patrol patterns which were varied but ultimately predictable, she decided that scouting out the General Hospital would help her understand the terrain better and take in details which a map could never tell her.

She heard Aoba speak up,

"Shiranui, we've managed to hack into the auxiliary terminal to cover your tracks.

You're weapons-free, make sure the Abyssals don't discover the corpses you leave behind.

"Finally."

And Akashi spoke up regarding the detail about Woxanne's surprise presence in the General Hospital and what she was going to do about it.

"We've decided on our new course of action.

You'll still try to trace the mole through their servers, but try and spy on on Woxanne's interactions and activities in the terminals, and perhaps piggybacking off of her administrative access would make our jobs easier by being in the same room without her knowing it."

"No contact whatsoever?"

"Not yet, but I think the chance might come should you detonate the explosives and throw the entire area into chaos before chatting up Woxanne at gunpoint to interrogate her and buy our hackers more time.

Just an idea."

Ma'am Jackie's suggestion made sense, and Akashi's thoughts aligned with the senior light cruiser's sensible suggestion.

"I concur.

The ensuing chaos would give you a short window in which a distress signal sent by Woxanne likely wouldn't be heeded by many Abyssals until they bring the situation back under their control."

Shiranui crouched as she slipped past a Ri-Class cruiser who wielded an FN SCAR rifle, and she could mentally see that several patrol routes were uploaded into her HUD and helped her to predict where Abyssals were coming from, since even Ma'am Jackie's field of vision was limited.

The security here was heightened, crouching behind a corner to become one with the shadows as a Tsu-Class light cruiser noisily stepped on the gravel leading to the garden in the middle of the hospital while carrying an M4 Carbine, staring straight ahead and likely using her night vision to look into the darkness.

Just because she could kill anyone didn't mean she _had_ to, and it meant one less body to hide.

Looking at what remained of the main entrance to one of the two main buildings, Shiranui saw that a gigantic hole had been carved into it thanks to an explosion enlarging the entrance for a construction truck-sized vehicle to enter, moonlight streaming through it as Shiranui noted the unmoving Wo-Class positioned at the second floor railing straddled by two frozen elevators, facing the enlarged entrance to watch over it with a Dragunov sniper rifle.

Another method of infiltration was a pole up the side of the building leading into the gift shop, Shiranui making a detour as she asked the Demon Instructor.

"Jackie.

Are there any snipers looking the Southeast corner of the building closer to the ocean?"

Nope, because I've already taken them all out.

Thank goodness you covered our tracks, my trigger finger was starting to atrophy."

"Arthritis is treatable in the 21st century, you know?"

"Grr, one more joke about my age and this next bullet's going through your skull."

Shiranui was struggling to maintain her neutral expression as she scaled the pipe leading up to the second floor, transferring her right hand from the steel pole to the concrete ledge before climbing in through the windows as she slowly shifted her weight onto the foot which tenderly stepped on broken glass, crackling glass particles barely betraying her presence as a Ri-Class cruiser rounded the corner to find nothing, Shiranui making use of the distraction to sneak behind the Abyssal guard investigating the disturbance.

The souvenir shop was unlit as shattered glass and wrecked merchandise littered the floor, funnels of light betraying the Abyssal presence as bullet holes pockmarked the walls and stands once lined with medical supplies which were looted by the retreating ship girls, leaving behind useless souvenirs which were trampled on by its current occupants.

Using her Five-seveN to jam the door sensor so that it couldn't slide the doors open to inadvertently betray her presence, she tiptoed out of the store to slip into the hall and minimized the time spent in the light, slipping into a Ta-Class's blind spot after ensuring she wouldn't be spotted.

Looking at the Ta-Class battleship who wielded a Negev NG-7 light machine-gun, she took note of the heightened security in this hospital as she consulted her map of the place and traversed the waiting hall for patients, with the doctors' consultation rooms to her left.

Slipping into the hospital's server room as shown in the blueprints, it was filled with the buzzing and whirring of computers crunching the numbers regarding the condition of their fleets and battalions, as well as the resources consumed in their operations, possible routes and probabilities regarding odds of victory in various engagements, the hospital's electricity still flowing into this room to illuminate the cupboard-sized terminals.

Woxanne sat at the end of the server room and faced away from the door Shiranui entered from, and she chose not to disturb the conversation between Woxanne and Yuubari while she slipped the thumb-drive into the relevant USB port for mission control to do their thing.

"Aoba, you getting this?"

"Clear as day.

We'll work on this information, plant the C4 on the servers around you but don't arm them yet.

Also listen in on Woxanne's conversation in the meantime, see what you can learn."

She was already working on it, shaping the C4 charge to be stuffed into the motherboards of the server which housed her server interface thumb-drive in order to eliminate all evidence, planting another C4 charge behind another server which was leaning against the wall to prevent it from being easily found, hearing Woxanne speak up while looking down at a monitor.

[ … proving far more tenacious and unyielding than we initially expected, as our last two battles showed.

Hurting Cynthia and Naka in the last battle was a major blow to our forces, and we might have to consider relocating some of our J.O.A.N. units from America to engage them in combat.]

[How long will they both take to repair?]

[Naka will require one week, and Cynthia, two and a half.]

Yuubari sounded contemplative, not yet reaching concerned, but slowly getting there as Shiranui felt quite proud that after putting up such a fierce fight and for all the suffering they had endured as they were put through the wringer, the Abyssals were starting to feel the thorn in their side in the form of resource depletion and mountains of Abyssal corpses.

[Swap me and Sakawa in once we make the push towards Tokyo.

I'll have some surprises prepared for the ship girls by then.

Amatsukaze has been sent over to your side since the Americans have been kiting us in America and we determined that the destroyer would be of more use on your front, and she'll be arriving on time to participate in the Battle of Tokyo Bay.]

Woxanne nodded obediently as Yuubari continued.

[We have been informed that the ship girls will be attempting a counterattack in the Kimitsukagihara Country Club, prepare our forces up North and South to surround them from all three directions along with our current Abyssal forces which are hot on their heels.

If this goes well, we might be able to force their hand earlier than expected and even get our hands on one of their New Wave units.]

Alright, that was all she needed to know.

Pressing the trigger in her hand to detonate the C-4 outside this room, distant explosions sounded out as confused cries were drowned out by the rumbling which slightly shook the foundation of the General Hospital while hurried footsteps were heard down the darkened hallways, the server room also plunged into darkness since the backup generators took some time to power up.

Pulling herself up to a cupboard-sized computer server and lying prone to avoid being seen while being sandwiched in between the computer server's roof and the ceiling, she heard the guards check on and confirm the situation with their superior officer.

[Woxanne, we appear to have an intruder on the premises!

We'll scout around, stay here until we've locked down the area and located the intruder!]

[Understood.]

The Ri-Class left the room urgently while cocking her M16 assault rifle to prepare for a shootout, and Shiranui unfurled to pull out her Five-seveN from her holster before landing on the ground to approach Woxanne, piping up to announce her presence.

"No need to look for the intruder, she's right here.

Hands up, and get up from your seat."

Woxanne was surprised by Shiranui's presence, Shiranui keeping her distance to prevent Woxanne from taking possession of her pistol as she eyed the seated Abyssal, wary of any weapons on her as she icily voiced.

"Take out any weapons on you and drop them.

I spot a weapon on you, I'm emptying this magazine in your head."

The arms slowly disappeared in her cape before displaying her fingers pinching the Walther P99 pistol's handle to drop it, getting up to display the upwards-pointing shark head shaped like an 'A' to symbolize being the spokesperson and lapdog of the Abyssal higher-ups, Woxanne raising her hands as Shiranui pushed away the chair Woxanne previously sat on.

Turning behind to look Shiranui in the eye, Shiranui had leveled her pistol at center mass as she started off the conversation on her terms,

"First question.

What was that about your plans for Kimitsukagihara Country Club and a counterattack?"

[So you heard?

We have received intelligence that you're attempting a counterattack, is it not natural for us to set a trap after realizing your plans?]

"My guess is that you know of this plan because of the mole in our base.

Who is she?"

[I don't know.

And let's not kid ourselves, did you think that I, a mere messenger and errand girl for my masters, was going to be in on the loop about this?]

Hm, as much as Shiranui wanted to deny it, what Woxanne said was reasonable, glowering as she watched Woxanne continue on.

[But…

With you as the New Wave ship girl specializing in stealth, you might be the one to uncover her identity sooner than we think…]

"How so?"

Cocking the hammer of her pistol despite knowing that Abyssals were unafraid of dying due to their utilitarian and impersonal nature, giving this Abyssal carrier some personality and individuality didn't change as it only got a nonplussed blink out of Woxanne before responding.

[You are one of Yokosuka's spies, and add what you already know about spy work to your New Wave power, which appears to grant you an adult body and a stealth suit along with it; not too great of a power - ]

"It helps me gets the job done, and that's all I need."

[Fair enough.

I suppose letting me see you was part of the plan?]

"I wouldn't be a very good spy if it wasn't, no?"

Woxanne lifted an eyebrow in agreement and was the most an Abyssal bothered to emote, Shiranui listening to Aoba speaking into her ear about where the leak was coming from.

"The leak's being bounced off of various communication relays in naval bases which are overrun by Abyssals, and these bases can't be infiltrated that easily even by you without the proper distractions and backup

Whatever stored records of their encrypted conversations on our servers prior to World War 3 have been 'conveniently' destroyed by the advancing Abyssals, both hiding her identity and delaying our attempts to trace her calls and decipher what they've been talking about.

We can tell that she's leaking information about our retreat into the Kimitsukagihara Country Club, and we're scrapping those plans and making arrangements to reposition our troops and get them beyond Tokyo Bay to prepare for the Tokyo Defense."

Woxanne was leaning in close as her eyes twinkled, appearing interested in the encrypted signal being emitted from Shiranui as she asked,

[You have comrades backing you up, hmm?]

"Of course.

Despite my stellar infiltration skills, I was definitely not going to come here alone.

Now then…"

Shiranui stepped in, her Five-seveN trained on Woxanne as she kicked aside the P99 pistol to minimize the odds of Woxanne picking it up, the thought of Amazon company's counterattack failing before it even started without her intervention clouding her judgement with justified fury as she swung her free fist in a hook towards Woxanne's head.

Woxanne deftly blocked her incoming hook, but Shiranui's right leg was brought up for brutal kick to Woxanne's abdomen as the Abyssal's back crashed into the interface panel, the handle of Shiranui's Five-seveN swinging down like an executioner's axe towards Woxanne's neck, stunning Woxanne as Shiranui holstered her Five-seveN and lifted up the crumpled Abyssal up by clamping the sides of her head.

Right before throwing Woxanne's head into the surface and following through the motions as though performing a slam dunk, warping the surface and shattering glass as they embed themselves into the carrier's face while fizzling sparks were thrown up, Woxanne's bloodied head rebounding as she curled into a fetal position while clutching at her bleeding face, helplessly slipping back down to the floor while Shiranui seethed and loomed over the Abyssal carrier with the promise of more violence should she fail to provide an adequate answer.

"The mole said that we were going to the Kimitsukagihara Country Club and revealed our hand to you before our preparations are even finished.

What else has she said about us?"

[ … Urgh…

You will have to try harder than that…]

And upon pushing herself off the floor while leaning on the side of the interface panel, Shiranui's left foot shot out in order to crush Woxanne's skull in between the sole of her boot and the panel's steel to dent it, Woxanne limbs spasming in a pseudo-epileptic fit as she crumpled lifelessly to the floor.

Rolling Woxanne over with her boot to check if the Abyssal was still breathing, blood poured from her mouth and nose as Shiranui manhandled Woxanne and threw her down onto the chair, Shiranui then changed tactics from force to reason and leaned in to play the ambiguous and potentially treacherous nature of a spy against the recovering Abyssal.

"Listen, how you know she hasn't turned against you Abyssals yet?

Before, we didn't even know of this spy's existence and we wouldn't be talking right now.

And yet, here we are, me beating the crap out of you simply because she was traced back here right when you were visiting and got in my cross-hairs."

Woxanne hardly winced as she fumbled while squeamishly pulling a glass shard out of her left cheek due to the slick shard surface and her blood stained gloves, the glass shard dropping to the ground while Woxanne lowered her gaze and remained silent, allowing her to continue.

"Me finding out that you Abyssals are going to thwart our counterattack at Kimitsukagihara Country Club means that an easy victory has been snatched from your grasp because of her.

She's definitely not working with us, which is why I'm here in the first place, but with us finding out about her existence, and now this, can you trust her not to compromise your side any more than she already has?

I understand that you want to protect your superiors, just give me enough information to start to pull her out of the spotlight and we can both go our separate ways."

There was certainly a light which was lit in Woxanne's eyes which belied the critical thinking on her part in order to consider her situation and make her own choices before acquiescing to her demands.

[I was telling the truth when I said I did not know who she was, but I do know this.

She knows that you would be working your way into Project Psyche and would become a New Wave ship girl sooner or later.]

Shiranui put two and two together, suspecting that the mole knowing of her bugging Admiral Mako's meeting while hanging out more often with Shigure was likely related to Shigure's flashy entrance with her H.A.L.O. suit to fight Simurgh, and it wasn't out of the question to think that Shiranui would receive her New Wave powers along with Shigure.

The question was: who was privy to that alliance?

There was Akashi who had the motive to betray the humans, but clearly hated Abyssals even more than she hated humans, and would never deign to work with them.

She heard Aoba speak up about their objective regarding the mole causing an intelligence leak as she kept her hand hovering over her holstered Five-seveN in order to discourage any rash movements from Woxanne.

"Shiranui, we've located the leak and patched it up, since it was part of the communication system which was created to coordinate movements on the ocean and land.

And since this requires a drastic expansion of the current communication and coordination system in Yokosuka to accommodate land units some time before World War 3, it'd stand to reason that some security loopholes would exist before being reviewed and patched.

Now, the mole can't leak any more information from the existing loopholes which we've uncovered without us noticing, so there's that for now."

Shiranui looked down at Woxanne, grabbing the Abyssal's hair and jerking her head closer to hers while angling her holster away from the Abyssal so as not to allow it to be taken out of her possession,

"Where else can I find leads on the mole?"

[The exposé on your human backers would be the best bet.

She told us a lot about what they had been up to, and she's certainly out for their blood more than you are and plans to bring them down on her own volition.]

Shiranui considered how the mole being emotionally invested in revealing Central's less scrupulous activities would mean that a slip-up was more likely, although she reminded herself that if the mole was skilled enough to not have anyone suspect her as a mole for so long, Shiranui had to actively pressure and corner her into making one even then.

Ma'am Jackie's voice then piped up over the radio with a warning regarding the situation which was developing outside the training room,

"Shiranui.

I'm seeing movement in the direction of your room, the Abyssals are likely headed there in order to breach the server room and kill you.

I can take some of them out, but get the hell out of there."

Unhanding Woxanne and casting a wary glance at the closed door which could come crashing down at any moment, Woxanne huffed as she struggled to get up from her chair and wiping the blood from her face, instead smearing it all over like war paint.

[We'll be prepared… for you next time.

Don't think you'll be able to do this in our future… installations.]

"I know you'll reinforce your security, but the reason why I'm even showing myself to you in the first place is the simple fact that I'm confident it won't matter.

I'm not so magnanimous as to let you even suspect that I'm even in the same city as you all in my future missions, and certainly not right behind you when you least expect it."

Shiranui reached back to grab a flash grenade and unpinned it as she heard hurried footsteps slow down behind the door, whipping out her Five-seveN as the door was punted off of its hinges while Shiranui lifted the pistol to jam the ceiling light before the flashbang grenade left Shiranui's hand in order to stun and blind the Abyssals rushing in, whipping out of the corner to have her superhuman reflexes complement her battle-hardened veteran abilities to unleash Hell.

Shooting the three Ri-Class cruisers in the eye where their armor was weak and hearing their dying hands squeeze the trigger to fire off several rounds around the room, Woxanne dived towards her P99 pistol while Shiranui was distracted with leaving the room, landing with her right shoulder sliding on the tiled floor to squeeze several shots off in Shiranui's direction as she ducked to allow projectiles to zip over her head and punch several cracked holes into existence on the walls.

Leaning against the wall near the room's only door, she observed a Tsu-Class cruiser in the reflection of a computer server's fragmented glass opposite her, the Abyssal hurling a fragmentation grenade which rebounded back towards Shiranui before diving away, the Kagerou-Class destroyer kicking it out of the room and sent it flying into an approaching Ne-Class cruiser, similarly throwing herself to the floor as the cooked grenade detonated at point-blank range.

"Keep down!"

Shiranui unquestioningly followed Ma'am Jackie's instruction as a bloody funnel was forcibly pierced through the wall which she leaned on, Shiranui slipping out to find the headless Tsu-Class who threw the grenade slide lifelessly to the ground as blood erupted copiously from her exposed neck, Shiranui whipping back as Woxanne emptied her P99's magazine in Shiranui's direction before hurling her empty pistol in her face.

Slapping away the thrown firearm while her body jerked from two bullets impacting her beneath her collarbone and hitting her kidney, she was tackled by the charging Woxanne as they leaned perilously over the windows to allow their centers of balance to shift over the ledge, Shiranui's heart stopping for a second as the ground entered her field of vision and spun around the both of them along with the night sky.

[Raaarrrgh!]

Everything became weightless and caused her insides to feel queasy, looking into Woxanne's face as they both flew out the window while whatever grains of glass fell along with them caught and reflected the pale moonlight to shine like starry diamonds in the night.

Slamming into the ground sent shockwaves throughout her body, and she was lucky enough to land on the Abyssal whom tackled her out of the window, the crash-landing likely attracting every Abyssal in a hundred meter radius as she shook off the pain and crawled back to her feet.

Another crack sounded out through the bustling alien-infested town, the searchlight which was trailing down the side of the main building towards her escaping figure inexplicably shut off and allowed her to slip back into the shadows as armed Abyssals stampeded in her direction.

And as the crowd of monochrome soldiers surrounded the miniscule crater while others faced outwards, she made a clean getaway with tons of help from Ma'am Jackie as she squatted behind a corner to hear Akashi speak into her mind.

"Time to make yourself scarce, Shiranui.

Blow up the main server room in order to wipe all physical traces of us hacking into their servers before proceeding to the designated extraction point in the forest and meeting up with Ma'am Jackie."

Doing just that with the second batch of C4 in the main server room, the wall which she leaned on shuddered as the explosion was felt throughout the building, the fireball temporarily illuminating the Abyssal figures as they tensed up and raised their rifles before the hail of smoking debris harmlessly pelted them, Shiranui using the distraction to outpace the Abyssals which warily spread out in pairs to find the intruder.

"Watch out.

I see you coming down the alley, hug the shadowed wall opposite you."

Doing so while an air-conditioner condenser unit shielded her figure, a Ri-Class carrier looked down her alley with an aside glance before moving on while carrying a FAMAS assault rifle, Shiranui released the breath she held before taking in another shaky breath before pausing to stomach a jolt of pain arising in her lower left rib cage, slipping out after successfully suppressing the pain.

Tiptoeing behind another Wo-Class who hurried along as Shiranui bid her time behind several crates while throwing back a look to see the beacon of howling flames erupting from the wrecked server room on the fifth level of the Kameda General Hospital, Shiranui then crept through the destroyed houses to make her way back towards the forest from whence she came.

She had sustained several cracked bones and ribs thanks to Woxanne throwing them both out of a window, was also shot a few times thanks to the Wo-Class carrier and was much worse off than if she were to just sneak away with the then available information.

But in return, she now bought enough time for mission control to figure out that their counterattack at the Kimitsukagihara Country Club was doomed to fail, and she beat the information out of Woxanne and now knew that their lead on Central was something personal to the mole which could be traced back to her if they played their cards right.

Slinking out of enemy territory as she jammed several artificial light sources in the area, Shiranui was glad to be out of that dreadful place after a successful first mission, not in terms of what could have gone better (there were plenty), but rather what they got out of the enemy's intelligence networks as well as Woxanne, retracing her steps back into the forest before eventually spotting Ma'am Jackie hiding close to the extraction point, waiting for her.

* * *

" … our intelligence networks uncovered the fact that our counterattack at the Kimitsukagihara Country Club would be doomed to fail prematurely, we'll push our schedule further ahead and secure Tokyo Bay before moving to the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa.

From our location, most of us will be transported to the coastal cities by the bay via helicopter for us to hit the ocean in Tokyo Bay and rendezvous with your comrades from Yokosuka."

The makeshift meeting room which was crowded with ship girls responded with deafening silence which filled the air, and Tenryuu could understand the palpable exhaustion and weariness plaguing Amazon company.

A dozen ship girls had already died, and while none of them had failed to be brought back to life thanks to their portable docks, permanent casualties were long overdue if they were going to keep this pace of consecutive battles up for much longer, and the usual grieving process had considerably shortened from the hysterical sobbing and crying over the corpses of their comrades and sisters during their down time in between sorties to sullenly lowering their heads for about ten seconds before moving on.

Their old lives had died ever since World War 3 began, and Amazon company, like many other ship girl and human battalions out there, had to fight on and not grieve too long for the fallen, creating an air of surprisingly callous apathy which hung over them as if to say,

' _Shit's already hit the fan and we're all stuck chest-high in a quicksand full of it, so what if it managed to miss a spot?'_

Fortunately, a significant portion of them had the fire reignited in their eyes upon hearing that they'd see their sister ships and comrades again, and Ma'am Jackie thankfully saw that they were too tired to care about being shouted at for their lackluster response, continuing her briefing while addressing everyone in the room as equals who fought alongside her on the battlefield.

"We'll get some shut-eye on the ride to the prefecture of Futtsu near Tokyo Bay, and we'll meet up with the ship girls of Yokosuka who'll be sortieing from the West.

There'll also be jet fighters sortieing from the mainland and JMSDF vessels occupying the ocean, JGSDF forces fighting to the death for every block and street before we retreat into Tokyo.

After holding onto Tokyo for as long as feasibly possible, we'll probably be flown to the neighboring Shizuoka prefecture, where the Abyssals are moving up the Izu Peninsula and conquering the Amagi Mountain Range to take over Mount Fuji."

Of course, that was neither here nor there since it would still be some weeks away, and it was best for them to focus on Tokyo Bay and the subsequent Tokyo defense before worrying about the most famous mountain in Japan, but the scrapped plans for the counterattack at the Kimitsukagihara Country Club meant one less battle which wouldn't tax their stamina to the point of exhaustion.

"Rest up tonight, and we'll move out at 0800 hours tomorrow morning on the 26th of May to fight in the Battle of Tokyo Bay to buy enough time for a mass rerouting to Tokyo.

Dismissed."

The entire room was then occupied with the sound of reluctant movement, ship girls getting off their butts and stretching while others left to be alone with their thoughts, Tenryuu exiting the room while giving a aside glance to Tatsuta to subtly indicate that she wanted to be left alone with her thoughts, strolling around aimlessly until she found a corner in the building which wasn't populated by moping ship girls.

Right before sitting herself down to mope all by herself.

Sure, she was much more mature now, but this world war kept hanging over them like a Sword of Damocles, an ever present concern which they seemingly couldn't find any respite from no matter where they ran, like the occupants on a liferaft which tried their best to remain calm as they drifted without sight of land.

They'd slowly find themselves succumbing to a growing panic as the rationed food was slowly depleted, dangerous thoughts borne from a desperate and ravenous thirst for survival seeping into and poisoning their minds, which the impartial law would harshly judge back under the safe blanket of civilization.

"U-Um, Tenryuu-san?"

Tenryuu jerked her head back up and saw that Inazuma was standing next to her, and she had grown considerably to a point where she could look a Kagerou-Class destroyer in the eye while her other sister ships came up short since looked like they were still in kindergarten, hence the 'Tenryuu's Kindergarten' nickname.

The army uniform was an ill-suited fit to her still-childish body and pacifistic demeanor, her innocent face and tender body posture still resembling the default Inazuma in Tenryuu's mind as the destroyer leaned over with a concerned look in her wide eyes.

She wiped the surprise from her face as she patted the floor in between her spread legs in order to invite the Akatsuki-Class destroyer to sit with her.

"Come on, sit down, Inazuma.

I could use some company."

Inazuma graciously accepted the offer, Inazuma pressing her non-existent dress in before sitting out of habit and allowed the silence to linger between them, Tenryuu slowly finding the quiet air unbearable due to the stillness of death and loss associated with it as though basking in the aftermath of a pyrrhic victory, filling it with her anxieties regarding their friends and the wrong kind of attention they were attracting.

"I'm…

I'm afraid that because of me, Tatsuta and the rest of us, the Abyssals will keep sending stronger and stronger Abyssal boss units to kill us.

And while I'm still concerned about my own odds of survival, I'm more worried about our company's band of ship girls, who might get killed in the crossfire since they don't have… you know…"

Inazuma nodded understandingly, prompting the light cruiser to dare to confide more in her demure senior who was shorter than her as she asked,

"I don't know…

I'm afraid of dying, I can accept that and use it to push myself forward, but I'm just wondering…

What if our comrades get hurt because of us, because we were only strong enough to defend ourselves and weren't strong enough to protect everyone else?

I mean, all it takes is one time for someone to die on our watch…"

That thought left a sour taste in her mouth as she looked away, tearing away her eyepatch in order to complete the thousand-yard stare as her left eye squinted in response to the sudden influx of sunlight streaming into her optics, eventually hearing Inazuma responding with her own opinion.

"Well, think about it this way.

If they spend all their time plotting to attack and kill us, they won't be murdering ship girls from other companies or naval bases, many of whom are unfit to deal with them like we are since we have more ship girls and resources supplied by a larger naval base.

That's the best justification I can give, and it's what I'll stick with to the end since no other naval base has their own fleet of super-powered ship girls, right?"

Tenryuu halted her train of thoughts as she considered the extremely reasonable point which Inazuma made, and it made a lot of sense since the New Wave ship girls were all from one naval base, but while some might say that it put all their eggs in one basket, at least it didn't spread them out too thin when in battle.

Grimly chortling at the thought of her past self likely fantasizing about and role-playing the battles she recently survived with a romantic tint, she now knew that stories and reality were two entirely different worlds where the romanticized stories of valiant fights were really just desperate struggles for survival, and the romanticizing came later to censor the horrid details.

"Yeah, I guess you're right.

It's just, I know fighting a Beast was tough, but to see one put up such a vicious fight…

I'm just glad that I'm even alive at all, and I'm wondering just how we managed to last this long in the first place."

Inazuma nodded sagely along with Tenryuu's words, ruminating over them before giving her answer as a senior who had seen her fair share in both world wars.

"Tenryuu-san.

You didn't stand against the Beast and Princess alone, and neither did anyone who came before you as even experienced ship girls can lose when going up against Princesses, especially the installation types which possess far more health and firepower at the price of being stuck in one place.

Focusing on the objective and protecting your friends aren't mutually exclusive, but should the time come for you to focus on the objective or protecting your friends, it's understandable if you prioritized the objective over us.

After all, our objectives come from superiors who can hopefully see things much more clearly than we do, and hopefully your actions and choices would help us win World War 3, because remember, you're now fighting on a scale which needs you to fight for the greater good because of your superpowers."

"Yeah, that makes sense.

I have to learn to make hard choices and live with them, and I now miss those days where I just role-played the strong warrior which could kill Abyssals without having to consider the responsibilities and the fears which accompany it, especially once I have more people to protect.

Was this what Kiso warned me about?"

The Kuma-Class torpedo cruiser, in spite of achieving so many victories with her dreaded but effective 8th Fleet, always had that look of weariness when she thought Tenryuu wasn't looking, much like a war veteran enjoying the company of children even when watching them play war dredged up some dark memories, since going through so much would eventually take their toll on her psyche no matter how resilient she was against the wanton bloodshed and seemingly pointless loss of comrades.

It secretly registered on some level that she might end up like that someday, but damn, did it have to be this soon?

Inazuma understood where she was coming from, the Akatsuki-Class destroyer seemingly reading her mind to respond accordingly with another bit of life advice which came from the unlikeliest of sources.

"Tenryuu.

I know that you know you're not fighting alone, not with Tatsuta-san and others fighting alongside you.

But please, don't think that because more people are depending on you means that you have to be unyielding and willful all the time, it's alright to depend on us for comfort, reassurance and even for backup under the right circumstances.

And forgive the analogy, but the harder steel is, the more fragile it is, and the more stoic you try to be, the harder you'll break under a sudden traumatic experience as you epically fail to contain the surge of suppressed emotions."

Hmm, that made sense.

Being reserved like Shigure probably didn't work too well in certain situations like the Battle of Mikura Jima Island, where she broke down upon connecting the dots and seeing the similarities between that battle and the Battle of Surigao Strait.

Nodding in agreement as she hugged Inazuma like a security bolster as the destroyer exuded a calm form of, well, not self-confidence so much as self-assurance after having been through so much, and she always wanted to communicate with and understand this side of Inazuma which was shown most often to Hibiki, to Tatsuta on occasion, but hardly to Tenryuu aside from today.

"Hey, Inazuma…

How exactly do you remain so, well, sane even after so long and not end up like…

Like Akashi and the rest of the 8th Fleet, no offense to them?"

Inazuma nodded understandingly, the senior destroyer letting out a heavy breath which felt as if it was held for far too long after fighting in a war for about ten years before responding.

"Well, I had the benefit of not having a particularly angsty past, something which the 8th Fleet has admitted to on numerous occasions, even though I was the second-last ship girl in my class to sink behind Hibiki.

They've been through a lot which would have broken lesser ship girls even with the Admiral's support, and are arguably even weaker than me should they play within their statistical limits.

So, um, I must say that they're doing pretty well, all things considered."

That was debatable, but seeing how some ship girls ended up in the ship girl institute of mental health where Akashi once worked at, she supposed they did end up faring somewhat better than the ship girls who ended up there.

Not that it was much of an accomplishment, mind you, but an accomplishment nonetheless.

"Yes.

So, I suppose I've had Admiral Mako and other seniors to share my low points with while they chose to carry the burden of their experiences and pasts by themselves, warping them into becoming who they are today."

Inazuma then lowered her head to look at her boots, the both of them remaining silent for awhile and simply appreciated each other's presence as the sounds of muted activity in the building was more than enough to fill the void, Tenryuu reflecting on the times when Tenryuu's Kindergarten was still together and how they would play together away from the war, their pasts and the Abyssal War shielded by the bubble of civilization to help them grow as normal children.

Looking down at the Akatsuki-Class destroyer who was her senior and had been through scrapes of all varieties with Admiral Mako, Tenryuu regretted how she wasn't there for Inazuma back then, hugging the little girl seated in between her spread legs from behind and suddenly thinking about how Tenryuu couldn't be there for her when it mattered.

"You know, I've met several Inazumas from other naval bases, and while I admit that you possess your own charm as a ship girl who's earned her keep, I do miss the younger side of you and the 'nanodesu'.

And while I understand that this is really up to RNGesus, I wish that either I or Tatsuta could have been there for you in the base's early years, especially since we're both common spawns and crafts."

"Oh well, this is entirely based on luck, and we all know how unpredictable that is, so no point crying over the past.

I have my sister ships, you and Tatsuta-san now, and taking a page out of Shigure-san's book, 'there is no rain which wouldn't stop eventually'.

Things have gotten better since then, and I won't allow World War 3 to take away the fact that we have each other to depend on."

Tenryuu blinked at the stolen quote, but it made sense since Inazuma was one of the first few ship girls in Yokosuka and had to build the naval base which they knew and lived in from the ground up, Tenryuu suddenly voicing a thought which cropped up in her mind.

"Hey, Inazuma?"

"Yes?"

"Why did Admiral Mako throw you into Amazon company if you were her first ship girl?

I mean, the Admiral isn't so callous to treat you that way, so what's up with that?"

Tenryuu cracked her knuckles as a not-so-subtle indicator of her genuine desire to protect her charge, keep them happy and deal with anyone who made them upset, Inazuma's non-confrontational nature bleeding into her actions as she gently placed her palms over her clenched fists in order to pacify her as she assuaged Tenryuu's concerns.

"Hawawa…

Please, Tenryuu-san.

Admiral Mako treats me well, and it's not what you think.

I asked to be here, and she trusts me enough to take care of myself and the destroyers in Amazon company."

Tenryuu relaxed her muscles as she leaned down to look at Inazuma, the destroyer looking concerned that Tenryuu might get physical with the Admiral for her sake as a well-meaning but misguided attempt to right a nonexistent wrong.

"I… I understand that I'm not a very strong ship girl, and Admiral Mako was also skeptical about letting me enlist in the army, but I have to watch over Ikazuchi and the destroyers whom we are more closely associated with in this life despite being in different classes.

I'm not Admiral Mako's strongest ship girl due to my stats and is why I utilize my experience to carry me through battles, but Admiral Mako believes that my experience and emotional stability would be of more use on land, where the consecutive battles would demoralize us like Admiral Mako predicted."

"You…

You chose to be here?

I can't imagine anyone making that choice easily, to want to move from ocean to land and fight in a new environment which really takes its toll on our psyche."

"I-It's simple, really, Tenryuu-san.

For example, Ikazuchi hasn't been taking World War 3 very well, and me being here helps to smooth the transition over with a familiar face being with her all the way, lending a ear to listen to her sister's woes.

And now, I'm here for you too, nanodesu…"

"Yeah.

Thanks for that.

But that would mean that people rely on you heavily for emotional support, do you think you can handle the emotional stress?

I'm always here for you, as your friend and as, well, a junior who's willing to lend you a shoulder to lean on."

And to that, Inazuma finally took a break from being a child who was far too mature for her apparent age, her expression brightening the only way a child would as Inazuma turned to affectionately hug Tenryuu, surprising the Tenryuu-Class light cruiser but taking a weight off her shoulders and heart to see that Inazuma could still behave like this in a manner that doesn't feel forced.

"Thank you, Tenryuu-san.

I think growing into the dependable destroyer had always been out of necessity because I was the most senior destroyer, but I appreciate your help since it's tiring to carry everyone's emotional burdens with them, even if I have never regretted it for a second.

Please don't think you have to appear invincible all the time, Tenryuu-san, because we're smart enough to be able to recognize when you're pushing yourself too far, and I personally think that on some level, you showing some moments of weakness is preferable to us."

"Hm?

Why?"

Inazuma looked up from her hug as her face was pressed against Tenryuuu's bosom, looking genuinely confused about why Tenryuu would want to be that way.

"Well, don't you think that a stoic facade of invincibility suits an Abyssal more?

I would think that remaining relatable is also one responsibility of a hero, to inspire everyone else to do better in spite of their flaws?"

Tenryuu blinked, seeing where Inazuma was coming from since the Abyssals were supposed to be the stoic and emotionless ones.

And ship girls were admittedly weaker, there was no shame in being the underdogs who fought against superior foes and overwhelming odds, and appearing invincible would be nothing more than a pathetic farce in an attempt to look tough before breaking down eventually, either in public or in private.

Either outcome was equally unpleasant, the only difference being how many people would be privy to the initial fallout in a company as tight-knit as theirs.

"I… I suppose you're right."

Inazuma nodded, continuing her hug as she consoled the brooding light cruiser.

"I'm not going to say 'Please don't push yourself', Tenryuu-san, because that's who you are.

All I'm saying is that please, don't be afraid to lean back on us for support since we need each other now more than ever before."

"... Thank you."

* * *

"Ah!"

Hiei started as she awoke and caused to Haruna similarly flinch while remaining seated in her bedside chair, feeling the slight strain of the hospital clothes being quite stiff and coarse since it was likely new and hadn't been softened and smoothed from repeated wearing, undressing and washing, being worn by either the dead or dying who soiled it with blood to be discarded later.

Her death was violent as she pushed on in the face of buzzsaw-like gunfire, deafening bombardments and being surrounded by death reaping ally and foes alike, dying in a hail of gunfire which was numbed by her fading consciousness mercifully shutting down its internal systems in her final moments.

"Hiei, are you alright?

You were unconscious for a few days…"

Haruna sidled up to her as she took in the room they were in, the quasi-dilapidated state which was borne of destruction being covered up somewhat by the redecoration done to make it habitable at the very least, and the more hospitable rooms like this were reserved for the recovering ship girls, what with the minor cracks hidden behind the 'Get Well Soon' poster epitomizing that prioritization of their well-being.

The bedside desk was populated by 'Get Well Soon!' cards from the various ship girls, one of them having chibified 1st Fleet members drawn on them with Sharpie markers and signatures signed on them, beside which was a vase containing drooping flowers (an increasingly rare commodity) which were likely picked off the side of the road to convey their well wishes in a war.

Her HUD booted up and showed that it was the 26th May 2015, 2.42 a.m..

"T-The battle in the forest…

Naka's elephant Beast and the Aircraft Carrier Princess's flying Beast…"

"Don't worry, we won that battle.

We're now moving on from the cancelled country club battle to skip straight to the Battle of Tokyo Bay, even though the actual battle's more likely going to take place in the nearby Uraga Channel.

We'll be meeting with Kongou nee-san and Kirishima along with the rest of Yokosuka, so that's the silver lining in the form of the reprieve by meeting our sisters."

Steadying her breathing while doing her best to unwind after transitioning from a fiery and explosive death with a symphony of whizzing bullets, bone-shaking explosions and the howl of anguished ship girls still ringing in the back of her mind into a jarringly calm hospital ward with the deafening silence allowing the echoes of war to resonate in her mind, Haruna then pulled up her chair as she sat down beside Hiei with a reassuring hand being delicately placed on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Hiei.

The Abyssals won't get us here."

"In light of World War 3 doing everything it can to break us and our comrades, I find that rather hard to believe."

The chill dancing up her spine was not just because of dying, but dying while being forced to listen to the sounds of battle was what really got to her psychologically riled, feeling devastated about all her friends which she couldn't save before blacking out and lying on the hard dirt instead of sinking back into the pitch-black embrace of the ocean, which was not unlike a fish-out-of-water experience.

"Hiei."

Looking up into her younger sister's eyes, she could see that Haruna's sisterly concern was on display and was making her feel guilty of dying and making her worry about the very real possibility of dying for real, an occurrence which would become much more likely as the war kept draining their reserves and kept piling on the casualties.

"Hiei, you really had me worried when your name came up on the casualty list.

Do you feel anything that's out of place or didn't heal right?"

Watching her HUD display several diagnostic reports to give her the all-clear, she shook her head while still reeling from the fact that the pandemonium of battle inexplicably reached a conclusion which could be interpreted as something resembling a victory.

"I couldn't do much in that battle, I died.

Haruna, I'm sorry for making you worry about me.

I'll definitely do better next time!"

And to that, Haruna looked down ashamedly as she whispered, and while Hiei didn't manage to hear her the first time, she was left floored upon Haruna utter,

"I'd rather you didn't."

Pulling back to look at a dejected Haruna averting her gaze, she allowed the uncomfortable silence to pry the answers out of her sister, the tension worming its way into the fidgeting Haruna as her younger sister elaborated

"It's just…

You work so hard, but you -

I'm scared that all your hard work will be for naught when the Abyssals eventually overwhelm us with their intimidating force and numbers, as well as boss units which we've either only been able to fight to a draw or outright lose to in battle.

How else can I convince you to exercise some restraint and moderation by _not_ jumping into harm's way?

Must you push yourself this hard to the point of death for everyone's sake?"

"I have to, everyone's doing the same for us.

How can I face our friends if I don't give my all?"

"Then how am I supposed to face Kongou and Kirishima nee-san, as well as myself if you die while 'giving your all'?!"

Hiei reeled back as her heart felt the blow from the stinging blow of that question, Haruna's dejected aura almost appearing to encompass the sadness Kongou and Kirishima would feel in their stead as a empathetic sister.

"I'm afraid, Hiei.

Sometimes, I cry when I'm alone and I think back about how we were all picked off one by one by the cruel hand of fate up above, only to be revived in order to do it all again.

I'm not alone in thinking that us being vessels of fuel and steel back then was actually a blessing in disguise since we went through hell without being conscious of our surroundings, God knows what I might have done to myself if I were to go through all that with the ability to perceive loss like we do now.

But while I've become stronger and can endure anything from the never-ending hordes of Abyssals to the eventuality of my own death and our loss, I just can't bear to lose you again, Hiei.

As you grew into your own and became independent, a part of me was proud, another fell in love with your strength of character, and the last part was horrified to think that you'd be repeating history."

"Oh, Haruna…"

Hiei clasped Haruna's limply hanging hands with her own, Haruna hanging her head and lowering her gaze such that she'd look down at the floor as she continued whilst beginning to sob, beads of budding tears starting to form on her watering eyes.

"Back then, I wanted to make my feelings known to nee-san, because I'm afraid.

I'm not the paragon of virtue everyone expected me to be, because while I understand that a good soldier must embody the concept of self-sacrifice for the greater good and for the sake of victory, I'm not so noble as to callously watch you run off to your death.

I dread facing the hopelessness and desperation in the wake of our loss without you, the one and only Hiei from Yokosuka whom I've bared my heart and body to, if you left me and became the straw which broke the camel's back that is my heart."

Dropping to her knees, Haruna looked up pleadingly at a shocked Hiei who was unable to comprehend the fact that Haruna was about to grovel at her feet.

"Please forgive my insolence, nee-san.

But no matter how immoral and selfish I must seem to you for valuing my sisters in front of me over the fate of the world, I beg of you.

Please, as impossible as it sounds, _please_ don't risk your life in battle, I can't stand the thought of losing you again, especially not when I've fallen for you.

Even though I know how this conversation's going to end, please… please allow me to believe _."_

And even then, Hiei endured the sour taste in her mouth and the heart-wrenching agony of denying Haruna her wish, her palms clasping Haruna's moist cheeks in order to wipe away the tears which rolled down and stained them, remorsefully whispering loud enough for Haruna to hear as though having committed a sin by unwittingly trampling all over Haruna's feelings.

"I'm sorry, Haruna.

So… so sorry, but…"

"It's alright, Hiei.

Say it."

Hiei couldn't say she understood Haruna's fears since she was the first Kongou-Class and perhaps the first IJN battleship to sink in the Pacific War, and she also found herself to be rather selfish since Hiei demanded that Haruna accept her desire to fight harder and risk her life for the sake of others over herself, guiding her sniffling sister ship back into a standing position as she met Haruna's gaze and continued.

"I wish we could have been together earlier to iron the kinks out in our relationship.

But when it comes to you or my duty, I'd choose my duty every time, which is why I'll be participating in the Battle of Tokyo Bay in spite of all your concerns.

I can't fulfill your wish of always keeping myself out of harm's way because it's our duty as soldiers to fight on, and I can't get sidetracked by fear or hesitation.

And besides, I fight for both our sake and for a future where we'd be together."

That last line caused the junior battleship hesitated in the face of Hiei's headstrong conviction coming to an impasse with Haruna's motherly and even romantic concern, Haruna finally acquiescing in order to accept Hiei's unwavering and ultimately justified resolve.

"So is there nothing I can do to change that steadfast dutifulness of yours?"

" … No."

Haruna lowered her gaze in order to think about Hiei's words, finally coming to an uneasy compromise as a world-weary sigh escaped her lips.

"I guess I can't change that part of you after all, Hiei nee-san, and that's why I fell in love with you.

But all that armor must translate into a thick skull in your case, and if that's so…"

Looking up at Haruna, Hiei closed her eyes with puckered lips as body heat wastransmitted between the lips of a similarly blushing but boldly advancing Haruna and a blushing yet pleasantly surprised Hiei, the lip contact precipitating a jolt of pleasure which wasn't physically climatic but instead softly heartwarming and refreshing, like a fire being re-lit from within her body as it washed down the back of Hiei's mouth, slipping down her parched throat and diffusing into the organs throughout her body via her spine, intimately feeling Haruna's body tremble joyously from the contact.

Feeling their tongues intertwine in their groping as they felt each other out in their passionate kiss, Hiei eventually pulled back to allow the trail of saliva hanging from both their tongues to grow in a hanging arc before Hiei wiped it away with her sleeve, both battleships now huffing with tinged cheeks as every breathless gasp released more estrogen into the seemingly humid air between them, Hiei's expression softening upon seeing Haruna calm down after that heated exchange of bonds and duty, along with the inherent turmoil when it came to choosing one over the other.

"I love you, Hiei nee-san."

"I know.

But I can't do everything by myself, and I want you to be a part of my future.

Fight alongside me and help me end this war.

Will you be with me to the end?"

" … _Always."_

Hiei allowed Haruna to pull her in for a hug as her standing younger sister's bosom pressed into her face while she sat on the hospital bed, basking in her sister ship's motherly radiance, physical warmth and gentle embrace as she relaxed, allowing Haruna's familial-slash-romantic love to banish the stress as it threatened to propagate from the darkest corners of her mind, especially after fighting the taxing battles and surviving the defensive retreats.

Hiei was then laid back down to rest by Haruna and was the last thing she saw before nodding off, a final stab of doubt which rebelled at the thought of spurning Haruna's love in such trying times being brushed off by her undying resolve to fight on for everyone's sake, but she allowed herself to enjoy Haruna's company as their fingers intertwined and didn't let go.


	72. Chapter 72 - Eye of the Storm

**Author's Note**

 _Just letting everyone know that I'm taking a break from writing fanfics to try my hand at writing an original manga-based light novel._

 _And while I don't want to completely abandon the stories I've written since I just can't stand leaving a story unfinished, the updates will come much slower, if at all as my priorities change._

 _I won't apologize for my prioritization of creating an original story to test my writing skills over riding on the coattails of an established franchise to garner said franchise's fans, but I will at least apologize for choosing such an awkward timing to start on my original work, especially when I'm deep into working on two fanfics which I've poured my heart into._

 _Sorry._

* * *

Junyou was walking alongside her 1st Fleet comrades which had been grouped with her since their relatively recent Yokosuka days, and while she hadn't been in too many sorties with them compared to other fleets, she still considered them fire-forged friends after nonetheless after going up against the _Flying Dutchman_ at Mikura Jima Island, a Northern Water Princess in the Battle of Twelve Navies and slogging through the hell that was World War 3.

Honestly, she didn't have sister ships in Yokosuka, so having them as replacements was a simple affair as she halted her conversation with Hiei upon nearing the room were Shigure was housed after finding out that her fatigue wasn't going anyway, since the H.A.L.O. suit had drained her more than expected.

Well, Junyou counted no less than five of those Hyper Beams called X-Burners being fired in battle, and managing to meet Simurgh's Hyper beam halfway _had_ to carry some kind of consequence.

And of course, the resident sociopathic repair ship was in the room with her, and was having none of Shigure's glib talk as a patient who was strapped to the bed to restrain her movements.

"I don't even mind sortieing as a ship girl on the ocean, I want - "

"Let me put it this way.

You stay out of this upcoming battle, or I swear I will fucking _bitch-slap_ you back to 1-2-7.

I have no use for a soldier who doesn't listen to orders."

Junyou lifted an eyebrow at the threat of using physical violence on a _goddamned child_ to turn her back to her base elements of fuel, ammo and steel, but she reluctantly agreed with Akashi that Shigure, in light of pushing herself too far and was now fatigued, what with her sleeping like a corpse for days on end in order to send the orderlies into a minor anxiety attack, waking up to still look sleep-deprived as though having finished a cross-continent marathon in her unremodeled state and required a friend to feed Shigure her three meals.

Hiei coughed while Tatsuta knocked on the door, both room occupants looking up at the visiting 1st Fleet as Akashi whipped her mop of pink hair around to glare at their supposed intruders, Hiei warily asking on their behalf,

"Um, is this a bad time?

It _is_ visiting hours."

" … Whatever."

Leaping out from her seat and shooting Shigure a death glare which was thankfully not observed by them as it had the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer shriveling up from its intensity before stomping off, the 1st Fleet almost being sideswiped by Akashi's shoulder near the exit as her heels vehemently hit the floor as if it had wronged her somehow, and Junyou heard a secretly fearful Tenryuu wait to be out of earshot before making a snide comment.

"Wow, what's with that bitch, she in _that_ time of the month now? What a control freak."

"Oh, please don't mind her.

Along with ensuring our well-being as a medic, Akashi-san's likely worried about leaving things to chance or outside factors after having lost Yuubari in a sortie which she had no control over.

I also think that it's honestly cute when Akashi flares up and displays her concern like that, it shows that she cares instead of allowing me to mindlessly rush off to my doom."

Junyou pulled up a chair before helping to loosen the restraints binding Shigure in order not to cause her skin to chaff, the 1st Fleet noting the slight blush and not-entirely-displeased smile while looking on the bright side of being talked down to by a 'motherly figure' and tied to a bed against her will, Tatsuta commenting,

"Are you sure you're not the one who needs psychological help?"

"Well, I have Akashi-san…"

Cue an exasperated eye roll from the junior Tenryuu-Class cruiser along with Tatsuta's exasperated response.

"The epitome of the blind leading the blind."

"And the pot calling the kettle black."

The 1st Fleet gathered around Shigure's bed, and while the others fought to keep their expressions neutral since the hospital was a place of clinical tranquility whose peace shouldn't be disrupted like a library, Junyou couldn't help but allow the erupting bout of laughter to escape her lips in light of how the precocious little destroyer was completely on the nose.

Tenryuu was next with a bark of laughter, Tatsuta following suit shortly after with a snicker before relaxing her tense facial muscles for a sincere smile.

Hiei broke out into a mirthful chuckle, and Ayanami politely covered her mouth and stretched cheeks while Shigure lowered her cheeks to hide a wide grin.

Finally, after getting some good mileage out of that unexpected yet much-needed zinger to break the solemn tension which always plagued hospital visits since something had to be wrong to be here in the first place, Junyou wheezed after collecting herself in order to continue their conversation.

"That was actually pretty funny."

"Not to mention true."

Tatsuta lifted an eyebrow at Tenryuu's little jab, and Junyou was relieved at how despite having been through so much and bearing witness to all the death and destruction to the point of almost being desensitized to it all over again, they were still able to see the bright side in little exchanges like this.

After all, if everything was going hell in a hand-basket, what was the harm in sharing a laugh or two with each other along the way?

The demure Ayanami-Class destroyer was the next to speak up and catch Junyou and Tenryuu's attention.

"I have to say, Tatsuta-san.

Your superpowers are perhaps _the_ most poorly-kept secret in Amazon company, but I understand that protecting our lives is more important than maintaining plausible deniability in our company, and we'd protect your secret about your glaive's abilities to the death.

We get the point."

If everyone wasn't already looking at the speaking Ayanami, they did now as the 1st Fleet turned their heads to her save for Hiei, who turned away and was emitting a sound not unlike a deflating balloon in laughter, Tatsuta managing to maintain a stern expression in spite of her taut cheeks twitching as she lightheartedly threatened.

"If you are to make another joke like that, my dear Ayanami, you'd best watch your back should you end up in front of me, when we get into formation in the upcoming sortie with my glaive in hand."

"Being shafted from behind?

I thought sex-ed taught us that love-making was to be done with the hole between our thighs, but shows what limited tastes and experiences they've had with extending glaives."

Tenryuu was now the one who had to look away as she snorted upon hearing Shigure's double entendre while Junyou shamelessly chortled, and Tatsuta was also loosening up while in the presence of the 1st Fleet with a genuine smile.

As the laughter died down, Hiei was the one who brought everyone back to the matter at hand, and even she wasn't immune against the camaraderie and ensuing banter as she covered her smile with her fist to assume a neutral expression first before speaking up,

"It's been one hell of a month, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"Mmhm…"

No one knew what to say to that as the air hanging over the 1st Fleet quickly cooled, the Hiyou-Class carrier dryly thinking to herself,

' _Well, no one can say anything about that, including me._

 _I mean, what the hell am I supposed to say, "Oh, sorry I was electrocuted to death by that blasted Yuubari and her goddamned jellyfish Beast?'_

And Tenryuu, upon realizing Tatsuta's silent distress and Ayanami's benign urging with her encouraging gaze, slipped a reassuring arm around Tatsuta's shoulder in order to do her part as a flagship and elder sister, and Tatsuta didn't push Tenryuu away even as she jumped a little from the familial body contact and Junyou finally racked her mind for a comment to fill the silence.

"Well, I gotta agree.

I swear, when we get our downtime to have our entire naval base throw a party, we're probably going to destroy an entire town after consuming drugs and alcohol to deal with the stress of participating in our second world war."

"I don't remember us throwing parties during the Abyssal War?"

Everyone turned to Shigure as she was still relatively new and likely didn't know how wild their parties could get, and she was likely thinking about birthday parties for launch dates which ship girls never really bothered to celebrate since they'd pretty much have to throw a celebration almost everyday, Hiei patted Shigure's head while summarizing.

"Let's just say that it gets really wild, to the point where we need to warn police, firefighting and hospitals and hire cleaning services beforehand before partying hard enough to trash our own naval base harder than even the Abyssals ever could."

Shigure raised an eyebrow, but she now understood how their colorful personalities would be magnified and changed by the war to let out their frustrations and take the edge off as drinks and drugs loosened their lips and released their inhibitions, especially after the Abyssal War pushed them to the mental, physical and psychological limits.

Junyou would know, since she found herself completely wasted after these parties, even more so than her normal drinking binges which had exponentially decreased to near-zero due to World War 3, since the time for drinks as well as the alcohol itself were all in woefully short supply.

"Ah, the good old days.

It all seems like a faraway fairy tale from where we're standing, hm?"

"Yeah. But we're still here, and that's what matters."

And then everything took a turn for the worse.

The junior Tenryuu-Class cruiser's strained smile dimmed as her shaky breath hitched, the shadow forming over Tatsuta's face as she hunched and started sobbing out of nowhere.

Everyone in the room was taken aback at how the once-Stepford-Smiler ship girl was now breaking down emotionally in front of them, although Junyou still dared to look at the bright side of things by thinking that at least this way, Tatsuta wasn't so stoic as to hide her true emotions and turmoil within her and waited until she was alone before breaking down.

Tenryuu was already intimately leaning over and hugging Tatsuta from the side as her crying younger sister bawled.

"I… I'm sorry.

I shouldn't be like this, not when we have… the rare chance to get back together…

… I just can't take any more of this right now…"

But Ayanami was already there for her with a raised hand on Tatsuta's shoulder and reassuring words a nameship always seemed to have at the ready.

"It's alright, Tatsuta-san.

You don't have to be afraid of crying in front of us all, we're here for you.

And, it's also understandable that you'd be stressed out from having to fight all those Abyssal boss units all the time…"

Junyou's mind recalled that night on the roof of the Kamogawa City Hall and how Yuubari demolished everyone regardless of whether they had superpowers or not, and shortly after that battle, they fought a titanic Beast of thundering footsteps and howling trumpets that was Naka and Airavata the elephant Beast. It was no wonder that such a high-stress work environment and its demands would eventually get to Tatsuta, even with their strongest psychological defenses in place.

Certainly, Tatsuta wouldn't want to break down and make the atmosphere awkward for the rest of the 1st Fleet, but there was only so much bravado one could muster and so much fight one could put up before eventually succumbing to a meltdown sooner or later.

Hiei wore the same concerned expression she would use to face a distressed sister ship as she leaned in to whisper,

"Tatsuta-san, do you think you should sit this next battle out?

There's no harm in saying that you need some time off to get away from the stress and the war, even if we won't receive your super-powered backup…"

"No.

I can make it.

It's just that… the stress is just too much right now, I just…"

Tatsuta finally brought her sobbing voice under control as she spoke in an uncharacteristically subdued manner, looking down at her laps which her fists rested on while she did so.

"I just want friends to rely on and their shoulders to rest on in times of need, and I'm lucky that I have you all here with me to the end.

The thought of having to put on this facade of strength for so long is horrifying, and I know that I might come off as indifferent and cold in spite of my smiley demeanor, but…

But being with you all reminded me of what I was fighting for, what I valued above my own life which was the company of others."

"It is reassuring yet mildly disturbing to hear that you treasure us more than yourself, and I'm gonna have Akashi mark you down for counselling…"

"Well, misery loves company."

Junyou lifted a depressed eyebrow as she found that people sharing their misery like the ship girls sharing their time together after being killed by Yuubari via electrocution, and even though the argument could be made that they would become dispirited by each other's injuries, they needed each other since they understood the pain others felt.

"Tatsuta visibly shuddered as she leaned on Tenryuu's shoulder, her crushed expression now brought back under control like a broken mask being glued back together at the seams, and her breathing was eventually brought back as she huffed.

"I think I'm better now, I just needed a good cry to relieve some stress which was piling up.

Usually I do this when I'm alone, or at most in Tenryuu's company. But now, I think I'm comfortable enough to show you all my weak side.

Part of this is perhaps because I've become more comfortable around you, and I suppose that says something about how tight we've become as a fleet after having been through the wringer so often together.

Junyou leaned forward in her attempt to reassure the Tenryuu-Class cruiser without making any promises, since she knew how dangerous and double-edged promises were when one failed to live up to them in a war where life was fragile and fleeting.

"Look, Tatsuta…

I'm not making any promises here, but I want you to know that I'll be there for you.

To fight alongside you so that you don't have to carry the burden alone and have to come to our rescue all the time, I don't want to slow you down and instead wish to stand beside you on the battlefield to remind you that you can fall back on me without any concerns."

"Yes, but…

It's inevitable that some of us will… part with others, what are we to do then?

I can't prevent that outcome forever, even with all my power."

That was a legitimate question, and it had Junyou considering her response before she gave Tatsuta her answer with an uncharacteristically solemn and mature expression.

"I know how that feels, Tatsuta.

As one of the surviving warships of World War 2 before being scrapped, I, of all people, understand what it feels like to be left alone. And I only have this to say, ship girl to ship girl.

There may come a time when one of us will go; I won't lie to you.

But the fact that we must go in the end just means that all these fleeting moments we share right now must be cherished. A-And…

Even in the face of sounding cliche, I must say that it's the journey, not the end which matters the most to us. If not, why aren't we all killing ourselves right now in order to hasten the journey to reach the end?"

Everyone recoiled and cringed a little at the morbid thought, but Tatsuta, being someone who was always morbid, could understand her 'suicide' analogy to see Junyou's point, the Hiyou-Class light carrier reaching out in order to tenderly hold Tatsuta's hand.

"Please, don't obsess yourself with the end, which may or may not come.

None of us are oracles.

Instead, please look at us who are alive and are with you right now."

" … But.

What if I'm left alone?"

Tenryuu looked rather disappointed upon hearing that since she sank earlier, and Junyou felt herself blushing a little as she dug deeper into her own heart to find the right words to say, drawing from personal experience to give some credibility to her answer.

"Then… keep going anyway.

It may hurt, but that pain drives you further to survive and win since committing suicide would be akin to disrespecting their blood-soaked deaths with your attempts to escape from the grim reality of their deaths.

To keep yourself alive keeps your memories of them alive, and memories of them keep you alive with the recollection of better times and to have the chance to make new ones by winning this war."

Tatsuta sniffed as she rubbed the tear from her eye, visibly shivering before giving Junyou a sincere attempt at a forced smile as Hiei clapped a hand on her left shoulder. "You would have been quite the sister ship to Hiyou-san, if she were in our base."

"Well, in lieu of Hiyou, I suppose you all are my sister ships. After all, there's the 'He who sheds his blood with me today shall be my brother' and all that."

The entire 1st Fleet, upon seeing how close they were to Junyou, spontaneously erupted into heartfelt,

"Awwww!"s,

And made Junyou feel conscious all of a sudden regarding opening her heart to the 1st Fleet with a slight blush, and Ayanami rushing up to tackle and hug Junyou precipitated the entire fleet following suit from all directions, completely flanking and sinking her in bear-hugs.

Shigure clearly wanted to join in the group hug but couldn't since she was tied to the bed as her pained yet happy expression belied her desire to join them, and Junyou then piped up with a suggestion,

"Everyone!

Let's give Shigure-chan a dogpile hug!"

To which everyone immediately responded,

" _Aye!"_

And they jumped Shigure in a disorderly unison, the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer's eyes widening in horror at the thought of being crushed by a destroyer, two light cruisers, a light carrier and battleship landing on her as she repeated,

"Nononono - "

Before being dogpiled by the 1st Fleet, Hiei cushioning the impact with her hands and elbows so that she wouldn't crush everyone else beneath her as did Tenryuu, Tatsuta and Junyou, everyone relaxing in order to slowly apply their body weight on each other without causing grievous harm, some of them yelping and squealing,

"Aha!"

"Ee!"

Upon feeling someone else's limbs grope where they normally wouldn't in their entanglement of limbs and bodies.

And finally, Junyou found herself bursting out into genuine and heartfelt laughter with the rest of the 1st Fleet as they all laid on the bed, Shigure eventually succumbing to the contagious laughter which even had Tatsuta joining in to act as the best medicine in these dark times.

* * *

Cynthia the Aircraft Carrier Princess was sitting on a workbench in front of another tank truck passing her by, paying them no mind as she hid her amputated arm in the sling as repairs were slated to take a week or two.

Zuikaku.

'Luck' was a label slapped on a series of events which either favored or hindered someone and was irrelevant to an Abyssal like her, who favored seeing things from a more pragmatic point of view.

But to think a wench like her could steal her ring…

She wasn't concerned about the lack of a master arm, that could be grown back.

That ring, however, was sacred due to its what it contained, and since her Zuikaku was the reason why that ring existed in the first place, for the both of them…

Damn that girl.

Or at least, that Yokosuka doppelganger and thus 'fake' who now possessed their wedding ring …

It just had to be another Zuikaku who took it away from her, didn't it?

Remembering the surge of memories, once sweet and romantic ones being marred by the war and everyone else's disapproval, and the Aircraft Carrier Princess couldn't help but shudder violently at the grisly end, and how sentimentality tugged at her immovable heartstrings and was forcibly ignored in favor of cold logic.

Sakawa rolled up to her along with Lorelei in a golf-cart used for quick transportation within the submersible turtle Beast they were housed in, the Abyssal secretary and Aircraft Carrier Water Demon disembarking the vehicle to keep Cynthia company Not that she needed it, since she was overlooking the creation of her New Wave weapon in this mobile base.

But it wasn't as if she was going to turn them away, since they were comrades.

Sakawa, noting her sullen expression (at least, more sullen than usual), leaned forward as her cheerful disposition gave way to a slightly more concerned one.

[Aw, what's with the cloudy expression?

No sad faces on the Sakawa Express!

It'll **upset** Jasconius's appetite, eh?

Eh?]

The rhythmic yet sharp beeping sounds of reversing vehicles replaced cawing crows as Lorelei slapped Sakawa upside the head for that, displaying behavior which was characteristic of her cavalier attitude towards authority as she snarked,

[There's being funny, and then there's you.]

Sakawa then clutched at the wound on her head, looking uncannily cute and adorable in spite of her status as a J.O.A.N. unit who was known for pulling off an eerily saccharine demeanor which could be kept up even in combat to throw enemies off, since it was quite jarring to see an Abyssal who was so sickeningly sweet in the midst of combat.

[Hawawa, it's cool and all to prepare your New Wave weapon to be launched on my Beast, 'It's an honor' and all that.

But that means that I can't launch my nukes on those dastardly humans and ship girls, and that makes me so mad that I want to blow up!]

The Agano-Class light cruiser threw a childish tantrum and lightly stomped as she spun around on the spot and wildly flailed her clenched fists, but the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon beside her inched away from the deceptively cute and fuming Sakawa, Cynthia narrowing her eyes and waiting out the temper tantrum as Sakawa calmed down to continue her get-well speech to Cynthia.

[Ah, don't mind me.

We'll have a **whale** of a time wiping out mankind…]

Leaning closer towards Lorelei and batting her eyelids at the self-assured nature of her lame joke, the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon similarly leaned in to give her commanding officer a toothy grin as well as a death glare, although the 'toothy' part could be chalked up to Lorelei trying not to sport a genuine grin in spite of the joke being bad as she seethed a disclaimer.

[And _none_ of my four Beasts are whales…]

[ … and I'll hope that we'll be working close together from now on!]

Innocently holding out a right palm to shake Cynthia's hand in spite of her recent loss of a limb, Lorelei whipping her head around and covering her mouth in a poor attempt to hide her snickering, Cynthia's cheeks stretching out a fraction at the deliberate faux pas and had Sakawa breaking out into a relieved smile as she teased,

[Hmhm.

Made you smile.]

Sakawa spun around with her skirt swaying along with her momentum, using roller shoes to effortlessly move back to her golf cart to drive off and leave the two partner J.O.A.N. units alone. Cynthia looked back up at the tower-like structure in front of her, several Abyssals hanging off of wires as they wielded construction tools to put finishing touches on her New Wave weapon.

The silence filling the air between Cynthia and Lorelei was palpable, and Cynthia wasn't itching to fill it anytime soon, a notion which wasn't reciprocated as Lorelei started.

[Pretty insane, huh?

A Beast the size of a small country, to the point where it can house several Abyssal armadas and my four Beasts…

Never would've dreamt of it back in those days, when it was all about the five basic classes on either side, hmm?]

Silence.

She had no response to a remark that needed no answering, and Lorelei awkwardly looked away while Cynthia used her tried-and-true tactic of the silent treatment with her partner, It took a while before a grumbling Lorelei turned around to face her and use a more direct approach which Cynthia appreciated due to the lack of fluff.

[Alright, what the hell's gotten you so emo all of a sudden?

Before, you didn't give a shit about anything, and now you're moping all by yourself in the belly of the Beast about this ring that you lost.]

[ … I didn't know you cared.]

[Well, I'm still not familiar enough with how you work and your past to be sure that your judgement won't be clouded by this.]

Cynthia shrugged as she leaned in to allow a shadow to form over her face, fingers intertwined while her elbows resting on her knees before answering.

[You don't need to worry about that. Their machinations and petty tricks will all be for naught once I tear through them to retrieve what's rightfully mine. I'm already upgrading my weapons arsenal and Simurgh's to go in harder next time.]

And with that, Lorelei chimed with a request, [Tell you what, since I'm participating in the Battle of Tokyo Bay - ]

[Thanks for the spoiler.]

Lorelei chuckled understandingly, since Cynthia missed out on the briefing for the Battle of Tokyo Bay in light of Simurgh and her condition, and would only receive a dossier to update her on a need-to-know basis.

[And I'll beat the thief of a ship girl to a bloody pulp and get the ring back…]

Cynthia was already anticipating the catch and correctly predicted it ahead of time, the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon unashamedly leveraging the situation to her advantage to get closer to Cynthia out of a genuine attempt to forge something resembling camaraderie between them or to find something to manipulate her with, she didn't care.

[ … if you share the past behind that ring with me.

I mean, we're partners now, and I don't mind sharing pasts with each other, if only to understand each other better.]

Cynthia considered that disclaimer and how the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon appeared genuine in her attempt to get closer to her, both to support each other emotionally and to make their relationship that much deeper and fulfilling than any relationship they could form with rank-and-file Abyssals, who had the emotive range of NPCs with pre-programmed responses.

Well, turning her down would only serve to distance the both of them, and that nasty outcome wasn't desirable when working as partners.

Besides, she had to throw Lorelei a bone for her efforts.

[That wedding ring… belonged to someone I loved.]

Ignoring Lorelei's raised eyebrow and slight head tilt of 'No shit', she understood that the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon didn't want to verbally interrupt her and remained silent, allowing Cynthia to sullenly continue.

[It was between me, or at least my past life as a Kaga with another ship girl, Zuikaku.]

This got Lorelei's attention, now cutting the bullshit and sarcasm since it was blatantly obvious that the Water Demon Lorelei was a resurrected Shokaku, and name-dropping her sister ship had her listening more intently.

[We… learnt to find solace in each other's company and we were happy together, until outside circumstances drove us apart.

I was ordered to kill her after a successful suicide mission 'for my country', and in my ensuing grief-stricken misery, I killed myself.

Now I'm here, and my ring has been taken by that pathetic doppelganger of my deceased wife.]

[ … Wow, didn't know you were such a hopeless romantic.

Hope you didn't use the business end of a blade to make sweet love to your broken heart at the end of _that_ tragedy.]

Cynthia emitted a noncommittal grunt in response to that infamous double-suicide literature reference, keeping the sob story itself and her own answers vague whilst making sure not telling any outright lies to let the Aircraft Water Demon come to her own conclusions.

[So you think the humans have your ring?

I mean, it's enemy property after all.]

[Yes, so don't expect to find the ring in the Battle of Tokyo Bay since either that _other_ Zuikaku has it and is docking just like me. That, or the humans are likely running their tests on it to ascertain if it's dangerous to wear.]

[Is it?]

The Aircraft Carrier Princess maintained her stoic demeanor as she did in her past life, looking away as she remarked icily.

[No.

It's a wedding ring, it was never supposed to be harmful.]

She didn't ask for Lorelei's sob story since the Water Demon was free to keep it all to herself and the agreement was that Lorelei helped Cynthia in exchange for knowing the story behind that ring, but apparently it drove Lorelei to share her past due to some kind of self-perceived equivalent exchange as partners, and Cynthia didn't force her into anything.

[Well, it's somewhat similar for me, except I was the one getting shafted.

I was a Shoukaku in my former life, me and my Admiral did this and that which got me pregnant, and he had to send me out to be sunk because he had better carriers by then and I was going to be out of commision for nine months.]

[Wouldn't scrapping be of more use, since he'd receive more resources and get rid of a ship girl in the process?]

Lorelei shrugged, the Water Demon looking rather comfortable with sharing something this morbid and personal, and since she had the benefit of hindsight while returning the favor of sharing their pasts with each other, she could keep a cool head and consider her past from an impersonal point of view.

[Humans back then played a game of numbers, so I understand why a pregnant carrier is nothing but a exponentially increased resource hog. The Abyssal War also was a secret to the rest of the world back then, so an abortion was difficult, especially when our physiology was poorly understood and the baby might have superhuman capabilities like us.

What I remember about him was that he said something about wanting to be left in the dark, that if he went with scrapping, the grief would be too much for him since it would be clear that I was dead, and my pregnancy would be logged into the system to be dredged up later should an investigation occur later down the road.

It was me who suggested I die Uriah-style so that he could claim plausible deniability, and there would be no corpse for the higher-ups to inspect or for him to grieve over, allowing for some kind of ambiguity regarding my fate.]

Cynthia remained respectfully silent and understood how the soldier Uriah died in the Book of Samuel after King David had his soldiers withdraw from Uriah's location to leave him to die, and it was common for soldiers to die on the battlefield since life was cheap in times like these.

She finally dared to ask,

[Did he truly love you?]

[I think so.

That's what I like to think, and I think the ambiguity works both ways since it was the situation which drove us apart, and hopefully not our growing differences.

Was it our inflamed passions getting the best of us then, or was it the result something deeper pulling us together? I don't know, and I want to keep it that way.]

Hope.

Perhaps not the most logical course of action, but she could see where Lorelei was coming from since Princesses balanced emotion with logic on various points on a spectrum, and she was no different as her thoughts went back to her ring which was with Zuikaku. And while sentiment was useless to most Abyssals, perhaps the power which Princesses and J.O.A.N. units wielded needed to be sprinkled with some personality as the flavor of life, balancing out the stoic Abyssal nature with emotions which could be tempered and guided by said stoicism to enhance their powers and strength.

What Lorelei needed was not the truth, but the precious time they spent together regardless of the legitimacy of their feelings as their forced parting managed to preserve the illusion of true love to allow the Water Demon, once Shoukaku, to convince herself that it might have been real.

And that was perhaps the greatest end in that predicament.

Sharply inhaling, Lorelei pushed her chest out and lifted her head defiantly in the face of the negative emotions attempting to get her down before a sortie with her four Beasts.

[Well, if there's one good thing that came out of this, it's that you're a little more talkative now.]

Cynthia's eyebrow quirked upon hearing an interesting manner in which to interpret this situation, and Lorelei idly shrugged in a 'Hey, I'm trying to look on the positive side' as she continued whilst turning to face her and raising her hands to frame Cynthia in her rectangle-forming hands.

[Just saying.

Seeing how little you talk before losing the ring compared to after, I've half a mind to prolong my search just to appreciate you communicating even more, even if it's brooding emo-talk.

Just saying, you were one dead fish back then.]

She only grunted again, although the perceptible crease in between her eyebrows was enough for the Water Demon Lorelei to realize her hidden annoyance, learning to watch the micro expressions Cynthia allowed to slip through her facade to humor Lorelei's attempts to connect with her instead of being a Wo-Class 2.0, and Lorelei's expression now brightened a little.

Watching another rumbling truck pass by them as it traveled on the road which Sakawa drove on with her golf-cart, Cynthia filled in the silence to try and hold up her end of the conversation.

[You're going up against Amazon company in a few days, right?]

[Yeah, why?]

[They're getting irritatingly good at fighting us.

Kill them before they kill you.]

Lorelei raised an eyebrow at the scarily pragmatic and direct advice which Cynthia was wont to do, Cynthia appreciating the company which Lorelei provided since Simurgh was in the docks due to their last battle.

Actually...

As a secret test of character, Cynthia leaned in with an uncharacteristically concerned look in order to face Lorelei as she uttered, asking for a personal favor to see if Lorelei would rat her out to Yuubari or any other Abyssal.

[You know, I have just one favor to ask of you.

I'd like you to keep this from Yuubari.

This is a personal matter, and I'd like it if we kept it on the down low and outside of Yuubari's radar.]

If Yuubari found out about this little trinket possibly forcing her to act outside of her jurisdiction, she could lie her way out of the situation and shut Lorelei out due to being a snitch.

If Yuubari was none the wiser, it was either because Lorelei kept her secret or she was competent enough to convince Yuubari to act ignorant after ratting her out, in which Cynthia would continue keeping her just within arm's reach of her inner intentions and feelings.

Finally, Lorelei's expression creased into a concerned frown as she asked Cynthia a genuine question regarding what the humans might do to the ring, since it was enemy property.

[Just a stray thought, but…

What happens if they destroy it?

The ring, I mean.]

And while it was a legitimate concern and a path of action which the humans and ship girls could take, Cynthia wasn't exactly certain that they'd simply destroy it since she had unintentionally revealed her bond with the ring and the sentimental value she placed in it for reasons currently unknown to them, but was exploitable nonetheless.

[They know I know that they have it.

They recognize how powerful I am without my New Wave power, and even without it being completed, I'm getting stronger and so is Simurgh.

It's easier and safer for them to use it as leverage against me, destroying it would be unwise unless they're sure they can contain and lock me down when I'm on a rampage.

And with _this_ in place, I dare them to try.]

The two Princesses looked up at the titanic space rocket which was being assembled within the turtle Beast belonging to Sakawa, the acronym S.E.L.E.N.E. imprinted onto its flank while its steel nose cone stretched up to brush the roof of Jasconius's insides, now in the final stage of preparations before being launched into outer space as part of Cynthia's New Wave power.


End file.
